The Future That I See
by Lycanwolff
Summary: What happens when a young woman is sucked through time and discovers that the Mass Effect universe is to become our true future? Something a lot like this. Novelization SI of all ME's. M!Shep/Ash Kaidan/OC. Chapter 84: Escalations.
1. Chapter 1

**The Future that I See**

Chapter 1: Introductions.

_(Bioware owns all that is related to Mass Effect.)_

**Author's Note: **This is an A/U piece that popped into my head in the shower and set during the events of Mass Effect 1 and 2. It will be a novelization that will span through ME2 and possibly beyond as ME3 comes out as well. For the sake of imagination, I will use another Commander Shepard that is **NOT** related to Phoenix Rising and Phoenix Rising: Into the Dark. He will be another Default/Male Paragade/Sentinel/Colonist/Sole Survivor named Commander Gabriel Shepard. This will be told from a 3rd person POV, just like my other fanfics. This will depart from canon rather quickly but will also include dialogue seen in the game. Also, I have never gone to college, let alone pledged to be in a sorority house so if I'm that far off, it's a fic, so sit back and enjoy it. :P

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**-Year: 2011-**

Lycan was just a simple college girl with a strange name, a pension for an active imagination and some serious skill when it came to playing video games. She was never the popular girl in school. She wasn't a cheerleader, she wasn't an athlete but her build would suggest otherwise. In fact, she was in JROTC in high school which earned her a title of being a tomboy. She didn't mind it however. She didn't lose any sleep at night and she had plenty of friends who knew what she was really like. Her whole life, she never thought she would ever be pledging to join a sorority house. Hell, she never thought she'd be going to college after she completed her term in the military for the college money but yet here she was, standing with her bag in hand, car keys in the other and in front of a giant mansion with the Greek letters of Alpha Mem Gamma emblazoned over it's doors.

She drew in a deep breath to steady her nerves before she took her first steps towards the beautifully crafted double doors, taking note of the perfectly done lawn and the fact that the whole house didn't have a thing out of place. _Yeah, we all know who does that work don't we. _She thought with a slight huff and a quick glance back at her car which she had just bought and couldn't be happier with. _My last chance to hit the road and run for my life. _She thought again as she smiled at the gleaming Candy White of her brand new 2010 Jetta. She stepped up onto the porch and set her bag down, her purse still slung over her shoulder as she raised a fist to knock, only to be stopped when the door flew open revealing two blondes, one bubbly and smiling, the other with her arms crossed and both were staring back at her.

"Hi! You must be Lycan! I'm Kristy and this is Becky! Welcome to Alpha Mem Gamma! Come on in. We'll show you to your room." The bubbly blonde on the left yelped with excitement as she stepped aside to let Lycan pass.

Lycan was slightly taken aback by the enthusiastic welcome as she picked up her bag and walked inside, "Thanks." she said, making sure not to be clumsy with the large duffel.

"I heard you served in the military. What branch? I'm a military brat myself. My dad served in the Army." Kristy said as she lead the way to a large, central staircase and began ascending the steps.

"Um, yeah. I served four years in the Coast Guard. Didn't do anything exiting though. I served the whole time in Michigan." Lycan answered, looking around at the vaulted ceiling and the lovely internal decoration of the large living room.

"Oh neat! I always liked those Coastie types. Dad made sure to teach me and my sisters that someone has to stay home and protect our own country. Oh, here's your room. I hope it's ok. You're the only one pledging so lucky you." Kristy said, her smile still plastered over her face.

Though Kristy's demeanor was bubbly and happy, Lycan found it rather refreshing that she had already meant someone who knew the Coast Guard was an actual service and not just a bunch of puddle pirates. She found her rosy lips had curled up into a soft smile as she walked into the small room with little more then a bare bed that rested against one wall. She placed her bag on top of the mattress and set her purse down next to it before turning back to Kristy, realizing that Becky hadn't said a word the entire time.

"Becky was it?" Lycan asked, deciding she was gonna make the best of it and at least try to make some new friends.

All the girl did was nod and kept her amrs crossed over her nearly flat chest.

Lycan mentally followed the girls eyes and was pretty sure that the girl was checking out her own breasts which were far larger. Walking around with a pair of D's attached to your chest had a way of attracting attention whether she wanted it too or not. She glanced down at her outfit, finding it wasn't bad. The black leggings hugged her long legs, the black skirt was flattering, her black t-shirt with the big N7 stretched across her chest fit her great and her red, knee high boots were her favorites. Sure, she was a game geek, but she loved it, no matter what anyone else said.

Kristy looked between them and somewhat nervously bit her bottom lip as she felt the tension build within the small room, "So...Is that your car outside?" she asked, looking back to Lycan.

"Oh...uh...yeah, I just got it. Merry Christmas to me." she said with a light laugh.

"It's adorable. The parking lot's around back if you wanna move it after I give you the tour of the house." Kristy said, her smile returning over her relatively pretty face.

"Ok. Thanks...uh, lead the way I guess." Lycan said, gently rubbing her upper arm.

Kristy smiled big and bounded from the room, her blonde ponytail bouncing from side to side as she did so and lead Lycan from the room, leaving Becky alone to sulk. Kristy started with the upstairs, showing Lycan her own room which was nearly entirely pink and purple, but it matched Kristy to a tee. She showed Lycan just about everything, the pool that had a hot tub, the multiple bathrooms, the kitchen, the wreck room and then the living room, all exquisitely decorated to match the image of the mansion.

"So what's N7 mean?" Kristy asked, pointing to the symbol on Lycan's t-shirt.

"It's from a video game. It's the Special Forces designator in the game." Lycan explained, trying her hardest not to go into a long winded rant about how much she loved Mass Effect.

"Oh cool. What's it called?" the blonde asked, seemingly genuine in her interest.

"Mass Effect. It's a trilogy, well, soon to be anyways. The third one is supposed to come out soon." Lycan said as her smile spread a little wider over her lips.

"I think I heard about it on the news or something some time ago. Didn't it get some heat for having a sex scene or something?" Kristy asked, flopping down onto the plush couch.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah, it did. I didn't think it was that big a deal but I guess all the parents who buy the M rated games for their 11 year olds had a fit about it. I always tell them that it's rated M for a reason. Read the tag on the back of the case. It's tells you what it's rated M for." Lycan scoffed, slightly irritated that a short, three minute blip of nakedness and romance without so much as a ragged breathe or pleasurable moan and all it did was fade to black. The whole scene was actually very well done and was beaming with a romantic flare that always made Lycan smile.

"I hear ya. Anyways, since you're the only one pledging, this week should be pretty easy for you. I doubt we are gonna make you do anything crazy besides mow the lawn." Kristy laughed as she crossed her legs on the couch cushion.

"That I'm pretty good at." Lycan huffed as she remembered the countless times she mowed the lawn at the base she was stationed at.

"So, tell me about yourself? You seem like a lot of fun to hang with." Kristy asked with that ever persistent smile still firmly in place.

Lycan shrugged lightly, "Well, there really isn't much to it. I enlisted right out of high school, got my GI Bill for college. Love playing video games and going to the gym. Driving my car. Stuff like that. I'm not too terribly exciting." Lycan quickly said, glancing around the living room, continuing to take it all in.

"We can hang out sometime and I can show you the town. What's your major?" Kristy said as she gently tapped Lycan's knee as a gesture of friendship.

"Um, graphic design. I wanna get into the design field for video games. Call me a geek." Lycan laughed, finally starting to relax some in the new place.

"Oh cool. I have no talent with any of that stuff. Now clothes, that's where my heart lies. I love your boots by the way. They're awesome."

"Thanks. My sister helped me find them. Hey, I gotta ask, what's that Becky's issue? She seemed like she doesn't like me much." Lycan asked, lowering her voice as she glanced back at the central staircase.

"She's the pledge leader and she's always like that. She get's super jealous of other girls with more...assets then her. I'm pretty sure that's part of the reason why you're the only one pledging. No one wants to deal with her." Kristy explained in a low whisper, leaning in slightly so Lycan could hear her speak.

"Does she not know that it really wasn't my choice to be walking around with a set of twins like these? It's not like I bought them." Lycan retorted, slightly defensive and aggravated that she already had someone whom was going to give her trouble.

"Which won't make anything easier. She's been busting her ass working to save up enough money to buy a pair. But don't worry, I'll help to keep her off your back." Kristy reassured with another smiled.

"Thanks. I really don't wanna have to fight someone just because they're jealous of my rack."

"You have a boyfriend?"

"No. I guess most guys have an issue if a girl can play a video game better then they can. Ah well. I'll find someone someday. I'm only 25 so I have plenty of time." Lycan said optimistically.

"Here here. So, Lycan is a very unique name. How did your parents come by it?" Kristy asked, rather enjoying the conversation with her new friend.

"They had a good sense of humor. My whole name is Lycan Alissa Dareden. They at least gave me a common middle name if I wanted something that wasn't so unique but I like my first name. It's cool." Lycan said, feeling the slight rise of heat in her cheeks.

"It is cool. I like it. It's a lot cooler then Kristy that's for sure." she laughed at herself.

The girls sat and chit chatted for quite some time, somewhat oblivious to the fact that the sun was rapidly going down. Soon, their stomachs growled ferociously and made them laugh, both placing a hand on their own belly's as they giggled. Kristy recommended sandwiches for supper from a small deli that was about a 10 minute drive away and Lycan offered to drive, which Kristy was more then happy to go for a spin in Lycan's new car. Lycan smiled as their conversations continued, each minute that went by, helping her to feel as if she was fitting in just fine and found, she rather enjoyed Kristy's company. Their evening finally began to come to a close, both girls yawning and gently rubbing their eyes as exhaustion descended upon them. Kristy showed Lycan back to her room and wished her a good night before she headed off to her own, larger room down the hallway. Lycan smiled tiredly as she shut the door, not realizing that there was a pair of eyes, sneering at her from the same direction down the hallway.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: New Postings

_(Bioware owns all things related to Mass Effect!)_

**-Year: 2183-**

A man stood, duffel bag in hand, on the dock and staring at the newest ship the Systems Alliance Navy had to offer. Her long lines swept elegantly from bow to stern, giving the brand new ship an appearance of a sleek, aquatic animal that the man couldn't recall the name of at that particular moment in time. He smiled at the fresh paint, how the layer of blue was accented by the stripe of red and how the whole thing melded brilliantly into the massive nacelles that dominated her aft. The man glanced to his right, seeing his partner standing with a near, identical smile across his dark face.

"Hell of a ship you got your hands on Captain." the younger man said, giving the outranking officer his due as he snapped him a stiff salute.

"She is impressive Commander. This should be an easy shakedown run." the Captain said with a slightly less enthusiastic smile over his dark lips.

"About that sir...Personnel Command doesn't usually assign Captains, especially Captains of your stature to frigates. Is there something I should know before we get underway tomorrow?" the far younger man asked, studying the Captain's face and seeing that there was something off from the man's demeanor.

The Captain shook his head, "Nothing important Commander. This is just gonna be a simple shakedown run. Nothing to worry about. Have you gone over the crew manifest?"

"Yes sir. That's a serious crew you picked sir. I know a couple of them and their skills are top notch. Are you sure you want that much skill onboard for a simple shakedown run?" the Commander asked, keeping his voice low as there was still dock working crew around that were finishing prepping the ship for her maiden flight in the morning.

"I'm positive Commander. This ship is supposed to be the best the Alliance has to offer. Her crew should reflect that. Don't you think?" the Captain answered, slightly turning his head to send a sidelong glance towards the younger man whom was nearly half his age.

"I agree sir. I don't mean to question your judgement. I just don't want to see their talents wasted is all. I apologize if I crossed the line sir." the Commander said, standing up a little straighter and rolling his broad shoulder's back.

"You're fine Commander. It's something that has brought you to this point and gotten you this XO position. It's also something that has saved your life in the past." the Captain said, seeing the Commander instantly stiffen at the vague comment that was in reference to the Commander's most recent dance with death only six years prior and upon which the Commander was still recovering.

"Yes sir. It has, albeit a little late to save more lives then just mine." the Commander retorted, somewhat snidely that his Captain would bring up such a wound that was taking it's sweet time healing.

"You did what you had to do Commander. It's been six years since Akuze. How have you been handling it. I understand that the nightmares have returned." the Captain asked, fully turning his head too look the Commander in his vibrantly blue eyes.

He nodded, "Yes sir. They returned on the anniversary of the attack. They do every year. Never fails. They'll go away soon enough sir and they won't hinder my abilities. I can still serve." the Commander reassured, feeling his muscles tighten and slightly shake at the memories of seeing his friends being torn apart, limb from limb by hungry, violent and snarling meat eating worms.

"I wasn't questioning your ability Commander. I was just simply concerned for your mental well being. You're a survivor Shepard, we need survivors." the Captain turned back to look at their new ship, finding a comforting solace as she stood out from the black and star speckled background as Arcturus Station slowly spun.

Commander Shepard drew in a deep breath to steady himself before turning to look at the Captain, "I appreciate your concern sir. Thank you. What time do you want me to report tomorrow morning?" he asked, returning to studying the Captain's face as he watched the small crew of dock workers continue prepping the ship.

"0700 ship time. Push off time is slated for 0800. Go relax and get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day." the Captain said as his dark lips curled into a soft smile.

"Understood Captain." the Commander said as he snapped the older man another sharp salute.

They parted ways, the Captain staying behind as Commander Shepard turned and walked down the dock towards an elevator that would take him to the temporary crew berthing rooms. He glanced down at his trusty Omni-Tool, quickly scanning the room number and headed in that direction, which happened to be the same direction as the officer quarters. He arrived at his given room and floated his Omni-Tool over the reader interface that unlocked his door. With a quiet whoosh, the doors hissed opened into the small space that resembled more of a prison cell, then actual sleeping quarters. He lightly sighed and dumped his duffel on the small, stiff bed and headed for the tiny bathroom, finding that the toilet, shower and sink were pretty much all the same unit. He laughed quietly and turned on the water in the sink, letting it take a moment to let the water warm slight and cupped his hands underneath the steady stream. He let the water fill his impromptu cup and splashed the clear liquid into his face, not caring as it's warmth dripped down his prominent chin and slicked down his neck to dampen the collar of his uniform shirt. He squeegeed the water from his eyes with his fingers and went back to his duffel bag, pulling open the top and pulled a pair of pants and a button down shirt to replace his Alliance Dress Blues. He carefully stripped, placing each piece of his uniform onto a hanger and took a moment, standing in his boxers, to make sure the uniform was in order before he padded to a small locker and placed it inside.

After a quick shower, he dressed in the pants and shirt and made sure his Omni-Tool, as well as his amp that was securely where it needed to be before he left the cabin to sate his growling stomach. He walked through a few crowds, most of which were kids fresh from the academy and other's fresh from boot but none payed him any mind as he walked by, which he didn't mind. He reached the food court and scanned the area, mentally debating with himself what sounded good to his stomach and decided some pasta sounded best. He headed for the pasta line and stood there, scanning his Omni-Tool for various news, vid clips and even skimming over the dossiers again on the handpicked crew from the Captain. His attention was drawn from someone calling his name as he received his tray of food, a male voice and one he recognized.

"Gabriel! Over here!" the voice called out, whomever it belonged to, waving their arm in the air, motioning for him to come over.

Shepard smiled as he saw who the voice belonged to, a long time friend from when they had attended Sentinel Training together and had tried their best to stay in touch as they bounced from posting to posting. He headed over to the table and took his seat across from the olive skinned man, a beaming smile on his face as he extended a hand in greeting.

"Kaidan Alenko! God it's been a long time friend. How've you been?" Shepard asked as he shook his friend's hand firmly before picking up his utensils and beginning his meal.

"That it has man. It's been good. Can't readily complain. How about you?" Kaidan asked, stuffing a mouthful of his own meal into his mouth.

Shepard swallowed his chewed food, "About the same. You excited to get underway on the new ship?"

"Damn straight I am! I don't even care if it's just a shakedown run. It's the fact that I get to serve on the _Normandy_!" he exclaimed with excitement, a beaming smile across his dark lips and his honey colored eyes wide with the anticipation.

"Should be entertaining to say the least. We know how maiden voyage's go. A lot of the time, shit breaks and guess who gets to fix it because the engineers are too busy with the drive cores." Shepard smirked, taking another bit of food.

"We do. I hear your the XO. Is that true?" Kaidan asked, his excitement still in his deep, raspy voice.

Shepard nodded, giving him a moment to finish chewing his mouthful before answering, "Yup. Captain Anderson handpicked me to be. I've gotten to check out the crew manifest and let me tell you something, this crew is overloaded with skills." he said, slowly shaking his head.

"Anybody we know or have heard of?"

"A few. Let's see here," Shepard said, bringing up his Omni-Tool which immediately displayed the manifest that he hadn't shut down, "Navigator Pressly, Dr. Carolyn Chakwas and our pilot is a Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau. I've heard of that guy. Supposed to be the best pilot in the fleet."

Kaidan nearly choked on his mouthful of food at the mention of the pilot, "Are you serious? Moreau's our pilot? I heard he broke every record in flight school. Even the instructors didn't have a chance against him."

"I heard that too. I'm looking forward to meeting him. Hopefully he isn't a cocky ass." Shepard laughed and was quickly joined by his friend across the table.

They continued their meal, still engrossed in their conversation that extended well after the dinner rush had gone and leaving them to themselves in the wide open mess deck. Their deep laughter echoed off the bulkheads as they caught up with each other's events, their postings, their experiences and even delved into each other's love lives, which on all accounts, seemed to be on life support and someone was itching to pull the plug on both of theirs. Shepard glanced down at his Omni-Tool and noticed just how late it had gotten.

"Oh shit. It's late man. We better hit the rack and get some sleep." Shepard said as he stood from the table, just then realizing that someone had already taken his tray and he hadn't even realized it.

"Damn. Well it was good talking with you Gabriel. I'll see you tomorrow onboard the ship. Have a good night." Kaidan said as he stood from his chair, picking up his uniform jacket that rested on it's back, the gold bars glinting under the lights and catching Shepard's eye.

"Holy shit Alenko! When did you get promoted to Staff Lieutenant?" Shepard yelped as he pointed a finger at the golden bars on his friends jacket.

"Not too long ago. I got the notice when they gave me my new assignment to the _Normandy_," Kaidan replied as he shrugged back into his jacket, "How about you? You make it passed Staff LT?"

Shepard rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah. I'm...uh...I'm a Lieutenant Commander now."

"Jesus. We have been out of touch for awhile," Kaidan let go of a low chuckle, "I'll see you in the morning Gabriel."

With that last parting word, they went their separate ways, each heading back to their assigned temporary berthing rooms to get some rest. Shepard flighted his hand over the reader and walked inside, heading for a small lamp the rested next his bunk and flicked it on, bathing the small room in a dim light. He slipped out of his clothes and folded them neatly, placing them back inside his duffel and removed the bag from his bunk. His body slightly shivered from the chill in the air, the soft dusting of brown hair on his arms, legs and chest standing on end as his smoothly tanned skin grew a hardy layer of gooseflesh. He rubbed his hands together quickly for a moment to warm them up before he pulled back the blankets and slipped into bed, the coolness of the sheets fading quickly against his bare flesh, only disjointed by his boxers. He made himself as comfortable as possible, the bunk nearly too short to support his six foot one frame and creaked loudly under his nearly two hundred pounds of solid muscle. He pulled the covers up passed his shoulders and curled himself into a ball, closing his eyes and thankfully, quickly drifting off to sleep.

The _Normandy_ was teaming with activity as her crew scurried about her as they frantically checked and rechecked her systems to ensure their operation. The engineers admired her massive drive core, the navigator team under the leadership of Navigator Pressly plotted their course and fed it their pilot. The Marine Detail, under the rule of Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko checked and stocked their collection of armor and weapons into their proper places. However, the crew was more on edge then usual, they had taken on a guest that none had predicted. A Turian Spectre named Nihlus Kryik, but none, as much as they wanted to, had the time to gossip about their guest.

The _Normandy's_ pilot however, was an infamous bastard for not only his skill, but his dry wit that more often then not, came across as flippant, arrogant and sprinkled with a dash of self righteousness, but it wasn't without pause. He was the best. He knew it, the Alliance knew it and he was going to make damn sure that the rest of the Galaxy knew it as well. He was Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau...but you can call him Joker, and he was gonna make sure the whole crew knew that he didn't like having a Spectre aboard, what he affectionately was calling _his_ ship. To his dismay, he didn't have the time to gossip with his co-pilot, the very same Marine Detail Commander whom was simultaneously doing that job, as well as helping with the ship as it streaked through the vacuum of space.

"The Arcturus Prime Relay is in range. Initiating transmission sequence." Joker reported into his comm unit on his glowing orange, holographic displays, his hands dancing as he piloted the ship passed the largest planet in the Sol System...Jupiter.

The Normandy elegantly flew by the giant gas planet and beyond, swimming out towards the outer edge of the solar system Humanity had only recently had the privilege of leaving.

"We are connected...Calculating transit mass and destination." Joker said into the comm once more, his spearmint green eyes flicking over his screens as rapidly as they could and nearly machine like

The ship glided through the blackness effortlessly, the distant glow of a massive object shining as brightly as any star against the void.

"Relay is hot," the center of the massive object flared even brighter, nearly drowning out the backdrop of space, "Acquiring approach vector. All stations, secure for transit." he said, his voice coming through the ship as he warned the crew to prepare for the maiden jump.

Joker banked the _Normandy_ to port as he followed his given trajectory towards the gigantic relay that had been orbiting on the outer edges of the Sol System for thousands of years, perhaps even millions and some, even shuttered to think...billions.

"Board is green. Approach run has begun," he said once more to the crew, the beautiful blue aura enveloping the ship as she came closure to the relay, "Hitting the relay in 3...2...1..."

The hum of the massive drive core that had been crammed into the aft of the ship, turned into a dulled roar as the core received power from the relay that would jettison her to the other side of the Galaxy in an instant, the total distance unfathomable to most whom had not ventured out beyond their own stars. The crew prepared themselves, some widening their stance, other's placing a hand on anything bolted down to steady themselves as the ship was rocketed through the relay, instantly appearing thousands of light years away from anything they could call home.

Joker immediately checked his systems once they had arrived on the other side, gathering his needed information for his status reports, "Thrusters...Check. Navigation...Check. Internal Emission Sink engaged," he flicked his hand over another screen, "All systems online," he reported smoothly, double checking the ships course sent to him by Navigator Pressly, "Drift...Just under 1500k." he added as a footnote with a rather pleased smile on his face.

He was slightly startled when a double toned voice spoke up behind him, "1500 is good. Your Captain will be pleased." the Turian said, uncrossing his arms as he spun and walked down the long, sloping Combat Information Center, more commonly known as the CIC.

Joker sighed quietly in relief as he turned his head around to glare at the Turian as he vanished through the throngs of shorter Humans, "I hate that guy." he grumbled, turning back around and sending a sidelong glare to his co-pilot.

"He gives you a compliment and you instead, you hate the guy? Funny way of accepting it don't you think?" Staff Lieutenant Alenko said, returning the glare as he worked on his own holographic displays.

"Hey, call me paranoid, but I don't like having those guys onboard. He creeps me out." Joker retorted with a stiff shrug as he continued to work, completely unaware that someone had taken Nihlus's place behind his chair.

"You are beyond paranoid Lieutenant. The Counsel helped fund this project. Don't you think they have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment?" Alenko politically retorted, watching out of the corner of his eye as the snarky pilot's shoulders slumped slightly.

"Please Alenko. You don't honestly believe that story do you? Please tell me that you aren't an idiot and believe that load of shit." Joker snapped, finally fully turning his head to look at the far darker man seated to his right.

"I hate to agree with him Kaidan, but he's right. Why did the Counsel send a Spectre of all things on a shakedown run?" Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Shepard finally said, standing behind the pilot's chair whom he had just personally met, though he had heard of.

"I knew it. There is something else going on here and the Captain isn't telling us." Joker yelped victoriously, glaring again to his right with a shit eating grin plastered across his lips.

"You really think Captain Anderson of all people would hold information from us Commander?" Alenko asked as he looked over his shoulder at his friend and most recently, superior officer.

"Who knows but I wouldn't be surprised if he was. I had no idea we were taking on a Spectre until this morning and if I had known, I would have pushed for answers." Shepard said, his tenor voice smooth but also carried a harshness that let everyone around him know that he meant business.

Kaidan was about to reply when the chime from Joker's station broke through their conversation. Joker reached up and flicked a deft finger to activate his comm.

_"Joker! Report!"_ the Captain's voice barked through the console and filling the bridge.

Joker slightly cringed, "All systems are go Captain." he reported, perfectly hiding his disdain perfectly behind his witty mask.

_"Link us into a comm buoy. I want us in the network as soon as possible Lieutenant."_ the Captain ordered stiffly.

"Aye aye Captain."

_"Oh, and if Commander Shepard is there, send him down to the Briefing Room."_

"He heard you Captain. Oh, and heads up. I think that Turian is headed your way." Joker nearly snarled.

_"He's already here Lieutenant."_

Joker's shoulders fully slumped as he groaned and flicked off the link, staring blankly at his screens and ignoring the two men whom were slowly shaking their heads at him.

"Well, he sounds pissed." Shepard sighed heavily as he placed his hands on his hips.

"He always sounds like that when he's talking with me." Joker chuckled, checking their coarse and making a few slight adjustments.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Alenko laughed, pushing himself from the reclined chair and standing next to Shepard.

Shepard provided his own laugh, "I shutter to think what he's like when he's _really_ pissed...oh wait...I've seen it and it's not pretty." both Shepard and Alenko laughed at the quip.

"Burnt food not pretty? Or Thresher Maws eating...oooooo." Joker started to say, completely unaware that the sole survivor of one such attack was standing behind him and he immediately shut his mouth before it got him into trouble.

Shepard's humor instantly vanished and his face nearly completely drained of any emotion and blood, causing his skin to pale as his brain finished the pilot's comment for him. His heart pounded in his chest, his breathe caught in his strong throat and his palms clammed up. He had to force his body not to react by smacking the pilot upside the head or all out beating his ass into submission for being so God dammed insensitive about the brave men whom had died right in front of him. Instead, Shepard turned on his heel and simply marched down the CIC, leaving the two men to themselves once more and one, was pissed.

"Lieutenant! What the fuck is wrong with you?" Alenko yelped, slamming the button down on the bulkhead and closing the bridge door to allow him privacy to chastise the pilot.

"What! I didn't say it! I closed my mouth!" Joker defended, turning his head around to look at the fuming man standing behind him.

"That's your only saving grace Lieutenant. Otherwise, I would have just stood by and watched as the Commander tore you a new one." Alenko snarled, lowering his voice back down to a normal level now that they were inside a enclosed space.

"Well, he wouldn't have had to work at it long. I'm fragile." Joker grunted and drew his brows together into a hard line at his reference to his disability.

"Watch what you say in the future about Akuze Lieutenant. The Commander's still recovering from it despite it being six years ago." Alenko warned, crossing his rather thick, muscular arms over his broad chest.

Joker nodded curtly, "How do you know the Commander so well?" he asked, dropping a portion of his snide attitude to get to know other Lieutenant since they were now stationed together.

"We went to Sentinel Training together. I was initially a class ahead of him but he was a fast learner and got bumped up into my class." Alenko said, his temper calming down a bit as he felt the slight thump in the back of his head. _Great. I don't need one of those right now. _He thought with a muffle groan.

"Got it. Brothers in arms kinda thing." Joker said as he went back to his work of piloting the ship and found a comm buoy nearby to link in to.

Shepard took a moment, standing outside the Briefing Room door to center himself before walking in. The pilot's near miss had rocked him to his core but at the same time, he knew that the pilot most likely was like all the others who weren't there. _Of course there aren't any others who knew what it was like you idiot. You're the only one. It was six years ago man. You gotta put it behind you and move on. _He growled to himself as he drew in a long, steady breathe and walked inside.

The ramp smoothly descended down before it hit a round deck with a few chairs that rested along the outer edge of the circle. The bulkheads twinkled with system lights and their metal gleamed under the soft, somewhat blue lighting, casting the space into a calm that he found refreshing considering his frame of mind as he entered and it helped him to calm down. Standing in front of the FTL comm podiums, stood the tall, slender figure of the Turian Spectre, his arms crossed and facing away from him as he stared the powered down holoscreen projectors.

"Where's the Captain?" Shepard asked as he approached the alien.

"Ah, Shepard. I'm glad you're here. It's give us a moment to talk." Nihlus said, turning his head to the side and looking at Shepard out of the corner of his eye.

"Talk about what?" Shepard questioned, feeling the mood in the room slightly tense up at the Turian's tone.

"About you Shepard. This is a big step for such a fledgling race whom has just found their footing in the Traverse." Nihlus said as he turned to face the smaller Human, his thick, scaly brow plates shifting down slightly as he studied the Commander.

Shepard regarded the alien for a moment, wondering what he was trying to get at, "What exactly, is that supposed to mean Spectre?" he asked a little snidely, most likely due to his agitated emotions from the near comment.

"Is Humanity aware of just how dangerous the Traverse can be?" Nihlus asked, finally uncrossing his arms and letting them fall to his sides.

"Is that a threat?"

The tension within the room was broken by the hiss of the door as Captain Anderson walked in, his dark face set with a determination that Shepard had seen before. The Captain walked up between them, sensing that things were getting rather heated and allowed the corner's of his lips to curl up ever so slightly as each took a step back.

"I think it's time we tell the Commander what's really going on." Anderson said, efficiently breaking up the fiery tension.

"So there _is_ something else going on here that I don't about."

"Yes there is Commander. This is far from a just shakedown run. You know we're headed to Eden Prime, but it's not just to see how the _Normandy_ performs. There is a group of archeologists there that uncovered a Prothean Beacon, and they needed the _Normandy's_ stealth systems to transport it to the Citadel." Captain Anderson explained without going into too much detail, opting instead to just get straight to the point.

"A Prothean Beacon?" Shepard quietly gasped as the information.

Anderson nodded, "Yes. We don't have the knowledge to handle such a find so we need the Citadel races who know more about them to help us out. The last time Humanity found something like this, it rocketed our technology two hundred years. We needed this as a peace offering to get more of a political foothold as the Ambassador puts it." he nearly spat his reference to Humanity's Ambassador to the Counsel.

"Understood sir."

"That's not all Commander. Nihlus isn't just along for the ride...he's here to evaluate you for the Spectres." Anderson added, watching the Commander's reaction as his whole body stiffened.

"What? Why would the Counsel want an emotionally scared Human as a Spectre?" Shepard asked, his voice rumbling with shock.

As soon as Anderson was about to answer, the comm over their heads beeped and Joker's voice came through, the obvious worry not lost on the three as he spoke.

_"Captain, we have a transmission coming in from Eden Prime. You need to see this."_ Joker's voice said with a subtle shakiness that told them that this wasn't going to be good.

"Put it on the screen Joker."

The large holoscreen immediately flickered to life and displayed a clip that made their hearts stop thumping in their chests and the blood to drain from their face. The noise from the transmission filled the Briefing Room completely as bullets whisked across the screen and Marines fired back at an unseen enemy, the all too familiar barking of their assault rifles flooding Shepard's ears and reminded all too well of the events of six years ago. The quick flash of something white and the orders from a female's voice filtered through, instantly snapping Shepard out of his internal beating as she ordered a Marine to hit the deck and fired her rifle with the best of them. The noise grew exponentially as an ultra deep, metallic groaning blasted through the speakers and applied pressure to his ears that made him slightly wince. The camera panned over and displayed thick, red tinted clouds, streaked with long lines of enemy fire and overlapped an immense object as it descended through the thick blanket of clouds. Shepard angrily glared at the massive...was it a ship?...He wasn't sure what it was but he continued to glare as he came down, strongly resembling the hand of God.

"Commander...Go get suited up and take Alenko and Jenkins with you. You're hitting ground side the second we get to Eden Prime."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: More Shit to Do

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect!)_

**-Year: 2011-**

The first few of days for Lycan were pretty uneventful. After class, the only things that Becky was making her do was keep the grounds looking pristine which was something she was no slouch at. She enjoyed her alone time as she would mow the lawn, ipod going, in the sunshine and cool breeze as it filtered through her long wavy brown hair that hung to her shoulder blades which she soon found out, was something else that Becky detested about her. Lycan used her 'chores' as she came to call them as a way of escaping the incredulous glares and snarls from the blonde, taking great pride in the flowers as they bloomed, making sure the shrubs all had their branches in order and that the lawn was green. She had taken a quick trip to the nursery and had picked up some seeding formula to fill in the browned spots under the enormous tree that dominated the front yard and smiled as they had rather quickly began to turn it green once again. She found herself hanging out more and more with Kristy, if at all just to escape from Becky's slave driving and in fact, Kristy had asked her to show her her favorite game when she had the time. Lycan had begun a new game and played while Kristy watched, usually with a bowl of popcorn happily seated in her lap like she was watching an ongoing movie.

Now, the week was almost nearly over and hopefully, she would be fully accepted as a member of the Alpha Mem Gamma sorority house by Friday when the college dean made his rounds to determine the winner of the best kept grounds, which she was pretty sure, they would win. She shut off the lawn mower and rolled it back into the shed she had reorganized, to put it away and grab a rake so she could mop up the grass shavings when she felt a tap on her shoulder which caused her to yelp in surprise, only to find that it was Kristy.

She pulled out an earpiece and let it drape limply over her shoulder, "Hey Kristy. How are you?" Lycan asked, her soft lips curling into a lopsided smile.

"Oh my God Lycan! You have got to hear the latest juice from around campus!" Kristy yelped, jumping up and down while clapping her hands like a child who had just found out that they were going to DisneyWorld.

Lycan's head followed the bouncing girl and laughed, "Ok, ok. Let me hear it."

"People have been talking about how good the house has been looking and the dean has taken notice! I hear he's already talking about giving us the award for the best kept grounds! And it's all because of you!" she cheered, wrapping her arms around Lycan's shoulders in excitement.

"Seriously?" Lycan asked, just trying to keep her balance before she fell into the weed whacker.

"Yes! Oh my God! We haven't had that award since Becky pledged! This is gonna piss her off even more!" Kristy laughed as she relinquished her grasp around Lycan.

"Great. I shutter to think what she's gonna cook up next for me to do." Lycan scoffed, not really worried about it as she always made the best of things.

"Who knows. You've already got all the other signatures, mainly because none of the other girls really care but still, you only need mine and Becky's to finish," her train of thought instantly shifted, "Oh! Oh! I can't wait till you start playing your game again! I wanna watch more of that dreamy Kaidan." Kristy chuckled like a little school girl, accompanied with another little bounce.

Lycan chuckled quietly to herself at her friend's enthusiasm, "I'm glad you're enjoying watching me play but you're gonna be really upset come Virmire." she said, dangling the carrot in front of the hungry rabbit.

"What? Why?" Kristy asked, her smile fading but instantly returning across her lightly painted lips.

"You'll see." was all Lycan said as she took her rake in hand and walked from the shed with Kristy in tow.

"Oh come on! Don't leave me hanging! Come on, you can tell me!" Kristy pleaded, her hands clasped together as she trotted after Lycan.

"Nope! You're just gonna have to wait and see with that bowl of popcorn you love so much." Lycan snickered as she headed for the nearest part of the lawn to begin raking.

"You're so mean! Ok, fine. Have it your way. Are you going to at least play tonight?" Kristy asked, continuing her bouncing as she spun in the sunlight and basked in it's comforting warmth.

"I might. I've got some homework I've gotta get done for class. We'll see what happens ok?" Lycan answered as she piled the grass clippings into separate piles to be picked up after she was done.

"Oh! That reminds me! I have this crazy project I was hoping you could help me out with." Kristy yelped as she followed Lycan around the yard.

"Uh oh. Why do I have a feeling that you're gonna ask me to model?"

"Because I am."

Lycan groaned and rested her forehead against the rake's handle, her eyes closed and her lips slightly turned up as she slowly shook her head, "Kristy..." she mumbled.

"It'll be fine you big crybaby. It's just a costume piece I have to make and I let another friend borrow my mannequin. I'll sign off on your pledge sheet." Kristy chortled and dangled her own carrot.

Lycan's eyes went wide at the mention of getting another signature. She watched Kristy's amused face out of the corner of her milk chocolate eyes, seeing that she was beaming with a shit eating grin that made her laugh, no matter how much she tried to keep it reigned in. She lifted her head from the rake and glared at the blonde, slightly gnawing on her bottom lip as she fought with herself. _Get another signature for the sake of being used as a pincushion with a heart beat? Or endure more of this ongoing yard work until the end of the week. Gee, hard decision. _She thought to herself with a defeated sigh.

"Ok fine. I'll help, but...You gotta help me finish up here so I can have a chunk of time to work on my project." Lycan said, pleased that she had turned the tables so easily.

"Oh you're good. Is there another rake in the shed?"

"Yup. Back in the corner behind the weed whacker."

The blonde bounded off to go retrieve her own rake while Lycan continued, leaving one of her ear pieces out of her ear knowing full well that Kristy was going to start talking the second she got back and sure enough, the chipper voice came hollering back from the shed. The two girls laughed and joked while they worked and happened to make short work of the large lawn. They placed their rakes back into their places and picked up a couple of large black trash bags to stuff the clippings into. Lycan handed Kristy the bags as she slipped on a pair of gardening gloves to prevent her hands from getting dyed green from shoveling the piles into the bags. Before long, they were done and tossed the bags into the large dumpster around the corner before they headed back into the house to start on their work. Lycan pulled her laptop and tablet and sat on Kristy's bed while she worked with the 3D modeling program she was still getting used to and Kristy gathered her half stitched garments and laid them out on a desk she had set up in her room to work on some of the less intensive stitching she didn't need a model for.

After some time, Lycan put away her laptop and sighed, flopping down on Kristy's bed as the back of her eyes thumped from focusing so intently on her screen which had brighter then she would have liked and didn't even bother to adjust it. She rolled herself from the bed and figured it was time that she made good on her promise to help her friend with her costume and stood on a small stool, arms wide as she slipped the dress over her head and fiddled with it's hems.

Hours later, Lycan's arms were numb, her legs ached and she had been poked by more pins then she cared to admit. She glanced down at the renaissance fair styled dress that had rather elegantly come together under Kristy's deft hands and talent. She let her arms drop to her sides, sighing with relief as her blood flooded back into the limbs and provided them with not only it's warmth, but feeling once again.

"I'm sorry this took so long. Thanks for being so patient Lycan." Kristy apologized as she placed her last pin and carefully, slipped the dress up and over Lycan's head.

The living mannequin sighed once more, "It's alright. I'm gonna head back to my room and go to bed I think. I'm tuckered." she said with a light huff as she stepped down from the small stool.

"Are you sure? You haven't eaten anything." Kristy asked, her bright blue eyes filled with concern.

"Yeah. Don't worry about me. If I get hungry I'll just raid Becky's not so secret stash." Lycan chuckled as she gathered her laptop and tablet and left the room.

She reached for the door and opened it, only to stop dead in her tracks as the sneering face of a very angry looking Becky stood in front of her, arms crossed again over her nearly flat chest and even going as far as tapping her foot against the plush carpet.

"There you are pledge rat. I've been looking for you for hours." Becky seethed, glaring up slightly at her taller opponent.

"It took you this long to find me? You must have not been looking really hard. The house isn't that big you know." Lycan snorted as she pushed her way passed the smaller young woman.

"You're never going to be a sorority sister with that attitude. I'm gonna have to come up with some really awesome for you do to get my signature," Becky laughed as she turned to watch Lycan walk down the hallway without even acknowledging her threat, "You'll see! It's gonna be great! Everyone's gonna love it!" she laughed.

"Becky, knock it off. Can't you just face it that she's gonna be in the house? You can't keep all the large breasted women out just because you can't afford to buy yours." Kristy snapped at the other blonde as she put away her costume project.

"It's not that Kristy. Sure, I wish I had her rack but I gotta make her work for _my_ signature. She's the only one pledging and I don't wanna just give it to her." Becky retorted with a slight snort as the door to Lycan's room closed down the hall.

"Jesus Becky...You gotta lighten up. What possibly are you gonna make her do that she isn't just gonna say 'Yes Ma'am' to and get it done without so much as a second thought?" Kristy asked, standing straight and placing her hands on her hips.

"I was thinking something to do with that lake up towards the moutains. The one by that abandoned factory." Becky smirked as she gave Kristy a side long glare.

"It's an old military base and that place is beyond off limits. You know that. We could all get arrested for going up there."

"Precisely. Should be fun. I'll think of something for our little pledge rat to do that'll be entertaining for the rest of us. Have a good night Kristy." Becky said snidely as she flicked a weak wave goodbye and headed for her room.

Kristy sighed, more then a little worried that Becky would even consider taking Lycan up to the lake. Stories have floated around the entire campus about the lake. How people have gone missing, most of which were presumed drowned in the black depths and the strange electrical storms would knock out the power on campus for days on end. Kristy had heard, for all intensive purposes, ghost stories of how the military was using the lake as some kind of testing facility, or even as a housing for some crazy aquatic super secret weapon. Kristy always laughed at those stories, knowing full well that people's imaginations were getting away from them, probably from watching way too many campy creature features.

Kristy silently wished Lycan a good night before she slipped her pants and shirt off and into a tank top for bed, pulling her plushy covers all the way up to her chin and snuggling down with her teddy before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

It was finally Friday, the sun was shining high in the bright blue sky without so much as a wispy cloud to muddy things up. Lycan sat in a lawn chair, reading her book as the sipped down on her glass of tea, waiting for the dean to arrive and check out her handy work. The grass was a luscious hunter green, the multitude of flowers in every color bloomed across the grounds of Alpha Mem Gamma and frankly, made the place look like an exploded bag of Skittles if you asked Lycan. The shrubs were carved into their shapes to help accent the slope of the lawn and the edges of the property, giving the mansion a perfectly manicured and awfully suburban facade.

A rather nice, freshly washed Mercedes pulled up and parked in front of the curb for the house, the sunlight sparkling off it's high gloss finished and making Lycan squint, even through her sunglasses. The door opened, allowing a rather aged man in a custom tailored business suit to step out and shut his door with barely an audible click from the luxury sedan. Lycan placed her bookmark and stood from her chair to greet the man, knowing full well that he was a man of importance, and the one who was going to admire her handy work.

"Ah...Ms. Dareden. I've heard quite the ranting and raving from your work. I see it was well earned. This place looks fantastic." the man complimented as he carefully walked onto the plush lawn and extending his hand in greeting.

"Thank you sir. It was nothing really. I did a lot of grounds keeping while I was enlisted." Lycan said with a smile across her lips, giving the man's hand rather firm shake.

"And humble I see. I hear that this was your pledging project. I have to admit, I'm impressed. I'm sure all the ladies in the house are looking forward to having you as a sorority sister."

Lycan nervously rubbed the back of her neck, "Yeah. I hope so. Shall I show you around sir?" she offered, motion with an extended arm for him to lead the way for his tour.

The aged man nodded and started on his walk to see the rest of the 'AMG Gardens' as they have affectionately come to be called by the rest of campus. Lycan showed him the large tree which she had left relatively untouched, say for the lovely little ring of flowers that enjoyed basking in the shade, instead of the sunlight. She showed him the neatly kept pool area, the lawn chairs power washed and gleaming white, the crystal clear water shimmering under the sun and the deck that wrapped around it had been cleaned from it's rather thick caking of age. Soon, they were joined by the very woman whom had given Lycan the task to pretty up the grounds and was greeted by the aged man.

"Rebecca. It seems that your pledge here has outdone even your groundskeeping when you were pledging." the man said with a small smile, meaning nothing rude by his comment, but unfortunately, his seemingly harmless words were lost on the blonde.

"It would seem so." was all she said as she quickly shook his hand and let it fall weakly against her side.

"Well, I think I've seen enough Ms. Dareden. I'm more then happy to say that these are the best kept grounds on campus. Congratulations." he said with another soft smile as he handed her a plague and shook her hand.

Lycan beamed as she accepted the reward, "Thank you sir. Truly, I mean it." she said, shooting Becky a sidelong victory grin which made her scowl back.

Lycan walked the dean back to his car and waved him off, standing a moment as she watched the black car drive off into the distance before she turned, smile in place, to head back into the house, finding that Becky was standing by the door with her arms crossed again. _Does that woman have any other poses? God, it's like dealing with a real life Zoolander. She really needs to get over having small boobs. _She thought, trying to hide her smirk of amusement.

A distance crack of thunder echoed through the sky from a thick blackening of swirling clouds that outlined the snow covered mountains. The two young woman looked, brows pulled down as they watched the black creep over their obstacle and swoop down like cold syrup from it's bottle. Lycan turned with a slight shrug, saddened that the beautiful sunny day was soon going to turn into a Hollywood cliché of a dark and stormy night. She reached the porch and went to walk around Becky when the blonde turned and whispered into her ear.

"I just figured out what I'm gonna have you do to earn my signature. Be ready tomorrow night at midnight." she said with a low, rather evil sounding chuckle that was obviously for effect as she left Lycan standing on the porch, wondering what it could possibly be.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Eden Prime

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! Thank you to my Beta Herr Wozzeck for lending their keen eyes!)_

**-Year: 2183-**

The sky of Eden Prime was a bloody and sickening red. The air smelled like charred flesh and the ground smoldered under the heat of weapons fire beneath their armored feet. The ground was littered with the corpses of innocent colonists, each one faceless as the three Marines slowly stepped by. Shepard found it difficult to look at them as the memory of loosing everything when he was sixteen was still fresh in his mind. It may have been a long forgotten scar, but it was one that never truly healed and it had begun to sting with each step as he saw the prefabs burning, but most were already burnt, along with the bodies. The ship had dropped them off in a small clearing near the water as the distant cracks of rifles echoed all around them like they were inside a long canyon. The deep rasp of one of Shepard's team, along with a gasp crackled through his comm, providing a momentary reprieve from his memories from inside his helmet as they passed the blackened remains of a lost soul.

"My God...What happened here?" Jenkins breathed, staring at what was left of his childhood home.

"It smells like...burnt flesh...and death. It's giving me a headache." Alenko said, feeling the heavy tang of bile claw up his throat from the assault to his sinuses.

"You'll get used to it after awhile. Still doesn't make it any easier though." Shepard said, scanning the area with his pistol drawn and at the ready.

"This is something I'll never get used to Shepard. I just wish we could have gotten here sooner." Alenko said, setting his saddened eyes onto a corpse of what he thought, used to be a woman.

"Don't we all. Keep sharp."

They crowned a small hill, glaring down the slope as the sight of floating blobs drifted by their sights. They were bulbous, somewhat grotesque looking creatures with frail tendrils hanging down beneath them and a small nub that served as it's head. Shepard heard the yelp of shock from behind him as Lieutenant Alenko stared at the strange creatures.

"What the Hell are those things!" he gasped, his honey colored eyes displaying his uncertainty of whether they were friend or foe.

Corporal Jenkins opened is mouth to reply when the sudden bark of a pistol shot startled them both which was immediately followed by the puffing pop as one of the floating blobs exploded in a green cloud that whisked away in the sea breeze. He looked over towards the Commander and saw the gentle fluttering of white smoke as it drifted up from the end of his barrel, his eyes displaying the slight smile over his covered lips.

"Easy to kill." Shepard said as he took a step forward towards the long pond of green and mucky water.

"They're gasbags and they're harmless. They won't bother us. Hell, I don't remember ever seeing them do anything other them float when I was growing up." Jenkins said as he did his best to hide the shock at the Commander's shoot first, ask questions later display.

"I probably should have asked that before I pulled the trigger huh?" Shepard asked with a sheepish grin as he noticed another slope that banked down to their left.

"Might have been a good idea. The Corporal's from here Commander if you didn't know." Alenko said as he covered Shepard's right flank.

"Oh yeah...I forgot...Well, it was kinda fun to shoot anyways." he replied, seeing a collection of tall rocks appear out from behind a bend in the slope.

"I'm sure it was Commander."

Shepard placed a gloved finger to his lips to quiet his squad as he took a knee and scanned the coastline, as well as the formation of rocks that he could see. It was a place that made his stomach twist with nerves, thinking it to be a prime location for a devastating ambush from their unknown enemy. He crawled to the edge of the rocky wall and quickly peered around the corner, finding that the path was littered with more rocks and each one could be used as cover which helped to ease his nerves. He silently motioned to Jenkins, giving him the signal to take point and keenly watched as the young Marine raised his rifle and stepped out from behind the rock wall, just as he was trained for.

Shepard peered around the corner once more before darting to a tall boulder for cover as he scanned down the long path, keeping his eyes peeled for any hostiles and giving him a prime position to lay down cover fire for Jenkins, should he need it. All was silent as Jenkins moved forward, one step at a time when a whirring hum of something closing in caught their ears, too low for Shepard to be certain that he had heard anything at all as he continued scanning down range. Jenkins took cover for a moment to scan for hostiles, seeing nothing and stepped back out, rifle still at the ready and took a step further which quickly became his last.

A trio of hovering, rounded drones emerged from the far end of the pathway and closed the distance with lightning fast speed, firing their plasma guns as fast as their systems would allow. Jenkins had no time to react as each, super heated shot punched through his kinetic barriers and smashed into his armor, melting the thick layer and his flesh along with it. The pain from the wounds ripped through him like no other pain he had ever experienced. His body shook with each impact, each one taking him closer to collapse as his grip on his rifle weakened, finally slipping from his fingers and clattering to the ground to be shortly followed by the young man whom it had belonged to.

"Jenkins!" Shepard yelped as he fired a couple rounds down range towards the drones, "Alenko! On my mark. You Overload the right one, I'll Overload the left one!" he ordered, bringing up his Omni-Tool to prepare his strike.

Alenko nodded as he did the same, his left arm lighting up with the orange interface as he waited for Shepard to give the go ahead to begin their offensive.

"Mark!" Shepard barked, both leaning out simultaneously as they sent the electronic pulse sailing towards their targets.

Two of the three drones ceased firing and began to spark and shutter, sending tiny flicks of lightning into the air that shown bright blue against the dark red backdrop. The two Marines brought up their pistols and fired multiple shots, each slamming straight into the sparking drones and exploding into tiny bits of singed debris. Alenko brought up his Omni-Tool once more and silenced the last drone, the metallic casing shimmering red with heat and overloading it's weapon so it couldn't fire. Without it's gun, the drone just hovered there like an awaiting target at a shooting range as it caught each shot from the Humans still cowered behind the rocks. Soon, the drone had taken too much damage from the organics and exploded, just like it's partners and rained to the ground to lay in a sparking pile of useless junk.

Their pistols hushed, bathing the scene around them in relative silence with only the distance thundering of rifles as company. Alenko holstered his weapon, strapping it to his hip as he slipped out from behind his cover and ran to the limp body still laying in the charred grass, with Shepard close behind him as he skidded to a halt and dropped to his knee.

"Please tell me he still has a pulse Lieutenant." Shepard said as he stood, watching as Alenko examined their fallen comrade.

Alenko carefully looked into Jenkins's still open eyes, their pale blue clouding over as he saw that there was no life left. He looked at the burns that peppered his chest, the scorched marks puncturing through his hardsuit and exposing the burnt flesh underneath. He checked the young Marine's pulse out of habit and in hopes that maybe, just maybe there was something there but he only found that there was nothing. With a gentle glide of his hand, he closed the young Marine's eyes and with his other, pulled the dog tags from his lifeless body and put them into a pouch on his belt, slowly shaking his head.

"I'm sorry...He didn't stand a chance Commander. Those plasma shots ripped right through his shields." Alenko stated, his voice unable to hide is sadness that such a young Marine whom had so much potential, was gunned down, no more then a click from his home.

Shepard just stood and stared at the Corporal, a sight he had seen many times before in his military career, but one he never had gotten used to. He closed his eyes and quietly said a small prayer, one he had recited six years ago during the Thresher Maw attack. He had grown up in the colonies without much in the way of religion, never going to church on Sunday's, never having to say his prayers before a meal or when he went to bed. He had disowned any sort of higher power when his family was killed in the slaver attack on Mindoir and it wasn't until Akuze, face to face with a nest of Thresher Maw's, that he had said a prayer for his death to be swift, or for his life to be spared. He received the latter.

"We'll come back and get him Lieutenant. We won't leave him here as long as there's a body for us to take back. You gotta keep a level head though. We both do." Shepard said quietly as he shook his head, readying himself to push forward with their mission.

"Don't worry sir, I'll be fine. Are you gonna be alright though? I know this is probably insighting some pretty bad memories for you." Alenko said, studying Shepard's body language for any tell tale signs that he was struggling within himself.

"Can't escape them when your job requires you to look death in the face, nearly on a daily basis. I'll never get used to it. No matter how much of it I see."

"None of us ever do and the ones that it doesn't bother, lost their Humanity somewhere." Alenko reassured with a half smile adorning his lips.

"Thanks Kaidan. It helps. Let keep moving."

The two men drew their weapons once again after they pulled Jenkins's body off to the side and continued on their way, encountering more gas bags and drones once they had hit the trees. They quickly dispatched the drones the same way they had with ones before and went to crown another small hill when the sound of more barking plasma guns came echoing through the ravine. They both dropped to prone and commando crawled to the crest, peering over and watching as a figure in white came running towards them, closely followed by two more drones. Shepard watched as the figure in white began to take on the slender figure of a woman, her shields sparking blue as they absorbed a single shot. He sighted down his pistol, take a long breathe and prepared to pull the trigger when the bark of another pistol rang through the air, the drones erupting into a hail of debris. He refocused and say the woman on her back with pistol in hand as she scrambled to her feet and darted behind a large boulder where she pulled her assault rifle, ready to fight to the death.

A flash of light caught the men's eyes on the far end of the clearing. _What the Hell is that? Some kind of new armor or something? _Shepard thought, his brows furrowing hard as he saw two rifles come to point in their direction.

"Shit! Fire!" he barked as both their pistols exploded with a hail of gunfire, sending bullet after bullet into the armored men, or what Shepard thought was armored men.

The woman leaned out from behind her boulder and joined in, the barking of her assault rifle far louder then their pistols as she littered the enemies with enough Tungsten to make them worth quite a heavy sum at a salvage yard. She folded and put her assault rifle away after the troops had fallen, snapping it onto her back as she looked up to were the other shots had come from, seeing two men jog towards her, one of which, had an N7 emblazoned on his chest with the bright red blood stripe down his right arm.

"You're timing is fantastic sir. Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212." she said between panting breathes, her hands resting on her knees.

"Lieutenant Commander Shepard. Staff Lieutenant Alenko. Are you hurt Chief?" Shepard asked, raking his up and down looking for any obvious signs of injury.

"I'll be fine sir. A few scrapes and burns but I'm a lot tougher then I look."

"What happened to your unit Williams?" Shepard asked, scanning the area incase more of those things decided to show up.

The Chief took a moment to catch her breath some more before answering the superior officer, "Dead sir. We were ambushed. It didn't take long for the Geth to take everyone out." she said, forcing herself to keep a handle on things while still in a hot zone.

"Geth? Are you sure? They haven't been seen passed the Veil in 200 years." Alenko said as he pointed the barrel of his pistol towards the corpse of one such machine.

"Yes sir. After we were attacked," her breath hitched, "I was the only one left, so I've been running for my life ever since." her throat tightened a little but she couldn't loose her grip, she had to stay focused on helping however she could, if at all for her unit's sake.

Shepard knew having to run for his life all too well, "You did what you had to do Chief. We're here for the Prothean Beacon. You know anything about it?"

"Just that it was dug up not too long ago sir. I ran passed the dig site just over there and it was gone. I'm not sure who moved it." Williams reported, pointing back down the clearing towards another collection of boulders.

"Could be by our side, or the Geth. Have you seen a Turian come by here at all?" Shepard asked with another quick scan of the immediate area.

"Turian? No sir. Just a lot of bodies and even more Geth."

"Understood. You mind coming with us Chief? We could use the help." Shepard asked, taking a step passed the woman towards the direction she had indicated.

"Absolutely sir. Time to get some payback."

With that said, she pulled her assault rifle once more and followed the two other Marines towards the dig site where they encountered more Geth, whom were easily dispatched by rifle rounds, a pair well placed Overloads from the twin Sentinels, and a lovely Throw from Alenko that sent one of the Geth crashing onto a rock with a loud crash which Williams missed entirely as she dispatched one of her own Geth. Shepard's comm crackled to life, filling his helmet with the the double toned timbre of Nihlus as he was scouted ahead.

"There's a lot of dead bodies around here Shepard. I'm gonna go check out the spaceport. I'll let you know if I find anything" he said, somewhat quieter then usual, indicating to Shepard that he was probably closing in on some hostiles.

Shepard didn't even respond as he lead his squad up a steep hill, the crest of which glowing with firelight and warmth as they drew closer. They crowned the hill, all three scanning the area ablaze with fires and debris from recent battle. Shepard looked towards the far end, seeing tall, metallic spikes adorned with the withered bodies of what looked to be Humans, or what was left of them.

"My God! Look at them! What did the Geth do?" Williams exclaimed, unable to tear her eyes away from the impaled corpses, fearing that they could have been her friends and fellow soldiers at some point.

"I'm not...Jesus Christ! They're still alive!" Alenko yelped, the bodies beginning to twitch as the spikes lowered them to the ground, allowing them to stand, somehow under their own power despite the gapping holes in their torsos.

"I've never seen anything like that before. What kind of tech is that?" Shepard asked, not expecting an answer from his squad mates as they were asking the same question.

The withered Humanoids looked towards them, their eyes not really eyes any longer, but round and glowing orbs that pierced through their souls. One let out a terrifying shriek as it raised it's arms and began running towards them, closely followed by the other. Shepard didn't wait to find out if they were friendly or not, instead, rapidly pulled the trigger and sent round after round into the creature. Alenko and Williams immediately followed suit with their own short bursts from their weapons, together, making short work of their enemies and watching as they slumped to the ground in a hail of sparks and shrieks.

Williams carefully walked up to a body, "What are they?" she asked, nervously kicking one of the machine like corpses to ensure that it was indeed dead.

Alenko slowly shook his head as he studied the bodies, "What's left of the colonists by the looks of it. They're just husks now. Mindless husks." he said as he scrunched his nose from the sharp tang of fire smoke.

"Perhaps it's better we ended it then. They didn't deserve this. No body deserves this." Shepard said, his voice a near snarl as he began proceeding towards a pair of singed prefab buildings, one of which was locked.

"Look. The security lock's been engaged from the inside. Maybe they're survivors?" Williams said as she followed Shepard and Alenko.

"Could be. Let's check it out."

Shepard slipped his pistol back onto his hip as he brought up his Omni-Tool to begin decrypting the lock. The slight shuffling from something inside tickled his ears, causing him to signal Alenko and Williams to take up positions on either side of him as cover when the door whooshed open, just in case they weren't survivors. The door hissed up and they all quickly scanned the small space, seeing a shaking woman cowering towards the back of the building, next to a mumbling man whom was rocking back and forth with his knees to his chest.

"By the Maker! Your Marines! We thought you could be more of those machines!" the woman praised with heavy sighs of relief.

"They are here to bring about the prophecy of our doom! Our time has come!" the ramlbing man screamed, continuing his rocking.

Shepard popped an eyebrow, "What's wrong with him?"

"Manuel is a brilliant man...it's just...he's a little unstable. I gave him some meds a short time ago. They'll kick in and help calm him down." the woman said with a slight cringe.

"Do what you have to do to keep him quiet. You don't want him alerting the enemy to your location if there is any that are still around here. Have you seen a Prothean Beacon come by here?" Shepard asked, glancing over at Williams to take a post by the door...just in case.

"No. We've been hiding in here since the attack." she answered quickly with an obvious shake in her voice.

"How about a Turian?"

"I saw him! He was here before the attack! He is the Harbinger of our doom! He lead the machines! He is the prophet to our end!" Manuel screamed as he grasped his head with his hands.

"What? That can't be right. Nihlus was with us on the ship. There's no way he was here." Alenko said, furrowing his brows hard as he glanced over towards Shepard.

"Stay in here and lock that door once we leave. You should be safe." he ordered as he turned and left the building, closely followed by Williams and Alenko.

They drew their weapons began to adnace when a single, loud crack from a distant gun reverberated off the rock formations and caused the three to take cover, all searching for the source of the shot. After a moment that was filled with a tense silence, they stood and rounded the bend, stopping dead in their tracks as their eyes laid upon a gargantuan ship that had begun to rise into the sky, shaking the ground beneath it and emanating a sound that wrapped itself around their heads and squeezed, making them cringe.

"Holy Shit! Look at the size of that thing!" Williams exclaimed, watching the massive shit rise higher and higher into the blood red sky.

"That's the biggest ship I've ever seen!" Alenko yelped through the grinding sound.

Shepard's stunned blue eyes dropped at the slight movement down behind the crackling flames, settling on more of the mindless beings from before begin to make their move, "More husks!" he warned as he dropped to his knee and began firing.

Williams unleashed a spread of Tungsten slugs, unaware that Alenko had begun to radiate with dark energy as he raised a hand and Lifted one of the husks into the air. The floating body caught her attention as she glanced over at the Lieutenant, one dark brow popped up as she examined the bright blue aura that enveloped him. Another quick flash of blue caught her eye from another direction as she saw a husk fly back and slam into a boulder to collapse to the ground where it stayed.

"Your Biotics?" she asked, trying to hide her slight shock in her voice.

"Is that a problem Chief?" Shepard asked with a smirk, reigning his aura in as he continued to fire his weapon.

"No sir. I've just never served with one. Let alone two." she backtracked, mentally cringing at herself for not doing a better job at sounding less judgmental.

"That's Understandable. Let's clean up the rest of this trash."

They quickly dispatched the last few husks and the lone Geth back by the platform by simultaneously hitting it an Overload from Alenko, a Sabotage from Shepard and topped off with a short burst of rifle fire to the head from Williams which earned her a grin from both men.

"Nice shooting Chief. You see that beacon down there at all?" Shepard asked, motioning with his pistol down the hill that opened up into the outskirts of the spaceport.

Williams smiled and peered through the scope of her assault rifle to scan the area, sadly, not seeing the object in question, "Sorry sir. It must have been taken to the main part of the spaceport. There's a tram just over there we can take."

"Lead on Williams. You know the layout better then we do." Shepard ordered with a quick jerk of his head for her to take point.

She nodded and headed down the slope, dodging the machined corpses and small fires with each step. Her memories of seeing her unit gunned down so quickly was brutally stemmed in her mind as even here, she could still smell the tinge of burning flesh. It hung thick in the air, the soot from the fires giving the air a foggy haze that blurred her vision from discerning any real detail from the area around her. She forced herself to push aside the plaguing memories so she could deal with them later as she stepped up to a short ramp, only to stop once she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked at the hand, her dark eyes following it's arm to find it belonged to Lieutenant Alenko.

"Shepard...It's Nihlus." he said as he stepped passed her and walked up to the body, laying in a pool of dark blue blood to check for any signs of life, again...finding none, which is what he suspected.

"Dammit. This was supposed to be a simple pick up. What the Hell is going on here?" Shepard sneered, hearing a faint rustling nearby, but was unsure if it was the fires, or the...

He swiftly pulled his pistol and aimed it towards a stacking of crates as a man stepped out from behind them, his arms raised and his voice shaky.

"Please! Don't shoot! I'm not armed!" he pleaded, closing his eyes and silently praying that he would not soon feel the searing heat of a bullet tear through him.

"Ballsy...Sneaking up on us like that almost got you shot. Who are you?" Shepard growled, his steady hand never wavering from it's position.

"Name's Powell. Are you guys with the Alliance?" the shaking man asked, his eyes shifting rapidly from side to side.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. What happened to him? If you know anything." he asked, motioning with his head towards Nihlus's dead body.

"T-the other Turian shot him...I-I think they knew each other. That one c-called him Saren...I think. He let his guard down and the other one shot him right in the head!" he answered, still obviously shaken by everything going on around him.

"Shepard...That's the second person who's mentioned a second Turian." Alenko said quietly.

"I wasn't putting much weight onto what that mad scientist said, but you're right," he acknowledged before turning to look back at the scared man, "How is it you weren't seen?" he asked, finally lowering his gun.

Powell's shaking increased at the man's question, his eyes lingering a moment on the woman before shifting back and forth between the two men, "I...um...I laid behind the crates to take a nap before the attack hit." he mumbled, now staring at the ground.

"You survived all this because you're a lazy bastard!" Williams snapped, her rather pretty face contorting into an angry snarl.

"At ease Chief. He isn't worth your energy. Save it for whatever is waiting for us down the line." Shepard said, watching her body language as it seemed to relax slightly and it told him, that at least she knew how to follow orders. _I'll have to talk to Anderson about her. We could use her on the crew._

"Aye aye sir. The trams just down there. We can take it to the spaceport."

"The spaceport? Y-you can't go there! That big ship landed there! Everything's probably destroyed!" Powell yelped, dropping his arms to allow them a moment to regain feeling.

"Watch us. Move out!" Shepard barked, readying his pistol as he spun and headed for the tram.

The trio rounded the nearby corner and were nearly hit by a pair of awaiting Geth troops. Alenko's body flared brightly once again as he sent one flying into the wall behind it, giving him the time he needed to throw another Overload and quickly fired a couple shots to finish it off. Shepard went to Sabotage the other's weapon, but didn't have the chance as the Chief's rounds pummeled into it and sent large splatters of white liquid to the ground.

"Nice work Chief." he complimented, not worried about hiding the fact that he was impressed with her proficiency with the weapon in her very capable hands.

Williams stifled her smile at the compliment, "Thank you sir."

Shepard took point and quickly headed down the ramp and saw that the platform that lead to the tram car was guarded by a good sized squad of Geth, and one was a Hell of a lot bigger then all the rest. He skidded on his hip to lean back against a short barrier as cover, seeing Alenko and Williams do the same as a couple shots from the Geth's weapons slammed into their shields. The platform shook as the larger Geth fired powerful shots that nearly knocked them from behind their cover, each having to brace themselves before they fell over and out into the open where they could be killed. Shepard readied his Omni-Tool with the Sabotage he hadn't gotten to use before Williams took down the last Geth and leaned out, watching with a satisfied grin as the large Geth's weapon began to shimmer red and spark, unable to fire.

"That one should be easier to take out now! Alenko! Give it flying lessons!" Shepard ordered as he popped up and fired a few rounds at the other Geth.

Alenko tapped into the bridled power within him and raised his arm into the air, the dark energy surrounding the large Geth and lifting it into the air. Williams, a devilish smirk across her lips, sighted down her assault rifle, targeting the machine and pulled the trigger. The bullets peppered it with large holes and rained down more of the white liquid as the shining eye dimmed and eventually, went dark before it flopped to the deck in a heap of metal and wires.

"Skeet shooting at it's finest Williams. That's the third time you've impressed me today." Shepard said with a crooked grin.

Williams really had no idea how to respond to that, a man whom she had just met and had saved her life was impressed with her. It was something she had fought for for so long, only to be ignored by the Alliance higher ups. She smiled briefly before putting her tough Marine persona firmly back into place.

"I try sir." she replied as she sent another wide spread down range, taking out another Geth in the process.

"Keep trying like that and we might just have a chance at getting out of this alive." a few more barks from his pistol, closely followed by a precision Throw, "Alenko...Move up and close in! Take 'em down!" he ordered.

Shepard and Williams both popped up and laid down a sweeping spread of cover fire as Alenko wrapped himself in a shimmering Biotic Barrier and ran up a few barriers before ducking back behind cover. He leaned out and quickly placed a few, well placed shots into the remaining Geth, cleaning up the last of their targets and allowing them unhindered access to the tram.

"I think it's all clear now Commander." Alenko confirmed as he carefully stood and checked the white painted Geth corpses.

"Get to the tram people. If this Saren guy is still here, then I wanna get to him before he does any more damage." Shepard ordered as he holstered his pistol and jogged to the end of the platform.

His hand quickly floated over the console, activating the tram with a stiff jerk as it detached from it's docking points and whisked down the guide rails. Shepard rested his hands against the railing, not only watching for any signs of more Geth that might lay in wait, but watching as the scenery never changed. The walls were scorched with plasma burns and streaks of blood dripped down from the top, Shepard knowing full well that they lead to more bodies. The wind that billowed passed them was tainted with the same, sickening odor, their sinuses still unable to clear the sting that clawed all the way up and down their throats. The whole scene persisted on reminding Shepard of all the evil he had seen throughout his twenty-nine years.

Alenko walked up next to him and leaned his back against the same railing, studying the Commander's face as he seemed to be just checking out.

"What do you make of all this Commander?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't know...but it's not good. First, the beacon's missing, then that ridiculous ship and now Nihlus is dead supposedly by another Turian?" he slowly shook his head, "The Counsel is gonna be pissed."

"Most likely Shepard but..." he was silenced when the Commander tapped his shoulder, causing him to turn around.

"Heads up. We're approaching the spaceport. Be ready in case we run into some more shit."

The tram slowed as it approached it's adjacent dock, slipping into the berth with another jostle and a loud clank. The squad pulled their pistols and stepped off the tram, immediately scanning for more hostiles which was something they had been running into a lot lately. They headed single file down the ramp, taking immediate cover once more plasma shots were sent their way from another large contingent of Geth.

"Shepard...Is that what I think it is?" Alenko asked, his eyes setting firmly onto a long, cylindrical device laying down at the end of the grated walkway.

Shepard followed the Lieutenant's eyes and found what he was looking at, "You have got to be fucking joking. Williams! You and me lay down cover fire!" he ordered sharply as he opened fire, closely followed by the rapid barking of Williams's assault rifle.

The three sprinted across the grated walkway to the other side of the tramway and slid behind the walls that jutted out from the thick bulkhead. Alenko made for the explosive, hovering his Omni-Tool over the device as he began to defuse it, but something didn't fit. The device was large...sure...but it wasn't big enough to take out more then a good chunk of the tram and half the spaceport.

"Shepard, this isn't big enough to blow the whole colony! There has to be more then just this!" he yelled over the barking of gunfire.

"Then get moving! We don't have a whole lot of time here to find them all!" Shepard screamed, his body aglow with dark power as he Threw a Geth hard over the railing.

Alenko frantically worked, watching the small timer count down and causing his brow under his helmet to glaze with sweet. The deck beneath their feet began to shake once more from the sheer force of more high powered plasma shots, making it increasingly difficult to defuse the large bomb.

Another moment passed and the timer shut off, the whirring whine reached their ears at the device powered down, which was immediately followed by a heavy sigh of relief from it's defuser.

"Got it!" Alenko yelped with a hint of pride.

"Fantastic! Follow behind us as we push up. Pray we find the other bombs."

The trio continued to move forward, blasting their way through more Geth and discovering three more identical devices along the way. Once Alenko disarmed the last explosive, they walked to a railing, taking a moment to examine the sprawling landing zone that smoldered with deep red cracks before heading down a nearby ramp to the main body of the spaceport. Alenko and Shepard's bodies both erupted with their raging dark energy as they both lifted husks into the air with little trouble. Williams's rifle sprang to life as it drowned out the terrible shrieking as they flail about in mid air, unable to do a thing about it. They quickly dispatched the few Geth with carefully timed Overloads, followed by several precisely placed rounds of gunfire which splattered a generous amount of white...blood Shepard guessed, all over the crates and deck. It didn't take long for the three, highly trained and skillful Marines to clear the area of hostiles, allowing them a moment to catch their breath as the colony grew quiet once more.

Shepard, Alenko and Williams glanced around the spaceport, spying the large spire that rested against the edge of the large platform with a slight and misty green aura radiating around it and giving it the appearance of being a ghost.

"Is that it Williams?" Shepard asked, holstering his weapon and preparing to hail the _Normandy_.

"Yes sir, but it wasn't doing anything like that when the scientists dug it up. I'm not sure what it's doing." she answered, slowly taking a step closer the the tall object.

"I'm calling for pick up. Keep your eyes peeled for any more tangos just in case we didn't get them all." he ordered as he raised a hand to his helmet and turned around.

Williams took a few more steps closer, bring her within range of a low hum coming from the beacon which applied a slight pressure to her ears.

"This is amazing. Actual working Prothean technology," she took a step closer, "What's it doing?" she mumbled to herself.

With another step, she felt a strong tug against her body as it began to draw closer to the beacon against her will. She began to struggle against it, finding the pull was far too strong for her to break free on her own.

"Commander!" she yelped as she continued her futile attempt at escape.

Shepard turned at the calling of his rank, seeing the Chief struggling against something unknown to him. He sprinted around Alenko and darted up to her, his gut sinking to his feet when he saw her being lifted into the air by the unknown force. He leapt for her, damned if he was going to lose another soldier on his watch and wrapped his arms around her. With all his strength, he tossed her aside before the unknown force could take hold once more, her body hitting the deck to roll away from the beacon and free from the presumed danger.

The unknown force ensnared Shepard before he could run, the same strong pull dragging him closer to the beacon and lifting him into the air. He heard his name being called as his head immediately began to pound with a pain that felt like his brain was being pummeled with an old sledgehammer as waves upon waves of strange images flashed through is mind's eye. The strange figures of Humanoid beings, circuits and horror plagued his mind, even with his eyes wide open, he was unable to force them away. The pain grew and spread to his whole body as he felt himself slipping further and further into oblivion, the images screaming by until everything...just went dark.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Maelstrom

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! Thanks a million to my Beta :D)_

**-Year: 2011-**

The night started off as clear as anything Lycan had ever seen. The mood rose high into the blackened sky, surrounded by as many twinkling stars as her milk chocolaty eyes could take in all at once. The black silhouettes of the tall trees lined either side of the road like natures fence, guiding them along towards their destination. As Becky drove her car around the twisting bends and curves of the mountain road, the stars had begun to dip behind a few clouds the closer they got to this presumed lake that was to be the location of Lycan's new and final task. Kristy sat next to her, staring out the same window as everyone inside the car sat in silence, however high the tension.

Lycan still had no idea what Becky was planning but started to feel the prickle of anxiety in her stomach when the blond told her not to bring her own car. She was nervous and was doing her best to hide it but she found her leg idling in the backseat and the only to stop it, was to consciously keep aware of it, otherwise, it was right back to the bouncing. The palm of her hands had clammed up miles ago, her breath was shaky and her mind was racing with all the possibilities that this lake could throw at her, mainly along the lines of giant, mutated and genetically engineered piranha's or something of the like. _Jesus Lycan...You watch way to many of those stupid low budget and rotten special effects creature feature flicks. This isn't gonna be that bad now stop being nervous or your gonna throw up in Becky's back seat which would __**not**__ go over well. I'm just saying. _She thought with a slight grimace on her face and another harsh roll from her stomach as Becky took another curve with a little bit of excess speed.

Kristy looked over towards he friend and saw the slight glimmer of sweat on her brow, and the obvious nerves in her eyes, "Are you gonna be OK Lycan?" she whispered in her ear so the other girls wouldn't hear.

All Lycan did was nod her head as she continued watching the scenery whisk by in the darkness.

"Are you sure? You look like you're going to pass out." Kristy asked, still in a whisper to keep their conversation as private as the small car would allow.

Lycan finally pulled her attention away from the window and glanced over towards Kristy, "I'm sure. I just want this to be over with so we can go home."

Becky slowed her car and turned onto a long dirt road which was actually surprisingly smooth considering it was country road. More clouds began to roll in, now covering half the stars that shone in the sky as the headlights beamed onto a tall chain link fence with lots of signs that all read along the same lines. _No trespassing_ and _Violators will be prosecuted_ were what they read most. The car turned off as all the doors to the sedan opened and girls poured out, wrapped in warm coats with hats and gloves because the temperature had dropped severely to the point where their breath could be seen as it stemmed from their noses. Lycan glanced around, hands in her pockets as all the girls whom managed to wedge themselves inside the Toyota, five in total, stepped out. Kristy, Becky and Lycan had been joined by two of the other girls, both brunettes, for the occasion of whatever Becky was cooking up in that head of hers. Becky lead the group to the fence where she searched for a brief moment before she found a loose fold in the chain link. She pulled it back and stood aside as everyone scrunched through the small opening to stand on the shore of the dark lake.

"So this is that lake you were telling me about?" Lycan asked Kristy as she looked through the dark to the shimmering water that reflected the light from the nearly full moon that was in danger of being covered by the looming clouds.

"Yeah. It's man made but I don't know what it was for. It might just be a reservoir or something like that. Some weird stuff goes on around here though, at least that's how all the stories go at least." she said quietly, snuggling down into her coat to stem a shiver.

Becky walked up to them with a backpack slung over her shoulder, "You ready Lycan? The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get back to the house and have something hot to drink and be happy all this is over." she said with a tone that sounded more kind and warm, then harsh like it had been the whole week.

"Ready as I'll ever be. What have you manage to cook up?" Lycan asked, hoping that Becky would tell her to at least ebb her nerves some, what little good it would do.

Becky brought the backpack down from her shoulder and unzipped the top, reaching inside to pull a long, white dog training bumper that jingled with the familiar sound of car keys. Lycan watched the bumper and saw something dangling from the rope, something very familiar...and very hers.

"Hey! What the Hell are you doing my car keys! Thats a two hundred dollar key you know!" Lycan yelped, trying to reach for them as she realized exactly what Becky was planning.

"Relax Lycan. I'm not a total bitch," Becky said rather kindly as she reached into her pocket and pulled two, one hundred dollar bills, "See? Two hundred bucks to replace the key. Kristy will even be hanging onto it for you when you back to dry land. Is that OK?" she explained smoothly as she handed the money over for Kristy to hang on to.

Lycan stared with a slightly furrowed brow as her eyes bounced from her car keys, to Becky and over to Kristy before retracing their steps with a heavy sigh, "That's better, but that still doesn't solve my problem that my car's locked and my spare is in it." she retorted with a good helping of irritation in her voice.

"We took care of that too Lycan," Becky smiled as she pulled Lycan's spare from her other pocket and handed them to Kristy, "Kristy got them out for you. Don't worry. This isn't gonna be as bad as you think. You're gonna swim out to get this and bring it back. That's it. You know how to swim right?" she asked simply and rather matter of factually.

Lycan sighed, knowing that Becky was gonna be the one to throw it with that softball throwing arm of hers, "Yeah I can, I'm just not Olympic quality is all."

"That's fine. I wasn't expecting any speed records."

"You're the one who's gonna throw it aren't you?" Lycan whined, knowing that Becky's throwing arm had been trained to launch softballs at catchers.

Becky nodded, "Yeah. There's one more thing though."

"Of course there is. There's always a catch. Alright...Let me hear it." Lycan sighed.

"You have to swim naked."

Lycan busted out laughing, her arms wrapping around her midsection as she barreled over, placing one hand on her knee to keep her standing instead of flopping onto the ground, "Naked! That water has to be like forty degrees! Do you know what happens to a Human body in forty degree water?"

"A swimsuit wouldn't be much better, and I'll be careful not to throw it too far. I promise...we won't let anything happen to you." Becky reassured.

Lycan studied Becky's sincerity for a few moments, mentally arguing with herself whether this just a bad idea all together, or just a harmless polar bear swim. She knew the chill of the water would shock her system and once she was in, she wouldn't have that much time to get out there, snatch the bumper and swim back before her whole body started to shut down in an attempt to retain heat. She drew a shaky breath before she nodded at the blond with the bumper.

"Alright, I'll do it, but that's only because you're gonna pay to replace my key. Just give me a minute to strip down OK?" Lycan sighed as she unzipped her jacket.

The girls nodded and turned around to give Lycan a somewhat private moment to rid herself of her clothing as she piled it into a neat stack on top of Becky's backpack. She stifled her shivering as best she could as the chilled air touch her warm, pale skin, hardening her nipples and raising a thick layer of gooseflesh to cover nearly her entire body.

"Alright. Ready when you are Becky." Lycan called out somewhat amused with herself that she actually doing this.

"OK...Here goes. Good luck Lycan."

Becky turned around and wound up her arm to launched the bumper through the air with ease. It sailed for quite a distance until it splashed down, the faint echo reaching their ears as it bounced off the concrete wall on the other side of the lake. Lycan sighed at the sight of how far she had to swim, carefully padded up to the water and dunked a toe in, feeling another harsh shiver rocket up her body from the cold water. She glanced back over her shoulder, seeing Kristy standing with a large beach towel in hand and one of the other girls with a thick blanket folded in her arms. _At least they aren't stupid about this...unlike me who is about to go skinny dipping in some random lake for my no good car keys. You're an idiot Lycan. _She chastised herself as she stepping into the water.

She ignored the sharp numbing in her legs as she went deeper, glancing up towards the sky and finding that the moon was nearly covered by the thick blanket of clouds, casting the water into a black abyss. The water gently wrapped itself around her form, making her unable to stop her teeth from chattering loudly as it reach her waist and started sucking away the warmth from her skin. She silently thanked Becky for using a white bumper to make it easier to see in the dark as she took a deep breath and dove in completely, spending a brief moment fully submerged before she began to swim towards her target in the bitterly cold water. She flipped over onto her back and watched the last bit of the moon for a moment before the clouds rolled in to cover it, casting the lake into an utter, complete darkness.

She gently kicked and flapped her arms until she reached her target, stopping once a tremendous crack of thunder nearly scared her out of her own skin. She glanced back at the shore, seeing the girls had broken out some flashlights to help Lycan make her way back to the shore once she had retrieved the bumper, and calling out encouragement for her to come back. Another crack of thunder sounded, immediately followed by a violent flash of lightning that struck a tree on the far side of the lake, sending bright sparks of blue and red into the air and lighting up the water for a brief moment before casting it back into shadow.

"Lycan! Swim back! Hurry!" Kristy called out, her voice obviously frantic as the sound bounced over the water to reach Lycan.

Lycan treaded water a moment, letting her freezing limps have a rest before she snatched the bumper and started to swim back. Her arms and legs were already numb, making it more and more difficult for her to swim back and far slower then she would have liked. She wasn't the best swimmer, she knew this but she didn't account for some random storm that would brew up right when she reached the bumper.

"Oh s-shit-t...T-this i-is b-bad." she chattered to herself.

Another crack of thunder, accompanied with a massive lightning strike shook everything around her. The bolt had, in fact, hit the water a ways away from her, sending a shock of unbridled electricity rocketing through the liquid and shocking her good, somewhat taking over her body for a brief moment. Her body tensed from the shock, her grip on the bumper increasing for a moment before it slipped from her hands and she fell limp, unable to fight the cold any longer. She began to internally panic, unable to show it by flailing or screaming for help as strange light appeared below her, beginning to swirl the water. She felt the swirling begin to tug at her, pulling her further away from the shore as she tried to focus on the flashlights but found no strength to fight the pull.

The water began to swirl violently as the light beneath her grew, it's appearance that of a hurricane about to make landfall as it began to consume the water. She finally, slipped underneath the water, the black closing in as the pull dragged her down towards the violent maelstrom that had randomly appeared after the lightning strikes. More flashes of lightning barked above the water as it collided with the anomaly, only adding to it's power to drink the lake, her along with it. Her lungs burned for air, her body numb from cold as she closed her eyes, not wanting to see the thing that was to be her end as she felt the pressure squeeze in her ears from the depth of the water as the black took her down to be devoured by the Maelstrom.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Unexpected Storm

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! My Beta rules.)_

**-Yeah: 2183-**

Things around the _Normandy_ were quiet, mostly due to the crew mourning the loss of one of their own. An Alliance casket lay in the Cargo Bay draped with an Alliance flag as the ship whisked her fallen crew member back to a place where he could be put to rest. Eden Prime may have been his home, but it lay in shambles and Captain Anderson had no intention of burying him in a place like that. He believed the young man deserved so much better then that and Alenko agreed wholeheartedly.

The Staff Lieutenant was the one whom was saddened the most, as he had never lost someone to hostile action before under his command and it wasn't a feeling he wanted to experience on a regular basis. He made his way to the bridge through the silence with only the company of a thrumming drive core and a pending migraine for solace. He reached the bridge, Joker in his usual spot and stared out of the viewports at the endless black, finding little comfort to help ease his racing mind.

Joker looked up, seeing Alenko seemingly deep in thought with one arm crossed over his chest and the other resting on top of it with a fingernail between his teeth.

"How's the Commander?" Joker asked, his voice showing that he was truly concerned for the XO.

"Still out. His condition hasn't changed. That Chief Williams's been in there the whole time. She feels awful about what happened." Alenko answered, his hand still hovering over his mouth.

"Can't say I blame her. Nearly got the Commander blown to bits. She's probably just wanting to see if she'll get arrested for murder, or assault." Joker quipped with a rather evil grin.

"You're rotten. I think she's just hoping he wakes up. Poor girl's been through a lot in the last day or so. She's the only survivor from her unit. I guess her and Shepard have something in common." Alenko said with a slow shake of his head.

"I guess you're right. How long has he been out now?" Joker said with half his attention as a console displayed some odd readings near the relay they were approaching.

The lieutenant looked at the small time indicator on his Omni-Tool that rested against his left wrist, "Coming up on fourteen hours now. Doctor isn't sure when he's gonna wake up."

"If he wakes up." Joker said quietly, trying to not let his voice carry down the CIC and unaware that Alenko had heard him.

"We're hoping for the former Joker. It is alright if I call you Joker right?" Alenko asked, glancing to his right at the pilot.

"Everyone does. Plus, it's a Hell of a lot easier to say then Alliance Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau." he laughed as he checked his screens like always, still concerned about the strange energy readings coming from the direction of the relay.

Alenko huffed his laugh, "I suppose that's true enough. Call me Kaidan then. It's a Hell of a lot easier to say then Alliance Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko."

Joker smiled that the Lieutenant picked up on his witty humor so quickly, "You're alright Kaidan. How's the crew taking the loss?"

"Not too well. Just about everyone has gone down to the Cargo Bay to pay their respects. I think I've gone down there a couple times now." Kaidan said quietly and obviously saddened.

"If the ship could fly itself, I'd head down there too but...someone needs to make sure this bird doesn't crash. If you go again...make sure to tell him that he'll be missed. I'm not completely an insensitive bastard." Joker requested with another concerned look up towards Kaidan.

"I'll do that Joker," he said as he turned his gaze back towards the viewports and seeing what looked to be a swirling storm, "Hey...What is that?"

"I'm not sure but it's got some weird ass energy spikes going on. The bad part is, is that's surrounding the relay. We're gonna have to go through it if we wanna get back to the Citadel before we're eighty." Joker said as he logged more of the readings away.

"What did the Captain say about that?"

"I'm about to call him up here..." his attention being caught by a large flash of what looked like lightning streak across the viewports, "Whoa! Did you see that?"

Kaidan's worry rose as he nodded his head, "Yeah...I saw it. Is there anything on the extranet that can tell us what that is? I didn't think storms formed out here."

"I haven't found anything. The best I can figure, is that it's some kind of cosmic hurricane," Joker replied with a stiff scoff, "Bridge to Captain Anderson...Your presence is requested." he said into the ship wide comm.

The two men waited in silence as they observed the swirling clouds of color flash with more lightning in front of them, and somewhat more frequently as they drew closer. The heavy footfalls broke their trance as the Captain approached the bridge, his face set into a hard expression of business and confusion that something required his attention on the simple trip back to the Citadel.

"Is everything alright us here?" Anderson asked as he came to stand behind Joker's chair.

"I'm not sure sir. There's an electrical storm surrounding the relay and it's got some seriously strange energy readings. The ship has nothing on it." Joker reported without any of his usual sarcasm.

"Damn...There's no way to go around is there."

"It's like I told Alenko. Not unless you want to get back to the Citadel when your eighty...well, I guess in your case, you'd be bones dust." ah...there's the sarcasm.

"Very funny Lieutenant...Wait...Is that...ice?" Anderson squinted as the small, glimmering specks of crystal began to bounce off the viewport.

"Ice? Like from a comet or something?" Kaidan asked with a furrowed brow.

"No. It's just plain jane ice. Like ice cubes. There's no traces of any radiation, or other materials that are usually found in space. This...this is normal." Joker answered with his own stiffly furrowed brows.

Anderson released a heavy sigh before opening his mouth to answer, "Be careful in there Joker. We don't need to be losing anymore people this trip. Alenko, head down to the Crew Deck and keep and eye on systems just in case we take a strike."

Kaidan nod his head at the Captain before he turned on his heel and walked back down the CIC. He headed through the doors that opened to a smoothly sloping staircase that descended to the Crew Deck and headed down, finding that the Mess Deck was nearly deserted. Only a couple crew members were finishing up their meals at one of the tables as he made his way to a row of chairs that rested in front of the monitor for the Crew to watch vids with. He slumped down into one of the chairs, leaning an elbow on an armrest and pinched the bridge of his nose as the pending migraine began to throb heavily. He drew in a long breath, hoping it would help but sadly, it didn't. His head continued to pound as it threatened to unleash a Hellish migraine which was something he didn't wanna deal with at the moment, especially since he had to keep and eye on various systems. The doctor had enough to deal with. She didn't need a lethargic L2 sprawled out on a bunk and whimpering in pain as his head threatened to explode and splatter his brain all over the brand new Med Bay. He ignored the glaring from the monitor and just stared at the floor, taking slow, controlled breaths in hopes of ebbing the throb to a more tolerable level.

He stood up to start checking systems, only to be nearly knocked off his feet when the ship was jarred violently. All the lights around him flickered sporadically, aggravating his headache and nearly erupting it into a full blown migraine. He quickly made his way to the monitor next to the Captain's quarters and brought up the ship comm to hail the bridge.

"Joker! What the Hell was that!" he yelped, bracing himself against the monitor as another jolt shot through the ship.

"It's that cosmic hurricane! We're getting struck by lightning! I can't maneuver the ship enough to avoid them! It's like their purposely striking the ship!" Joker's voice called through the comm.

"Shit!" Kaidan yelped as he flicked the comm off and began to head for the main battery unit to check on systems there.

The ship jarred violent once more, sending Kaidan to the deck with a harsh thud. The lights continued to flicker as a spark of lightning rained down from the ceiling, nearly missing Kaidan and slammed into the deck.

"Lieutenant! Are you alright?" one of the crewmen from the table yelled as he stood and started to make his way to the fallen Kaidan.

"I'm fine! Go check the Cargo Bay!" he sharply ordered as he pushed himself up to his hands and knees.

Another violent jarring kept Kaidan from standing which was immediately followed by another small lightning bolt that streaked from ceiling to deck with a tremendous crack. All Kaidan could do was watch as a swirling...something formed against the ceiling, it's lightning sparking to the deck with strobe like flashes which only added to his head problems. A few drops of what looked to be water dripped from the swirling entity, only causing Kaidan's confusion to rise as the drops turned into small streams, then into small waterfalls until all Hell broke loose.

A massive tidal wave of water fell from the maelstrom and cascaded throughout the Mess Deck, pushing tables and chairs over and throwing Kaidan hard against the bulkhead. The cold water spread like a raging river, colliding with everything it could reach and tossing anything that wasn't bolted down about like leaves caught in the wind. His head throbbed even more from the shock of cold water as it flooded the deck, keeping him pinned against the wall and making it hard to draw breath that was free of any water. He opened his eyes briefly, just in time to see something fall through amongst the thundering waterfall and crash onto the deck with a barely audible thud. _What the Hell was that? _He managed to think as he raised his arms to cover his face from the stinging water in an attempt to get some air.

After what seemed like ages, the maelstrom finally vanished, ending the cascade of cold water into the ship and allowing Kaidan to pull himself from the bulkhead. He rested on hands and knees, coughing up the water that had forced it's way down his throat as he finally looked up to inspect the damage. The Mess Deck was covered in a layer of water, everything within the immediate vicinity drenched from the torrent and everything electronic was now dark, including the monitor he had used to call the bridge. Through his own confusion as to why the Hell a massive amount of water random poured through a strange whirlpool, it was the pale lump that lay in the standing water that caught his attention.

He looked on at the figure, his lips parting into a quiet gasp as he saw it was a young woman, her body completely nude and pale. He pulled himself to his feet and hurried to her side, gently placing his hand on her bare shoulder and rolled her to lay on her back. He quickly scanned the woman, noticing her lips had a slightly blue tint to them and instantly forced him to react. He checked her pulse, reeling at her cold skin as nothing greeted his fingers against her neck. He carefully tilted her head back and placed his hands on her chest, over her heart and pushed, forcing her heart to pump her blood through her cold body. He drew in a breath and brought his mouth to hers to force his own breath into her lungs, the corner of his eye watching as her naked chest rose because of him.

"Jesus Christ Lieutenant! What the fuck was that thing? How did all this water get here?" the other crewmen yelped as he ran up to him and wipped away some water from his face.

"If I knew, I'd tell you. Go get a blanket! A sheet! Something! I don't care what, just go!" he ordered, returning his mouth to hers to give her a breath.

The crewman ran off to carry out his order as Dr. Chakwas emerged from the Med Bay, her face gapped with confusion as she took in the wet mess that greeted her.

"My God Kaidan! What the Hell happened?" the doctor exclaimed as she hurried to his side and and saw the young, naked woman.

He ignored her for a moment and placed his hands on her chest once more, forcing it down and expelling a large amount of water from her body. She began to cough violently as she sucked in a wheezing breath on her own accord and pulled herself into a ball against Kaidan, her teeth chattering loudly as she continued to cough. He slipped his arm behind her shoulders and scooped her up into his arms to bring her to his body in an attempt to give her some warmth through his sopping wet uniform.

"Hey...Hey there," Kaidan whispered as he brushed his hand over her cheek, pushing aside a clinging chuck of soaked hair to get a better look at her face before he glanced up, "Lot's of water is all I can say doctor.

"Who's she?" she asked, scanning the shivering woman for any noticable damage.

"I don't know that either. She fell through that thing the dropped all this water all over the place." he answered quietly as he glanced back down to the young woman.

Her eyes were closed and she was noticeably shivering against him as she tucked her arms close to her chest, her hands weakly clinging to his shirt for something to ground herself with. Her skin was fair with a delicate dusting of freckles over her cheeks. She had a small nose and full lips that were still tinted with blue and her hair was long and dark as it clung in wet strands against her face, slender neck and strong shoulders. Her body was toned but rather small, as Kaidan only guessed that she was maybe five foot six as she stood, but he couldn't be sure with her curled against him, vying for warmth.

The crewmen returned with a sheet from a bunk inside the Med Bay and handed it to Kaidan, upon which he swiftly took and laid over the young woman still in his arms. He threaded his other arm under her knees and stood up, easily lifting her weight and headed straight into the Med Bay where he gently laid the woman on a bunk. He took care to make sure the sheet stayed wrapped around her, tugging it gently to cover more of her chest and shoulders as he brushed aside more soaked clumps of dark hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"LT? You're soaked! What the fuck happened?" Williams yelped from her seat next to Shepard's bed.

"Your guess is as good as mine Chief. Whatever it was dumped hundreds, maybe even thousands of gallons of water." he said as he raked a hand back through his wet hair and glanced back down to the woman in the bed.

"Who's she?" Williams asked softly as she pulled her eyes away from the still unconscious Shepard.

Kaidan shrugged, "I don't know. She came through whatever that thing was out there," he took a moment to collect his thoughts, "I have no idea what it was...a maelstrom or something like that."

The three looked at the woman while she shivered on the bunk, wrapped in the sheet Kaidan had placed to cover her. She had coughed the water that had filled her lungs and now lay, seemingly asleep as she pulled the sheet tighter around her to quell her shivering. A stirring next to them caught their attention as Shepard groaned and sat up, head in his hands and eyes still closed with a wince on his face. He groaned again as he finally opened his eyes to look around, seeing the deck coated with water and Kaidan still dripping wet and looking like a wet dog.

"Um...Did I miss something?" he groaned, his head throbbing with a rather strong headache.

"Yeah...You can say that." Kaidan said, finally noticing that his pending migraine had vanished in the chaos of rampaging water and a strange young woman dropping in on him.

The comm over their heads chirped to life as the voice of a worried Captain Anderson filtered through, "Is everyone alright down there?" he ordered loudly.

"Yes sir but you might wanna come down here when you get a chance." Kaidan answered, subconsciously glancing up towards the ceiling.

"I will once we get things up here checked out." Anderson quickly said before cutting the comm.

The young woman groaned quietly, drawing everyone's attention to her as her eyes slowly began to flutter open to take in the scenery. Her skin slowly began to return to a more natural and soft pale as she tried to sit up, finding an olive complexioned man had gently placed his strong hand on her shoulders to keep her laying down.

"Easy now. Just lay there for a bit." Kaidan said softly as he gently held the sheet closed around her.

"W-wha...w-where a-am I?" she said, her voice rough from her coughing as she set her eyes onto the man whom was holding her down.

"You're safe. You're on an Alliance ship, though how you got here is way beyond me." Kaidan told her, a small smile beginning to creep over his lips as he gently brushed aside more of her wet hair.

"Ok...I was apparently out for longer then I thought. What the Hell is going on?" Shepard growled as he carefully slid off his bed.

"Should we start from when the beacon exploded? Or when thousands of gallons of water came pouring out from some cosmic wormhole?" Kaidan chuckled as he tried to wrap his head around everything that seemed to be happening all at once.

"Wait...What? The beacon blew up?"

That's when Williams spoke up, "It was my fault. I got too close and I must have activated it somehow." she said, her eyes cast down towards the water soaked deck.

Shepard let a low chuckle go as it was the only thing he could think of to do with the immense confusion, "Chief...You aren't a Prothean expert so there's no way you could have known what that thing was going to do."

Williams looked away from him, trying to hide the faint smile that crossed her lips, "But...Commander...I...I could have gotten you killed." she argued, unsure why he wasn't screaming in her face for being so stupid.

"Ashley was it?"

She nodded, "Yes sir."

"Ashley...it comes with being a Marine. We take those risks everyday." Shepard reassured with his own faint smile.

The unnamed woman, still gently pressed against the bed by Kaidan's hand, slowly turned her head to take in more of her surroundings. Her milk chocolaty eyes rested on the man gently holding her down, to flick over to the aged woman, to the darker woman around her own age and finally coming to rest on the man whom was called Commander. At that, her eyes went wide as her heart beat began to thump frantically in her chest and her breathing quickened. She began to push against the darker man's hand, finding he countered with just a little bit more of his far greater strength to keep her down. She began to kick, one arm clinging the sheet to her body as her other clawed at the man's arm, desperate trying to free herself from his grasp.

"Whoa! Easy...Calm down! It's ok...We aren't gonna hurt you. My name's Kaidan. " he said, placing his other hand on her shoulder to help keep her down.

The mention of his name seemed to calm the woman down as she began to ebb her panic, stopping her flailing but her breathing was still quick and her heart still thumped against her sternum.

"What's your name child?" Dr. Chakwas asked kindly as she stepped closer to the girl's bunk.

"Huh? M-my n-name? L-Lycan. M-my n-name i-is Lycan." she chattered, her body quickly loosing strength to continue to resist them.

"Lycan. Do you have a last name?" Kaidan asked her, reaching for a blanket that lay on another bunk and wrapping it around her for more warmth.

She nodded, "D-dareden."

Dr. Chakwas nodded as she headed for her terminal and sat down to run the young woman's name in hopes of finding out more about her. The Med Bay stayed quiet for the most part as Lycan's teeth were still chattering, which was slowly getting better as Kaidan did his best to warm her up by rubbing his hands up and down her blanketed arms. She looked scared, confused and lost as she slowly sat up, taking care to keep her coverings around her as she tightened her grip on the blanket and drew it tighter to her for more warmth, or what little she had. She looked up towards the man whom was helping her, her eyes scanning his face as she seemed to recognize him, though she tried to hide it. _Is this seriously happening? Am I dreaming? Am I dead? Am I really sitting in a Med Bay with Kaidan looking back at me?_

"Commander...You need to see this." the doctor said, her voice filled with her own brand of confusion as her brows drew together at her screen.

Shepard carefully walked over to her desk and looked at the screen, seeing a picture of the young woman displayed in front of him. He quickly scanned the file, reading the large 'Missing' emblazoned over the top. His eyes flicked over the woman's birthdate, his brows furrowing hard in even more confusion as his breath left in the form of a whisper.

"1985?" he whispered unbelievingly, "When's you're birthday Lycan?" he asked, expecting her to correct the error.

"September 14th, 1985." she answered, finally feeling some warmth return to her.

"Are you sure you don't mean 2085? Wait, that wouldn't work either and 2185 hasn't even rolled around yet. How old are you?" Shepard asked, glaring at the supposedly young woman, wanting answers.

"Twenty-five. T-there's a file on me?"

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. Why wouldn't there be?"

She slowly and with Kaidan's help slipped off the bed and padded over to the console to see for herself, Kaidan walking beside her the whole time to help steady her so she didn't fall. She reached the desk and looked at the screen, seeing her face looking back at her.

"Missing?" she whispered.

"Missing since 2011," Shepard said as he leaned over to read the rest of the file, "Lycan Alissa Dareden, born September 14th, 1985. Went missing May 2011. The search was called off after a week when no body was ever recovered. Presumed dead after ten years. Is this a joke? You are obviously not an Asari but there's no way you can be alive right now if that birthdate's right."

"No...I...I don't understand. That's me though. Why is there a file on me in a video game?" she asked, even more confused then ever before.

"Video game? I hate to burst your bubble sweet cheeks but this isn't a video game. Why the Hell am I looking at a file that's telling me you're damn near 200 years old?" Shepard growled, wanting answers and wanting them right then and there.

"Commander, relax...please. She isn't gonna be able to answer any questions with us screaming at her." Kaidan defended, bringing himself closer to her to give her more of his warmth.

A few things in Lycan's brain clicked, mainly to where she was and whom she was talking to, "I d-don't know Shepard. If I did...well I guess I don't know that either." she mumbled, slowly shaking her head and unaware that she just said his name.

"What the? How did you know my name? Who the fuck are you?" Shepard sneered, placing his hands on his hips as he glared at the woman.

"Commander...calm down. She's been through a lot. I had to do CPR once the water stopped pouring from that whirlpool thing. She's probably just as confused as we are of why that file say's she 200 years old..." Kaidan said before he was interrupted by the young woman whom he was still trying to warm up.

"Something's wrong. I've seen all this before. This is the _Normandy_ isn't it?" Lycan said, her body still twitched from cold and confusion.

"Ok...That's two for two. How the Hell do you know that?" Shepard asked as he brought his temper under control.

"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you." she whimpered, wiping the blanket over her brow to rid it of stray droplets of water.

"After what I just saw out there, I'm willing to believe in just about anything. How do you know this is the _Normandy_?" Kaidan asked as he accept a towel from the doctor to attempt at drying himself off.

Lycan glanced around at everyone looking back at her, all expecting answers but completely unsure of how to explain it to them. Her confusion was as strong as ever. How she ended up on the ship, in Kaidan's arms, in the Med Bay looking at a file of how she went missing in the year 2011. She turned to look back to the file as her brain started to fire on all cylinders again. _Why is there a file of me? I thought this is supposed to be a video game. If this was a game, there shouldn't be a file of me from when I supposedly went...wait...No...That can't be right. This isn't really...Could it be? Is Mass Effect not just a video game...but our real future? _She thought before her head spun, causing her to collapse to the deck, fainted from not just exhaustion, but from realizing that it was all real. Very, very real.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The First Proof

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! *Does Snoopy dance for Beta*)_

Kaidan managed to grab the young woman before she hit the deck and scooped her up to place her back into the bed once again. A strong chill shot through him as his wet uniform clung to his muscled body, grabbing the towel once she was laid down and wrapped it around his shoulders. The doors hissed open as Captain Anderson barged in, his dark face set hard with a sneer as he quickly scanned the Med Bay, taking stock of not just the amount of water, but the unconscious woman in the bunk and Shepard still standing by the doctor's desk.

"Jesus. You weren't kidding Alenko. Is anyone hurt?" Anderson asked as he stepped further into the room.

"None seriously sir. I'm gonna go get some dry clothes on," he looked over his shoulder towards the doctor, "I won't be long Doctor and I'll be back to keep an eye on her." Kaidan said with a quick point to the young woman before he left the Med Bay.

Anderson watched a moment as the Lieutenant left before turning his gaze to Shepard, "It's good to see you're alright Shepard. How are you feeling?" he asked, glad to see the Commander had awakened from his troubled slumber.

"Well, my head feels like the morning after shore leave and the nightmare I had couldn't have been more real. To be honest, I'm not entirely certain how I feel." Shepard said, his shoulders slumping with slight defeat.

"I guess that explains the unusual beta waves. What kind of things did you see?" Dr. Chakwas asked as she made a note in Shepard's file for future reference.

"I'm not entirely sure. I think I saw synthetics...Geth maybe. I saw pain, destruction, death. Our death...I don't know," he let out another defeated sigh, "It was all too confusing to get anything else then that." he finished as he wrapped his arms around his torso and leaned back against the doctor's desk.

"We should probably tell the Council about this." Anderson said as he crossed his arms across his chest.

Shepard scoffed, "What are we honestly going to tell them? That I had a bad dream?"

The young woman stirred once more in her bed, "They won't believe you. They're gonna dismiss everything you say...They're gonna protect him." she whispered quietly as she hunkered down into the blanket.

"Huh? What? Who is she?" Anderson asked with a very puzzled look on his face.

The doors whooshed open as Kaidan walked back in, his hair still damp but his clothes now dry. He walked up to the young woman's bed and checked on her, seeing she had awaken as her exhausted eyes scanned his, searching for comfort and help to see through the confusion.

"There you are. You fainted on us back there. You feeling alright?" he asked in a whisper, readjusting the blanket around her as her color began to look far better then it had when he first saw her.

"Cold...but...better." she whispered back, letting him care for her as she felt too weak to do much else other then lay there.

"How did you know my name earlier? And that you were on the _Normandy_ Lycan? You're file is confusing as Hell but we need you to try your best to explain it to us." Shepard asked, making sure to keep his tone calm and reassuring to help the girl seem at ease.

Lycan slowly sat up, again, with Kaidan's aid, "I'm not crazy. I know how this sounds but...I've seen all this before. I know her name is Ashley Williams. I know he's Captain David Anderson and he's Kaidan Alenko..." her voice was quiet as she pointed to each person.

"Where? How?" Anderson asked, his voice not as calm as the others.

"From...from a game. You're after Saren aren't you?" Lycan asked, her milk chocolaty eyes, scared but contained a sense of sincerity that told the others this was something she believed.

Anderson glanced up towards the others, now just as confused as the rest, "Yes...But how..." he stuttered.

"Then...I might be able to help you...Please...Let me help." she pleaded, still in her quiet voice as she felt a warm arm wrap around her shoulders, finding it was Kaidan still trying to warm her back up.

"How can you help us? By telling us the future or something?" Shepard asked, skeptical that this young woman, who's birthday was suggesting she was nearly 200 years old, could possibly do such a thing.

"I wouldn't call it that. I can tell you the more static events but...it's more like I can tell you the consequences of your decisions. The outcome is ultimately up to you." she said as she finally began to regain her wits about her and the situation she was in, but still unsure herself of what she was saying.

"This is unbelievable...Listen...Lycan. I don't have the authority to just let you stay on the ship. I need solid proof of what you're saying is true. Give me three things and if they happen, then I'm pretty sure Anderson would allow you to help. Right Captain?" Shepard said, thinking this to be the end of Lycan's stay on the ship.

"If it happens...Of course."

Lycan nodded, "Um...ok," she thought a moment, "Uh...Try not to kill the Turian Councilor when he tells you they can't accept things like 'wild imaginings and reckless speculation. Um...Be ready when you get to Chora's Den for the first time. Fist is gonna have his goons poised to shoot you...Oh...and before you leave the Citadel, the Council is gonna make you a Spectre." she told them, however shaky her voice was with uncertainty. _Why do I not think this will work? I know this inside and out but yet...I'm scared this won't work, that they'll leave me on the Citadel and fly away without knowing what's going __to happen next. I'm uncertain of myself...Just like always._

The group stood in silence, not only staring at the young woman in the bed, whom was in fact able to provide Shepard with the three possible instances he asked for, but glancing at each other as they all decided whether to heed her words or not. As if their lives weren't interesting enough, the universe decided to throw them this curveball as well. A young woman whom was telling them things that might happen when they were out on the Citadel, whom still sat wrapped in a blanket with Kaidan's arm wrapped around her shoulders for warmth.

"Shepard...You, Alenko and Williams are coming with me to the Embassy to meet with the Council. Go suit up and head up to the bridge. That storm's cleared so we're closing in on the Citadel now." Anderson ordered stiffly.

"Understood sir." Shepard confirmed as he made his way to the Med Bay door, closely followed by Williams.

Kaidan glanced back towards the doctor and silently asked her to care for the scared girl while he was gone before looking back down to her, "Dr. Chakwas is going to look after you while I'm gone Lycan. If you need anything, let her know ok?" he whispered to her as he retrieved his arm from around her shoulders.

"Ok...Thank you." she whispered, feeling the faint hint of a smile cross her lips.

He left the Med Bay and caught up with the other two as they headed up the stairs and up to the bridge. The sight that greeted them was a flood of the cloudy nebula, it's swirling layers of color painting vast masterpieces across the view ports of the ship. Joker's hands danced over his consoles as he flew the ship through the thick of the Citadel Defensive Fleet towards a possible berth. He flew the ship under the massive stanchion of a magnificent beauty, her outer skin a shimmering blue with a gargantuan oval in her center and giving her the appearance of a glimmering star.

"Wow! The Destiny Ascension...Look at the size of her! Her main gun could rip through any ship in the Alliance Navy!" Williams exclaimed as she peered out of a side viewport, taking notice that the Commander was standing right next to her.

"Size isn't everything you know." Joker quipped with a satisfied smirk.

"Why so touchy Joker?"

"I'm just saying...You need firepower too."

"I'm sensing some jealousy." Williams sent her own quip towards the pilot, seemingly able to go toe to toe with him.

Shepard muffled his laugh as he turned and walked up next to Kaidan, the corner of his eye scanning over the Chief's figure without his consent. He sucked in a long breath and brought himself back into his control. _Don't you dare start that! Don't you even think it...but...No! Stop. Too much is at stake. _He scorned himself for even allowing his eyes to wonder for that fraction of a second.

"What do you make of the girl?" Shepard quietly asked Kaidan as both continued to stare out of the viewports, hearing Joker hail Citadel Control.

Kaidan hesitated a moment before answering, "I think she's scared. She sounded uncertain of herself when she gave us those three possibilities, like she's afraid they won't happen and she'll be taken from the ship. All in all, she's scared and confused. Can't say I blame her." he answered just as quietly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You're the people reader. Do you believe her?"

"After seeing everything that's happened...I'm willing to listen to her. The file on her was from a secured system Shepard. I think she really did go missing back in 2011. I mean, she showed up through a wormhole or something like that for Christ's sake but still...we were in the middle of space, no stations or shuttles anywhere near us and she fell through the ceiling with enough water to flood the Cargo Bay."

"But it doesn't make any sense. She's Human and therefore, can't be 200 years old. The only way I can think of to explain it is time traveling and I hate to burst that fun little bubble, but that's only in the sci-fi vids." Shepard said, still in a whisper.

Kaidan slowly turned his head and glared at Shepard with a popped eyebrow, "Shepard...We're on a spaceship, coming into dock at a giant space station. What about this doesn't scream sci-fi?"

"Uh...um...well...Ok, I see your point but seriously, the girl being a time traveler seems a little farfetched to me."

"We'll figure it out Shepard. We'll just add all our questions to our growing list that still need answers. If those three instances happen however, she could turn the tables on whatever's going on severely into our favor." Kaidan said, his voice low as he glared into Shepard's eyes, dead serious that the girl could be an asset if it turned out to be true.

Shepard's attention was drawn as Anderson called his name, "Just keep them in mind when we're out on the Citadel. Come on, Anderson's waiting for us to get suited up."

The three Marines left the bridge and headed for the Cargo Bay where they wiggled, with some effort and help from each other, into their Alliance standard issue combat ready hardsuits before grabbing their preferred weapons and heading up to the airlock where the Captain was waiting for them. The group walked down the short dock to an awaiting elevator that was painfully slow, the cheesy music filtering over them and only making them wish the trip was over sooner, rather then later. They stood in silence as the car took them down and Shepard found his eyes wondering on their own accord again over the Chief's form, except this time, he didn't pull them away. _Is there really harm in admiring the scenery? I can look can't I? I just can't touch...ugh...Damn regs. _He quietly grumbled to himself, still waiting for the elevator to halt at the bottom.

The ding as the doors hissed open ripped Shepard from his own head and back to reality. He followed Captain Anderson as they made their way through the vast lobby, full of all kinds of races like Human, Turian, and the ever mystical, mono gendered Asari. The group threaded through the crowd as they headed down into the garage where they all climbed into a skycar and headed off towards the high classed Presidium ring, which housed the Embassies for each race.

As they approached the Human embassy, a muffled voice could be heard through the door, but they were unable to discern what the voice was saying. The Captain hovered his hand over the green interface for a brief moment and opened the door, allowing them to walk inside and see an aged man with silver hair standing by three comm podiums which depicted the holographic images of three figures. A Salarian...an Asari...and...a Turian? _A Turian? That's easy to know if you know where to look. _Shepard thought as he started listening in on the conversation.

"This is an outrage! The Council would step in if the Geth attacked a Turian colony!" the aged man yelled at the holograms.

"The Turians...Ambassador Udina, don't fund colonies on the fringes of the Terminus Systems." the Salarian snidely, and calmly said back, only grinding on the Ambassador's nerves even more.

"I'm sorry Ambassador, but Humanity was well aware of the risks when they moved out into the Traverse." the smoothly voiced Asari, standing in the middle of the other two said with a sense of regality.

"And what about Saren! You can't just simply ignore a rogue Spector! I demand action! I demand Saren be taken down!" Udina snarled at the three holograms.

"You don't get to make demands of the Council, Ambassador Udina." the Turian growled angrily.

"Enough! Citadel Security is investigating your charges against Saren. We will go over their findings at the hearing. Not sooner." the Asari said sternly.

"Fine!" Udina growled as the podiums shutdown, leaving the Councilor, Anderson and his crew alone.

The aged man took a few moments to regain his composer before he turned to face the Captain and the small squad that accompanied him. The man tried to hide his snarl as he quickly scanned the crew and their heavy armament attached to their backs.

"Was it really necessary to bring your whole crew Captain Anderson?" Udina grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It's only the ground team from Eden Prime Ambassador. They know first hand what happened."

"You should have left them on the _Normandy_. I have the mission reports. Unless they aren't accurate." Udina said, his voice slightly accented as he continued to glare at the squad.

"They're accurate Ambassador, you know that. I assume you were able to convince the Council to meet with us?" Anderson asked with his own, hard tone.

Udina scoffed, "They sure weren't happy about it. Saren is their top agent and they very much do not like him being accused of treason."

Shepard couldn't stop himself from responding, "That bastard's a threat to every Human colony we have! That son of a bitch needs to be stopped before he can do any more damage!" he growled angrily.

"Relax Commander. You've done quite enough to jeopardize your admittance into the Spectres. The mission turned out to be a disaster..."

"That was Saren's fault and you know it!" Anderson parked in Shepard's defense.

"Do I? The C-Sec investigation will hopefully turn up evidence to support our accusations and maybe, just maybe it will be enough to get Saren removed from the Spectre ranks." Udina said, his tone disdainful and snide.

Shepard glared as angrily as he could at the Ambassador as he forced himself to stay in control of his Biotics, which were dangerously close to flaring and that was the last thing any of them needed.

"Come with me Captain. We have some more things to discuss before the meeting." the Ambassador said as he spun and headed to stand by the door, waiting for the Captain.

Anderson sighed and glanced over his shoulder towards the squad, "Meet us in the Citadel tower in half an hour."

"Aye aye sir." they all replied as they watched Udina and Anderson leave the embassy.

"I can't stand politicians." Williams groaned as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Who does," Shepard agreed with the Chief with a crooked smile, "Was it just me, or did anyone else notice that there was a Turian Councilor on that panel." he added as he started to make his way to the door with the other two in tow.

"We saw, but that's not exactly top secret." Williams said, trying to hide her own skepticism from the others.

"True...but it's a step towards one of the things she said." Shepard said, taking the steps down and passed the concierge desk with an Asari seated at it, "What do you make of her Ashley?"

"You want my opinion sir?" she asked, slightly taken aback that Shepard was asking her, instead of the Lieutenant.

"You're part of the crew aren't you?"

"Yes sir."

"Then...I wanna here you're thoughts." Shepard reassured with another soft crooked grin. _What the Hell is wrong with me? Get a hold of yourself Shepard._

"Well...I couldn't say for sure Skipper but, she did know my name and there was no reason to know my name. I found that kinda weird." she said, dodging out of the way of a couple of Salarians whom weren't paying attention to where they were going.

"She knew all our names Chief." Kaidan said with a shrug.

"Yeah I know, it's just...I wanna believe her but I'm with you. We need proof of what she's saying is true." Ashley said, eyeballing a Turian in a C-Sec uniform arguing with a tall, bright pink, jelly fish looking Hanar as they passed.

"Then I guess we wait and see what happens," he said as he spied the elevator emblazoned with the Council's symbol, "Come on. We have another long ass elevator ride ahead of us."

The trio stepped into the car and leaned against the wall, all with their arms crossed and all lost within their own thoughts as the elevator rose. The doors chimed open into the Council Chambers, a long passageway, dimly lit into a twilit glow with trees and plants scattered about. They walked down the corridor, their boot falls echoing throughout the chamber as they passed diplomats of every race on their way to meet the Council. They walked up another flight of stairs to a serene garden with another flight on the far side where Shepard caught sight of Anderson standing on a landing halfway up. However, it was the two Turians that were arguing right in front of them that fully caught Shepard's attention.

"I know Saren's behind this! He's hiding something! Just give me a little more time!" the Turian on the left with blue face paint said sternly to the other.

"You're kidding right? You're investigation is over Garrus. I don't wanna hear about you investigating this anymore. Is that understood?" the Turian on the right growled.

The Turian on the left sighed loudly, "Perfectly sir." he grumbled, not even attempting to hide his disappointment as he turned his head and saw Shepard and his crew.

"Commander Shepard? I'm Garrus Vakarian. I'm the lead detective in the investigation into Saren." he said with a shallow nod towards Shepard.

Shepard nodded, "Nice to meet you. You didn't happen to find anything out did you?" he asked as he tried his best to hide his disdain for Saren.

"I'm trying. I know he's up to something but he's a Spectre. Everything he touches is classified and it's a red tape nest just trying to get through it but I know it. I can feel it in my gut."

Kaidan peered down the chamber and saw a man waving at them, motioning for them to come, "Commander, I hate to interrupt but it looks like Anderson is waiting for us." he said quietly.

"The Council's probably waiting on you Shepard. Good luck."

With that, Shepard and his squad walked around the taller Turian and headed for the opposite staircase to meet up with Anderson, that rested on on the far side of the sprawling chamber.

"Shepard...Glad you're here. Udina didn't wanna wait any longer so they've already started." Anderson said as Shepard and his squad reached him.

"We didn't take that long did we?" Shepard asked with his brows slight drawn down.

"No...You didn't. Udina's just impatient. Lets go."

Anderson lead them to the top of the stairs where they got the full view of the Council. Across a covered garden pit, a large, looming alter of sorts stood with three podiums, each with a being standing behind them. Ambassador Udina stood below them on a platform on the opposite side of the Council with his own podium to speak into, however, the Asari Councilor was speaking first.

"The Geth attack is, in fact, a matter of concern but there is no evidence to show Saren's involvement in anyway." she said with the same, kind voice.

"The investigation lead by Citadel Security turned up absolutely no evidence to support charges of treason." the Turian Councilor added, his voice laced with a low growl as he spoke.

"Dammit! An eye witness saw him murder Nihlus in cold blood!" Udina growled back with a hard expression of anger, firmly set on his face.

"We've read the report Ambassador. The ravings of one traumatized dock worker is hardly compelling enough evidence." the Salarian added.

An immensely large hologram off to the side of the covered garden spoke, drawing all their attention, "I resent these accusations. Nihlus was a fellow Spectre...and a friend." it growled.

"That just let you catch him off guard! You shot him..."

"Ah...Anderson. Why am I not surprised that you're involved with these false charges Humanity has yet again accused me of." the hologram of Saren snarled, looking down on them all not just because he was attending via hologram, but he felt that he was better, "And that must be your protege...Commander Shepard. Smaller then I thought he'd be. You're the one who let the beacon get destroyed."

Shepard grumbled angrily, "That was you! The only way you could have known that is if you were there you rotten waste of..."

"That's right. Blame someone else for you're own failures, just like our dear Captain here. It would seem he's taught you well but that's something I've come to expect...from a _Human_." Saren said, using the word Human as a curse, instead of a reference to Shepard's race.

"You dirty sack of shit! You hate Humanity! That's exactly why you attacked Eden Prime!" Shepard found himself screaming with anger, wishing desperately that Saren was there in the flesh so he could end his wretched existence with his shotgun.

"Typical of a Human. Throwing insults because you are weak. You're not ready to be out in the Traverse...You're not even ready to join the Spectres." he said with a low, grumbling laugh.

"He had no right to say that! It is not his place to make that decision!" Udina barked, his voice echoing off the chamber walls.

"Enough...Shepard's admittance into the Spectres is not the reason we called this meeting Saren." the Asari interjected.

"This _meeting..._has no purpose. The Human's are wasting your time, as well as mine and I move for an immediate dismissal of charges."

_My God...They're defending him! They're protecting him...Just like Lycan said. _Shepard felt his heart quicken it's pace in his chest as his head began to bring everything she said to the front of his mind, thinking it best to have it ready and waiting in case he needed it, which he was discovering, the he did.

"Stop protecting him! He's responsible for this, but he's hiding behind his position as a Spectre! You can't let this happen!" Shepard yelped, clenching his fist's in anger.

"We are unless you can produce real evidence of his involvement." the Salarian said a little too calmly.

"There is still one, outstanding issue. Shepard saw something when he interacted with the beacon." Anderson spoke up finally.

Saren scoffed, "Please Anderson. You aren't seriously trying to submit a dream as evidence are you? How can I possibly defend myself against this kind of pointless testimony." Saren snarled.

"I agree with him. Our judgement must be based on real, solid evidence. Not the **_wild imaginings and reckless speculation_** of an emotionally scared Human."

Shepard and his team gasped, drawing the attention of everyone around them to stare with accusing glares. Kaidan placed a hand on Shepard's arm, pulling him back into a somewhat coherent state as his stunned eyes told him exactly what he was thinking. _That's one. She called it. _They both thought as they forced themselves back to deal with the issues at hand.

"Shepard...Are you alright?" Udina whispered with a growl, irritated by the interruption.

"Huh? Yeah...I'm fine." he quickly answered with an even quicker glance towards Kaidan and Ashley, whom mirrored his expression.

The three Council members stood and studied the stunned trio for a brief moment, examining their reactions as if it was a huge shock that they were losing their plight to bring Saren to justice. The Asari however, spoke up to break the silence.

"Ambassador...Your petition to have Saren barred from the Spectres is denied. We find there is no sufficient evidence to support your claims."

"As if there was any doubt." was the last thing Saren said before his hologram flicked away, leaving the meeting all together.

The Council stood a moment longer before turning and leave the chamber, leaving the small group of Humans to themselves and to discuss what they wanted to do next.

"What the Hell is wrong with you three! Is there a specific reason you decided to interrupt with that loud gasping?" snarled Udina with severely furrowed brows.

"No reason sir...It...it was the mention of the emotional scaring. It was a low blow." Shepard lied through his teeth, hiding the real reason and wanting it to be kept between the Captain and his squad.

"You're a mess Shepard. I don't know why I even endorsed your admission into the Spectres."

"Stop Ambassador, we have bigger things to deal with right now. We need to uncover evidence on Saren." Anderson interjected, potentially preventing Udina from getting his teeth knocked in.

"Maybe we should go have a chat with Garrus. That C-Sec investigator." Kaidan offered, doing his best to hide his shock from Udina.

"Yes. That would be wise. I have a contact in C-Sec. His name his Harkin. He can usually be found at Chora's Den. He would know where to find this Turian." Udina said, standing up exceedingly straight and clasping his hands behind his back.

"Harkin! He's a drunk and lousy Human being all around." Anderson retorted with an obvious distaste for the man.

"Do we have any other choice Captain? We need to find something and fast." Shepard said, feeling anxious to get out of the Council Chambers and to talk with his squad about what's happened thus far with the three proofs.

"Fine. He's an ass, but it wouldn't hurt to talk to him." Anderson said calmly.

"Come Anderson. We have more things to talk about." Udina growled as he walked off with Anderson in tow, leaving Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley alone on the broad platform.

Shepard waited for the two men to be out of earshot before he looked back at his still shocked team, positive that their expressions matched his own. He still had no idea what to think of the young woman whom had just started to prove that what she was telling them was the truth, but he found himself starting to believe her a little bit more.

"That's one." he said quietly, forcing his heart to return to a normal pass for a living Human being.

"Right down to when he was gonna say it." Kaidan added just as quietly.

"Do you think she could be right about the others? That we're gonna get attacked at Chora's Den and that you're gonna be made a Spectre?" Ashley asked, peering over her shoulder to insure that no one was trying to eavesdrop.

"It's starting to look that way, which means this is really gonna start to get interesting. Come on...We gotta a seedy bar to visit."

* * *

Lycan sat on her bunk, lost within her own thoughts as she watched the kind looking doctor work on her console. The Captain and the three others had only been gone for half an hour, or what she was guessing felt like a half an hour and her head ran a million miles an hour with everything that was going on. She still wondered why there was a file on her, something that shouldn't be there if everything around her was in fact a game, but there was...and it said she went missing.

She slipped off the bunk, carefully planting her bare feet and clinging the sheet around her to stay covered and padded over to the doctor, whom glanced up at her with kind, green eyes.

"Is there anything you need?" she asked kindly at the young woman.

"Can I see that file on me again?" Lycan asked quietly with a small sniffle from her running nose.

"Sure. Are you looking for something in particular?" Dr. Chakwas asked as she brought the file back up on her monitor.

"Nothing really. I just wanna see what it says."

Dr. Chakwas nodded and scooted over to allow Lycan some room to get a better look at the monitor. Lycan began to read the file with various other articles regarding her disappearance, unaware that the doctor was read it as well. They both read her brief background, the various schools she attended while growing up, and the few outside activities she participated in, but it was her military record, that had caught the doctor's attention.

"You served?"

"Mmhmm. Four years in the Coast Guard, but I was just a Boatswain's Mate." Lycan said, feeling the faint hint of a smile cross her lips.

"Wow...I haven't heard anything about the Coast Guard since all the branches were merged to form the Alliance. That didn't happen till after the Mars discovery though." Dr. Chakwas said with her own kind smile.

Lycan smiled as her eyes flicked over more of the articles, feeling a sharp sting build up behind her eyes as she read further.

_-The search for Lycan Dareden was called off last night after seven days of constant searching. This twenty-five year old Washington native went missing after a freak thunderstorm appeared over the old maintenance reservoir, only adding to the already tense mystery of other missing persons...-_

_-A candlelight vigil is scheduled for tomorrow evening at the college campus upon which she attended graphic design school.-_

"They looked for seven days for me. Poor Kristy...She's probably worried sick...well..._was_ worried sick I guess." Lycan mumbled as she blinked away the sting.

"I read that. I did some digging after you fainted and I came across a few more articles about a Kristy Disellen. Is that her?"

Lycan nodded.

"She must have been a good friend. After the search was called off, she went to start a series of non profit organizations to aid the families of missing persons. Each one had a name in relation to you. Her largest was called The Lycan Dareden Fund. It's still around as far as I know. Her organizations went on to find hundreds, even thousands of missing people throughout her life. She passed away in the year 2071 at the age of eighty-four. She spent her life looking for you." Dr. Chakwas calmly explained, watching the heavy glazing form over Lycan's eyes.

Lycan's bottom lip quivered as she tried to swallow down the large lump that formed in her throat from the news. She had only known Kristy for the better part of a week and yet, when she went missing, the girl dedicated the rest of her life to finding her, and helping others whom had gone missing. She proved herself to be a far better person then Lycan could ever be.

"I didn't deserve to have her as a friend. I don't think I would have been able to do that. I only knew her for a week and she went on to die looking for me," she sniffled once more, "Thank you Kristy." she mumbled, bowing her head into her chest as she let the tears come.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Second Proof

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! Again, my beta rules.)_

Shepard and his team marched down the Council Chambers and back into the elevator for the grueling wait back down to the Presidium ring. Their heads were still reeling that the young woman back on the ship had nailed the very words that the Turian Councilor was going to say, right down to when he was going to say it. Shepard's brain was having a hard time accepting it all at once, so was Kaidan's and Ashley's for that matter as they all stood in silence for the ride down.

The doors chimed open and the irritating elevator music clicked off as they eagerly stepped out and began heading towards the passageway that would take them down into the Wards. Neither of them were exactly sure where Chora's Den was, but they were fairly certain they could find out easily enough if they just asked around. They headed through a couple more doors that deposited them into long corridors, one of which lead them passed an alcove full of C-Sec officers and patrons alike, and emerged out onto a sprawling balcony, for lack of a better word, and provided a tremendous view of the Citadel.

Shepard, closely followed by his two companions walked amazed up to the railing and stared out at the sight. The backdrop was an elegant view of the giant nebula upon which the Citadel called home, accented with a rainbow of colors and adorned with the incredibly long, and vastly populated Ward arms that dominated it's foreground.

"Holy shit! Big place!" Kaidan exclaimed, mouth agape with awe.

Ashley tried her best to hide her smirk, "Is that your professional opinion sir?" too late, she giggled.

"Jesus Christ...This isn't a station. It's a God damned city." Shepard said, having no other way to describe the sight in front of him.

"No kidding. There must be millions of people here. It has to be nearly impossible to keep track of everyone coming and going." Kaidan agreed, still gapping at the sheer size of it all.

"This makes Jump Zero look like a Porta-John...and it's the biggest deep space station the Alliance has." Ashley added her own two cents, amazed that something that big could be man-made...sorta speak.

"Man...Jump Zero was big...but this...This is a whole 'nother scale. Look at those ward arms! How in the Hell do they keep all that sheer mass from falling apart?" Kaidan yelped as he leaned a forearm against the railing.

Shepard slowly shook his head, "Those idiots on the Council represent more races then I thought," he let out a small sigh, "No wonder they're careful with newcomers." he grumbled.

"They're probably just trying to keep everything running without any problems. It's gotta be a serious challenge keeping everyone from all these races working together without trying to kill each other." Kaidan said, watching the near constant stream of skycars fly by and admiring how the arm's glowing lights reminded him of home, in Vancouver.

Ashley groaned loudly, "Or maybe they just don't like Humans."

_Huh? That was a bit...harsh. I'm sensing some harbored feelings from her. Might have to talk to her about it later. _Shepard thought with a sidelong glance in her direction and decided to ease the tension.

"What's not to like about us? We have vast oceans...Beautiful women...this incredibly tricky, yet incredible emotion called love. If you go by all the old vids, we have everything they want. Which probably just fits along with your theory Chief." he mentally kicked himself as his mouth decided to keep working after his thought had finished.

Ashley smirked, "If you wanna have a chance at getting me into a tin foil mini skirt and thigh high boots...I want an expensive dinner first," and now it was her turn to mentally kick herself, "Sir." she felt the instant rise of heat flush her cheeks. _You idiot! What the Hell were you thinking? Oh wait! You weren't...you moron!_

Kaidan's dark brows slightly furrowed at the Chief's comment, wondering why the Hell she felt compelled to say something like that...especially in front of...no, _to_ her commanding officer, "That'll be enough Chief. I'm sure the Commander didn't need that image running around in his head."

"At ease Lieutenant. I can't see her sporting a miniskirt anyways." he said, managing to make his mouth say what he wanted it to say instead of going off on it's own tangent.

Ashley saw her opening to maintain her billy badass Marine persona, "Damn straight you can't! It clashes with my armor." _oh man...how stupid can you be Ashley._

"Ready to move out when you guys are. I think I heard someone say **_Chora's Den_** was that way...wait a second...didn't Lycan say..." Kaidan mused as his brain shifted back to the task at hand.

"Damn...you're right. I almost completely forgot from our gawking at the Citadel. She called that one before we even knew we were heading there. Well, that's half of another one I guess isn't it." Shepard stated as he started off towards the stair case that would take them to the Lower Wards.

"Let's be on our toes then. She also said there's gonna be some hostiles looking to gun us down." Kaidan added as they turned the corner, spying a small collection of venders scattered about the floor.

Shepard saw another door on the far side of the Lower Markets and headed for it, weaving between krogans and salarians as the squad made their way there. They reached the door and slipped through it into a darkened alcove, the deep thumping of bass could be felt through their boots as a big neon sign pointed them towards the bar. Shepard's internal alarm began to ping as he quietly pulled his weapon, glancing at Kaidan and Ashley as they followed suit, before he placing his back against the wall next to the doorway the sign pointed to. He quickly peeked around the corner and saw, to his shock and bewilderment, two men with weapons drawn standing on the opposite side of a skyway, laying in wait.

Shepard ducked once more behind his cover and looked at Kaidan and Ashley, "Well I'll damned. **_Fist's goons are poised to shoot us_**." he recited Lycan's words, his lips curling into a dumbfounded grin as the others felt their own smiles spread across their faces.

"Shepard, that's two...You mind if I hail the _Normandy_ and ask her what's waiting for us inside?" Kaidan asked in a whisper, nearly fully convinced that Lycan was telling the truth.

"Even before the third one rolls around?" Shepard asked, also in a whisper.

"Consider it extra credit." Kaidan retorted, leaning back against the wall.

"Alright. Go for the bonus question."

Kaidan brought his hand up to his comm unit, resting against his ear and flicked it on, waiting the brief moment before speaking into it and connecting the transmission to the other's as well.

"Joker...This is Alenko. Come in." Kaidan whispered into the earpiece.

_"Joker here. Fire away." _the pilot's voice fluttered into all their ears.

"Joker...transfer the link down to the Med Bay if you could." Kaidan swiftly ordered.

_"Understood. One second."_

The comm clicked a couple times in their ears as Joker sent their connection down to the Crew Deck. The doctor picked up on her console and spoke softly, her voice a little more quiet then it needed to be and it made Kaidan wonder why she was speaking so softly.

_"Dr. Chakwas here. Everything alright Kaidan?"_

"Yeah, we're fine. Can I talk to Lycan?"

_"She's asleep at the moment Lieutenant. I assume this has something to do with her predictions?"_

"Yeah...it does. I know she's tired but I need to ask her something. It's important." Kaidan asked, letting a fraction of his pleading shine through his whisper soft tone.

_"Alright Lieutenant. Give me a moment to wake her."_

Kaidan listened carefully as he heard the doctor shuffled to stand from her desk and walk away. He strained to listen to any talking, but was only greeted with the quiet whooshing of his own breathing as the footsteps began to get louder until a soft, exhausted sounding voice spoke into his ear.

_"H-hello?" _her voice was so soft...slightly deeper then most women her age but still invoked a femininity that Kaidan couldn't stop the corner's of his mouth from slightly fluttering up from.

"Lycan, it's Kaidan. I know you're exhausted, but I need you to answer a question for me. Can you do that?" he asked her, still whispering as low as he could without being heard by the two armed men around the corner.

_"I'll try."_

"We're at the archway that leads to Chora's Den and you're right, there's a couple men parked outside. Are there any more armed men inside the bar?" he asked, glancing over towards Ashley and Shepard.

_"No. Not this time."_

"We have to come back here?" he asked, his brows furrowing slightly.

_"Mmhmm. Eventually you will."_

Kaidan drew in a slow, steady breath, "Alright, thanks. Go lay down and get some more rest. We should be back at the ship in a little while." he said kindly with the involuntary soft smiles till in place.

_"Ok."_

Kaidan flicked the comm off and glanced over once again to Ashley and Shepard, eagerly awaiting for him to tell them what the young woman said, "She said there isn't any this time, but there will be when we come back here."

Shepard nodded and silently mouth his countdown to the other two before he swung out, pistol at the ready and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet screaming over the gap and slamming into the target's shields. He quickly slipped out and ducked behind the thick partition for cover, seeing Ashley and Kaidan follow suit. Kaidan's body immediately erupted into the shimming blue corona that preceded what was to be an amazing display of sheer Biotic power as he peered over the top of their cover and ensnared the other armed man, a Turian, and Lifted him high into the air with just a raising of his arm. Ashley caught sight of the first hostile, the one Shepard initially shot and leaned out around the corner, her assault rifle ablaze with a hail of bullets as they all found their mark.

After only a few, brief moments, the two unskilled and untrained men fell to the trio, allowing them unhindered access to Chora's Den. A few patrons of the markets heard the eruption of gun fire and had come to see what the commotion was all about, peeking through the archway and staring at them with looks of not just confusion, but concern as well.

The three just stared back until Shepard holstered his weapon and headed for the door, taking a brief moment to peer over his shoulder to insure that Kaidan and Ashley were close behind. They walked through the door and nearly stopped in their tracks as the odor of smoke, booze and sweat hit them full force, causing their noses to ruffle with a huff.

"Damn...No wonder I don't visit these places often." Shepard groaned as he blew a huff of air out of his nose to try to clear his sinuses.

"The lights and unnecessarily loud music doesn't help either." Kaidan groaned, catching sight of a raised stage with multiple dancing, half naked Asari shaking their assets for credits.

Shepard sighed with a groan that would have been audible if the music wasn't so loud, "Let me know if you start getting a migraine."

"Aye aye Commander." he acknowledged as they wove through the throngs of patrons looking for drinks and dances.

"Migraines? You're family didn't have the gene mod done?" Ashley asked with a slightly puzzled look on her face, ignoring the catcalls from various males.

"I wasn't born with a predisposition for them...I'm an L2 Chief." Kaidan admitted, shooting her a brief glance to gauge her reaction, as L2's were known to collapse into insanity due to the implant.

"Oh...I didn't know. I assumed you were an L3. That's my fault, I'm sorry." she quickly apologized, dodging another patron as she kicked herself once more for letting her mouth run amuck.

"Don't worry about it Williams. It's not something I readily tell people. You know...because of the reputation." Kaidan said with a low groan as the phasing lights and thrumming music began to infiltrate his head.

Shepard stopped a waitress as she walked by with an empty tray, "Excuse me Ma'am...We're looking for a man by the name of Harkin." he said, his voice louder then usual so the young Human could here him.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh him. That dirtbag is over there. The old guy sitting by himself." she said as she pointed to the man she was talking about.

Shepard nodded his thanks and headed for the table, threading through a few more people and nearly getting splashed by a drink as one of them turned to head back to the bar. As they walked, Shepard caught sight of three, very large Krogan, standing neck to Harkin's indicated table and one...was very much larger then the other two.

"Back off Wrex! Fist told us to deal with you properly if you showed up here." one of the smaller Krogan's barked.

"Well? What are you waiting for? I'm right here and it's Fist's only chance. If he's smart...and I don't think he is...he'll take it." the far larger Krogan growled, actually looking down at the other one with long, gagged scars that clawed their way through his plate scales.

"He's not coming out Wrex and that's the end of it!" the smaller one hissed, actually standing up to the Krogan that could most likely break him in half.

"Oh this is far from over," the larger one named Wrex snarled with an incredibly large finger pointing at the smaller one before he turned in their direction, "Out of my Human...I have no quarrel with you." he snarled as he nearly pushed Shepard out of his way.

They trio watched the massive beast stomp off, Kaidan's face stuck with an expression of shock that such a being of that size could exist and still be sentient, "What...in the name...was that?" he finally managed to say after he was able to tone his shock down.

"That was large...very large. Probably best that we try not to get caught in the middle." Ashley cringed, still watching the Krogan stomp off.

"That's probably a good idea. I have enough broken bones in my file." Shepard huffed as he shook off the thought of getting his ass handed to him by that monster.

"Which ones have you broken sir? I'm just curious is all." Ashley asked, her interest peeked as she had not had the luxary of breaking one herself.

"It's more like which ones haven't I broken Chief. Learning to control and keep control of your Biotics in school, and in Sentinal training sometimes ended up with some mangled limbs. Let's see, both wrists, a few fingers, an elbow, my right knee, both ankles just to name a few. Most of them happened though when I was a kid though." Shepard explained as he counted off each injury on his fingers.

Ashley stared in awe, "Good lord Skipper. You haven't needed any reconstruction?"

"The only one I needed reconstruction on was my right shoulder after the attack on Akuze. All the others were pretty minor breaks in hindsight," he explained simply as he glanced over towards Harkin's table, "Come on, let's get this over with."

They walked the last few steps towards Harkin's table, taking a moment to eyeball the man as he slouched in his chair with his C-Sec uniform in horrible disarray, and a half drained drink in his hand. Their approach caught his attention, his own hazy eyes sizing the men up before fluttering over Ashley for longer then needed, his tongue slicking over his lips like a predator ready for it's next meal.

"Well well...Hey there sweetheart. Looking for some fun? I gotta say...that soldier get up looks real good on the fine body of yours. Why don't you earn your pay and sit your sweet little ass down right here and have a drink. We'll see where this goes and I'm hoping it's to a bed." Harkin slurred towards Ashley with a quick pat to his lap, causing her brows to furrow hard with disgust.

"I'd rather drink a cup of acid after chewing on a razor blade you sleazeball." Ashley retorted, feeling her throat churn with a slight sting of bile at the thought of spending any actual time with the man.

Shepard felt his temper begin to boil furiously at Harkin's blatant disregard for the woman...especially on whom was capable of shooting his member off from across the room. His angry sneer was lost on the man as he continued to gawk at Ashley like a piece of meat.

"Awe, trying to hurt my feelings? You'll have to do better then that princess."

That was it, Shepard had had it with Harkin already and sidestepped to stand in front of Ashley, blocking Harkin's view of her and forcing the drunk to look up at him, not fantasizing about his Chief.

"Call her princess one more time and I'll make damn sure that the next date you have involves the business end of my shotgun, and your crotch. Now tell me where I can find Garrus." Shepard hissed through clenched teeth and balled fists.

Kaidan and Ashley both stood, somewhat stunned at just how pissed off Shepard was and both were mentally painting steam coming out of his nose with each huff of anger like a raging bull that just saw red.

Harkin held up his hands, surrendering his quest to score with the hot brunette the armed man now defended, "Alright alright...Relax. You're looking for Garrus huh? You must be part of Anderson's crew. I know were the Turian is but you gotta tell me something first. Did the Captain let you in on his little secret?" he asked with a sickening grin.

"I don't care. Tell me where Garrus is before I decide to introduce you to that wall behind you without even crossing the table." Shepard snarled, once more through tightly clenched teeth and by this point, his jaw was beginning to ache from the force he was applying.

"But it's all related, don't you see that?" Harkin laughed, "Did you know that dear old Anderson used to be a Spectre? Here he was, the first Human to ever be given that honor, then he goes and blows it all to Hell. He fucked up so bad they kicked him out, but if you ask him, he says Saren set him up." he broke out it a low, drunken fit of laughter.

Shepard's brows furrowed harder, as if they even could as he sneered at the drunk, just wishing he wouldn't get arrest for assault and battery if he pummeled the ass into mush, "Why in the Hell should I believe a fucking thing you say? You can barely stand on your own two feet without falling over and bashing our head open. Plus, you said yourself it was all swept under the rug. How did you catch wind of this?"

"I spent twenty years working C-Sec and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that people around here love to talk. The way I figure it, secrets are like Herpes...If you got 'em, might as well go spreading 'em around and that little number behind you would be my first choice.." Harkin laughed at his own joke, ignoring the disgusted glares from the three, heavily armed people standing in front of him.

"That's it..." Shepard snarled as he made for Harkin, fists ready to fire.

Kaidan and Ashley both reacted instantly, both firmly grabbing Shepard's arms to keep him from outright pummeling the man sober. Shepard struggled hard against them, ready, willing and able to lay Harkin out flat on the floor.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Take it easy Shepard! Just forget about him! He isn't worth it!" Kaidan yelped as he poured more strength into his arms, thankful that he could match Shepard's pound for pound.

"Oh I swear to God Harkin! If you don't tell me where Garrus is right now...I'm gonna...I'm gonna...I'm gonna throw you out of the nearest airlock after I've used you as a punching bag!" Shepard screamed, his fuming anger causing him to stutter as his arms ached to plow themselves into Harkin's face.

Harkin laughed as Shepard struggled to get to him, "Put your muzzle back on and head to the Med Clinic. Heard he had something to talk to Dr. Michel about." he scoffed as his laughter faded and he took another swig of his drink.

"Come on Shepard. Let's go." Kaidan said firmly as he lead the very pissed off Commander towards their exit.

They left the bar swiftly, ignoring the curious glares as they walked by and out into the far quieter alleyway where they came in. Kaidan and Ashley dragged Shepard, whom was still struggling, down the walkway and back through the archway into the darkened alcove where they put him up against the wall and held him there, letting him vent without reliquishing their holds.

"Let me go! I have a score to settle with that bastard!" Shepard growled, still aching to cause some bloodshed.

"Relax Shepard! Settle down!" Kaidan urged, still pressing Shepard's back into the wall, keeping him pinned.

Shepard continued to fum with anger, his heart pounding in his chest and breath heaving in and out of his lungs as all he could think about was showing Harkin that he drooled over the wrong woman. _That lowlife! That dirty, no good son of a bitch! How dare he say those things to Ashley likes she's just a piece of meat for sale! Why am I so upset? Oh, that's right, he talked to a woman like that! It doesn't even matter that this woman could murder him without thinking twice, it's the fact that he had the balls to talk to any woman like that! _He started to feel his anger ebb as he slowly began to give up on his struggling, realizing that the two Marines had him pinned, and had him pinned good. He slumped against the wall with his eyes closed as he slowly sucked in long, deep breaths to steady his temper as he brought it back under control.

"I'm alright now. I promise, I'm done." he said quietly, finally opening his eyes and calming down the rest of the way.

"Are you sure Skipper?" Ashley asked, continuing her study of the Commander, just in case he had another spike of anger.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. I just really hate it when people talk to women like that...any woman like that." he simply explained.

"It's not something I particularly enjoy hearing either Shepard but we have a job to do at the moment. Once we get back to the ship, you can take out some frustration on the bag in the gym." Kaidan said, release some of his hold on Shepard's arm.

"You're right. I'm sorry for that outburst. Thanks for keeping me from hammering that guy stupid." he said with a weak crooked grin.

Kaidan nodded as he released his grasp, allowing Shepard to resume control as he lead them all back the way they had come. They ascended the stairs and walked back through a growing crowd of people of all races as they walked passed where they admired the view of the Citadel, and followed the signs that pointed them towards the Med Clinic. They reached the doors and slowed their pace, just as a muffled scream came through the door and alerted them that something was going down inside.

"Shit...What was that?" Shepard mumbled as he pulled his pistol once more, ignoring the mumblings of all the passerby's as they stared at them.

"Sounded like someone could be in trouble." Kaidan said quietly as he crouched down and snuck up against the door.

"Stay low." Shepard ordered as they slipped through the door and into the Med Clinic.

Once the doors hissed open, a man snarled and forcefully grabbed a red haired woman in a medical uniform, her vividly green eyes screaming for her, pleading for help as she clawed at the man's arm. Shepard immediately began to gauge whether he could make the shot or not, not wanting to harm the woman but was finding he was gonna be hard pressed to steady his aim enough to not hit her.

The man whom grabbed her looked up and saw the three armed Marines,"Who the Hell are..." he began to bark before his temple erupted with a long stream of crimson blood all over the woman's shoulder.

The woman screamed with surprise as the man slumped and dropped to the floor while his companions opened fire on Shepard and his squad. She ducked down and covered her head as she took cover to wait out the firefight. Shepard and Kaidan both tossed powerful Throw's and slammed two of the three remaining hostiles into the wall, taking care of them without firing a shot. They slid on their hips to the waist high bulkhead before the last man began to fire, watching as Ashley slid around the corner and glanced over to Shepard, telling him exactly what she was going to do. He popped up, letting one or two shots from the last man slam into his shields before he raised his own pistol and sent a few shots his way. The man was thoroughly distracted by Shepard as the butt of Ashley's assault rifle came up from out of nowhere, colliding with his jaw and sending him to the floor. She instantly took aim and unleashed a short burst into his chest, ending the fight before the man, whom now lay dead in a growing pool, had a chance to change his heat sink.

"Damn Williams!" Kaidan exclaimed with a slight wince, knowing full well that the strike must have hurt like Hell.

"What? It worked didn't it?" she said simply as she placed her assault rifle back onto her back.

"Yes it did. Nice work," Shepard smiled as he caught sight of the same Turian from earlier, "Garrus, What the Hell where you thinking? You could have hit the hostage!" he growled as he stood and holstered his weapon.

"I'm sorry, I just...reacted," he sighed and glanced at the shaken woman, still ducked down on the floor and went to help her up, "Dr. Michel, are you hurt? I'm so sorry."

"I'm alright, thanks to you...well, thanks to all of you I presume." she said quietly with a heavily accented and very feminine voice.

"What did those men want from you?" Shepard asked with slightly furrowed brows.

"They wanted to know about the Quarian. She came here a little while ago with a bullet wound. She was wanting to trade information for a safe place to hide." Dr. Michel said evenly, but still rather shaken from the gunfight.

"Quarian? What Quarian? What kind of information did she have?" Shepard asked, a quick flash of anxiety rocketing through him.

"I'm not sure exactly. She wanted to meet with the Shadow Broker, so I put her in contact with him Fist." she said, still shaken from her ordeal.

"Fist doesn't work for the Shadow Broker any more, he works for Saren now." Garrus interjected with a heavy snarl.

"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker? That's stupid even for him. Saren must have given him quite the offer." Dr. Michel said with a slow shake of her head as she crossed her arms over her chest.

As the doctor and Garrus talk, Shepard and his squad found themselves drifting off into their own thoughts as they realized that they were _**headed back to Chora's Den**_, just like Lycan had told Kaidan with the exception, that they knew they were going to have to fight their way to Fist. _I am this close to just saying forget the last thing she said and let her stay on the ship. _Shepard thought with a slight shake of his head as he snapped his attention back to the task at hand.

"There isn't anything you remember from the Quarian's information? Please doctor, it would really help us out if you could tell us something." Shepard said, softening his eyes to help the woman feel at ease.

"It's like I said, I don't really know...wait...I remember! Her information had something to do with the Geth."

"It could be something that pertains to Saren. Let's go!" Shepard ordered as he spun and headed for the door.

"Shepard wait!" Garrus called out, hurriedly catching up with the three, "Let me come with you."

"What? You're a Turian...Why are you trying so hard to take Saren down?" Shepard asked, not trying to be rude, but curious as to why this particular Turian was gunning so hard for another.

"Because, he's a disgrace to my people. Everything he's done gets people killed and I wanna see him taken down. Please, let me join your team." he said with a plea.

_Damn, I guess he does wanna help, _"Alright, grab your shit and let's go."

The four of them quickly left the Med Clinic and darted back across the markets as they headed back to the bar. They took the staircase by every other step as they banked around the corner and nearly sprinted back through the door and the archway. They skidded to a halt as each pressed themselves against the walls on either of the door, pulling their weapons and readying themselves for a fight. They paired off into two teams, Shepard with Garrus, mainly to examine his skills in combat, and Kaidan with Ashley.

"Alright, remember what she said." Shepard said without going into too much detail, as he didn't wanna waste precious time explaining how they knew there was going to be hostiles inside to Garrus, at least not yet.

"What who said?" Garrus asked with a quickly eyebrow plate shift.

"I'll explain later."

Shepard and Garrus leaned out and opened the door, instantly encountering a barrage of bullets from all directions as they broke left, taking out a couple targets in the process. Kaidan and Ashley went right, Kaidan sending a Krogan, unsure if it was one from before, high into the air to deal with him later as Ashley sent a hail of Tungsten through the air to punch right into a couple men sharing a piece of cover that was far too small for the both of them.

"Garrus! Take out those tangos up top!" Shepard ordered as his body went aglow with dark energy, sending a poor, unsuspecting subject into a wall where he slumped to the floor and stayed.

Garrus immediately took aim with his sniper rifle and sent two shots each towards the men poised up top on the stage, raining blood down on the bar below as they fell. The loud crash of a table drew Shepard's attention momentarily as he saw it fly by, crashing into another hostile and sandwiching him between it, and the wall with a loud thud.

"Now was that necessary Alenko?" Shepard smirk through his comm attached to his ear, ducking down just in time to avoid catching a bullet with head.

"Well, my pistol was on a cool down cycle. I had to do something before he shot the Chief." he said with the barking of an assault rifle in the background.

"Understood. Carry on." he laughed as he took out a little bit of frustration from earlier, by plowing a few rounds into a hostile the had popped out from behind an overturned table.

The two teams made their way strategically around the bar to another door where the group of krogans had been arguing. With a massive hail of bullets, they dispatched the last two hostiles, one of Shepard's rounds slamming into a fire extinguisher that sat on the floor behind the men and causing it to explode in a large, white cloud.

"Now was that necessary Shepard?" Kaidan poked with a grin.

"Smart ass." Shepard spat with his own, satisfied grin, "I'm thinking maybe we should give our little birdie a call. See what Fist has waiting for us." he added as he made for the door at the back of the small alcove.

"I don't wanna wake her up again Shepard. She's exhausted. Let her rest some to regain her strength." Kaidan claimed as he followed Shepard to the door.

"Alright. We'll just assume that he has some tasty treats waiting for us." Shepard said with a shrug as he walked through the door.

"Stop where you are! Not another move!" a man dressed in a warehouse uniform yelled as he aimed his weapon at the group.

Shepard glared silently at the two shaky men, trying to hide his amused grin, "I'm thinking right now is a pretty good time to find somewhere else to work there guys." he said, eyeballing both men whom's weapons started to shake from nerves.

"Huh? Um...yeah, I think you're right. Fist is an ass anyways." the other man groaned as he holstered his weapon and walked around them to leave the bar.

The Marines watched as both men left with their lives, leaving the group unhindered access to Fist's office which lay in wait beyond the door on the far end of the small room. Ashley glanced over to Shepard, spying the crooked grin and knowing he was thinking the same thing, that there's no way that should have worked.

"Were you counting on that working Skipper? Or were you just winging it to see where that went?" she said, not even trying to hide her amusement.

"Actually, I wasn't sure that was even gonna work. I was pretty sure that they were gonna laugh and open fire." Shepard admitted with a small shrug.

"Well that's comforting. What would we have done if they would have opened fire on us?" Kaidan asked with a popped eyebrow.

Shepard shrugged, "I didn't think that far ahead actually."

"Shepard..." Kaidan groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

They carefully walked through the room to the far door and listened carefully for any hint of what could be laying in wait for them on the other side. They readied their weapons as they slipped through the door, hearing the definite whining of priming turrets break through the silence as they pressed themselves against a wall before it opened up into the main office.

"Don't come any closer or I'll blow you to bits!" an angry man snarled from deep inside the office.

The turrets opened fire as they peppered the wall opposite them with large, devastating rounds and casting the enclosed space with a tremendous noise that rung in their ears.

"Kaidan! Can you get to other side?" Shepard yelled over the noise, fairly certain that their adversary couldn't hear him.

"I should be!" he screamed back, feeling a strong throb rock through his head from the noise. _Oh no...not now! Wait till I get back to the ship!_

His body was cast into a shimmering blue blanket as he wrapped himself in a Biotic Barrier to protect himself as he sprinted across the opening, drawing the turrets fire as his Barrier sparked brightly as it took the rounds. He reached the other side just as he felt searing heat rip through his bicep, causing him to collide with the wall to halt his momentum.

"God dammit!" he yelped as he grasped his arm, hissing from the pain.

"Alenko! You alright?" Shepard called through the comm.

"Yeah. Took a round through the arm," he growled as he filled the wound with the relieving medi-gel he always carried with him, "Ready when you are Commander!"

"On three. Sabotage those fucking things. Ashley and Garrus will take them out! One...Two...Three!"

Shepard and Kaidan leaned out and sent their disabling attacks to both turrets, watching with a morbid satisfaction as they shimmered red and ceased their firing all together. Ashley and Garrus leaned out and concentrated their fire on one turret at a time until they exploded, raining shrapnel all around the office and cutting the man up pretty good, sending him to the floor in a small pool of blood. The team ran up and aimed their weapons at the man now on the floor, watching as he cowered like a scared child whom had had a terrible nightmare.

"Ok! Ok! You win! Please...don't hurt me!" the man pleaded with arms up in defense, cringing from the pain of his wounds.

"Tell me what I want to know and I'll think about it." Shepard growled as he pointed his pistol in the man's face.

"Ok fine! Just don't kill me!"

"Where's the Quarian? Now remember, this pistol only needs three pounds of pressure to pull the trigger and I've been known to have muscle spasms in my fingers." Shepard threatened, watching Fist squirm and sweat.

"She's not here! I don't know where she is and that's the truth!"

"I'm calling bullshit Fist. Where is she or I get that big ass Krogan named Wrex I heard was looking for you."

"Wait! No! Please! Don't do that! I don't know where she is, but I know where you can find her! She said she would only deal with the Shadow Broker himself..." Fist began to say, still shaking in fear from the multiple weapons aimed at his head.

"No one meets the Shadow Broker face to face." Garrus interrupted, his brow plates shifting down over his recessed eyes.

"She didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up, but when she shows, Saren's men will be waiting for her." Fist admitted, feeling the tension instantly build within the room.

Shepard's fuming temper from before returned as he firmly grabbed Fist's collar and pulled him real close so he could see the fire in Shepard's blue eyes, "Tell. Me. Where. She. Is...Now!"

"In the back alley near the Lower Markets. She's supposed to meet them right now so if you want to save her, you better hurry." Fist said, knowing full well that if he wanted to keep breathing, he better spill what he knew.

Shepard growled low in his throat as the others spun and ran back through the door. He cocked his armed back, a tight fist already clenched as he slammed it square across Fist's jaw and sent him to the floor with a loud crack of what Shepard knew was something bone related.

"That's for being a shithead!" he growled as he turned and sprinted to catch up with his team, having already dispatched another wave of hostiles back in the main portion of the bar.

They darted out the front door, everyone silently hoping that they weren't too late as they blasted through the archway and headed straight for the alleyway. They were greeted with a dimly lit space, nearly the entire thing cast into a twilight orange glow as they tiptoed further down the alleyway. As they neared the top of a small flight of stairs, they caught sight of a group of people, a couple salarians and a turian, standing in front of a Quarian...and they were talking.

"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" the female Quarian asked, not at all amused that they weren't there.

"They'll be here, now where's the evidence you promised?" the turian said as he ran his taloned hand down her arm, obviously having other things on his mind then just the evidence.

The Quarian slapped the turian's hand away, "I'm not showing you. You know what, the deals off. I'm leaving." she snarled through her helmet that hid her face.

The turian growled as he readied his weapon, signaling his two salarian companions to ready theirs as he drew a breath, ready to fire when something slammed into the back of his fringed head. The Quarian jumped in surprise as she spun and tossed an explosive towards the salarians, sending them crashing hard to the crates behind them before they even had a chance to fire their guns.

Shepard and his squad ran to the Quarian, weapons now holstered as Garrus went to help her up, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Fist set me up! I should have known I couldn't trust him!" she growled, angry at herself that she hadn't seen through his deception.

"You shouldn't worry about Fist, I doubt the guy is gonna be talking anytime soon." Shepard said hiding his snarl and disdain for the man.

"I guess I owe you for your help then. Who are you? If I may ask." she said rather politely as she dusted off her suit.

"My name's Shepard. We're looking for evidence to prove Saren's a traitor. We heard you might have something." he said, taking in a deep breath to bring his hammering heart back under control.

"Then that is how I shall thank you for saving my life but not here. There's too many people around that could hear. Do you know somewhere we could go that's safer?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder from the sudden rise of paranoia.

"The embassy. That should be safe enough." Kaidan offered simply, hiding his wince from the wound in his arm.

Shepard nodded and set off with his growing team in tow to head back to the Human embassy, praying that whatever the Quarian had, it was good, solid and irrefutable proof that that bastard was an evil, dirty rotten traitor whom deserved no less, then death.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Third Proof

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! *Does a happy dance for Beta!)_

Shepard and his growing team walked up the stairs that lead to the Human Embassy to present the evidence the young quarian apparently had against Saren, to the Ambassador. They reached the door as Shepard slid a hand over the interface, waiting the brief moment until the door whooshed open and allowed them to walk into the large embassy. Ambassador Udina stood by the balcony, his arms stiffly crossed over his chest and staring out over the beauty the Presidium had to offer. Captain Anderson stood by the wrap around desk, his dark eyes bouncing between Shepard and his team, to the Ambassador and back again, the nervousness obvious in his eyes as Udina's head started to slowly shake.

"You are not making my life easy Shepard. What were you thinking? Firefights in the Wards and an all out assault on Chora's Den? Do you have any idea how many..." his train of thought ended once he had turned around to point an angry finger at Shepard and instead, caught sight of the quarian standing next to him, "Who's this? What have you been up to Shepard?"

"I've been trying to find evidence against Saren and she has some that could implicate him. If you would have kept your mouth shut long enough, I would have told you that." Shepard sneered as he, himself crossed his arms over his armored chest.

Udina sighed and his shoulders slumped, "Well met Shepard. This whole thing is aging me faster then time is," his eyes shifted to the young quarian, "I apologize miss..."

"My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." she said with a slight, feminine bow of her head.

"Pleasure to meet you. We don't get many quarians here. May I ask why you left the Flotilla?" Udina asked with an odd amount of kindness, which Shepard found to be rather weird for the man.

"I was on my Pilgrimage. It's the quarian right of passage into adulthood." she quickly explained, the blush seemingly apparent in her metallic and accented voice.

"That's something new. What is that?" Shepard asked with a popped eyebrow.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can be a little vague at times. It's a tradition amongst my people for when we reach maturity. We leave the ships of our parents, and our people behind to search the stars alone for something of value that we can bring back to the Flotilla. It's how we prove that we can be useful to our people instead of being a burden." she explained evenly.

"What kind of valuable things?" Shepard asked, finding the need to sate his curiosity.

"Oh Gosh. It could range from resources or fuel, to some kind of useful technology. Or it could even be knowledge that could make life easier on the Flotilla." her voice beamed with the smile hidden underneath her suit's helmet.

"Alright then. Now that my curiosity is satisfied, what evidence did you find?" Shepard asked, now eager to get on with the mission at hand.

"Of course. Well, during my travels, I started hearing reports of Geth which made me curious so I tracked a patrol of them to an uncharted world. I waited for quite some time for one to become separated from it's unit and once one did, I disabled it and took it's memory core." she explained, still with that hidden smile.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but I thought the Geth fried their memory cores when they died as some sort of defense mechanism." Anderson interjected with a slightly furrowed brow.

"He's got a point. How did you manage to do that?" Shepard asked as he shifted his weight to his other leg.

"To be honest with you, it was pure luck. I managed to save a small cache of data from it's audio banks. Here...listen." she answered quickly as she brought up her Omni-Tool.

The room was silent while Tali worked the interface and brought up the necessary audio file, a small screen popping up with a grid and a flat line across it. She pressed play and filled the room with the evil, double toned voice of the very turian they were trying to take down, the smugness brimming and the Shepard could practically see the victorious grin plastered on his face as he spoke.

_-Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit-_

Shepard fumed a little more at the statement, feeling his hands tighten around his thick biceps to keep from lashing out at anyone, or anything readily within his reach. The smugness in the aliens voice only added fuel to the fire that was starting to rage inside his head, making him want nothing more then to see Saren swiftly dealt with...or not.

"That's him! That's Saren! This proves he was behind the attack!" Anderson exclaimed victoriously.

"Captain, he mentioned something about the Conduit. What is it?" Kaidan asked with drawn down brows, choking down the wince that rose in his throat from a strong spike of pain in his left bicep from his bullet wound which had drawn the attention of the Captain.

"One moment Miss Tali'Zorah...Lieutenant Alenko, are you alright? You've been wounded." Anderson said, finally noticing the hole in Kaidan's armor.

"I'll be fine sir. It's pumped full of medi-gel right now. Once I get back to the ship, I'll have the doctor finish patching things up." Kaidan said as he glanced down at his arm.

"What about the bullet?" Anderson asked, wanting to make sure the Lieutenant wasn't putting himself in harms way.

"It was a through and through sir. No bullet to worry about. Like I said, I'll be fine. Just gotta deal with the throbbing until then." Kaidan reassured with a shallow nod of his head.

"I'll take your word on it Lieutenant. Commander, keep an eye on him and make sure he goes to see Dr. Chakwas the second he gets back to the ship," he glanced over at Shepard, seeing the curt nod in understanding from him before returning his attention back to the matter at hand, "Anyways...I apologize for the brief distracton. What is this Conduit that Saren mentioned? Is it of Prothean design, or a weapon?" Anderson speculated as he got the conversation back on track.

"I can't be sure. None of the quarian people have ever heard this. I have to admit, this is my first time hearing about this as well." Tali said with a small shrug.

"I don't think any of us have heard of this Conduit. How did Saren hear about it?" Shepard asked, hiding the growl that had begun to reverberate in his throat.

"Again, another question we don't have an answer to. We need to get this to the Council..." Anderson started to say, before an interruption.

"I apologize Captain, but there was more on the audio file. I would seem that Saren wasn't working alone." Tali added as she worked her Omni-Tool once more.

The room was filled with Saren's voice once again as he claimed his victory over Eden Prime, but it was the voice that followed, that worried them even more.

_-And one step closer to the return of the Reapers-_

"I've never heard that voice before, the one talking about Reapers, whatever those are." Udina threw in his two cents.

Shepard's brain instantly rampaged as he searched the images he had seen from the...vision the beacon burned into his head. The screaming people, the buzzing of something electronic, the circuits, everything flew through his mind's eye until a flash of something...large went by, but he couldn't be sure what it was. He couldn't even be sure if it was part of the actual vision, or just his imagination playing tricks on him.

"What's a Reaper? Some kind of lost alien race or something?" he asked, puzzled even more now, more then ever.

"I might be able to shine some light on that. According to the Geth's memory core, the Reapers were a race of hyper advanced machines that existed 50,000 years ago. As I saw it, they hunted the Protheans to total extinction and then vanished without a trace. That's just what the Geth believe though. I wasn't able to get any sort of visual confirmation of what these Reapers actually looked like." Tali added, her voice raising in it's volume with excitement...or terror.

"That doesn't sounds good. Again, how did Saren hear about these Reapers and why does he want to bring them back if they are responsible for the destruction of the protheans?" Shepard asked.

"Saren is a psychopath. We all know this and he hates humanity. Maybe he's hoping that if he brings the Reapers back, they'll destroy the human race for him." Anderson growled, furrowing his brows with obvious hatred.

"I don't know, it all sounds a little farfetched to me." Udina said, obvious that he was skeptical that they even existed.

"Ambassador...There's been a lot of things happening lately that have been pretty farfetched. What's one more to the list?" Shepard scoffed as he remembered the water, which was still on the ship as far as he knew, and the woman whom so far, had a score of two out three instances that had come to pass.

"Hmm, I suppose so Commander. However, the Council is just gonna love this." Udina grumbled with a harsh frown.

"They're probably just gonna dismiss it like everything else that comes out of our mouths. At least in anything that pertains to the Reapers. They can't dismiss this evidence against Saren." Shepard huffed in irritation.

"Either way, those audio files have to be presented to the Council right away. Saren can't be allowed to galavant around the galaxy after what he did at Eden Prime." Udina said, uncrossing his arms as he took a step towards the door.

"Commander? What about her? The quarian." Ashley asked with a subtle finger pointing towards the young alien.

"Ashley...She has a name." Shepard scowled.

"You're right, I'm sorry...Tali was it?" she immediately apologized, caving under Shepard's stare.

Tali gave her a short nod in acceptance of the apology before she spoke, looking at Shepard, "Commander, you saw me in the alleyway. You know what I can do. Please, let me come with you. I could help."

"What about your...oh what was it called...Oh! What about your Pilgrimage?" Shepard asked, not wanting to keep her from completeling her personal quest.

"The Pilgrimage is supposed to prove of ourselves that we are willing to do what we need to for the greater good. What does it say about me if I turn my back on this?" she asked, making a damn good point of it that she was more then willing to sacrifice everything to help.

"Well, to be frank, we could use the help. We aren't sure what we're going to have to face out there and I would like to prepared for just about anything." Shepard admitted, having a gut feeling that things were about to get even more interesting.

"Thank you Commander! I promise, you wont regret this."

"Anderson and I will go on ahead and prepare things with the Council. Take a few minutes to collect yourselves before meeting us in the Council Chambers. If I could get a copy of that evidence please Miss Tali'Zorah, it would be greatly appreciated." Udina said as he held his hand out.

"Of course Ambassador." was all she said as she slipped an OSD out from her Omni-Tool and placed it into his awaiting hand, watching as he and Anderson left the room.

"Could you two give us a minute?" Shepard asked of Tali and Garrus, motioning that he needed a few moments to converse with Ashley and Kaidan.

They nodded and walked through the door to wait just on the other side in the embassy foyer, allowing Shepard the moment he had requested. He stood silent for a moment, lost inside his own head as he partly collected his thoughts for the upcoming meeting with the Council again, but also the fact that they had to consider that Lycan was probably staying.

"Ok, so Lycan has been right about the last two things she gave us, and I'm dangerously close to just saying screw it. I have a feeling she's gonna be right about the Council making me a Spectre." Shepard said quietly, slightly leaning in closer to let them hear him better.

"I guess, you could count the fact that she was right about us having to go back to Chora's Den, and the fact that it was full of people trying to kill us. She's been right about everything so far. We've let Garrus and Tali come along without so much as them begging us to let them. I think we need to consider that she's coming too" Kaidan said, finding he was going to believe anything that came out of the young woman's mouth from here on out.

"Does she having anything besides that necklace around her neck?" Shepard asked, glancing over for Kaidan to answer, whom slowly shook his head.

"I don't think she does Shepard." Kaidan said just as quietly.

"Alright. Start thinking of where we can put her to sleep because she probably has no idea how to work those sleeper pods." Shepard said as he released a quiet sigh.

"Maybe we could give her a bunk in the Med Bay Skipper." Ashley offered with a small shrug.

"That's not a bad idea Ashley. We'll see what happens once we get back to the ship. Come on, we've got a meeting to get to." Shepard said as he headed for the door.

Kaidan lagged behind just a bit as he followed the group towards the Citadel Tower, half paying attention to where he was walking, half paying attention to the message he was writing to the doctor back on the _Normandy_. He smiled to himself as he sent off the message and returned his attention back to the group and caught up, seeing the elevator that was to carry them all up to the Council Chambers drawing closer. They crammed inside the small elevator, each putting their backs against the wall to give themselves enough room to breath as the car slowly ascended. The heat began to rise inside the car from all the bodies, only contributing in making them more uncomfortable as they endured the agonizing ride up, eagerly awaiting for the elevator's arrival.

Finally, the doors chimed and hissed open, everyone sighing with relief as they poured out into the corridor. They walked with a stern sense of urgency up the couple flights of stairs and reached the same landing where Anderson was waiting for them before, finding he was again, waiting for them and headed up to the platform for the meeting.

"Perfect timing Shepard. Udina's presenting the evidence to the Council right now." Anderson said quietly as they all topped the stairs, hearing the same recording reverberate off the walls around them.

Udina stood tall at the end of the platform, his hands clasped behind his back, "You wanted proof...There it is."

"This evidence is irrefutable Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for the crimes against your race." the turian Councilor spoke first, slowly shaking his head as the turians had just begun to rebuild their relationship with the humans, only to have this huge set back, thanks to Saren.

"I agree Councilor however, I recognize the other voice. It belongs to Matriarch Benezia." the asari Councilor said with a slightly saddened face.

Shepard's brows furrowed once again, and he was finding that he had been doing that a lot lately, "Who's she?"

"Matriarchs are very powerful asari whom have entered the final stage of their lives. They are revered for their wisdom and experiences, and serve as mentors to my people. Matriarch Benezia is an incredibly powerful Biotic and she had many followers. I'm sorry to say that she will make a formidable ally for Saren." the asari Councilor explained, her bright azure eyes still saddened as Shepard deducted that she might have known her.

"Mmm, yes. I however, am more interested in hearing about these Reapers they referred to. What do we know about them?" the salarian asked with a quick glance at his fellow Councilors.

"Not much I'm afraid. We only know what we were able to extract from the Geth memory core. Apparently, they're an ancient race of machines that wiped out the protheans, then vanished. This is the first any of us have every heard of them. We don't know how Saren heard of them and we aren't sure if they are just a legand he stumbled across." Anderson answered, rolling his shoulders back which brought him slightly taller then Udina.

"The Geth believe that they're Gods, and that Saren is the prophet for their return. Saren could be wanting to bring them back to wipe out the human race." Shepard voiced, finding his voice carried rather well within the Council Chambers.

"We believe that the Conduit is the key to bringing them back and that Saren's looking for it. He attacked Eden Prime in hopes the that beacon could lead him to it and by the sounds of it, it did provide him aid." Anderson added.

"Do we even know what this Conduit is?" the salarian asked.

"Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers so it can't be good." Shepard said, nervously gnawing on the inside of his bottom lip.

"Shepard, listen to what you're saying. Saren wants to bring back that which wiped out the protheans? It has to be impossible. Where did they go? Why did they vanish? How come we haven't found any evidence of their existence? If they were, in fact real, then we would have found something by now. Don't you think?" the turian Councilor snarled, obviously unwilling to believe that these machines could even exist.

"Councilors, with all due respect, is it so hard to believe in the impossible? People have said that it was impossible that I survived a Thresher nest attack. I don't see why this is any different." Shepard said, doing his best to hide that he was keeping another impossibility all to his greedy little self.

"We understand Commander, but just like the proof we required against Saren, we need proof of this as well. You proved that Saren betrayed the Council, and that he's working with the Geth to locate this Conduit, however, we don't really know why." the asari said kindly.

"Commander, I believe it is quite obvious that the Reapers are just a myth. A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose and bend the Geth to his will." the salarian Councilor retorted with a slow shake of his hood covered head.

"You don't get it. Are you willing to risk every human life, and perhaps every life in the Galaxy because you believe it's a myth?" Shepard asked, hoping that the Council would somehow see reason.

"Again Commander, we need proof of their existence. We can't believe every myth that comes our way, otherwise, we would be too busy to heed true threats." the salarian shot back quickly.

"Saren is a rogue Spectre on the run for his life Commander. He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre, as we have already stripped him of his status. He is not a threat any longer." the turian Councilor added.

"That's not good enough! You know he's hiding somewhere out in the Traverse! Send a fleet in and bring him to justice!" Udina barked angrily with clenched fists.

"Ambassador, a fleet cannot track down one man." the salarian said a little too calmly.

"A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region and keep the Geth from attacking any more of our colonies!" Udina spat, desperately wanting action to be taken to protect human colonies.

"Or...it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems. The Council will not be dragged into a possible galactic confrontation for the sake of a few dozen human colonies." the turian barked, rapping a talon on his podium.

"Let me do it. I'll take him down and I'll bring him to justice." Shepard said as his brain brought up the last thing Lycan had said.

"The Commander's right. There is a way to stop Saren without fleets, or armies." the asari said convincingly to the other two Councilors.

"No! It's too soon! Humanity is no where near ready to assume the responsibilities of joining the Spectres!" the turian Councilor barked with a shift of his brow plates.

"You won't need to send a fleet into the Traverse, and the Ambassador gets his human Spectre. Everybody's happy." Shepard said, holding back his crooked grin until it was time.

The three Councilors stayed silent for a moment as they all looked at each other, obviously weighing their options silently as to whether they should go along with this, or not. The asari glanced to her right and studied the turian, seeing him shallowly nod his head in acknowledgement. They took a moment and dialed something into their podiums before they all finally looked up, each setting their gazes onto Shepard as he knew, what they were about to do.

_Here it comes! They're gonna do it! _Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan all thought, not even feeling the need to be shocked any longer as Lycan had been right about everything else.

"Commander Shepard, please step forward." the asari said calmly with a nod of her head.

Shepard stepped up to the end of the platform, hands clasped behind his back as he looked over his shoulder and gave Kaidan a quick nod, seeing the Lieutenant return the nod as each understood what each other was think. That this was it, and Lycan was staying. The whole of the chamber grew quiet as all those around stopped to listen to the historic moment...the appointment of humanity's first Spectre.

"Commander, it is the decision of the Council, that you be granted the powers, and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel." the asari began.

The salarian spoke up, "Spectres aren't trained, but chosen. Individuals whom are forged in the fires of battle and service and those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol, and the embodiment of courage, determination, and self reliance. They are the right hand of the Council and instruments of our will." the asari added.

"Spectres bear a great burden. They are the protectors of galactic peace, as well as our first and last lines of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold." the turian said with crossed arms.

"You are _**the first Human Spectre**_ Commander Shepard and this is an incredible accomplishment for both you, and your people." the asari said with the faint hint of a smile.

Shepard didn't bother at this point to hide his smirk, mainly because he knew this was coming, "I'm honored Councilors."

"Commander, your first task is to head out into the Traverse in pursuit of Saren. He is a fugitive from justice and are hereby authorized to use any means necessary." the salarian ordered swiftly.

"Understood. Any hints on where to start?" Shepard asked, still standing tall with his hands clasped behind his back.

"We'll forward any relevant information to Ambassador Udina, whom will give you what you need to know." the turian said with a curt nod.

"Understood." Shepard acknowledged.

"This meeting of the Council is hereby adjourned. Good luck Commander Shepard." the asari said before the three Councilors turned and walked off their platform.

Anderson finally smiled a wide, satisfied grin as he turned and looked at Shepard with obvious joy in his dark eyes, "Congratulations Shepard." he said as he shook the Commander's hand.

"Thanks Captain," he leaned in so he could whisper, still not wanting Udina to here about Lycan, "But that's three. She's more then proved herself Captain." he added in a whisper.

"Understood Commander. I'll take care of things but keep her presence limited to the crew of the _Normandy_. Her ability needs to remain a secret." Anderson said ultra quietly.

Shepard nodded and pulled away, letting go of Anderson's hand and looking up as Udina began to speak, "Come with me Captain. We have quite a lot of work to do. We need to make arrangements for supplies, a crew and a ship."

"Very well Ambassador," Anderson looked over towards Shepard, "You and your crew take some time and do what you need to do. The repairs from the electrical storm are already underway onboard just to let you know."

"Roger that Captain. We have a few things to take care off before we return." Shepard said stiffly.

Anderson and the Ambassador walked off to get to work, leaving Shepard, Ashley, Kaidan and their two other companions standing on the platform.

"The Ambassador didn't even say congratulations." Ashley growled, glaring at the back of Udina's head as he walked away.

"Figures...but, in his defense, I haven't done anything yet but stand her and look pretty." Shepard said with a shrug and a rub to the back of his neck.

"I guess that's true enough. Well, I'm gonna say it...Congratulations Commander." she said with a soft smile.

"Thank you Ashley. I appreciate it. I wonder what ship we're gonna get." Shepard said with his grin still in place as he placed his hands on his hips.

"I can find out real quick if you want." Kaidan smirked, awaiting Shepard's confirmation, which he quickly received.

Kaidan brought up his Omni-Tool once more and opened an instant messenger, dialing in the address for Dr. Chakwas and was swiftly greeted with her response as his Omni-Tool chimes and buzzed against his wrist.

_-Dr. C: Hello Kaidan. I assume you probably want to speak with Lycan?_

_ -KA: If it's not too much trouble. Is she still asleep?_

_ -Dr. C: One moment Kaidan. I'll get her. You're lucky, she just woke up._

Kaidan waited patiently until his Omni-Tool pinged once more, begging for his attention.

_-Dr. C: Hello? It's Lycan._

_ -KA: Hey Lycan. I've got some good news for you._

_ -Dr. C: I like good news. What is it?_

_ -KA: Well, your predictions came true. You're staying on the ship._

_ -Dr. C: Really?_

_ -KA: Yes really. Are you feeling up to answering a question for me?_

_ -Dr. C: Sure. Fire away :D_

_ -KA: What is that thing?_

_ -Dr. C: It's a smiley face. You've never seen an emoticon before?_

_ -KA: Can't say I have. Explain it to me later?_

_ -Dr. C: Sure. So what's your question?_

_ -KA: Do you know the name of the ship that's to be assigned to Shepard?_

_ -Dr. C: Yes. The Normandy._

_ -KA: Thanks Lycan. Can you put the doctor back on?_

No one responded as he figured the young woman vacated the terminal to allow the doctor to return.

_-Dr. C: It's Chakwas again. Is there anything else you needed?_

_ -KA: Did you get my message?_

_ -Dr. C: I did. I'll send you the information after we're done here._

_-KA: Understood doctor. Thank you._

With that final word, Kaidan ended his correspondence and glanced up, finding that everyone had been watching him while he typed away his little conversation.

"Well?" Shepard asked, awfully curious as to what Lycan had to say.

"The _Normandy_." is all Kaidan said as his lips curled into a full blown smile.

"Awesome. Alright, just head on over to the _Normandy_ and get settled in guys. I'll give you a tour once I get back."

"How do you know it's gonna be the _Normandy_?" Tali asked, now curious as to how the Lieutenant new that.

"We'll explain later. See you guys on the ship"

With that, everyone went their separate ways. Tali and Garrus gathered their things and headed for the ship. Shepard and Ashley went to take a peek at the Spectre grade weapons and armor, where they encountered the same, massive krogan from earlier inside Chora's Den. The massive beast was looming over a couple of C-Sec officers as whom were actually, standing their ground against the dinosaur. Shepard and Ashley stopped to watch, wondering if the krogan was going to flick the far smaller human and send him flying across the large, open room.

"Witnesses saw you making threats in Fist's bar. You better stay away from him." one of the human C-Sec officers said with a very stern frown across his face.

"I don't take orders from you. You don't scare me." Wrex rumbled with his huge arms crossed over his broad chest.

"This is your only warning Wrex..."

"You should warn Fist. I will kill him. It wouldn't be hard." Wrex grumbled, leaning down and in towards the human, only making himself look even bigger then he already was.

"Do you want me to arrest you?"

Wrex let a deep laugh go, "I want you to try..." he laughed as his immense eyes caught a glimpse of the human male and human female watching his little conversation.

The beast glared once more at the tiny human and started walking towards the pair, full on ignoring the C-Sec officer snarling for him to get out there. He walked up real close to Shepard, looking down at him just like with everything else and studied him for a moment.

"You're the same human I saw at Fist's bar aren't you?" Wrex asked, his eyes seemingly able to pierce right through Shepard.

"That I am. I'm trying to take down Saren." Shepard answered, doing his best to hide that he was actually rather intimidated by the massive creature.

"That's what I hear. I also heard that you went after Fist before I had the chance to." Wrex said, his deep red eyes dressing themselves with a hint of anger.

_Uh oh, _"The Shadow Broker hired you to kill Fist didn't he." Shepard said, silently readying himself just in case the krogan decided to start something more...painful.

"Yes, he did but you got to him first and I hear, he's got a broken jaw. Is that something I should be thanking you for?" Wrex asked, crossing his arms once again.

"A broken jaw huh...I do good work." Shepard said blankly, crossing his own arms in hopes that he didn't look like he was scared.

Wrex chuckled so low, Shepard could feel it in his feet, "That you do. Listen, I wanna help you take Saren down. I didn't complete the job I was hired to do thank to you, but I can help you destroy that bastard turian. The Shadow Broker isn't pleased with him either." he rumbled once more. slamming an angry fist into an open hand.

"Why do you want to help me?"

"There's a saying amongst my people Shepard. Find the enemy of my enemy, and you shall find a friend." Wrex said, holding a hand out for a shake.

_A krogan could come in handy and one this big...He'll be a freight train up against any opposition we run into, _"Alright. Get your things and head up to the _Normandy_ Wrex. Glad to have you on the team." Shepard said as he shook the giant's hand.

Wrex stomped off and up into the elevator that would take him to the docking bay the ship resided, glaring down at both Shepard and Ashley as it rose, out of their sight.

"You think that was a good idea Commander? I mean, if he gets pissed, there's a lot of damage a krogan that big could do inside a small frigate." Ashley said, obviously concerned by the beast sheer size in their limited space.

"But on the battlefield, he could be handy." Shepard retorted as he made his way down the stairs to go check out the Spectre secret stash with Ashley in tow.

Lastly, Kaidan had gone to the markets after he received the message from Dr. Chakwas to pick up some things for Lycan. Mainly some clothes and bathroom essentials as she had nothing but the necklace around her neck. He stopped by a few shops and checked the message over and over again to make sure he got the sizes right. He filled a duffel with pants, tops, a couple pairs of shoes and even managed to keep his cheeks from turning a bright shade of pink when he had to pick up some under garmets for her.

A couple hours later, everyone had returned to the ship and had changed, making themselves comfortable in their Alliance uniforms as they began to relax. Udina and Anderson were still working on setting everything up for Shepard, and the crew of the ship were still hard at work ridding the Crew Deck from all the water and repairing the systems that had been damaged from the storm strikes. The doctor had already patched Kaidan's arm and had wrapped his thick bicep with a gauze wrapping to protect the wound as it mended itself to not even leave a visible scar. Kaidan had applied the medi-gel so quickly, that by the time Dr. Chakwas got to it, it was nearly fulled sealed.

Lycan however, still lay inside the Med Bay, wrapped in the same sheet that Kaidan had placed over her when she first arrived. She was still tired, laying on her side and staring blankly at the door, fiddling with the necklace around her neck. She was happy though. She was happy that what she had told them had come true, and that she was staying on the ship and frankly, was happy that she was going to be able to help, even if it was only to tell them what lay in wait around the corner.

The doors hissed open as Kaidan walked in, now wearing his Alliance uniform with the large bag slung over his right shoulder as he walked up to Lycan's bed and gently set it down next to her.

"Hey, how you feeling?" he asked as he unzipped the bag.

Lycan sat up, holding the sheet a little higher over her chest as her cheeks began to feel a little warmer, "Better. I'm not as cold anymore but I'm still pretty exhausted." she said quietly, tucking a nearly dry dread of unbrushed hair behind her ear.

"Considering what you've been through, that's understandable. I got you a few things." he said with a soft smile, scooting the bag a little closer so Lycan could look inside, "So you'll have to forgive me, but my fashion sense is pretty limited to anything outside of the realm of Alliance black and blue, so I hope these will do."

Lycan peered inside the bag and saw it was full of clothes. A couple pairs of jeans, a few shirts which included a couple tank tops, a few pairs of sweats and some under things for her to wear. It all made her blush.

"You didn't have to do that for me...but thank you. How did you know what sizes to get?" she asked with a thankful smile, noticing another small bag inside and reaching for it.

"We couldn't have you running around wearing nothing but that bed sheet. I hope it's ok. I sent the doctor a message and asked her to send me your sizes. It was pretty embarrassing when I went to buy your...um...under...things." he stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he looked away from her, hoping to hide his own blush.

"Thank you Lieutenant. I really appreciate it...Oh hey, you got me shower stuff too." she said with a beaming smile as she looked inside the smaller back at all the stuff she was going to need in order to bathe.

"Kinda comes with staying on the ship. I believe the doctor already took care of your...more personal stuff so if you need anything, you can ask her. You probably want to take a shower now huh?" he asked as he took a sidestep and grasped the bag once more.

"I'd like to if it's not too much trouble." she said, slipping off the bed and gently placing her bare feet on the deck.

"Of course it isn't. Come one, I'll show you where the showers are."

Kaidan lead Lycan out of the Med Bay and into the elevator to take them down to the Cargo Bay where the showers resided next to the small gym. He pushed the door open and held it for her, setting the bag down for her to take inside and saw her eyeballing the stalls with a slightly confused look on her face.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, not wanting her to be confused again as she was finally starting to relax.

"Oh...um, it's just I wasn't expecting it to be a unisex shower. Comes with being on a small frigate I guess huh?" she said, reaching down and picking up the bag to pull out the towel that was inside.

"Exactly. If you need me for anything, just ask. I'll be up on the Crew Deck trying to fix that monitor by the Captain's quarters." he told her as he walked off to leave her to shower.

Lycan smiled as she pulled the clothes she decided to wear and set them down next to her bag. She unwrapped the sheet and balled it up before she walked into a stall and turned on the water, thankful that they were still knobs and not something high tech she had no idea how to use. She waited until the water was hot and stepped under the stream, sighing as the heat washed away the last remnants of cold from her arrival. She took her time, letting the water relax her as she lathered up her body with the soap, then washed her hair, loving the soft scent of the shampoo. She finished up and stepped out, drying herself off with the towel and wrapped it around her hair before she began to get dress.

Once clothed in a pair of jeans that fit rather well and a tank top, she packed the bag once more and headed out, retracing her steps back to the elevator and took it back to the Crew Deck. She rounded the corner and walked back into the Med Bay and set her bag down next to the door on the floor and out of the way, then walked back out, finding Kaidan was exactly where he said he would be. She quietly walked over, glancing down at the tennis shoes that were rather comfortable with a smile and sat down in one of the chairs, quelling a shiver before it could raise a layer of gooseflesh over her arms as there was no sweater inside the bag.

Kaidan looked up at her as she sat down, watching as she rubbed her hands together lightly, "You still cold?" he asked, taking a break from staring at the flickering monitor he had gotten to actually turn on.

"Sort of. I'm always cold though. I'll be fine." she said softly, looking around the Crew Deck and taking it all in.

"Here, you can wear this." he said as he unzipped his Alliance zip up and took it off, handing it to her.

"Um...Are you sure? You aren't gonna get cold?" she asked, hesitating a moment before reaching out and taking the offering.

"I'm more used to the chill of starships then you are. I have another one down in my locker if I need it anyways. Don't worry alright?" he said with a smile.

Lycan nodded and slipped the sweater on, snuggling down into it and got comfy in her chair, "I wanted to thank you for saving my life when I got here. I guess I owe you one. I'll somehow repay it." she said quietly, sucking her hands into the sleeves to help keep them warm.

"I have a feeling by the time this is over, you would have already repaid it ten times over." Kaidan smiled as he continued his work on the monitor, content with her company as they began with some simple small talk to fill their down time.

* * *

Shepard walked around the ship, giving Tali and Garrus the tour, which on all accounts didn't take long. Garrus had made himself quite at home, fiddling with the Mako in the Cargo Bay, and Tali instantly fluttered off into Engineering, leaving him to show Ashley to her station, also in the Cargo Bay where she could work on the weapons.

"I hope this works for you Chief. It's nothing fancy, but at least it's a table." Shepard said as they approached the workbench.

"This'll do just fine sir. I can get started right away on keeping the weapons in tip top shape." Ashley said with a short nod, examining the racks of weapons.

"You don't have to right away. Take some time to yourself. You haven't had much time since you came onboard after Eden Prime. Speaking of, how are you handling it? It was pretty rough down there." he asked her, crossing his arms and leaning back against the table.

"I can't say I'm doing much better sir. Losing your unit hurts, and you never get used to seeing dead civilians." she said, her dark eyes saddening at her memories.

Shepard nodded in agreement, "It is hard, and I wish I could say that it gets easier as time goes on, but it doesn't. Losing your unit sticks around for awhile."

"How did you handle it after Akuze? If you don't mind me asking." she asked, treading lightly through the minefield.

"I'm still dealing with it..but I vowed to do better...for them. They deserve that much. I wanted to thank you for your help down there, we couldn't have done it without you." he said, the corners of his lips curling up into a soft smile.

"Thank you sir. I have to admit, I was pretty nervous about coming aboard the _Normandy_, mainly because I didn't want the crew thinking I was replacing Jenkins. It's nice when someone makes you feel welcome." she said, looking away from his blue eyes and glance down at her new workstation.

"Well, I mean it Ashley. Take some time to do what you needed to do. I don't know how long the Ambassador and Anderson are gonna be so might as well relax a bit before we get this bird underway." Shepard said as he pushed off the table and began walking back down the Cargo Bay to talk with the rest of his squad.

_I will sir. _She thought with a soft smile as she pulled up a stool to sit down and work on some of the weapons, finding that in her duties, she could honor her unit more, then grieving for their deaths. She would work.

* * *

Shepard made his way back into the Crew Deck and found Lycan still sitting in a chair talking with Kaidan with a soft smile on her face. He walked up and leaned a shoulder against the bulkhead, crossing his arms over his chest until Lycan noticed he was standing there.

"Hello Commander." she said, looking down towards the deck.

"Hey. It's good to see you're doing better. Come on, we have a few people to introduce you to." Shepard asked with a motion of his hand.

Lycan nodded and stood, stuffing her hands into the pockets of the borrowed sweater and went to follow him, glancing over her shoulder as Kaidan set down his tools and joined them as they headed for the bridge. Shepard and Kaidan offically introduced Lycan to Joker, which she decided to show off a bit and ask him how his body ache was doing due to his Vrolik's Syndrome before he even mentioned it. The pilot had stared at her like she had a second head growing out of her shoulder until Shepard and Kaidan both said that that was probably how they looked the first time one of her predictions came true. Shepard showed her down the CIC, introducing her to Navigator Pressly before heading back down to the Cargo Bay where they introduced her to Wrex, where she actually held a hand out first to shake the massive beasts hand. Wrex hesitated a moment before shaking her small, delicate hand and welcomed her aboard before he glared questioningly at them, wondering why they had brought aboard someone so small, well, compaired to him anyways. They lead her to Garrus, Lycan immediately saying hello and shocking the Hell out of him when she had called him Mr. Vakarian before he even told her that that was his last name. Finally, they headed into the Engineering Bay where Shepard introduced Lycan to Tali and Adams. Lycan smiled at them both as she beamed at the young quarian, making it a point to tell her that the silence at night is nothing to worry to about, and that nothing was broken. Tali tilted her head in confusion for a moment before she nodded and went back to work to learn everything there was to know about the _Normandy's _oversized drive core.

They walked back up to the Crew Deck and returned to the flicker monitor where Lycan retook her seat and Kaidan returned to his tools. Shepard leaned up against hte bulkhead once more and sighed, his lips curled softly into a subtle smile before he spoke.

"Well, I think that's everyone. If you need anything, just ask Kaidan. I'm gonna head in and take a nap I think since we have some down time." Shepard said as he pushed off the bulkhead and headed into the Captain's quarters, knowing they where gonna be his soon enough and that Anderson wasn't returning to it.

Kaidan and Lycan just remainded silent as Lycan watched Kaidan work on the flickering monitor. He had curled up into the chair, finding that she had become quite comfortable and her eyelids begin to feel heavy. She quietly yawned, placing her hand over her mouth as she rested her elbow against the armrest and placed her head in her hand, slowly closing her eyes and drifting of to sleep.

Kaidan glanced over towards her and found she had fallen asleep, causing a soft smile to spread over his lips as he gently, set his tools down and walked up to her. He threaded his arms around her shoulders and under her knees as he easily picked her up and cradled her to his body as he walked her over to the Med Bay and placed her in a bed where she snuggled into a pillow with a smile on her face. He placed a blanket over her to keep her warm and turned the lights low, before he left, ready for his own down time and maybe his own nap, as it sounded like a really nice idea.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Where to Head to Next

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! My beta rules...Just to let y'all know.)_

The crew had gotten to relax for the rest of the night as the ship was being cleaned up and repaired while Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina worked on finalizing their efforts for Shepard's recent acceptance into the Spectres. The water had been cleaned up already and most of the electronics that had gotten doused were back up and running for the most part. However, the monitor by the Captain's quarters was still flickering badly and Kaidan hadn't gotten it to work right since Lycan's arrival.

"Come on you piece of junk...work." Kaidan grumbled as he continued tinkering with the monitor, getting irritated at the constant flickering which was only going to insure a migraine later.

He hadn't noticed as Lycan walked up with two mugs, one with tea, the other with coffee as she watched Kaidan's growing frustration as he worked on the monitor. His hands held small tools and a light layer of sweat was beginning to form on his brow from his concentration and the look in his honey colored eyes said that he was getting mad at the inanimate object.

"Want some coffee?" she asked quietly as she walked up to him, holding the mug out for him to take.

Kaidan slightly jumped in surprise from the sudden voice, "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'd love some, thank you. How was your first nights sleep on board a starship?" he asked, gratefully taking the mug from her and taking a sip.

"It wasn't at all what I thought it would be. It was...peaceful actually. I slept really well. Though, I'm still not sure how I ended up in the Med Bay. I fell asleep out here." she said calmly, taking her own sip of tea.

"Oh, I carried you and put you in the bed. I figured that you'd want to sleep there instead of being curled up in that chair." he said, taking a seat and slouching into it to enjoy his coffee.

Lycan smiled, "Oh...uh, thank you...again. I've been thanking you a lot lately." she lightly chuckled, taking a seat next to him with another sip.

"Don't worry about it...really," he said with his own smile as they sat in a slightly awkward silence for a brief moment before he decided to break it, "So, I'm curious...How much do you know?" he asked with a nervous rub to the back of his neck.

She shrugged, "Quite a bit but I don't know everything. Was there something you wanted to know?"

Kaidan took another sip of his coffee, slightly wincing at the harsh and bitter flavor of military grade coffee, "I don't know. I guess I'm just curious as to how much about me you know."

"Well, it's not as much as you think. Let's see...I know you were born in the year 2151 after your exposure to Element Zero which would make you...32?. Um...Your folks have a house in Vancouver that apparently matured to beach front property and that you attended BAaT training. That's about it really, well, with any confidence anyways." she listed, holding back her smile as Kaidan's lips curled into a smile themselves once again.

"Right on all accounts. I guess that if you know that I went through BAaT, then you know what happened." he said, his smile fading just a little bit.

Lycan nodded, "Yes, but not in any detail."

"Maybe a story for later then," he sighed quietly and took another sip, "You know, I've been thinking..." Kaidan started to say before he silenced himself to collect his thoughts.

"About what if I may ask."

"Well, you said there shouldn't be a file on you, but we saw it first hand and it says you're nearly 200 years old which it's obvious you're not but...Do you think you might have gotten shot 172 years into the future through that wormhole thing? I mean, it's the only thing that makes any sort of sense." Kaidan said with a shrug and another sip of his coffee.

Lycan sighed as she thought about it, thinking it as well to be the only thing that would explain her now living her favorite video game. It was hard to wrap her head around, that's for sure but sooner or later, she was going to have to figure it all out. She was no astrophysicist, far from it but at this point, time travel was the only thing she could even guess was the reason for her arrival in the year 2183, surrounded by people she had seen back in the year 2011.

"Maybe. It's still a lot to wrap my head around. I mean, if it wasn't for you, I'd be dead and even if I managed to survive without your help, I have no idea how to work any of the technology. I'm just lucky I ended up on this ship instead of floating out in space." she said with a shrug as she looked down towards the floor, obviously still somewhat lost in her situation.

"Oh hey now...I didn't mean to make you upset. I'm sorry if I did." Kaidan apologized, feeling like an ass because he had upset her, when all he wanted to do was help her figure some things out.

Lycan shrugged, "It's not your fault. I just don't know what to make of all of this. I spent years learning everything there is to know about this universe in my own time and now...now I get to live it and it turns out that it's not some parallel dimension. It's the future...our real future," she sighed heavily, "I must sound completely crazy." she sniffled, wiping away a tear before it leapt from her eye.

"Not at all. You sound lost and uncertain but that's all. I'll tell you what...I can teach you how to work our tech and such. I won't leave you to fend for yourself, though you could probably do a fine job of it on your own." Kaidan said, hanging his head some to get a better look at her face as he spoke.

Lycan scoffed, "Yeah right. You're just saying that to make me feel better. I'm not as adaptable as you think. I look around this ship and I see technology that I could only dream about. I've seen and talked to alien races. Back in 2011, humans still believed we were alone in the galaxy. I'm still pretty confused and unsure whether I'm still dreaming, or I'm really just dead." Lycan said as she wiped another tear and took another sip of her tea to help calm her.

Kaidan watched her for a moment with saddened eyes. He could tell she was lost, feeling alone and confused, unsure of which way was up or down. She had no one to turn to in this situation and...he felt that he needed to be there for her. That he needed to help her and teach her how to live in a world she had no idea how to exist in. He felt compelled to be not just her protector, but her friend and to let her know that she wasn't alone. He slowly raised the knuckle of one finger and wiped away a lingering tear from her cheek, causing her over at him with the barest hint of a smile.

"It's like I said Lycan...I won't leave you to fend for yourself out here. Does that make you feel just a little bit better?" he reassured quietly as he let his hand drop back into his lap, grasping his coffee mug.

Lycan couldn't help by chuckle, "Yeah...It does."

Both Lycan and Kaidan looked up when they saw Shepard approaching with the subtle trace of a smile on his face as he sat down on the other side of Lycan and crossed one leg over his knee, leaning back into the seat with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Everything alright Commander?" Kaidan asked as he set his empty coffee mug down on the seat next to him.

"Yeah, everything's great actually. Anderson just called and said he and Udina are on their way over. They finished their preparations. Was curious if you knew anything about where we're headed to next." Shepard said as his smile spread just a little wider.

"Well, I can tell you your choices but where we're actually headed is up to you." Lycan said, blinking away the last of her not so threatening tears.

"Alright then. You two make your way into the Briefing Room. I'll gather the squad and meet you up there." Shepard said as he stood and headed for the elevator.

Kaidan took Lycan's empty mug and took it into the Galley before they walked up the stairs and around the corner to the briefing room. He sat down in one of the high backed chairs and motioned for Lycan to sit next to him, but she politely refused, instead, opting to stand behind him as people began to filter in, and Ashley took the seat next to Kaidan. Lycan shot him a knowing smile, showing him that she knew the Chief was going to sit there and waited quietly until everyone had arrived and taken their seats, with one, empty chair.

"You can have a seat Lycan if you want to." Shepard said, motioning towards the one empty seat.

"I'm alright Commander." she politely refused again as she nervously played with the cuff of her sleeve on the zip up she still wore. _Don't make me speak in front of them...Please don't...Oh God...He's gonna make me address everyone...I hate talking in front of people._

Shepard nodded, "Ok, let's get this thing started. As you all know, this is Lycan. You met her yesterday when you first arrived on the ship however, you were not informed to why she is aboard in the first place. I'm sure you all noticed the condition of the Crew Deck and she sort of had something to do with that. When we were on our way to the Citadel after Eden Prime, we encountered some sort of...high intensity energy storm that enveloped the relay. Upon Captain Anderson's instruction, Joker..our pilot...took us in where the ship was struck several times by lightning which opened up a strange wormhole of sorts in the Crew Deck where it deposited a whole lot of water and her off." he quickly explained, pointing his thumb over at Lycan whom was beginning to turn a lovely shade of pink.

"Some type of dimensional rift perhaps?" Tali asked, rapping her gloved fingers on her thigh and it seemed to Lycan, that she was bit nervous of something...or someone.

"I have no idea but what we can figure...it was a time rift. Lycan was born September 14th, 1985 on Earth...well before the Mars discovery of the prothean ruins. We did some digging when she first arrived and we came across a secured file that told us...she went missing back in the year 2011...and she knows things." Shepard said, shifting his blue eyes all around the room at his squad.

"What kind of things?." Tali asked, her body obviously stiffening and Lycan began to feel that the young quarian was staring at her from behind her helmet.

"She knew that the Council was gonna make me a Spectre before we left and here I am...the first human Spectre and we haven't left the Citadel. She knows what's around the corner and what our choices are. She herself doesn't call it fortune telling, she called it the ability to tell us the consequences of our decisions." Shepard said, trying not to sound threatening or angry as he tried to explain.

"Can she be trusted?" Garrus asked, shooking Lycan a rather stern look, well, at least she took it that way as she had no idea how to read turian body language.

"I trust her. She's proven herself on multiple accounts and I'm asking, that you give her a chance. She's staying on as an advisor of sorts and to give us a heads up of things that could go wrong. As of right now, she is highly classified and under no circumstances, are you to tell anyone outside of this ship. The only one whom is to know, is Captain Anderson and that's only because he was here when she arrived." Shepard said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Everyone nodded their heads in understanding, accepting the Commander's explanation and orders as they knew, he wouldn't have allowed her to stay without good reason and being able to tell him things that hid around every corner, was a damn good reason.

"So, now that you know why she's here..." he began before the comm overhead interrupted his train of thought.

_"Commander...Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina are here to speak with you."_ Joker's voice pipped in.

"On my way Joker," he answered quickly before he looked at his crew, "Everyone stay here until I get back. I honestly had something planned to talk about. This shouldn't take long."

He stood and left the Briefing Room, dodging a couple crew members and headed for the bridge, seeing the Captain and the Ambassador standing next to the airlock as they waited patiently for his arrival.

"Ambassador...Captain...Sorry to keep you waiting." he said, shaking each of their hands.

"You didn't, we just arrived. We've got big news for you Shepard. Captain Anderson is stepping down as CO of the _Normandy_. The ship is yours now Commander." Udina said with a short nod of his head.

Anderson nodded in agreement, "She's quick and quiet. Plus, you know the crew as good as anyone. She's the perfect ship for a Spectre. Be good to her Commander."

_I already knew this, _"I will Captain but I want the truth. What's the real reason you're stepping down sir." Shepard pushed, believing he deserved to know the truth.

"Because you needed your own ship. A Spectre can't answer to anyone besides the Council and...to be honest, it's time for me to step aside." Anderson said, hanging his head slightly as he spoke.

"Come on Captain. I've known you for years. Come clean with me. You own me that much." Shepard urged, drawing down his brows slightly.

Anderson sighed, "Alright Commander. I was in your shoes twenty years ago. The Council was considering me for the Spectres."

"You're like a father figure to me Captain, you should have told me." Shepard sighed himself, slowly shaking his head.

"What was I supposed to tell you? I was a Spectre but I blew it? It's not something I'm proud of Commander. If you ask me later on, I'll tell you everything. Right now, all you need to know is that I went on a mission with Saren and he made damn sure the Council rejected me." Anderson said, trying to hide his slight anger at the memory.

"Saren isn't getting away with it this time. I'll bring him down, that I can promise you." Shepard said as he clenched his fists for a moment before releasing them.

"Saren's gone Commander. Don't even try to find him. Our saving grace is that we know what he's after. He's got his Geth scouring the galaxy looking for clues." Anderson said simply.

"We've gotten reports of Geth in the Feros system shortly before our colonies dropped out of contact and there's been sightings around Noveria as well." Udina added in.

"Understood. I'll talk with my team and we can decide where to go from here." Shepard said officially, clasping his hands behind his back.

"If you find out what Saren is after on Feros and Noveria, you might have a shot at discovering where the Conduit is before he does and that would give you the best shot at stopping him." Anderson said, hoping to help Shepard decide.

"I hate to bring it up again, but what about the Reapers? If they're real, then they're the real threat. We can't just let them come back and wipe everyone out." Shepard said, not wanting to just put them on the back burner and forget about them.

"I'm sorry Shepard, but I'm with the Council on this one. We can even be sure they even exist." Udina retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But, if by the chance they do exist, you have to find the Conduit and stop them from returning." Anderson encouraged like this was going to be a simple task.

Shepard nodded, "Like I said, I'll stop him."

"There's one more thing Shepard. Matriarch Benezia has a daughter. Dr. Liara T'Soni. She's a prothean expert however, we don't know if she's involved, but it might a good idea to try and find her. We've gotten reports as well that she was exploring one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemus Tau cluster." Udina interjected with a wave of his hand.

"Again, I'll talk with my crew and come up with our next step. Thank you for the information Ambassador...Captain." Shepard said, formulating his questions for Lycan once he returned to the Briefing Room.

"Understood Commander. Good luck." Udina said as he turned and left the ship, closely followed by Anderson.

Shepard walked up into the bridge, seeing Joker doing his pre-departure checks as he prepped the _Normandy_ to shove off into the traverse, and thankfully, not into the completely unknown.

"Oh, hey Commander. I heard what happened to the Captain. The man survives a hundred battles, just to get taken down by backroom politics. Just watch your back Commander, because if things go bad on this mission, you're next on the chopping block." Joker said with a hard scoff.

Shepard sighed, "Anderson should be the one in charge, not me. This just feels wrong. The _Normandy_ is his ship."

"I know, the Captain got screwed, but it's not like you could have stopped it. No one is blaming you and everyone on this ship, is behind you...100%" Joker flicked a switched on his consoles.

"Thanks Joker. It helps to know I have the support of the crew. I'm just happy we aren't flying in totally blind." Shepard sighed quietly, watching the activity outside the viewports on the docks.

"You mean because of that Lycan girl?"

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. Someone upstairs was thinking we needed some help apparently."

"Well, let's hope she's as cracked up as you say she is Commander. I won't lie to you though, it shock the shit out of me when she asked how my Vrolik's Syndrome was doing. I don't tell people about that normally." Joker said, slinking a little further down into his chair.

"She's been shocking a lot of people lately but I've decided to trust in what she says. She's proved herself that she knows things."

"Well, if you believe her Commander, I'll believe her. Intercom's open if you wanna say something to the crew."

Shepard stood a moment, collecting his thoughts in preparation to address the crew...no _his_ crew. He drew in a long breath, readying himself to speak as he leaned down and pressed the button to activate the comm and projected his voice throughout the entire ship.

_-This is Commander Shepard. We have received our orders, and they are to find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I won't pull the wool over your eyes crew, this mission isn't going to be easy. This all began with an attack on a human settlement in the Traverse, but we know Saren won't stop there. His Geth armies are not going to stay on the far fringes of Citadel space and for far too long, our species has stood apart from the others. Now, it's time for us to stand up to the rest of the galaxy, and it's time to show them what humans are made of. Wherever Saren goes, we'll follow him. Wherever he searches __for the Conduit, we'll be there. We will hunt him to the very edges of the galaxy and bring him down and when we find him crew...he'll see first hand, what we can do.-_

Shepard flicked the intercom off and stood up straight, glaring out of the viewport that overlooked the Citadel, ready, willing and able to set out on probably the biggest mission of his life.

"Well said Commander. Captain couldn't have said it better himself." Joker acknowledged with a curt nod.

"Fancy speeches won't be enough to stop Saren. Our best bet, is to trust Lycan, work together and get this bird in the air. Do what you do best Joker. Take us out and get us to the nearest relay. Once I figure out our destination, I'll radio it up." Shepard order, seeing Joker nod his confirmation and instantly got to work, carrying out his order.

Shepard turned and walked back down the CIC into the Briefing Room, seeing everyone had stayed right where they were when he first left. He retook his seat and raked his hands down his face before be settled in and got comfortable once again.

"Ok...So the Ambassador and the Captain gave us some information to go off of, but they weren't able to give me any real details. We can either head to the Artemus Tau cluster and try to find Matriarch Benezia's daughter, a Dr. Liara T'Soni but they don't know where in the cluster she is. The next piece, is heading to Feros where some reports have been coming in about Geth attacking the colonies and they've gone dark. The last piece, is heading to Noveria where there have also been reports of Geth. That's all they had." Shepard explained, his eyes shifting up and glancing over towards Lycan.

Lycan felt her cheeks flush with heat as she knew the Commander was getting closer to asking her questions in front of the entire squad and sure enough...he did.

"Lycan...Do you know anymore details then that? Anything at all that can help us figure out where to go?" Shepard asked, giving her the floor.

"Um...uh...yeah. What you wanna know?" she stuttered, trying to hide in her sweater.

"Is this Liara T'Soni on our side? Or her mothers?" Shepard asked simply.

"Um...She's on our side. She hates Saren. She can help you make some more sense out of your vision." Lycan answered, her stomach doing flips with nerves as she knew everyone had their eyes on her.

"Where in the Artemus Tau cluster can we find her?" Kaidan asked, glancing over his shoulder at her, seeing the flush rising all the way up to her ears.

"Therum. I don't know the system it's in though." she answered, drawing in a deep breath to help steady her nerves.

"That's easy for us to find out. What about the colonies on Feros? Why are the Geth attacking there?" Shepard asked, leaning back and crossing his arms.

"They're after something called the Thorian." Lycan said, now fiddling with her fingers inside the sleeves.

"What is a Thorian?" Ashley asked, trying not to sound rude or judgmental as she believed Lycan's information...she had seen it first hand.

"It's a very big plant thing that can control peoples minds. It's supposed to have some ancient knowledge that can help you make sense out of your vision too." Lycan glanced around the room as she began to feel her heart thump heavy in her chest.

"Wow...each answer just doesn't make our decision any easier does it." Shepard commented, no at all directed towards Lycan.

"I'm sorry." she mumbled quietly.

"Oh no, it's nothing you did. You're just giving us the information that no one else could. What about Noveria?" Shepard reassured as he shot her a soft smile in hopes that she would feel more confident.

"Um...Matriarch Benezia is there. She's after the location of the Mu Relay." she said, releasing a long, quiet sigh as she thought it best to keep the Rachni to herself until they headed there.

"So we can head her off then. Where's this relay?" Shepard asked, a smile now on his face as he thought he was going to be able to head Saren off at the pass.

Lycan slowly shook her head, "I'm sorry Commander but I don't know where it is. You'll have to go there and get it from her."

"Damn. Nothing's ever easy."

Shepard's head worked on swallowing all the information the Lycan had given them. Was it best to swing by Therum and pick up Dr. Liara T'Soni? Or was it better to go to Feros and help the colonies, which was something he had to do..for his morale fiber's sake. But, he also had to consider Noveria, where he had to go and confront this asari Matriarch before she helped Saren even further. He decided he needed a little more information.

"Lycan...If we head to the Artemus Tau cluster first...will those colonies on Feros still be around for us to help?" he asked, finding his leg was beginning to idle.

"Yes...and Matriarch Benezia should still be on Noveria too." she mumbled, looking down at her feet.

Shepard mulled it over another moment before he finally decided on where they were headed to first, "Let's go pick up this Dr. T'Soni...finish putting together our team. Dismissed."

Everyone stood and began to filter from the room, Shepard halting Kaidan's progress and telling him to have Joker set a course for Therum, just like Lycan had said before her turned back into the room, finding that Ashley was still sitting in her chair.

"Something on your mind Chief?" Shepard asked as he stood from his chair.

"Well...yes sir. There is. Permission to speak freely?" she asked, shifting nervously in her own seat.

"Permission granted Chief...you know that. I keep an open door policy."

Ashley sighed heavily, "Well...I'm worried about all the aliens on board sir. Mainly Vakarian and Wrex. With all do respect sir...and I'm mean that with the upmost sincerity but...should they have free rain of the ship?" Ashley asked, having some difficulty finding the right words to say.

"Ah...I had a feeling this was coming. You don't have a whole lot of experience serving with aliens do you Ashley." Shepard said, sitting down in the seat next to her.

"I have no experience with aliens sir. I mean, this is the most advance ship in the Alliance Navy. I don't think we should let them have access to all our vital systems." she said, wincing at her own words.

"Having some problems trusting the Alliance's allies?" Shepard asked, studying her reaction.

"To be honest sir...I don't think I would call the Council races allies. We...I mean humanity, have to learn to rely on ourselves. I mean, we've done it this long before we even discovered that aliens even existed." she sighed as she tried to explain as best she could.

"On this mission Ashley, we're gonna need all the help we can get and we're gonna have to learn to trust them. Learning to rely on ourselves doesn't mean we have to stand alone." Shepard said, hoping that he wasn't sounding too harsh as he could see that her inexperience was the one talking...not the Chief.

Ashley sighed again, "I don't think we should turn down allies, I just wouldn't bank on them staying allies. The Council races may seem noble now, but if their backs are against the wall, they'll abandon us. I don't think they trust us very much." she said, nervously rubbing the back of her neck.

"You've got a pessimistic view of the universe Chief. Was this a recent development? Or have you always had this view?" he asked, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together.

"It's been around sir," she sighed once more, "To be honest sir, a pessimist is what an optimist, calls a realist. If you're fighting a bear and the only way for you to survive is to sick your dog on it and run...you'll do it. As much as you love your dog, it isn't human." she said, kicking herself for her awful metaphor. _That's the best thing you could come up with Williams?_

"I don't know Chief. I love dogs. I might just take the damn bear on myself to save my dog." Shepard said, seeing a smile play at the corners of her lips.

"Well, with you...that wouldn't surprise me too much. This isn't racism..not really. I mean, members of their own species will always mean more to them then humans will." she said, feeling her heart thump heavily in her chest as she was sure, the lashing was coming.

"You've felt this for some time I can see. What made you feel this way?"

"My family's defended the Alliance since it was founded. My father, grandfather and great grandmother have all picked up a rifle and swore the oath of service. I guess we just get to think of Earth's interests as our own." she was starting to feel like she should just shut up and quite while she was ahead.

"Yup...You definitely have no experience working with aliens. What were your other postings? I would have figured with your skills you would have served with the fleet." Shepard asked, still curious as to why she felt this way.

Ashley scoffed, "Right...I've mainly been ground side. Apart of the service garrison forces...Well, I did have a rotation on a space station for training once. Every Marine a rifleman...Every rifleman...ZG certified." she quoted the old mantra.

Shepard let a low chuckle go, "Ain't that the truth. Look, I can see where you're coming Ashley but we don't have the luxury of having the knowledge, or the resources to do this ourselves...well, maybe the knowledge since Lycan's here but this is a multilateral mission and you're going to have to work with aliens...Like it or not." Shepard said kindly as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

The contact shocked Ashley somewhat, even more so why he wasn't screaming at her to get her ass back in line, "It won't be a problem sir. I promise. If you say jump, I'll say how hi. If you tell me to kiss a turian...I'll say which cheek." she said with a short nod.

At that, Shepard couldn't stop from laughing out loud, letting his hand slip of her shoulder, "Funny Ashley...but I don't think you'll be needing to kiss any turians. Just...try is all I ask. Alright?"

"Of course sir. But...I gotta ask if it's alright," she looked into his eyes as he gave her the go ahead with a small nod, "Why are you so understanding? I mean, any other commanding officer I've had would have been down my throat faster then booze at shore leave."

"Well...I didn't see a need to scream and yell just because you had a concern. I can understand why you're nervous about all this but you're not alone. I'm just as nervous as you are and I can't fault you for that. We'll learn to trust our new allies together...ok?" Shepard gave her a smile as he stood from his seat and motioned for her to come.

"Sounds good Commander." Ashley smiled back as she stood.

"Come on...I'm starving."

_Why does he never get mad when he should be? Why is he far more understanding then he should be? This man is gonna take a lot more figuring out. _She thought as she followed him out of the Briefing Room to go get something to eat.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Interim I

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! Thank you beta :D)_

All was quiet around the _Normandy. _The crew had gotten time to kick back and relax as they made their way to the Artemus Tau cluster, most going about their duties when on shift, and doing a myriad of other things when they were off. Meals were enjoyed in each others company as they talked and got to know each other better. The crew tolerated the flickering monitor by Shepard's cabin as they watched vids of all genres and kept up on current events. When the monitor was not in use, Kaidan was diligently there as he continued to get it to work right, only to be greeted with more flickering and his head was beginning to pound.

Kaidan shut down his Omni-Tool, hoping that by getting rid of the extra glow, he could put off the impending migraine just a little bit longer but to no avail. The heavy thump between his eyes forced him to stop his work and sit down, holding his head in his hands as the pounding got worse. He groaned as he tried to stand, stumbling slightly and managing to catch himself before he fell to the deck. His pained groan is what caught Lycan's attention at one of the tables as she sat and ate her meal.

"Lieutenant? Are you alright?" she asked as she stood and made her way to him.

He groaned once more, unaware that he had placed the hand not holding his head on her shoulder, "Head...hurts...Getting...migraine...Help...Med Bay." he tried to say through the pain persistently thumping within his head.

"Ok...I'll try. Come on." she said quietly as she grasped his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders to help guide and support him.

She had to admit, the Lieutenant towered over her five foot six with his six foot and it made things tricky as she concentrated just putting one foot in front of the other. The combination of his height, and the fact that his body was packed with almost two hundred pounds of lean muscle made it even harder to keep from falling flat on the deck with him crushing her. _I thought I was in some sort of shape but Jesus, this guy is heavy. _She thought, tightening her grip around his waist as she drew closer to the Med Bay doors where she could get some help from the doctor to lay him down.

She felt Kaidan slipping to the deck as his head thumped even more. She struggled to keep her faltering grip, not wanting to drop him as that would only make things worse.

"Come on Lieutenant...Hang on just a moment longer. Stay on your feet." she whispered, not wanting to make his migraine even worse as it was doing a fine job of doing that by itself.

Kaidan must have had a moment of clarity because he caught himself, pulling his hand away from his head to place against the bulkhead to help Lycan support him long enough to get into the Med Bay. The door hissed open, aggravating his pounding head to the point where he whimpered in pain, his muscles quivering just to keep up on his feet as they shuffled unsteadily to the nearest bunk.

"Doctor...I could use your help." Lycan said, managing getting her attention from the door.

Dr. Chakwas looked up from her desk and hurriedly came over, taking up a post on Kaidan's other side, "Goodness...this one came on sudden. You're bed's the darkest Lycan. I hope you don't mind if he borrows it to ride this one out." she said as she lead them over to the bed Lycan had been given.

"No...It's fine. Is he gonna be ok?" Lycan asked, making it a point to keep her voice low as she helped to lay Kaidan down on her bed.

"He should be fine. He'll need some time to sleep this one off though. Keep an eye on him for a minute and make sure to watch out in case..." Dr. Chakwas said lowly, just as what she was about to say came to pass.

Kaidan rolled over and unknowingly grabbed Lycan's arm as his stomach flipped and nearly came out of his mouth. He retched hard as he threw up all over her and all she could do was stiffen as she tried to suck her stomach away from her shirt that was now covered in the protein shake he had had for lunch. _Don't throw up...Don't throw up...Don't throw up. _She repeated to herself as she tried her damnedest not to vomit herself and to her surprise...she managed to keep her composure.

"He throws up." Dr. Chakwas finished with an apologetic wince on her face as she went to retrieve a towel for Lycan.

"Lovely...Well, at least it's just the shake he had. Could be worse I guess..." she started to say as Kaidan's mumbling fluttered up to her ears.

"S-Sorry...L-Ly..." he whimpered as he let go of her arm and let it flop over the side of the bed.

She leaned close so she didn't have to speak up, "It's OK Lieutenant."

Lycan accepted the towel Dr. Chakwas retrieved for her and first, carefully wiped off Kaidan's mouth before she attended to the mess on her shirt, wiping away as much of the chocolate slop that she now wore. She could easily see the layer of sweat that had covered his forehead and the exposed skin of his arms as he continued to shake and hold his head, trying to will the pain to go away.

"K-Kaidan...Please...C-Call...me...K-Kaidan." he stuttered through the pain, his eyes still closed as he lay limp on her bed in the darkest corner of the Med Bay.

Dr. Chakwas returned and removed his hand from his head to allow for better access to his neck as she plunged the needle into his skin to inject the serum. He whimpered once more from the added pain before his miracle drug began to take it's hold, pulling his migraine down to a point where he could fall asleep, ready to hibernate until it was over. Lycan sure as Hell didn't enjoying watching others hurt and the man whom had saved her life and had shown kindness and friendship was in a lot of it. Her heart broke at the sight.

"Poor guy. He looks like he's in a lot of pain." Lycan said, her eyes saddened as she stared at his pained, closed eyes.

"He is. Hard to believe sometimes that he's one of the lucky ones. He's one of a small handful of stable L2's in the Alliance." Dr. Chakwas said as she pulled a blanket up to his shoulders.

"Let's hope it stays that way doctor," she watched him for a moment longer and gently patted his shoulder, "I'm gonna go shower...again." she said as she grabbed her shower bag and walked out, leaving Kaidan to rest.

She cringed as she continued to try and suck her stomach away from her shirt as she waited for the elevator to arrive in the Cargo Bay. She walked out and ignored the stares from the few crew that were scattered about, wondering what the Hell happened as she headed into the showers, finding that Ashley was taking hers as well after a solid work out in the small gym.

"Hey Chief...How was the gym?" Lycan asked as she set her bag down in the next stall over.

"Huh? Oh...it was fine," she popped one eye open and say Lycan's t-shirt, "What happened to you?" she asked with a small smirk.

"Migraine + Kaidan's lunch = Me getting to take another shower." Lycan said with her own smirk.

Ashley winced, "Ouch...That sucks."

"I guess it could have been worse. Apparently, he had a chocolate flavored protein shake for lunch." Lycan joked as she slipped out of her clothes and into the shower stall.

"I so didn't need to know that," Ashley grumbled as she continued to wash.

"Sorry Chief. I'll shut up now."

"You don't have to call me Chief you know. You aren't Alliance so you're off the hook. Call me Ash ok?" she said, shooting the woman in the stall next to her a kind grin.

Lycan smiled in return, "Alright. I do hope you know you can all me Lycan then."

"I figured it was alright since you don't have a rank to go by."

The two woman continued their washing in silence, each scrubbing their bodies, Lycan a little more so then Ashley before washing their hair. Ashley had finished first and had already dried and dressed before leaving to head back to her station, allowing Lycan the time to have the showers to herself. She finished and redressed, tossing her soiled shirt into a bag and dropped it into a hamper to be washed and figured, she would leave her bag outside by Kaidan's locker until he woke up. She slipped the zip up on and walked outside into the Cargo Bay, finding Ashley was already at her station working on the weapons and figured, some girl talk wouldn't hurt. She made her way over, dropping her bag off in front of the locker with the block military script 'K. Alenko' emblazoned on it and walked over with her hands stuffed into the pockets.

"Do you want any help or anything?" Lycan asked as she stood at the end of the table.

"I thought you didn't know anything about our weapons." Ashley said, briefly giving Lycan a sidelong glance.

"I don't but...maybe you can teach me to...I don't know...help you clean or something." Lycan said, feeling nervous now and silently hoping Ashley didn't turn her down.

"Oh...You're willing to learn?" Ashley asked, halting her work briefly to fully look up at Lycan.

"Mmhmm. I figured it for the best considering I'm probably never going to find a way back to my own time." Lycan said, trying to hide the slight flush rising in her cheeks.

"I guess that's a fair argument. Sure, pull up that stool." Ashley said with a soft smile, motioning towards a stool that rested nearby.

Lycan nodded and retrieved the chair, pulling it up next to Ashley and took her seat, ready to learn at least a little something more about this universe she now found herself living in. Ashley carefully handed Lycan a pistol, a rag and a series of cleaning tools for her to work with, setting them down on the table in front of her helper.

"Ok...So before you start, you always make sure to remove the ammo block...like this." Ashley explained as she grabbed another pistol and showed Lycan how to remove the block.

Lycan looked at the pistol in her hands and found the mechanism Ashley had pointed to, giving it a quick press which launched the ammo block out of the pistol. She yelped in surprised and managed to catch the block before it thudded to the table, nearly dropping the pistol she held in the process.

"Nice catch. Have you cleaned weapons before?" Ashley asked with a smile.

"Yeah...Not like these though. The ones I used to clean didn't collapse and you have...had to constantly refill the clips." Lycan said, gently setting the block of Tungsten down on the table.

"No way! You worked with clip loaders!" Ashley laughed, finding that it was rather easy to talk to the young woman.

"Yup. Having to load each round one at a time made my thumbs hurt." Lycan said with a huff of laughter as she waited for Ashley to show her the next step.

"Damn. I'm glad I don't have to do that," she said as she went to show Lycan what to do next, "Ok. Next, you pull out the heat sink. Press here and watch..."

Lycan pressed the required button as it racked out the heat sink. However, she wasn't quite ready for it and it nearly dropped to the deck, landing in her lap instead as she began to laugh at herself.

Ashley laughed along with her, "That was funny. Good thing those aren't hot to start with. I was gonna say watch out because they like to shoot out but it would seem you figured that out on your own."

"Sorry...I'll wait till your down talking next time before I try."

"That's alright. I did that too when I first started. Ok. Now that you have those out, you're pretty much ready to start cleaning it. Just pop that switch there," she pointed on her pistol the switch she was referring to, "and flick it. It'll let you take the barrel out."

Lycan nodded and flicked the switch, grateful that this time, the thing didn't go shooting out like it's own little projectile towards the bulkhead. She slid it out and placed the pistol on the table while she closed one eye and looked through the barrel, seeing a few flecks of debris strung about the inside of the tube.

"Looks like this one needs a little TLC." Lycan said as she picked up the first cleaning tool.

"Yeah...I guess the LT forgets to clean it every time. I mean, you don't have to this day and age but it's a good habit to get into." Ashley said, now beginning to clean the pistol in her hands.

Lycan hesitated a brief moment, "This is Kaidan's pistol?"

"Yeah. This one's the Commander's. That's alright isn't it?" Ashley asked, picking up on the slight shock.

"Yeah, it's fine...I just thought with being an officer an all, he'd have his stuff in tip top shape."

"You'd think so, but that's not always the case. At least with this bunch." Ashley said with a slight shrug.

"I guess we get to learn the quirks of the crew together huh." Lycan said, continuing her work on the pistol barrel.

The pair sat in a slight awkward silence as they worked, cleaning the debris from their chosen pistols and erasing any blemishes until the silence was broken.

"So...I gotta ask. How about me do you know?" Ashley asked with a popped eyebrow from her curiosity.

"I know more about you then I do about Kaidan or the Commander. I know you're the oldest of four girls and your family lives on Amaterasu. You're father passed a couple years ago sadly and that his favorite poem was Ulysses. You still read it to him whenever you go home for a visit. Oh...and if you cut out the fact that I was born in 1985, we're the same age." Lycan explained with a small smile.

"That's pretty amazing. That's gonna come in handy for this mission I think." Ashley said, her lips still set into a soft smile as she settled into the conversation.

"I hope it does. I just wanna help somehow. I'm not the best shot, I have no definite fighting skill but one thing I am good at, is driving," she laughed quietly, "I'm no race car driver that's for sure but I love it. Put me behind the wheel and I'll drive it. I could drive anything with a motor. Cars, trucks, motorcycles..any transmission and I even dabbled in semi's"

"Did vehicles still run on fossil fuels back in your time?" Ashley asked, curious to find out about human history from someone who lived it.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah."

"Wow...That's archaic."

Lycan's face dropped the smile and turned into the quint-essential annoyed, flat and blank stare as her head slowly turned and glared at the Chief, "I'm that old huh?"

"Oh! No! That's not what I meant! I mean...You aren't old...well, you don't look it anyways. I mean, if we do go by your birthday, you are," she took a moment and did the math, "198 years old." she started to laugh in an attempt to hide her blush, or hide the foot in her mouth...she hadn't decided which one yet.

"It's fine, I knew what you meant. I was just joking with you." Lycan chuckled, handing the barrel of the Lieutenant's pistol for her to check.

"Oh, I get it...You're one of those huh." Ashley laughed as she took the barrel and inspected it.

The pair continued with their chatter as Ashley taught Lycan how to break down, clean and reassemble the pistol she had handed to her, all while doing her own work with the more powerful weapons. They had lost track of time as they laughed and got to know each other, finding that it was easy to talk with one another. Ashley had asked questions about the aliens that had been brought on board and Lycan answered them to the best of her ability. They were so lost in their conversation, they hadn't noticed Shepard had walked up and was standing behind them, hands on his hips and a smile on his face as he eavesdropped.

"You said you didn't know much about the Commander? How come?" Ashley asked as she snapped in an upgrade into the Commander's pistol.

"His background was something that could have been any number of things. Yours is stagnant...It never changes but his...he could be the Butcher of Torfan, the Hero of Elysium or the Sole Survivor of Akuze and I wouldn't know it." Lycan said with a small shrug.

"Oh..."

"The Hero of Elysium is an Admiral stuck behind a desk at HQ. The Butcher of Torfan is wrapped in a straight jacket in the loony bin, and the Sole Survivor of Akuze, is standing right behind you." a far deeper voice said from behind them which instantly made the two woman stiffen.

Ashley slowly turned to see Shepard, arms crossed over his chest and a grin on his face as he tried his best not to seem too intimidating.

"Uh...hi...Commander." she stuttered, feeling her cheeks becoming uncomfortably hot.

"Hello Chief. I see you've taken our little birdie under your wing." he said, taking the few steps up to the workstation.

"Well actually, she asked if she could help." Ashley said, shooting a quick glance over towards Lycan.

"Did she now?" Shepard nodded in approval, "Ya know, another little birdie told me that you like to drive Lycan." he added, looking at Lycan while reaching out for his pistol when his fingers grazed over Ashley's.

The brief contact caused Shepard to turn his head and look at Ashley who's eyes instantly shifted and looked down towards her workstation. He saw her cheeks start to redden, even in the dim lighting as her rare, lightly tanned skin began to shift in color. He found his eyes settling on her face and he had to admit, the Chief was easy on the eyes but he wasn't going to saying that out loud. It was more of an appreciation of the opposite sex that he admired but knew he had to keep his hands off and there were regs to follow whether he liked it or not. After a very brief moment, he snapped out of it and turned to look once more at Lycan, awaiting her answer.

The connection however, was not lost on Lycan and she found herself fighting her grin, "I do Commander. It was something I found joy in." _I saw that...So that's where this is headed. Oy...Liara is just gonna make things tense. Yeah for drama._

"Well then. Did you want some driving lessons once we get to Therum?" Shepard offered, one of his brows popping up as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards the Mako.

Lycan cringed, "I'd love to learn, but not on Therum."

"Why not?"

"Between the lava pools and the Geth, I don't think it would be the best idea. A little less...hostile would be nice." Lycan explained with a small shrug.

Shepard and Ashley both groaned, "There's gonna be Geth on Therum to deal with?" Shepard griped as he checked his pistol.

"Yup. From normal ground troops to a Geth Colossus. I'd recommend taking someone with a lot of tech knowledge to help with crowd control to make things a bit easier." she said, having to look up in order to talk to the Commander as even he was six feet tall, only a couple inches taller then Ashley which left Lycan...feeling vertically challenged.

"Who would you suggest?" Shepard asked, honestly wanting Lycan's opinion.

"I'd say either Garrus or Tali but it's up to you."

Shepard sighed, "We're still a ways out so I hope you two won't get too bored. There isn't exactly a whole lot to do on a frigate this small."

Ashley finally managed to snap herself out of her stunned stated to rejoin the conversation, "It's fine sir. There's always weapons that need taking care of and I'm pretty sure the LT will get that monitor working at some point." she said, drawing in a deep breath to settle herself back to normal.

"Hopefully," Shepard sighed heavily and handed the pistol back to Ashley, "We'll, carry on you two." he said as he turned and left them to their work.

Ashley and Lycan watched as Shepard walked off towards the Mako and vanish inside before they glanced at each other and Ashley helped Lycan reassemble Kaidan's pistol.

"Nice work on the LT's pistol. He should be happy when you tell him it's all clean." Ashley said with the slightest hint of a smirk.

Lycan couldn't help the blush that slowly began to color her cheeks, "Yeah...I was just gonna let him think that the magic fairies took care of it."

Ashley opened her mouth to answer when Tali walked up, holding her shotgun somewhat like a child. Lycan could tell that she was hesitant to approach the workstation, her body was stiff as she took a few more steps closer and held out her weapon and once she spoke, Lycan could tell she was nervous because of her.

"Chief...um...I was wondering...if you could...uh...perhaps reconfigure my weapon. I'm not too familiar with human weapons." Tali said nervously, letting Ashley take the shotgun from her hands.

"Sure." is all Ashley said as she got to work.

Lycan nervously rubbed the back of her neck as she could feel the young quarian staring at her. Tali rubbed her arm and glanced around the Cargo bay, sighing quietly as he foot began to tap on the deck until she finally built up enough courage to speak.

"Um...Hi." Tali said nervously, still unable to look Lycan directly in the eyes.

"Hello...Um...How are you sleeping?" Lycan asked quietly.

"Oh...um...Well, it's been rough actually. Um...It's really quiet." Tali said, still nervous as she remember what Lycan had told her upon their introduction.

Lycan cracked a smile, "Um...maybe...you could listen...to some ship noise...to help. It...uh...works for me when I can't sleep...Well, the white noise anyways."

Tali finally gathered enough courage to look at the young human whom she hadn't quite figured out yet, "I'll...uh...try that."

Lycan nodded as the awkwardness began to become too much for her. She glanced away from Tali for a moment, then over towards Ashley and nodded her goodbye before she spun and walked off, grabbing her bag from in front of Kaidan's locker and headed for the elevator. Tali sighed, hoping to hide her nervousness from the other human working on her shotgun as she then decided, she needed to get back to Engineering and leave the Chief to her work. Ashley stopped her work a moment as she watched the two part, shrugging with slight confusion as she resumed, catching Shepard as he slipped from the Mako and headed across the bay over the where Wrex stood with his back against the wall. She decided a little eavesdropping of her own wouldn't hurt anyone so she tilted an ear in their direction and listened.

"How you doing down here Wrex?" Shepard asked, silently gulping as he started to feel small next to the giant.

"I'm fine. Don't need much." Wrex rumbled without even looking down at him.

"Alright," he said, finding he was nervously rubbing his bicep in the awkward silence, "So...uh...Where did you get those scars from?"

Wrex just shifted his red eyes down and stared at Shepard, making him feel even smaller, "Wanna find out?"

Shepard gulped, "No...No not really."

Wrex huffed, "Puny human."

If there was one thing Shepard got irritated at the most, it was being called small. He had grown up smaller then all the other kids, even smaller then his little sister whom sadly perished in the Mindoir attack. When he hit puberty, he hit the gym harder then a meteor hits a planet's surface just to bulk up, but he hadn't accounted for the massive growth spurt that shot him up from five foot even...to his overall height of just over six feet at six foot one. If it hadn't been for the time he spent in a gym, he would have looked like a bean pole but he had packed on enough muscle to make all the younger kids think twice about messing with him. They even started to shy away from him when his Biotics manifested, not wanting to be physically pummeled, or mentally tossed around like a rag doll. Shepard reached up and grabbed Wrex's head plate and yanked him down, bringing the massive krogan face to face with him and hissed, brows drawn down and teeth bared in his own snarl.

"Call me puny, one more time...I dare you to." Shepard snarled, his blue eyes fuming with the need to prove that he wasn't small.

Wrex's rumbling laughter defused Shepard's blazing temper as he let go of the head plate and stood up straighter with an odd look on his face. The krogan continued to rumble, wrapping his massive arms around his midsection and filling the Cargo Bay as the low rumble reverberated off the bulkhead to be felt in every ones feet.

"I like you human! You've got the fighting blood of a krogan in you!" Wrex roared through his laughter, planting a heavy hand on top of Shepard's head.

Shepard's brows softened as one continued on it's path up, "What?"

"You've got a krogan spirit Shepard. Ready to smash at a moments notice. We'll get along just fine." Wrex said, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning back against the stack of crates behind him.

Shepard just stood and stared for a moment before hesitantly turning and walking back to Ashley's table, leaning back against the workbench with his own arms crossed, watching her work out from his peripherals.

"That...was odd." Shepard said quietly so only Ashley could hear.

"I could have sworn you two were gonna get into it right then and there. What in the Hell did he say to you?" Ashley whispered, giving Shepard a sidelong glance.

"You'd laugh if I told you."

"Probably...But I still wanna hear it." she said, setting down shotgun to look at the Commander.

"At least you're honest about it," he grumbled as he drew in a long breath, "He called me puny." he grumbled as he started to actually pout.

Ashley choked on her laughter, biting her lip as she stared at him pouting and even going as far as jutting his bottom lip out to make a show of it.

"Are you serious! That's all it takes to sick the dog on the fox!" she started to laugh, cupping her hand over her mouth, "I'll keep that in mind next time we're in a pinch!" then, she let her laughter go unbridled.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up...Hey, stop laughing, it's not that funny..." her laughing was starting to grate on his nerves, "Come on, knock it off."

Shepard's hands tightened around his biceps as he started to get mad at the Chief but it wasn't something he could actually discipline her for. He pushed off the table and turned to fully face Ashley, watching her laugh as his body began to softly glow with his Biotic corona. His brows furrowed hard once more as he found himself taking steps towards her which caused her to subconsciously react in defense by sending a surprisingly powerful punch straight into his gut and sending him to the deck, curled up into a ball.

"Oh my God...I'm so sorry Commander...I...I just reacted!" Ashley yelped as her laughter instantly dissipated, crouching down to his side.

_Holy shit...woman's got some oomph in those slender arms of hers, _"That's how you wanna play it huh?" he groaned.

"Pardon?"

"That's how you wanna play it? Let's play."

Shepard lunged forward and sent a shoulder into Ashley as both went crashing to the deck. Ashley instantly countered by rolling, flipping them over as she rolled away and got to her feet, ready to defend and a smile on her face. Shepard pushed himself to his feet and readied himself, circling the Chief like a shark ready to strike it's pray, his eyes sizing her up. He sent a right hook in her direction which she promptly dodged as she sent her own blow, landing it into his ribcage. Shepard shied away from the blow and laughed, wrapping an arm around his torso as he straightened up and continued to circle.

"Ah...So the Gunnery Chief knows some hand to hand." Shepard laughed, rather enjoying their little sparring match.

"Courtesy of one of my Dad's friends. Wanna see more?" Ashley returned the laugh, somewhat enjoying their little game.

"Bring it."

Ashley made her move by throwing a stiff left hook which Shepard blocked before countering with a solid, yet underpowered blow to her ribs. Ashley took the proximity between them as she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down, planting her own underpowered strike of her knee to his chest. However, she hadn't planned on Shepard already formulating his next move as he grabbed her wrists and spun her around, crossing her arms over her chest and wrapping his far thicker arms around her shoulders, pinning her back against his chest, ending their playful scuffle.

Shepard's mouth was right next to her ear as he whispered, "Marine hand to hand is great against someone who doesn't know a martial art." he tightened his arms around her to keep her from struggling.

"I assume you know one?" she whispered back, a crooked grin in her face as she could feel his heart thumping against her back.

"Several Chief...Several." he answered, holding her a moment longer before releasing her, a satisfied and crooked grin on his face.

Ashley spun and took a few steps away from him, "I'll keep that in mind next time Commander." she said with a smile before she turned and headed back to her workstation.

_Next time huh? Looking forward to it. _He thought, his smirk still in place as he walked away with a quick glance back over his shoulder, wondering what else was hidden beneath that tough Marine exterior.

* * *

Lycan sat at one of the tables on the Crew Deck, periodically checking on her borrowed Omni-Tool for the time and finding that it had gotten late. The few crew that had come on for the night shift were scattered about the ship, but none were near her, leaving her time to think and learn her Omni-Tool more. She wasn't tired and wasn't sure why, probably from her thoughts as they danced around her head. The amount of information that she held was staggering, spanning years and she knew that divulging it all at the same time could be too much to swallow for Shepard and his team. She wanted to make things easier...not harder but she knew that things were only going to get more difficult from here on out. She needed something to help her not to stress over what was to come, so she decided to try and see if that Omni-Tool had any games on it.

She managed to bring it up alright, but she was having some issues trying to find anything along the lines of Solitaire. She didn't wanna screw up any of Kaidan's settings by finger fucking her way around it so she just decided to do an overall search which had gotten her the desired result. She had begun to play, getting comfortable in her seat when the quiet hiss of an opening door caught her attention. She looked up and saw Kaidan slowly walk out, his hair somewhat disheveled from his rest and his eyes slightly squinted from the light in the Galley. Lycan shut down the Omni-Tool and straightened up, leaning her elbows on the table and pressing her chest into it's edge.

"Hey...Are you feeling better?" she asked quietly, still trying to keep her voice down.

Kaidan nodded as he scuffed over and sat next down to her, resting his own elbows on the table and raking his hands down his face.

"Yeah. Uh...thank you for your help getting me into the Med Bay earlier. That was a bad one," he said, just as quietly, "And...um...thanks for letting me use your bunk." he added, finding it hard to look at her until he felt the slight pressure from her hand on his back.

"You're my friend...well, I consider you one at least. I help my friends." she said, a soft smile on her face.

Kaidan smiled, "I consider you one too Lycan," he studied her face for a moment, confused why she wasn't angry with him, especially after he had thrown up on her, "Listen...I'm...uh...very, very sorry I threw up on you. I didn't mean it. Please...don't be upset with me." he said, his face saddening as he looked away from her.

Lycan huffed a low, quiet chuckle, "You think I'd be mad at something that wasn't under your control?"

"Well...yeah, actually...I did." he said, tilting his head slightly to look at her.

Her smile widened just a hair, "You need to know me better then," she leaned in slightly, "That's what a shower is for just to let you know." she slipped her hand from his back and let both of them rest in her lap.

"Yeah...I guess you're right." he said, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly as he continued to look at her.

Lycan looked away from his honey colored eyes and scratched her upper arm, "I...uh...hope you don't mind but...Ash taught me how to clean a pistol and I ended up cleaning yours."

Kaidan couldn't keep his quiet gasp to himself as he felt the heat of his own blush flood his cheeks, "Oh...uh...Thank you. Really...Thank you, I appreciate it." he stuttered as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Lycan felt a long awaited yawn creep up on her, even though she tried to hide it from Kaidan by covering her mouth with the sleeve of his zip up, "Oh my...That snuck up on me quick." she said through it.

"Oh...I guess you were waiting on me to get out of your bed huh?"

"No...I just wasn't tired yet. Figured I'd play some Solitaire for awhile until I was." she said, resting her head in one hand while she looked at Kaidan, still slumped in his seat.

"Oh. Did you find it alright?" he asked, letting his own hands fall from the table to rest in his lap.

Lycan shrugged, "Sort of. I couldn't find the right menu so I just did an overall search which found it." she raised her right wrist, since she was Left handed, and brought up the interface once more.

"Here...I'll show you."

Kaidan leaned into her slightly to get a better look at the Omni-Tool's display, slightly pressing his shoulder into hers as he started to press a few commands to bring up the desired menu. The contact caused him to slightly stiffen as her warmth started to filtering through his uniform shirt and it took all his strength no to glance up and look her in the eyes. So instead, he let the faintest of smiles adorn his lips. Lycan watched as he showed her how, smiling as she saw it was rather easy and groaned that she hadn't been able to figure it out herself.

"Well I feel dumb now." she groaned with an annoyed look, mainly at herself.

"You're fine. In your defense, that one is pretty advanced for someone just starting out so I'll let that one slide." he joked as he pulled his shoulder away from hers and feeling the blush that threatened to paint his cheeks cool down.

"Gee, thank you master." she said, making a show of it by giving her voice an extremely rough English accent which Kaidan couldn't help but laugh at.

"You're really bad at that. Do you speak any other languages?" he asked, now curious to find more about her.

Lycan joined in with the laughter as she shook her head, "Just English and bad English." she joked.

Kaidan popped an eyebrow, somewhat recognizing the statement, "I think I've heard that somewhere before."

"Ten points if you can guess from where."

Kaidan thought a moment before he brought up his Omni-Tool and typed in the familiar phrase as he found himself, having to fend off Lycan as she complained about him using it to find the answer.

"Hey...That's cheating!" she griped as she tried to get at the button on his Left wrist to turn it off.

Kaidan just grabbed her wrist and used a fraction of his strength to keep her at bay while the search engine worked, "It's not cheating, it's using the resources at hand." he started to laugh.

At that, Lycan found she had no hope of stopping it and just slumped into her chair, making another show of crossing her arms over her chest in faux anger.

His Omni-Tool pinged as it completed it's search and displayed the results on a small screen, "Ah ha! Ten points for me. 1997's The Fifth Element. I knew I heard that line from somewhere." he whistled at the films age, realizing it to be 186 years old.

"No points for you...you cheated...wait, you've seen it?" she asked, somewhat stunned at even in this time, films from when she was growing up were still around.

"Yes I have. Several times in fact. I love all those old Hollywood vids from your time. I've seen vids from as far back as the 1960's." Kaidan said, rather intrigued that they had this in common and found himself eager to continue the conversation.

"Really? I would have thought that they would have disappeared after humans left Earth." Lycan said with a wide smile across her face.

"Nope. When we tapped into the extranet after we finally figured out FTL flight, Hollywood put everything they had on Netflix Prime as some joint effort to bring in credits to Earth from the galactic community. It was a huge gamble but it took off like a rocket. Now, it's a constant stream of credits that filter in from all the subscriptions." Kaidan explained, still smiling as he rested an elbow on the table and pressed his head into his hand.

"Netflix Prime? There was something like that back in 2011."

"Yup, same one...well, sort of. They funded the promotion and it sent everyone else out of business so they took on the name Prime because they're the only vid site out there, and the originator of the extranet vids." Kaidan said, settling in nicely into the conversation.

"That's crazy. I watched Netflix all the time. I love it. As many campy creatures features as I can handle. It's great. If I had actual money, I'd probably have a subscription. I'll have to figure out some way to get money." she said nonchalantly, not meaning anything by it.

"Here...I'll let you have access to mine." he said as he opened his Omni-Tool and brought up the homepage for the site to log in, going into the settings and adding her name to his account.

"Oh you don't have to do that. I wasn't begging..." she sighed as he silenced her with a glare and saved the changes to his account, "Well shit...I can't repay you for even saving my life. How am I supposed to repay you for this?"

"Nonsense. You're my friend and it seems you like vids as much as I do."

Lycan smiled at him, not knowing what else to say to convince him that he didn't have to do that, "How come you're being so nice to me? I mean, it's greatly appreciated but I'm just curious."

"Because I know what's it like to feel lost and confused and alone. I was younger then you when BAaT was shut down because of what I did. It was a hard time for me and I felt alone even though my family was trying to be supportive. I just don't want you to feel that way so consider this just one of those things to help you adjust. Plus, it's not gonna cost me anymore credits to let you have access to my account." he said, his smile slightly fading.

"Well...Thank you. It's nice to feel accepted."

At that, the two sat in a companionable silence, digesting the small things they found out about each other until Lycan's eyes finally started to feel heavy. She pushed back from the table and stood, stopping a moment behind Kaidan and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Good night Kaidan." she said with a gentle squeeze, finding that the meat under his shirt had very little give to it so instead, she patted it softly as she started for the Med Bay.

"You too Lycan," he watched her for a moment as she made for the door, wanting to know if she would watch some old vids with him since no one else he could find enjoyed vids from that long ago, but unsure if he wanted to ask until his mouth detached from his brain, "Hey Lycan?"

She stopped and turned to look at him, "Yeah?"

_Shit! You can't ask that! What's wrong with you? She might get the wrong impression. You don't want that! _"Sleep tight." he said instead, nervously rubbing the back of his neck and kicking himself for nearly putting a kink in their fledgling friendship. _Like that was much better you moron._

Lycan gave him a soft smile, "You too Kaidan." she said quietly as she slipped through the door, feeling more accepted then she ever had.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Fire Down Below on Therum

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! 3's Beta!)_

Shepard was down in the Cargo Bay, attempting to wiggle himself into his armor while the _Normandy_ drew closer to Therum. They had just entered the Knossos system and it allowed him the time to determine whom he wanted to bring when he hit dirt. Lycan's suggestion of either bringing Garrus or Tali was still rattling around in his head as he managed to pull the hardsuit over his hips, giving him a far easier time of pulling it up the rest of the way.

"Having issues?" came a double toned voice from behind him which startle him half to insanity.

Shepard jumped in surprise and bumped into the bench which threw his balance off just enough to sent him down to the deck in a twisted heap of body and hardsuit.

"Dammit Garrus! What the Hell!" Shepard cursed loudly as he now had to try and right himself with one arm, as the other one was jammed halfway down it's sleeve and therefore...useless to aid him.

"Are you that jumpy Commander?" Garrus asked with a soft clank of his mandibles.

"I get jumpy just before ground missions! So sue me! Help me up." Shepard growled as he managed to maneuver his legs underneath him just as Garrus reached a hand out and helped him up.

"Why do you get so jumpy?"

Shepard sighed as he thrust his arm the rest of the way down it's sleeve and finished getting himself into the very tight, very unpliable suit, "It's a side effect of Akuze. You ready to hit the dirt?" he asked, finally finished with the hardsuit.

"Yes Commander. Wrex is already inside the Mako." Garrus reported as he crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for Shepard to gather his weapons.

"Ok, go hop on in and I'll be down in a few minutes. I gotta run up to the bridge." Shepard said as he headed towards Ashley's station and picked up his weapons.

He snapped his guns onto his back and headed for the elevator to take him up to the Crew Deck where he headed up the stairs to walk to the bridge, finding Ashley standing behind Joker's chair with her arms crossed and Kaidan showing Lycan how to use the console which was to be her station when they were on the ground.

"Joker...How far out are we?" Shepard asked as he came to stand next to Ashley with his own arms crossed.

"Five minutes till we hit atmo Commander." the pilot swiftly answered without even turning around.

"Excellent," he turned his head and looked over to the co-pilot's chair where Kaidan usually sat in this situation, "You picking all that up alright Lycan?"

"Um...sort of. I might need help as I go along though." she said honestly as she tried to absorb all the information Kaidan was feeding her.

"I'm sure anyone here could help you if you need it." Shepard said, glaring down at the top of Joker's hat that he realized, never left his head, "Isn't that right Joker."

"Uh huh...Sure. Show the creepy fortune teller stuff...Got it." he said like he wasn't really paying attention.

Shepard was about to reprimand Joker, but hadn't been fast enough as Lycan spoke up before he had a chance and he realized, she was singing her reply.

"I have a love-ely bunch of broken fingers, fiddle-e-dee. A there they are all crumpled in a ball...Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head..." she sang with a rather nice, sidelong glare towards Joker.

Everyone stopped what they were doing as they stared at Lycan, trying to not bust out laughing as Joker, slowly turned his head and glared right back.

"Did you figure that out all by yourself?" Joker spat like he was talking with a small child.

"Yup...Can I have a cookie?" she asked, shooting a smart ass smile in his direction.

"Huh? How the Hell did you know about my stash!" Joker growled, furrowing his brows as he continued to glare, watching his screens out of the corner of his eyes.

"I didn't. You just told me. Can I have one?"

"Oh you're good. Fine...you win this round." Joker said as he reached underneath his chair and handed Lycan said cookie which she happily took and munched on.

That's when everyone laughed at Joker's expense.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up guys," he grumbled as he returned his full attention back to his screens, "Entering atmo now Commander."

The ship began to slightly shutter as she fought her way through the thick, breathable atmosphere of the planet Therum. Everyone whom was standing braced themselves against the tops of the chairs to ride out the decent as the sky began to turn colors, lightening from the black of space, to a stark powder blue with thick, gray clouds scattered all over it's canvas.

"You'll be able to see everything I see Lycan through the cam in my helmet and the link will be open so feel free to feed me information when we get close to something worth knowing about." Shepard said as he slipped the helmet onto his head.

"Alright Commander." she acknowledged as Kaidan helped her to bring up the screen to allow her to watch everything from the ground team.

Shepard adjusted his helmet to rest comfortably before he spun and headed back down the CIC, leaving the four on the bridge to finish with their preparations. Kaidan was crouched down next to the chair where Lycan sat and pointed out the different controls. Volume, brightness and a few of the camera controls she had access to from where she sat.

"Ok, that should be it. If you have any other questions, just ask Joker and if he wont because you scored one of his secret cookies, call me and all come and help you." Kaidan said with a smirk.

"Shut up Alenko." Joker growled, obviously bitter that he lost a cookie.

"God, you're a sore loser." Ashley laughed, cupping her hand over her mouth to try and keep it quiet.

"I am not! Ok, I am...but sure, I'll give her a hand while you two work." Joker griped as he gently slowed the _Normandy's_ decent and began to scan for a suitable landing zone for the Mako.

"Thank you Joker." Kaidan said with a quick pat to Lycan's shoulder before he turned and left the bridge.

"Don't beat him up too badly Lycan." Ashley added as she too left, leaving Joker alone with the 'creepy fortune teller.'

The two were cast into an awkward silence as Lycan watched the screen in front of her, seeing the Commander climb into the driver's seat of the Mako, catching a brief glimpse of Garrus in the navigators seat, and the giant Wrex in the gunner's turret.

"Thanks for the cookie." she said, wanting to break the silence as she curled a leg underneath her and got a little more comfy.

"Yup."

Again, another awkward silence as Joker flew the ship closer to the ground that was screaming by underneath them.

"How fast are we going?" she innocently asked.

"Why? You a side seat driver too?" Joker snapped, finding he hadn't meant it to sound so mean as he had promised Shepard, that if he was going to the trust the girl, so was he.

"No...I was just curious. Sorry if I bothered you." she apologized, looking back at her own screen.

"No...you're fine. That kinda came out a bit rougher then I meant it too. I'm just a little unsure about you is all. No offense or anything." Joker said, slightly backtracking so not to make things more difficult then they already were.

"None taken. I'm sorry...if I upset you earlier." Lycan said quietly, sucking her hands back into her sleeves. _I'm gonna have to give this back at some point._

"If you would' ve upset me...you wouldn't have gotten a cookie." Joker said as the corners of his lips curled up slightly, not just because the awkwardness was slowly but surely going away, but because he found a landing zone for the Mako.

"Really? So...can I have another one?" she said with a large, shit eaten grin.

"Don't push your luck."

* * *

Shepard and his squad waited inside the Mako as the doors began to open, letting them know that they were dangerously close to being dropped off, with a heavy emphasis on dropped. He revved the all terrain vehicle's engine as he waited for the wheel clamps to disengage and give him the go ahead to fly over the side of the open bay to plummet to the ground below.

"Check, check...Lycan can you hear me alright?" Shepard said to test the comm link.

_"Yup. Have you Lima Charlie."_

Shepard smile, "Have you the same. You don't have to be all military by the way. You can have a normal conversation on these. They're more like phones then radio links." he explained as he brought down his restraints and strapped in, motioning for the other two to do the same...well, except for Wrex which he was pretty sure wasn't going anywhere.

_"Oh...alright." _there was a slight giggle from her end.

The heavy clank sounded through the Mako which told Shepard it was time to fly. He throttled hard and sent the vehicle sailing towards the open bay door, out into the sky to free fall towards the rust colored ground. The Mako shook as it fell, alarms blaring loudly all around them as Shepard waited for just the right moment to slow their rapid decent. He carefully watched their altitude gauge until his chosen number flashed by, instantly causing him to react by firing the Mako's thrusters and immediately began to slow the fall which ended in a bouncy, harsh landing on the rocky ground.

_"That...is a lot rougher from your point of view Commander." _Lycan said through the comm.

Shepard chuckled, "It's not as bad as it looks Lycan." he said, catching a glimpse of Garrus's brow plates shifting downwards.

This time, Joker's voice came through the comm, _"I'm picking up some really strange readings Commander...Like, off the charts, Lycan showing up again kind of strange coming from a few clicks away from where you are."_

"Any idea what those could be Lycan?" Shepard asked, glancing over towards Garrus as he worked their navigation to determine the best path they should take.

_"It's the prothean dig site where Dr. T'Soni is."_

"Is it a weapon?"

_"No. It's a defensive field inside the dig site. You'll see it when you get there."_

"Roger that." Shepard acknowledged as he started down the path that Garrus had laid out, "How far until we run into Geth Lycan?" a muffled snort came from the Navigator's seat.

_"A little ways down that path you're on. You'll see a Geth dropship fly over before it drops off two Geth Armaments." _

"Understood."

Shepard continued down the path as the three sat in silence, Garrus staring diligently at the radar looking out for any indications of the enemy, but still with a rather unpleased sneer across his face. The land resembled something from a strange nightmare. The sporadic ground was a rusty red with patches of black and lined with lakes of glowing red lava on either side of the path, in some places, the path narrowing to just wide enough to allow the vehicle to roll over without slipping into the molten rock.

The scent of sulfur began to filter into the Mako as they drove, "Surface temp of the armor is rising Commander. We should try and keep away from the lava before we reach critical." Garrus informed, still watching the radar.

"I'm trying Garrus...Not much room to..." Shepard started to say as a low rumbling began to hum through the Mako.

"We've got incoming Commander. Geth dropship by the size of it." Garrus said with a slight growl.

"Wrex, ready the cannon."

"Already done Shepard." Wrex rumbled as he spun the turret around, fully to the front.

Shepard and Garrus glared out of the small viewports as the dark violet form of a Geth dropship, that strongly resembled a dragonfly, come into view and slowed to a hover as two, teardrop shaped objects plummeted out from the ship's belly, slamming into the ground. They watched as the objects began to move and stand by themselves on four, metal and clawed legs with a long neck and a head with a flashlight eye.

"And there's the Armaments. Wrex?" Shepard said as he smiled, knowing the Armaments hadn't primed themselves yet.

The large cannon on top of the Mako erupted to life as the krogan sent rocket after rocket towards the targets. Each round slammed hard into the Armaments, sending shrapnel in all directions as they exploded and took chunks off of the Geth with them to pepper the ground. The other Geth had begun to charge up a large, bright blue shot just as it's partner was reduced to nothing but scrap metal and white fluid and sent it sailing towards the Mako. Shepard immediately smashed a finger down onto the button for the jump thrusters and hopped into the air, smirking at himself as the blue shot went underneath to only meet dirt, instead of armor.

_"They'll be more of those as you keep driving." _she said quietly into his ear.

Shepard throttled forward and continued their progress, winding his way down the path as they continued to encounter more Geth Armaments and always in a pair, but with their prior knowledge of their arrival, one always fell before they it fired. They continued their steady progress, laying waste to more Geth, until Garrus spotted what looked to be a barrier not far in front of them.

"Looks like there's a barrier or wall of some kind coming up Commander." Garrus said, zooming the map out slightly to get a better look at their surroundings.

_"There should be a path that springs out to the right that goes around the wall. There's a lot of fire power on it and you'll be hard pressed to take it head on." _

"Giving me orders are you Lycan?" Shepard said, filling his voice with a faux irritation.

_"N-No...Commander...Um...I was...uh...just..."_

Shepard laughed, "Relax Lycan. I was just yanking your chain."

The other end of the comm remained silent for a moment and Shepard started to question whether he had gone a hair too far with her.

_"Oh...alright then. I'll...uh...be here if you need me." _

The comm was silent once more as Shepard slowly crept the Mako forward until the wall came into view, as well as the tops of the large rocket turrets that adorned it's top.

"She's right. We'll be blasted to bits if we try and assault that head on. Where's that path she mentioned?" Shepard asked, leaning over to look at the map that Garrus had pulled up.

Garrus growled, "Right where she said. It's just around the corner. We should be able to make it if we back up some and gun it." he explained, zooming in on the map to show the small trail that curved around the wall.

Shepard nodded and began to back up the Mako, bringing up a rear view and quickly backtracked to gain enough room to get the Mako up to speed.

_"Commander, when you come out of the small path, there's gonna be at least a dozen Geth in the clearing. Mostly ground troops with a few rocket troops."_

"Roger that." Shepard acknowledged as he hammered down on the throttle.

The Mako launched forward, out from behind the protective rock of the corner as Shepard guided the vehicle in a controlled skid towards the small path. The rocket turrets that sat atop the barrier spotted the intruder and began to fire, sending screaming rockets towards them, only to go wide to miss their moving target. Shepard quickly banked the Mako right and barely managed to avoid an incoming rocket that slammed into the rock and sent dust high into the air as he slowed some to navigate the very narrow path.

"That was a little close for comfort Commander." Garrus said as he hung onto the armrests.

"Hardy turian! It's exhilarating!" Wrex rumbled with a deep laugh and nearly smashed his teeth on the turret when Shepard slammed on the brakes.

All three stared for a very brief moment at the rocket turret in front of them as it slowly turned it's head around, coming closer to staring back at them. Wrex craned the turret around and fired their own rocket before the other one had finished coming around, watching with a satisfied grin as it rapidly closed the short distance and smashed dead square into the turret, blasting it's shields down to nothing. The large krogan fired another shot with a deep seated rumble of a laugh as he watched the rocket smash into the turret with an explosion that was just as loud as the pound from their cannon. Shepard started forward once more but only at a quarter throttle as he crept up around the corner, knowing there were targets laying in wait and ready to blast them off the face of the galaxy.

"Wrex, when we come around the corner, fire at will." Shepard ordered as they drew closer to the end of the rocky wall.

"Like you have to tell me that."

The nose of the Mako poked out from behind the corner, the shields sparking blue as rounds from awaiting Geth slammed into them and began to chip away at their shields.

"Bow shields down to 85% Shepard." Garrus reported, trying to hide the slight worry in his double toned voice.

Wrex cranked the turret over and took aim, firing not just the rockets, but the large and powerful machine gun who's accuracy was...less then precise. The rounds from the machine gun went everywhere, peppering everything from the scattered cargo crates, to the Geth troops hiding behind them once the crates gave out. The rockets splashed into the larger Geth units, sending them high into the air where they burned and came crashing to the ground in a pile of ashes. More bullets flew from the machine gun as some found their targets while others found the ground, sending large puffs of dirt and dust into the air and making it slightly harder for Wrex to gain decent aim with the turret as he sent another wave of rockets to finish the targets off.

"Nice your Wrex...Garrus, any tangos on radar?" Shepard asked slowly crawling the Mako forward a little further.

"Negative Commander. All targets down. Looks like there's another barrier to the right just up ahead.

Shepard pulled up more, rolling over the debris of destroyed crates and banked around to face the next obstacle...another closed wall but this one didn't have any rocket turrets on top of it.

"Looks like we gotta get out and open it manually." Garrus said with another check to the radar.

"Wrex...You stay there and keep an eye out...Garrus, you're with me."

Shepard unbuckled and slipped outside where he pulled his pistol and waited for Garrus to follow. They carefully walked towards the open door that rested atop a small ramp near the end of the barrier and crept inside. The bright white from the lights shone down on the large motor that drove the gate as they peered underneath it, seeing a pair of metal covered legs that were most definitely not human...or turian for that matter. Shepard quietly brought up his Omni-Tool and primed and Overload pulse before he walked towards the end of the motor. The Geth unit took steps as well once it had heard the footsteps of someone approaching, it's assault rifle raised and ready to fire at whomever it was. Shepard pressed his back against the dormant motor as he waited the brief moment for the Geth to creep around the corner before quickly peered around the corner, immediately jumping into action as he sent the primed pulse and grinned with morbid satisfaction as the unit twitched and thrashed before it fell to the deck.

"Just the one?" Garrus asked, slightly confused as to why they're weren't more laying in wait.

"Looks like it. Can you get those controls there to work and open the gate?"

"Shouldn't be a problem Commander." Garrus said as he walked up to the control panel and got to work.

A few moments later, the motor next to them kicked in as it started to lower the gate. Shepard and Garrus ran back outside, finding no opposition as they slipped back inside the Mako and strapped in. Shepard jammed the throttle forward once more and shot the Mako forward, continuing along their path towards the source of the strange readings. On their travel, they encountered more Geth Armaments, and even a Geth Colossus which took them some strategic jumping to avoid getting pummeled by the large, glowing blue shots. One after another, they took the curves while destroying the enemy like a perfectly refined ballet as they drew closer and closer to the end, driving down a couple tunnels that had squads of Geth standing their posts at either end, waiting for the chance to fire on them as they came through. Several clicks later, Shepard saw their chosen path coming to an end as a natural barrier of boulders blocked their progress.

"Looks like we're on foot from here." Shepard said as he gently slowed the Mako to a stop at the rock barrier.

_"Commander...Be careful once you come up on the clearing. There's a good sized squad of Geth laying in wait, including a couple snipers up in the watch towers."_

"Jesus...Lycan, how come all these Geth are here?" Shepard asked with furrowed brows as they pressed forward with the tops of those very watch towers coming into view.

_"To take Dr. T'Soni to Saren."_

"That's not good...Garrus get ready to snipe whatever's up in those towers." Shepard ordered as they both dropped to prone with Wrex towering over them,

Garrus's brow plates shift down as he pulled his sniper rifle and extended it to it's full length with the flick of a talon, settling himself down on the rusty colored dirt and peered down the high powered scope. His vision took a moment to focus but once it had, the frame of a Geth unit appeared, staring down it's own rifle scope towards the clearing that Lycan had mentioned. He steadied his aim, taking in a slow, deep breath and held it for a brief moment before he pulled the trigger, sending a reverberating crack through the clearing and a bullet that slammed straight into the Geth's head with enough force to knock it off the watch tower.

Shepard smirked as he pulled a grenade from his belt and handed it to Wrex, his immensely large hand taking the device, primed it, and stepped around them to toss it straight out into the clearing before he ducked behind a boulder that was actually large enough for him to hide behind. The grenade landed a few meters short of some advancing Geth where it waited for a moment before it exploded into a wide spread fireball of intense heat, claiming a couple Geth units for itself. Shepard began to commando crawl, remaining low to the ground as he blended in well with the dirt, up to a boulder where he pushed himself into a crouch and pressed his shoulder against it. He took a moment to prime an Overload pulse as the remaining hostiles drew closer before he leaned out and targeted one of them, paralyzing it as it twitched and shook. He punched a few rounds through it's chest and head, taking it out of the picture as another loud crack sounded from behind him. Shepard quickly scanned the area, seeing the faint glimmer of light from a high ridge on the other side of the clearing that kept darting back and forth from behind a short barricade.

"Lycan...It looks like there's another Geth on the top of the ridge..." Shepard hailed.

_"It shouldn't be able to target you once you get close enough to the cliff wall." _she gently interrupted.

One of Shepard's brows popped, "Shouldn't?" his voice radiated amusement as he was realizing that this was going to be a fun little game.

_"Uh...um...uh huh." _her voice was obviously nervous until Shepard's chuckle came through on her end, _"You're teasing me again aren't you..."_

"Yup."

_"I hate you."_

Shepard laughed as he gave Garrus and Wrex the signal to rapidly move forward towards the cliff face with him following close behind. The last remaining Geth fired a couple shots as they sprinted through the clearing, but lost the opening as they dropped out of sight. Once they couldn't see the last Geth, they slowed to catch their breath for a moment as Shepard quickly glanced around to find a way up without having to all out climb the cliff and to his luck, there was a ramp that wound around and up, out of the pit. He motioned for Garrus and Wrex to come as the three rapidly ascended the ramp and spun, ready to fire just in case that the last Geth was already ready to fire on them. They closed in on a small barricade that was only a few meters in front of the one the Geth was hiding behind and took cover as Shepard got ready with another Overload. He hadn't even finished priming it when Wrex walked out, rather nonchalantly as his massive bulk shimmered with a blue corona. The Geth leaned out to fire, only sending a few rounds into the Biotic Barrier before the giant came within an arms reach...well, his arms reach. He grabbed the machine's arm and yanked, tearing it off with marginal effort and sending a shower of sparks and spurts of white fluid all over the dirt. He took the arm that he had just claimed as his and began to beat the Geth severely with it over the head, smashing the flashlight eye and snapping the neck joints, rendering the machine useless.

Shepard and Garrus just stood and stared, somewhat in disbelief that Wrex had beat a Geth to bits with it's own arm.

"Uh...That's one way to get rid of it I guess," Shepard said as he heard the muffled laughter coming in through the comm, indicating that Lycan was probably laughing her ass off when her quiet voice was joined by a deeper one, "I'm glad you two think that was so funny."

_"That was hilarious Commander! Tell that dinosaur he needs to do that more often so I can make an extranet vid for The Galaxy's Funniest Krogan!" _Joker's voice boisterously came through the comm, causing Shepard to slightly wince at the volume.

Shepard just grumbled as he returned his attention back to the mission, "You're a Biotic too Wrex?."

"Yes. Comes in handy but I still prefer to pummel things with my hands." Wrex rumbled with a smirk.

"I'll keep that in mind...Move out."

They began the trek passed the downed Geth and headed up a small hill towards the mineshaft entrance when Lycan's voice began to pipe through to his ear once more.

_"Be careful up there Commander. There's a Geth ambush with an Armament at the top of that hill. There's also these weird...jumper Geth things." _

"Alright...Stay alert everyone." Shepard said quietly to his squad as they continued up the small hill.

Their eyes darted around the open space as a high catwalk came into view that spanned between tall, grated walls. Shepard scanned the area, aware that they were about to run into an ambush that wasn't so much of an ambush anymore, as he saw something hanging on the underside of the catwalk.

"You see that Lycan?" Shepard asked quietly into his comm as stared at the object, giving her a moment to look at it from her screen.

_"Mmhmm. That's one of those weird jumpers. There's more." _she answered after a brief silence.

Shepard nodded, figuring Lycan should see the motion through the POV cam in his helmet before he motioned for Garrus to neutralize the target. The turian readied his high powered sniper rifle and stared down the scope, zeroing in on the white object that looked like someone had pulled it's skin off. He took the brief preparation moment before he pulled the trigger and took care of the Geth before it had a chance to awaken and cause more trouble. The sound of the rifle however, is what alerted the rest of the awaiting Geth as they began to filter out from their hiding spots and the whirring roar of another Geth dropship came flying over as it sent another large Geth Armament to the ground to make things harder. Shepard immediately sent a disruption pulse to the Armament, rendering it useless for a brief time and allowing them to get to cover before all Hell broke loose. Wrex's body flared high with his Biotic corona as he wrapped himself with a shimmering blue Barrier, leaning out and blasting shotgun rounds into a closing Geth trooper. Bits of metal and more white blood splattered all over, decorating any object within a five meter radius, including Wrex. As Shepard reapplied his disabling pulse to the Armament, Garrus sent his own Overload pulse and blew open the machines shields. Shepard saw the perfect opportunity to make short work of the large machine as he rolled out into the open and tossed a magnetic grenade, sending it sailing through the air and landing it on the target's neck. He wheeled around and scrambled back to cover as he mentally counted down till he reached zero, upon which he was rewarded with a loud explosion that sent a plume of fire, smoke and debris into the air where it rained down on top of them. Garrus carefully watched as another one of the odd jumper Geth halted for longer then a second before he took aim and fired, clipping the wild machine and rendering a limb useless to it. He quickly pulled the trigger once more and fired, slamming another high powered round into the Geth's head and taking it out of the battle, leaving only one more wild Geth for Shepard to take care of. The Commander's eyes followed the crazed jumping as it darted from side to side, waiting for it to stop and prime it's own shot. Once it did, Shepard's body flared brightly with his own corona as he Lifted the hostile into the air, letting it float around like it was stuck in zero gravity before he took aim and plowed a rather unnecessarily large amount of rounds into it's torso.

The clearing grew silent again as the thud of the last Geth flopped to the ground, leaving Shepard, Garrus and Wrex to themselves with their hearts pumping adrenaline and blood rapidly through their bodies.

"Looks like we got them all Commander." Garrus growled as he scanned the immediate area for any more dangers.

"Let's hope that's all of it." Shepard said as he straightened his posture and walked out into the courtyard.

"It would seem if we hadn't, your little _friend_ would say so." Garrus snarled, trying to hide his disdain from the Commander.

"She can hear you Garrus...the link's open." Shepard's brows furrowed as he glared at the turian.

"Then kill it and let the ones trained in combat pull the strings." Garrus sneered, not bothering this time to hide the snarl that laced his voice.

"Are you questioning my authority Vakarian! You of all people should be more then accustomed to following orders!" Shepard hissed as he took a couple steps forward and bringing him up close and personal to Garrus.

"I'm fine following orders that make sense Commander but this doesn't...not by a long shot." his brow plates shifted down as he grew more and more angry.

"It makes perfect sense Vakarian! I saw first fucking hand that she knows what's waiting for us out here and so have you! The whole drive up here has been nothing but one big proof after another! How much more do you need!" Shepard at this point was screaming into Garrus's face, slightly having to look up at the taller alien.

"Don't you find it a little too convenient that she knew about a Geth ambush! How about that all of her information that she's given been us has everything to do with the Geth and nothing to do with anything else! To me, it looks like she's working for Saren!" Garrus spat back, his razor sharp teeth showing through his mandibles.

Shepard opened his mouth to angrily reply when the muffled sniffles came through his comm and halted his mouth.

"_If you...don't wanna...trust me, then f-fine. You'll never...f-find Dr. Saleon o-otherwise." _it was obvious she was crying from Garrus's accusations.

Garrus's eyes shot wide at the mention of the old name, one he detested and would give everything to find the being it belonged to and bring him to justice. The salarian doctor had disappeared after taking some hostages and was never caught. It was that very assignment when he started to lose faith in C-Sec, despite his father's long standing career and unwavering faith in the organization. _How did...That name...How did she know? _He thought, finding his words had become frozen in his throat from the shock.

"How? How did you know that?" he stuttered into his own comm, addressing the crying woman on the other side...but he received no answer.

"Lycan?" Shepard called into his comm, not hearing her sniffles any longer.

_"She's not here anymore Commander. She ran off." _Joker said quietly, his voice low and void of any of his usual sarcasm.

Shepard angrily placed his hands on his hips and glared at Garrus, "Take a breather...Nice fucking job Garrus."

"I...I need a moment to think." Garrus said, now staring at the dirt.

"Fine. Fucking take it but take it away from me before I pummel you senseless," Shepard snarled before he turned and glared at Wrex, "You got a problem too Wrex?"

"Not yet." Wrex grumbled as he slumped down onto the dirt and pressed up against a crate.

"You better not get any towards Lycan. You've said yourself an enemy of your enemy is your friend." Shepard reminded, still glaring at the krogan.

"I know what I said Shepard. Like I said...I'm fine."

"You better stay that way," Shepard growled before turning his attention to his comm, "Joker...See what you can do for Lycan. We'll wait here."

_"On it Commander."

* * *

_

Joker's hands tapped his consoles as he muted the outgoing comm that linked him to the Commander and brought up an internal link. He knew he could be rough on people sometimes, but what Garrus had said was down right hurtful. Watching the young woman struggle to keep her composure until she was accused of working for Saren was rather gut wrenching, and when the tears had started, Joker actually debated whether or not to cut the link himself before it went any further. Lycan had tried to swallow down the accusations, he could visibly see it as she slightly shook until it was too much and she had jumped up and ran down the CIC.

He brought up a link and connected it to Kaidan's Omni-Tool, "Alenko?"

_"Yeah."_

"You might wanna go find Lycan. She ran off after Garrus accused her of working for Saren."

_"He did what!" _Joker had to lean away from the comm from the sudden bark.

"Commander said they were taking a breather until someone could find her and calm her down. She looked pretty upset about it."

There was a small sigh from the other end, _"I'll find her. Alenko out."

* * *

_

Kaidan shut down his Omni-Tool and took a deep breath to center himself before he set down his tools and headed for the CIC, spending the short elevator ride from the Cargo Bay fuming at the turian before he started his search. He walked straight up the stairs and stopped by Navigator Pressly to ask where she had gone, only getting a slight shrug and a pointed finger back towards the stairs he had just come up. He sighed and walked back down to head to the Med Bay, finding that it was empty and decided to check the back room since he was there. He quietly walked through the back door, stopping just inside to scan the darkened room as the quiet sniffles came fluttering up to his ears.

"Lycan?" he called out quietly, hoping to receive an answer.

A few more sniffles, "In t-the corner." she answered, almost too quietly for him to hear.

Kaidan followed the quiet sniffles around the small collection of crates to a dark corner, finding Lycan curled into a ball with her back against the wall, her chin resting on her knees that were tucked up into her chest. He sighed lightly and quietly as he walked up next to her and pressed himself against the wall, sliding down it till he was seated with his forearms resting on his knees. He watched her for a moment, seeing the slight glint of her tears as they streaked down her slightly rosy and freckled cheeks. He could see her chocolatey eyes were red and swollen, even hidden behind a stray lock of her brown hair which he gently brushed aside and tucked back behind her ear, then placed his arm back on his knee.

She sniffled hard once more, "Do y-you think I w-work for S-Saren?" she asked, her voice cracking with just about every other word through her tears.

"Christ...Of course not." he said, his brows furrowing harshly as the thought of Garrus accusing her fluttered through his mind.

Another sniffle, which really wasn't doing her any good, "He d-doesn't trust m-me," she drew in a deep, shaky breath to clear her voice so she could try and halt the ongoing tears, "Can't say I blame him. He made a good point of it."

Kaidan sighed quietly, not wanting to say something that could make things worse, "He shouldn't have said what he did, especially with the comm open like that. If he had concerns, he should have kept them to himself until they were back on the ship." he found himself getting angrier and that's not what the situation needed at the moment.

He brought up his Omni-Tool and sent a message to Ashley, asking her to bring them some tissues before he looked back over at Lycan, watching her wipe her nose before it dripped with the sleeve of _his_ zip up.

"Aw hey now...You're getting snot all over my sweatshirt." he joked, hoping to get her lips to crack a smile, but only getting another sniffle.

"Sorry."

The doors hissed open as Ashley walked in, holding a box of tissues. She walked over and sat down cross legged in front of Lycan, handing her a tissue and setting the box on the deck.

"Thanks Ashley." Lycan said, blowing her nose wetly into the tissue which helped her feel a little bit better.

"Of course. LT let me know what happened...You can't let what that turian said get to you," she said kindly, "He doesn't know what he's talking about. What matters, is that we know you're not working for that dirtbag and more importantly...the Commander knows." she added, her dark eyes soft as she spoke.

"I know...Still doesn't make what he said hurt less." Lycan said, pulling another tissue from the box.

"No, it doesn't but the Chief's right. What Garrus said doesn't matter so long as Shepard, Ashley and I know different and we do." Kaidan said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

Lycan nodded her head and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry about this. I know I need to not let things get to me but sometimes...sometimes...I don't even know..."

"Well...we won't ever say things like that to you. To us, you're as much a part of this crew as anyone." Kaidan said with a soft smile, this time earning himself that smile from her.

"Thanks guys. Sometimes I just need a good ass kicking." she said as she looked at both Ashley and Kaidan as her tears had finally stopped.

"Then we'll be here to give it to you when you need it. Come on, Shepard's waiting for you." Kaidan said as he stood up.

"Yeah, he's probably mad at me for just running off on him like that." Lycan said as she pushed herself off the deck, closely followed by Ashley.

"I don't think he will be. He's probably pissed at Garrus to be honest with you." Kaidan said as he headed for the door.

"I hope so."

The three walked out of the Med Bay and headed back up to the CIC where they all made their way back to the bridge. Lycan smiled back at Joker, knowing her face was probably still flushed red and her eyes were still puffy as she slinked back down into the co-pilots seat, grateful that the screens and everything were still up as she didn't remember how any of it worked.

"I'm back Commander. I'm sorry for taking off on you like that." she said, her voice somewhat back to normal.

_"It's alright Lycan. We all need alone time to blow off steam sometimes. Let's get back to it."_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Good Doctor

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! Thank you to my Beta reader! I heart you!)_

Shepard got back to his feet after Lycan had returned to her console and slipped his helmet back on, taking a few moments to make it sit comfortably on his head before pulling his weapon from it's holster and glancing around the courtyard to take account of Wrex and Garrus. Garrus was leaning a shoulder up against the wall on the far end of the courtyard, staring off over the landscape with conflicting colors. The sky was still bright and cheery blue, while the ground still stemmed with visible heat from the pools of lava scattered across the burnt dirt. Shepard began walking over, his anger still very much alive, but under his tight control as the crunching of the dirt beneath his boots was the only sound that could be heard.

"Garrus...It's time to keep moving." Shepard said as he stopped next to the turian, obviously still deep in his own thoughts.

Garrus didn't say anything at first. Instead, he continued to stare out across the land.

"Garrus..." Shepard repeated quietly, tapping Garrus's arm to get his attention.

The contact snapped Garrus out of his head as he glanced over his shoulder and nodded, "I heard you."

"It's time to get moving." Shepard said as he took in a deep breath to keep his anger caged.

Garrus drew in a long, long breath before releasing it in an equally long, drawn out sigh but didn't make any effort to prepare so that they may continue on their mission.

"He sold cloned organs that he had grown inside living subjects Commander. When I went to arrest him, he had destroyed his lab, grabbed a bunch of his 'employees' and took off. I tried to convince the CDF to shoot him down but C-Sec ordered them not too. The only ones who knew about it was me, and the higher-ups." Garrus said, slowly shaking his head without even looking at Shepard.

"That Dr. Saleon Lycan mentioned?" Shepard asked, crossing his arms over his chest with his face set into a slight sneer.

"Yes...If and only if, she knows where I can find him, then I'll begin trust her." Garrus said, unaware that the comm in Shepard's helmet was still open.

_"The MSV Fedele. It's under the registration of a Dr. R. Heart and I think it's in the Kepler Verge if I remember right." _Lycan's voice quietly came fluttering through the comm.

"There you go Garrus. It's up to you if you wanna take it...or leave it." Shepard said with a slightly frustrated sigh.

Garrus nodded as he finally pushed off the wall and pulled his weapon, ready to continue with the mission at hand as he knew, he would have plenty of time to think things over once they had returned to the ship. He followed Shepard back over to the crates where Wrex was still sitting and waiting to get on with things, when Shepard motioned with his head for them to continue towards the dig site's entrance. They walked through the environmental compression door and slowly descended the slope until it opened up into a cavern with long, grated catwalks strung up across the gap. The sound of footsteps against a lower catwalk caught Shepard's attention as he glanced down to see two Geth units making a slow advancement with their weapons raised. One of the Geth units stepped next to an explosive canister of corrosive fluid, giving Shepard the perfect idea as he immediately knelt and popped off a shot, hitting the canister and spraying the Geth with the viscous material that began to rapidly eat away the humanoid machine. Garrus readied his weapon and sent his own rounds from his assault rifle slamming into the last Geth, plowing large holes through it's chest plate and dropping it to the ground. They silently made their way down the ramps and across the catwalk towards a tiled structure with a service elevator at the end of the catwalk upon which they walked.

A voice that obviously didn't belong to Lycan came through Shepard's comm, _"Those tiles remind me of a bathroom floor." _the deep rasp of Kaidan chuckled, which was joined by Lycan's giggly laughter in agreement.

"Leave it to you two to crack a joke...But yeah, it kinda does." Shepard smirked as they slipped into the service elevator.

The two on the other end of the comm continued laughing until they were drowned out by the loud shrieking of the elevator's gears as it moved down, sending a hail of white sparks in all four corners and roughly clanking to a halt. The catwalk one level below them was mangled by fallen debris which had twisted the grated shaft to a point where the car couldn't go any further. They carefully stepped out, eliciting a long, creaky groan from the mangled catwalk as they came to stand in front of a rounded recess with a shimmering, blue barrier stretched over it.

"You there! Help me please! I'm trapped and I need you're help!" a voice yelled, slightly distorted as it came through the strange barrier to catch Shepard's and his squad's attention.

Shepard spun, somewhat startled by the voice and looked into the barrier, seeing a being inside. She was hoisted into the air, arms spread wide but unmoving, however, it was rather tricky to get a good look at her as her skin was blue and nearly the same shade as the shimmering barrier that enveloped her.

"Will you keep it down! This place is crawling with Geth if you haven't noticed!" Shepard hissed lowly, trying to keep his voice down while still trying to convey the urgency of the request.

"I apologize. I'm just...eager to get free. I am Dr. Liara T'Soni. I'm an archeologist who came here to study this prothean dig site but I was caught in this prothean barrier curtain to protect myself against the Geth." the doctor quickly explained, her voice portraying the stress she had been experiencing.

Shepard regarded the asari for a moment, "You're Benezia's daughter correct?"

"Yes...I am, but I haven't spoken to her in years." she quickly defended, sensing that the human in front of her was thinking her to be loyal to her estranged mother.

"Relax, I know you aren't sided with her. How long have you been in there?" Shepard asked as he looked over his shoulder, thinking he heard something from behind him, deeper into the cavern.

_"There's Geth in that cavern Commander. You almost looked right it." _Lycan's voice came through the comm quietly.

"I don't know but it's been for quite some time. Please, get me out of here!" the doctor called once more, having issues keeping her voice down.

Shepard held tight control on his facial expression and halted his urge to look again for the hostiles, "Keep it down woman! Jesus...Just, sit tight and we'll get you out of there...Somehow."

"You'll have to find someway passed the barrier curtain." she said, trying to keep herself calm while still stuck inside the ancient device.

Shepard signaled his squad to set up a post on the catwalk while he made his way down the rocky slope onto the ground level of the cavern. He glanced at a massive metal cylinder, one eyebrow popped as he glanced down at a small control panel that resided next to it.

"Lycan...Do you know what this thing is?" Shepard asked quietly, scanning the cam over it to give her a good look at it.

_"It's a mining laser. If you activate it, it'll blast a big, fat hole through the ground one more level below you."_

"Joy..." he started to stay as a loud ping rang off the mining laser with a quick spray of sparks.

_"That...would be the sniper." _

"That would have been good to know before he fired a bullet at my head." Shepard groaned as he ducked and pressed up against the laser, weapon ready to return fire as Wrex and Garrus both fired their own rounds.

_"Sorry Commander." _

Garrus and Wrex fired more shots, eliminating the threat within the cavern and giving Shepard the time to figure out what to do with the giant mining laser upon which he was still leaning against.

"I'm just teasing you Lycan," he chuckled, "You picked up on Joker's humor pretty quick...Why not mine?" he said as he started to tweak with the control console while Garrus and Wrex came down to give him cover just in case more Geth showed up.

_"That's because I have...had a younger brother with the same dry wit. Plus...You have the authority to kick me off the ship...He doesn't." _

Shepard picked up on the slight hesitation when she corrected herself regarding her brother, "You ok Lycan?"

_"Yeah...I just have to remember that I'll never see any of them again. I'm fine though Commander...Really."_

"Don't lie to me Lycan. Are you really? Or are you just saying that?" Shepard asked as he continued to work with the controls with his Omni-Tool.

There was a slight hesitation until he received his answer, _"It's just...well...I haven't quite adjusted to everything yet. Still kinda feeling alone a little bit, despite how wonderful you guys have been treating me. I'll be ok soon enough. It'll just take me some time is all." _Shepard could tell she was doing her best to stay in control, and he appreciated it.

"I guess that's something you can blame on me Lycan. I didn't exactly give you a whole lot of time to cope." he said, hiding his irritation at the controls from his voice.

_"We don't always get that luxury...Having issues with that Commander?" _she didn't try to hide the giggle.

"Stupid thing just doesn't wanna work for me. It's not accepting any of my code hacker programs." Shepard said as he tried one more program he had up his sleeve.

_"Aim the cam at it for a second." _Kaidan's voice came through loud and clear, making Shepard think that he had traded places with Lycan.

"Got it?" Shepard asked as he looked straight at the console.

_"Yup...Looks like a color panel interface. That's probably why it's not accepting any of your programs. They weren't written for those interfaces." _Kaidan quickly explained as a muffled version of Lycan's voice sounded in the background.

"I'm not digging that hole by hand." Wrex grumbled.

_"That really looks like that?" _Lycan asked, again with a small giggle.

"Yeah...What's so funny about it?" Shepard asked, rapping a finger on the console.

_"Nothing, it's just...I wasn't expecting that to look like that. Try...Green, Blue, Red then Yellow. Don't ask why I remember that." _Lycan said with another giggle.

"Ok...I won't." he said as he inputed the combination.

A high pitched whine began to sound as Shepard took several steps back away from the priming laser, putting his hands up in front of his face from the sudden rush of heat as an intensely bright beam blasted out and slammed into the rocky ground. The amount of noise that suddenly erupted from the laser was deafening inside the enclosed cavern as all three sets of ears began to ring from the reverberating that steadily grew louder as the echoes bounced off of each other. After a short burst, the laser immediately powered down, leaving a smoldering, dusty hole that lead to one more level below...and a tunnel that lead to the other side of the barrier. The squad pulled their weapons and carefully walked through the hole to the other side, emerging out into a round silo of sorts with a shaft in the center and what looked to be another control console at it's base. Shepard walked up to it, activating a proximity sensor he guess as it began to open and unfold, giving him access to it's controls.

"Uh...Garrus, any ideas on how to work this thing?" Shepard asked, taking a step aside to let the turian take a closer look.

Garrus quickly scanned the ancient console, not recognizing any of the symbols that emblazoned it's interface as he scratched the fringe on the top of his head.

"I don't have the slightest clue Commander. I've never seen any of these symbols before." Garrus said, the confusion obvious as his brow plates shifted down slightly.

Shepard stared for a moment at the strange symbols, his minds eye beginning to recognize a few of them as various commands. His hands lifted on their own accord and began pressing a few, activating the platform upon which they stood and slowly raising them back up to the level that the doctor was trapped. The platform shuttered slightly as it locked into place, delivering Shepard and his squad behind the doctor, on the other side of the barrier.

"How's it hanging doctor?" Shepard smirked as they made their way towards the backside of the barrier.

"I am sorry, but I am afraid I do not understand what you mean." the doctor said as she tried to look over her shoulder at the people trying to help her.

Shepard chuckled as he saw another console perform in the same way the one before it had as it unfolded upon his approach. He flighted his hand over the interfaces and flicked off the barrier, dropping the asari doctor to the deck with a rather painful sounding thud. She gently shook her head as she stood from her hands and knees, dusting herself off before taking a short moment to stretch her stiff muscles from such a long period of time stuck in the same position.

"I thank you for your help. I don't think I know you're name." she said with a stiff role of her shoulders.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance and these two are Garrus Vakarian and Wrex. Are you hurt?" Shepard said rather officially.

"I am fine. Thank you Commander. I am eager to get out of here. Do you have a ship?" she asked, walking into the shaft and onto the elevator platform.

"And how pray tell do you think we got here? Hitched a ride?" Shepard said with a light laugh

"Uh...I suppose you're right. We must hurry, there could be more Geth at any..."

Just as she was about to finish her statement, the very ground beneath there feet began to shake violently with a deafening rumble. Loud cracks rang through the shaft as small clumps of dust, rock and debris started to fall down towards the elevator platform, lightly covering Shepard and his squad with a fine layer.

"What in Sam Hell was that?" Shepard growled as he looked around for anything big enough to cause some serious damage.

"That mining laser you used to get passed the barrier must have triggered a seismic event. We have to get out of here!" the doctor deducted as she activated the terminal.

Once she reached the terminal, a low, rumbling voice came thundering through the shaft.

"I thank you for finding the good doctor for us. Saren is willing to pay handsomely for her retrieval." a large, but not as large as Wrex, krogan laughed as he aimed his weapon at the small group, giving his own squad which was comprised of Geth to fan out and flank them.

"Who the Hell are you?" Shepard hissed as he slowly began to move his hand to his pistol.

"Doesn't matter. All you need to know is that we're here to grab the asari and take her to Saren. Now hand her over." the krogan grumbled.

"I don't know if you know this but uh...this place his coming down." Shepard said, his brows drawing down as he could feel his temper starting to boil again.

"I know...Exciting isn't it. Gives me chills just thinking about it."

Shepard rolled his eyes, "Oh come on...You're not getting the doctor so you might as well turn your happy ass around and leave." the ball of his hand was now resting on his pistol as he started to concentrate on his nervous system, readying himself to wrap one of the foes in a Stasis Field.

"Leave the asari alone, kill the rest!" the krogan howled as he aimed, and pulled the trigger.

Shepard's body immediately erupted with his blue corona as he wrapped the krogan leader with a thick envelop before he was able to get close enough for his shotgun to be more effective. Wrex had ducked behind a large pylon before the Geth troops could do any real damage to him, other then punch a few rounds into his shields. He waited for a Geth to try and flank him before he lunged and wrapped a giant arm around the machine's neck and squeezed, constricting every wire and cable until they started to crack and crunch. Wrex grabbed the Geth's chin and pulled up, severing the connections and ripping the head off in a hail of sparks, then tossed it aside without a care in the world. Shepard saw another Geth trying to sneak up behind Wrex, ready to blast him in the back of the hump until Shepard Lifted it into the air to hang, unable to do a thing but watch as Wrex tore his buddy apart by hand.

Once the Geth troops were dealt with, Shepard turned his attention back to the wrapped krogan leader whom was just starting to regain some control as the Stasis Field wore off. All three armed men took aim, keeping their keen eyes on the beast as the shimmering blue field dropped away, giving them the perfect opening to blast away. They all pulled their triggers, peppering the krogan with enough holes that one could almost see straight through him and enough rounds that he would sink like a stone. The doctor however, cowered behind the console while the battle raged on around her, Geth parts, white blood and Biotics all electrifying the atmosphere.

"Is...Is it over?" she asked, finally looking up from the floor.

Another violent tremble shook the platform, nearly knocking them all off their feet.

"The bullet part is, now we gotta get our asses out of here before the place comes crashing down on our heads," Shepard growled, widening his stance to help keep him from falling on the very ass he needed get moving, "Joker! Get the Normandy down here ASAP!" he barked into his comm.

_"We're already waiting outside Commander. Lycan told us about the whole volcano erupting thing. Figured you want your guardian angel ready to pull your ass out of the fire." _Joker said with the same, sarcastic tone had always had.

The shaft began to shake and crumble more as the quakes started to increase in their intensity. Shepard ran to the console and silently prayed to whomever would listen that the place would hold together long enough for the platform to reach the top and allow them to run for it. The platform shuttered as it started to rise, Shepard and his team dodging growing debris at is fell around them and slammed into the deck. Shepard stared up, watching the small tunnel the needed draw closer as he began to quietly mumble for the platform to hurry up.

"Come on...Come on..." he mumbled as his heart rate sped up, coursing the adrenaline through his veins and none too soon as the platform reached it's destination, "Get moving! Go! Go! Go!" he ordered as they all broke into a dead sprint.

_"That quake is about to triple in size if the Normandy's readings are right Commander!" _Joker's voice barked through the comm, the urgency obvious.

Shepard jumped over a fallen chunk of wall as they darted across the crumbling catwalk, which was now missing large portions of the grating and making their emergency exit increasingly difficult. They reached the ramp that lead to the sloped entry tunnel and sprinted with everything they had, their hearts pounding in their chests and their breath heaving in and out of their lungs, which burned from the musky air that was laden with dust.

Finally, they reached the door and nearly dove through it, seeing the lava pools that surrounded the area boiling, sending sprays of molten rock against the outer shell of the dig site. The ground continued to shake violently, almost causing Shepard to lose it and fall over the side of the railing to land on a failing piece of ground that used to be solid before the quakes. He looked up and saw that very guardian angel hovering just above the ground with her Cargo Bay door open and waiting to embrace his return.

"Get into the ship!" he ordered as he broke into his all out sprint once again, having to tap into his energy reserves just to get enough juice to move his two hundred pound bulk.

With another, increasing violent rattle of earth, the four bolt up the ramp and into the Cargo Bay, just as the ground beneath them fell away into a growing river of lava. They tumbled to the deck as the ship immediately gained altitude, whisking them to safety and back into the cool blackness of space...away from the choking heat.

"That...was too...close." Shepard panted, laying on his back on the deck in the Cargo Bay, seeing that Mako was now parked and tied down in it's usual spot.

The elevator's doors hissed open as several crew ran up to them, once of which being Dr. Chakwas with a med kit just in case someone was injury.

"Commander! Is anyone hurt?" she said as she helped him remove his helmet.

"I'm not...At least I don't think I am. Anyone else?" he asked, not bothering to look around to see if anyone was.

"Fine here." Garrus said as he pushed himself to his hands and knees.

"Damn...No new scars to gloat about." of course Wrex would say something like that.

"I'm alright Commander." Dr. T'Soni said quietly, holding her head as she pushed herself up to sit on her butt.

Shepard, still trying to catch his breath and laying on his back, cracked a satisfied smile as Ashley, Kaidan, Lycan and Tali came into his view, "See...Just another routine mission." he airily laughed.

Kaidan knelt down, slowly shaking his head, "You're insane Shepard. You are certifiably, bat shit insane." he said as he help Shepard up.

"Nonsense! Just another day in the life of the vastly emotionally fucked up, Alliance Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Shepard," he laughed once more as he wiped a large bead of sweat from his forehead, "Everyone get cleaned up. Meet in the briefing room in one hours."

Wrex, Garrus and Dr. T'Soni all got to their feet with help of the crew that had gathered and went to get cleaned up and remove all the dust and sweat that they were now covered in. Shepard, now sitting removed his guns and handed them to Ashley who took them right away and laid them across the table before she spun and came back to the group. Shepard glanced up to look at Lycan and patted the deck next to him, wanting her to sit down so he could have a chat with her. She slightly hesitated for a moment, sucking her hands inside the zip up before she sunk down and planted her butt where he had patted, feeling a quick wave of nerves roll in her stomach.

"You guys mind?" Shepard asked, glancing at every around him and Lycan.

Ashley and Kaidan nodded and turned to leave, however Tali still stood as she had something to say to Lycan.

"Um...I just wanted to say thank you...for the white noise idea for when I had trouble sleeping. It helped." she nervously said before she hurriedly spun and left, darting back into Engineering to get back to work.

"Did I miss something?" Shepard asked as he rubbed his neck, trying to work out some of the stiffness that had randomly appeared.

"Oh...She just had some trouble sleeping and I gave her the idea of listening to ship noise while she slept. I'm glad it's working for her." Lycan said, staring at her fumbling hands.

"Ah...I'm glad you two have started talking. Hopefully soon, the none humans on the crew will learn to accept and trust you. Are doing alright from what Garrus said earlier?" Shepard asked simply, not wanting her to feel unwanted.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah, I am. Kaidan and Ash kicked my ass a little bit. I wont let what he said bother me. I'm sure he'll come around at some point and if he doesn't...well...that's ok too. At least you, Kaidan and Ash trust me." she said, still not looking the Commander in the eyes.

"That's better. It would seem you're just a little more confident then you were when you first got here." Shepard said, drawing a long deep breath that finally didn't burn.

Lycan chuckled lightly, "Thanks Commander. I need to hear it more often then not, otherwise, I lose it."

"Ah...Well, you keep up the good work like you did today, you'll hear it plenty of times. What are you not confident about if you don't mind me asking?" Shepard asked, flopping his hands into his lap as he continued to watch Lycan fiddle with her hands still inside her sleeves.

She shrugged, "I have plenty of self confidence like in how I look and stuff but...I lack the confidence that I'm not gonna screw up. I'm always scared I'm gonna screw up and right now, it means someone dies. If I screw up in my own time, it usually only meant I got a good lashing from my Chief when I was enlisted." she explained in a voice that was just above a whisper.

"It'll get better. You're lucky that you actually care whether you screw up or not. When I was about 19/20...I couldn't have cared less." Shepard said with a quiet scoff.

"Earthborn?"

Shepard shook his head, "No...almost was though. My parents moved to Mindoir when my mom was in her second trimester with me."

"Ah...You're a Colonist. Did you have any siblings?" Lycan asked, finally glancing up at him.

"You don't know?"

"No...I know very little about you Commander. The only thing I can confidently say is that you where born April 11th, 2154...three years after Kaidan. I only recently found out that you are the Sole Surviver of Akuze and I have no idea what specialization you are. Are you a Soldier? Do you have any Biotic abilities such as an Adept, Sentinel or Vanguard? I know very little about you." Lycan explained, still rather quietly as she now stared at the Cargo Bay door.

"Well...You're right about my birthday if it makes you feel better so here's a quick bio for ya. After my entire family was killed, including a younger sister, on Mindoir, I went psycho for a bit then enlisted in the Alliance. I got my ass in so much trouble those early years until I was sent to Akuze which is a story all in itself, so if you remind me at some point, I'll tell you what happened. After that, I changed and shot up the ranks while I was going to Sentinel training and the N7 program which brings us into the present." Shepard quickly explained with a small sigh.

Lycan slightly huffed a small wisp of a laugh and nodded, finally willing herself to look at him, "Thank you for tell me Commander. I'll hold you to story time later on when you don't have a debriefing to get to and let's face it...you need a shower because you smell like dirty boy and rotten eggs." she laughed which earned her a gently punch to the arm.

"Very true Lycan. Alright, help this old man up before I break something." Shepard said as Lycan stood before he did, holding his arm up for her help.

"You aren't that old Commander...You're Twenty-nine." she laughed as she helped him up.

"Sure doesn't feel like it at times," he groaned as he got to his feet, "Go take a breather and I'll see you in the Briefing Room in an hour."

Lycan nodded as she turned and headed for the for the elevator, passing by the locker's where Garrus was standing, putting his things away as he glanced up and saw her.

"Hey!" he called out, trying to get her attention.

Lycan stopped and looked at him, her hands now stuffed into the large pockets in the zip, "Yes?" she asked, walking over as he had waved her to come.

"I...uh...I wanted to apologize to you face to face. The things I said earlier were uncalled for." Garrus said quietly, looking down towards the floor.

"It's alright Mr. Vakarian. I can understand your hesitation to trust me and I can't fault you for that but...I thank you for you're apology and I accept it." Lycan said with a hint of smile.

"You are far kinder then I expected then. After the things I said, I was fully expecting you to not want to talk to me...at all." Garrus said with a short nod, having to look quite a ways down towards the rather short human from his head's position at a whopping seven feet tall.

"I won't lie to you, they hurt. I hope that you can learn to trust me...Later rather then sooner if need be." Lycan said, her small smile fading away once more.

"It will take time...but I am willing to try if you can forgive me for my horrible words miss."

Lycan's mouth curved into a soft smile once more, "I do Mr. Vakarian...Here," she pulled a datapad from under her zip up and handed it to Garrus, "Kaidan helped me put the information I had about where you can find your Dr. Saleon. I hope this is a step in the right direction."

Garrus hesitated a brief moment before he gently took the datapad from the young woman, "It is miss. I thank you for this." he said with a short nod.

Lycan nodded as she hesitantly turned and began walking away, leaving Garrus to standing alone by his locker to watch her leave with a confused look on his face. _She willingly gave me information on a classified case I had years ago without so much as second thought. Am I wrong about her?_

_

* * *

_

The hour had already passed as everyone on Shepard's elite team was now seated in their seats inside the Briefing Room. Lycan was feeling nervous again, standing behind Kaidan and again, fumbling her fingers inside the sleeves like she always did when she got nervous. Shepard was the last to arrive, having been late to slip into the showers from his little talk with Lycan, he strode up to his seat and slumped down with an exhausted sigh.

"Alright..." Shepard started to say until the comm flicked to life and Joker's voice came fluttering through, just as sarcastically as ever.

_"Just to let you know Commander but, ten more seconds and we would have been swimming in molten lava. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They have a way of frying our sensors and melting our hull which is rather important if I may add." _

"Were you just waiting to use that joke?" Shepard groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

_"I've been waiting patiently since you got back on the ship Commander."_

Liara scoffed, "We were nearly killed and your pilot is making jokes?" she said, the irritation blatantly obvious.

"Joker pulled our asses out of there and if it wasn't for Lycan, he might have not been there to pick us up in time. I think he's entitled to a few bad jokes...Don't you think?" Shepard defended, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I...I apologize Commander. I'm afraid I don't have much experience with your kind." Liara said, her voice still shaky from the ordeal.

"You'll get plenty on this trip then." Shepard said, arms still crossed.

"You saved my life back there and not just from the volcano. Those Geth would have surely either killed me, or dragged me off to Saren." Liara said with a soft sigh.

"That was exactly why we were sent to pick you up. We were told you could help us, but first the quick introductions. The ones you haven't met yet are Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko and Lycan Dareden." Shepard said with a curt nod as he pointed to each person.

Liara nodded her greeting to each person as Shepard called out their names, unsure of why the one human female was standing, not in a uniform.

"Do you know what Saren wants with you? Do you know something about this Conduit?" Kaidan asked, leaning back into his seat.

"Only that it was somehow in connection with the prothean extinction. That is why I was at the dig site. I am a prothean expert and I have spent the last fifty years trying to figure out what had happened to them." Liara said smoothly, her excitement about speaking of the protheans evident.

"Fifty years? How old are you exactly?" Shepard said, confused as he had no idea that the asari life span was far, far longer then humans.

Liara cheeks began to darken in their shade of blue, "I hate to admit it...but I am only a hundred and six." she admitted shyly.

"Damn...I hope I look that good when I'm a hundred and six." Ashley cracked with a small chuckle.

"It may seem like a long time to a short lived species like yourselves but to the asari, I am considered no more then a child. That is why my research goes largely unnoticed by the galactic community." Liara claimed as she hung her head slightly.

"So you don't know anything about this Conduit?" Shepard asked, trying to hide is groan from everyone else.

"I am sorry Commander, but I do not." Liara said, sounding somewhat defeated.

Shepard sighed slightly before he turned his gaze to Lycan. He had tried to get some more information without having to resort to asking her, as he didn't want to become too reliant on her. He wanted to discover what he could on his own and only use Lycan when on ground missions but it was shaping up that if he wanted to know what this Conduit was sooner, rather then later, he was going to have to ask her.

"Lycan...Do you know what it is?" he asked, softening his gaze as he looked over at her.

Lycan nervously gulped as her stomach flipped once more, feeling the heat rising in her cheeks from everyone staring at her. She glanced over at Kaidan just as he lipped that it's ok and she sent a small, nervous smile to him as she sucked in a long breath, readying herself to speak and nodded.

"It's...um...a backdoor into the Citadel." she said almost too quietly for everyone to hear.

"A backdoor? As in...get passed the entire CDF without them even knowing?" Shepard asked, his brows drawn down and crinkling the skin between them.

Again, Lycan nodded, "Did you see the relay monument on your way to the Citadel Tower?" she asked with another glance to Kaidan for comfort as her heart slammed against the inside of her chest.

Those that went all nodded.

"That's it."

"Pardon me but...how do you know this?" Liara asked rather incredulously.

"Um...uh...I...uh...know things. It's...um...really hard to explain." Lycan stuttered, finding that her hands had begun to shake inside her sleeves.

"I'm not sure I understand. Are you a Biotic? Some sort of secret agent for the Alliance or a spy for Saren?"

Shepard could see where the conversation was headed as Lycan visibly stiffened, trying to keep herself composed under the fire that was starting to heat up.

"Dr. T'Soni...Please. If it would help you to understand, why don't you meld with her and see for yourself." Shepard offered, glancing over at Lycan once again, seeing she had stiffened even more.

"I suppose that would be best instead of trying to explain it." Liara agreed as she stood and moved to the center of the room.

Lycan tried to hide the fact that she was scared from everyone else as she nervously walked to the center to join Liara. She could feel every muscle in her body quivering with nerves as she slowly looked up, having to force herself to look the asari in the eyes and not have them waver. Liara stared at her for a moment before she began the process of diving into Lycan's mind, uttering the words 'Embrace Eternity' until everything began to whirl around like they were caught in a tornado. Lycan immediately felt Liara's presence inside her own head as images of Liara's life began to whisk by at a million miles an hour and were quickly joined by images of her own as they blended together. Flashes of things to come flew by, things that had been and things that could be all blended together as both woman began to see. Lycan's head started to throb from the intrusion, her stomach flipping and doing somersaults and her heart began to hammer even harder in her chest. She began to feel dizzy as flashes of the ship's Briefing Room began to filter in through the chaos as she lost her sense of balance, her knees giving out and she tried to prepare herself for the painful thud of the deck that never came.

As soon as the torrent had started, it was over as everything came back into focus around her and she found, that Kaidan had leapt from his seat and caught her before she face planted into the deck. She slowly raised a hand and clutched her head, groaning with more confusion as she slowly recovered from the experience of melding with another mind and the whole thing was something no one could have prepared her for. She looked back up towards Liara who was standing with a stunned look on her face back at her, her body as stiff as Lycan's was and hands cupped over her mouth.

"By the Goddess...She's...You're...You're from...the past!" Liara gasped, her azure eyes never blinking as she stared at Lycan.

Lycan just nodded as her head whirled once more, causing her to groan as she just concentrated on breathing to keep from throwing up all over Kaidan. _Now wouldn't that be funny if I did. _She thought with a huff in place of a laugh.

Kaidan looked down at her with worry in his eyes that was not lost on Lycan, despite her whirring head, "Are you ok?" he asked, helping her sit up.

"Yeah...That was...weird." she said with a gentle shake of her head.

"I apologize...The first time melding with another species can be...disorientating." Liara said softly, still slightly unbelieving of the things she just saw but she knew that they couldn't have been falsified.

"Now you know why she's here. She's been helping us since her arrival. What we can't find out ourselves, she tells us and when we're ground side, she lets us know about things to come. She understand's more about what that beacon burned into my head then anyone." Shepard said with a slow, steady sigh.

That peaked Liara's curiosity, "Beacon? As in a prothean beacon?" she yelped, again with a large helping of excitement.

"Yes. There was one on Eden Prime and it burned some kind of vision into my brain. I haven't been able to make much sense out of it but we really haven't needed to since Lycan's here. From what we've been able to discern, the protheans were wiped out by a race of sentient machines called the Reapers." Shepard said, finding that his leg had begun to idle.

"The Reapers? I've never heard of them before. What are they? Did you find out about them from the beacon?" Liara asked, slightly furrowing her pencil thin brows.

"Yes...well, sort of. All of the images that flew by were kinda vague and hard to distinguish into anything concrete." Shepard said, pushing himself up from his seat to pace the room.

"That would make sense. The prothean beacons were designed to transmit data directly into the mind of the user, however finding one that still works in extremely rare. That would explain why the Geth attacked Eden Prime! Saren must have wanted the beacon! those beacons were meant to interact with a prothean mind however, making any images you received unclear and harder to decode." she explained, her voice taking on less of a professor type tone, and adopting one more suited for admiration just as she averted her eyes away from Shepard, "I am amazed you were able to make any sense of it at all. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed in the process. You must be remarkably strong willed Commander." she added, her cheeks starting to turn a slightly darker shade of blue.

"I hate to interrupt class, but this isn't getting us any closer to finding Saren." Ashley interrupted with quite a harsh tone towards the alien.

"Again, I apologize, but I do not have any information for you. Nothing that I'm sure this human couldn't tell you anyways." Liara said, glancing down towards Lycan whom still sat on the deck, propped up by Kaidan.

"She can't tell us how to get to where we need to go and plus, we are more then capable of finding this stuff out on our own. I don't want us becoming complacent just because we have a first class ticket to the fountain of all knowledge." Shepard said, crossing his arms once again as he halted his pacing.

"I understand..." Liara began to wobble as she was hit with a wave if dizziness, "Whoa..."

Nearly everyone whom wasn't already helping someone, leaned forward, ready to grab the doctor if she started to fall from her dizziness. Shepard immediately uncrossed his arms, readying himself just in case, as he was the only one standing and in a prime position to catch.

"Are you alright doctor?" Shepard asked, not wanting anyone else to pass out.

"I'm...fine, I think." she said, holding her head with both hands.

"When was the last time you ate or had any rest?" Kaidan asked, still knelt down next to Lycan as he glanced up.

"It has been some time actually. I don't remember when I had had either one." Liara said, drawing in a long, slow breath.

"You should head to the Med Bay and have Dr. Chakwas check you out." Shepard recommended as he stepped aside to allow her to pass.

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Liara nodded as she started to take a few, slightly shaky steps towards the door.

"Garrus...Can you walk her down to the Med Bay and make sure she doesn't decide that tumbling down the stairs is a good idea?" Shepard asked with a quick glance at the turian.

Garrus just nodded as he stood and helped Liara to the door, both disappearing from view and leaving the rest of the team still seated inside the Briefing Room. Shepard sighed lightly and pinched the bridge of his nose once more with a slowly, barely visible shake of his head before he quickly scanned the room.

"So we've finally finished assembling our team. Ashley, head to the bridge and have Joker set a course for Feros...Everyone else, get some rest...Dismissed." Shepard ordered as he slumped back down into his seat and watched everyone else leave with the exception of Kaidan and Lycan.

"Come on...Let's get you down to the Crew Deck. I'll get you a glass of water." Kaidan said quietly as he helped Lycan to stand.

She nodded as she leaned up against him, her head still spinning and making it rather difficult to stay on her own two feet as Kaidan lead her towards the door, now leaving Shepard alone, still seated in his seat and rapping a fingertip on the spot between his eyes.

_"Commander, I have us linked into a comm buoy. Did you wanna talk to the Council?" _Joker's voice drifting down from the ceiling.

"Don't want to, but I have to. Establish the link Joker." Shepard said with a heavy sigh as he stood and went to stand in from the of the FTL comm podiums.

After a few moments of silence, the three podiums flickered to life and displayed the images of the three Council members in the same order that he had always seem them in.

_"Commander...We received your report. Is it safe to assume that you have Dr. T'Soni onboard?" _the asari asked with a short nod of her head.

"Yes. She's down in the Med Bay now getting looked at by our CMO. She's pretty exhausted and it would seem that she had been stuck on Therum for a good length of time." Shepard said, clasping his hands behind his back.

_"Are you sure she can be trusted? She is the daughter of the Matriarch whom is aiding Saren." _the turian grumbled as he stood up straighter in hopes that he could look more intimidating through the comm link.

"I'm positive Councilor. I have my methods of figuring out otherwise." he said, trying to keep his glare under his control.

_"And what methods might those be Commander?" _the turian asked with a shift of his brow plates.

_Like I'm going to tell you you snide bastard_, "I thought the Council didn't question how their operatives worked?" he shot back, knowing that was going to shut him up.

The turian growled, _"Very well Commander however, we are none too pleased that you destroyed a major prothean dig site. Was that really necessary?"_

"Unless you wanted to keep it around as a Geth petting zoo, yes...it was. Plus, I didn't do the destroying, the planet did when a volcano decided to wake up and play." Shepard said with his famous crooked grin in place, knowing he had just sucked the wind out of the turian Councilor's sails.

_"Very well Commander. We look forward to hearing about your next report." _the asari said kindly as all three images went dark.

Shepard groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose before he turned and headed for the door, entering the CIC and finding it was rather quiet, which was a reprieve all it's own after the day he's had. He started to head to the bridge when a loud, thundering rumble came rolling from his stomach which caused him to growl deep in his throat and change coarse, now heading to the stairs that would take him to the Crew Deck. He headed around the elevator just as Garrus walked out of the Med Bay and walked over, scratching the back of his head and holding the datapad which Lycan had given to him earlier.

"Commander...Do you have a moment?" Garrus asked before Shepard could make it into the Galley.

"Sure...What's on your mind?"

"Well...It's about that Dr. Saleon that the human mentioned. She gave me this before the debriefing and I was wondering...Could we...go find him, if it's not too much trouble?" he asked, handing Shepard the datapad.

Shepard hesitated a moment before he took the datapad and skimmed over it, sighing quietly, "Take this up to Navigator Pressly and see how far out of our way it is. If it's with a day or two, then sure...we can go if you don't mind a pit stop on some uninhabited garden planet we run across."

"Why did you wanna stop?"

"To teach Lycan how to drive the Mako. Plus, after that mission, I think we could all use a few hours R&R." Shepard said, handing the datapad back to Garrus.

Garrus nodded as he took the pad and headed up the stairs, finally allowing Shepard to make for the auto cook and get something to eat before his stomach started eating something he didn't want eaten. He scanned through the menu and made his choice, watching as the device cooked up something that resembled soup, more then oatmeal before he grabbed his dish and headed for a table to sit down.

Lycan, whom was sitting by herself a few seats down glanced over and cringed at the runny slop in Shepard's bowl as she sipped her glass of water that Kaidan had gotten her.

"That doesn't look very appetizing Commander." she said, cringe still in place.

Shepard shrugged, "I'm too lazy to actually cook something. Most of the people here are. Every now and again, someone will make something but that's few and far between.

"Does the ship even have any ingredients stocked?" she asked, not expecting a good answer.

"Some I think, but I think it's mainly protein stuff and high calorie snack bars for the Biotics. Why? You cook?" Shepard asked, glancing up at her.

"I can follow a recipe if that's what you mean."

"If you find anything in there worth actually cooking, by all means, have at it." Shepard said as he continued eating.

"I just might because that stuff...looks gross."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Interim II

_(Bioware owns anything related to Mass Effect! I super love my beta.)_

Shepard made his way down to the Cargo Bay as the _Normandy_ drew close to a beautiful garden world within the same system that the _MSV_ _Fedele_ was last seen. He had authorized their change of coarse as Navigator Pressly had determined that the side trip would only take them a day out of their way and Garrus had agreed with a few hours stop so Lycan could have the chance to learn how to drive the Mako. He was on his way to the vehicle when he caught sight of Ashley working on his pistol, most likely adding a new upgrade which he was sure to love. He quietly approached, hoping to scare her enough that they could get into another playful sparring match but as he drew closer, a voice began to flutter up from the small console on her workstation.

_"Oh...One more thing before I go...We hear you're serving with Commander Shepard now. We saw him on the news here. He is super cute! Later sis!" _

Shepard had to use all his willpower not to burst out into an obnoxious fit of laughter as he walked up behind her, the quiet choke emanating from his throat catching her attention as she instantly stiffened and slowly turned around to see him standing there with a hand cupped over his mouth.

"Oh God...Please tell me you didn't just hear that Commander?" she winced, silently praying that his answer would be no.

Shepard cringed, "I'm afraid I did Chief." that's when the laugh started to come out.

Ashley sighed as her cheeks immediately turned a bright shade of pink, "God...Please shoot me now so I don't have to endure this embarrassment." she mumbled as she messaged her neck with both hands.

"Younger, or older sister?" Shepard asked, now interested in finding out more of the finer details that made the Chief tick.

"That was Sarah, the youngest. I'm the oldest of four girls." Ashley admitted, still trying to hide her massive blush from the Commander but to no avail.

"Wow...That's a pretty good sized family." Shepard said with an impressed nod.

"Yeah...Sarah's the youngest, like I said, then Lynn, Abby, then me. Poor Dad used to say he felt more outnumbered at home then on maneuvers." she laughed with another nervous rub to the back of her neck.

"You're lucky...I lost everyone back on Mindoir." Shepard said, his laughter fading away.

"Oh...God...I'm so sorry Commander!" Ashley backtracked, realizing that Shepard had no family to speak of.

"It's alright Ash...I've come to terms with it." he said, glancing down towards the deck.

_I don't think you have, _"Have you Commander?" she asked, seeing Shepard cringe slightly, "I mean...uh...shit." she stuttered, realizing that her mouth was in fact big enough to fit both her feet into...boots and all.

Shepard wasn't angry at Ashley for accidentally bringing up his family...or lack thereof. It was a day he will always remember, all the way till his dying breath. He will always remember the terrified look on his sister's face when the first shots were fired. He will always remember his mother and father shoving them into a small crate in hopes of keeping them safe. He will always remember, that when his sister got out of the crate against his better judgement because she was starved for cool air, slavers as they nabbed her and dragged her off. And he will always remember that his first kill...was his sister, begging for death as the batarians dug into her neck to implant the control wires. She had begged for it instead of living the rest of her live as a slave, when she wished to be free.

_Damn...How the Hell did she see right through that? _He sighed, "You're right...That day will always haunt me Ash. Mainly the look on my sister's face when they got her." he said quietly as he glanced up into her dark eyes.

"You had a sister too?" she asked softly, feeling a strong rush of guilt from drudging up such a sour memory.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah...A younger sister. Her name was Michaela Amelia Shepard. Our parents had a thing for naming their kids after archangels. My first name's Gabriel and Michaela is an uncommon female version of Michael."

"They sound like they were pretty religious then." Ashley said, unsure if that was the right thing to say, but he nodded.

"Yeah. They weren't overly religious, but they believed. Raised us to believe too but I kinda lost my way after they died. Didn't believe in a higher power for quite some time until I got to Akuze. God must have kept me alive for a reason but I'll be damned if I know why." he said as his smile began to return slowly.

"I believe too Commander. I'm glad to know that it doesn't weird you out." she said, feeling a little easier about the conversation.

"It doesn't bother me any. What's you're family like? If you don't mind me asking."

"We're close...all of us. Dad was gone a lot so I helped my Mom raise us and it wasn't easy. He passed away a couple years ago." she quickly explained, unsure of how much to tell to her commanding officer.

"I'm sorry to hear that Ash. My prayers go out to him. It must have been hard trying to bond with your sisters while you were filling a higher role then just big sister." he said as he side stepped her and leaned up against the workstation with his arms crossed.

"It was tough, but we managed. It all worked out in the end. They all live on Amaterasu now." she said with the hint of a smile.

"Colonists yourselves huh? I knew I li..." he cleared his throat, "respected you for a reason. Anyways...Did you wanna come along for this driving lesson?" he invited, doing his best to ignore the awkwardness that had bullied it's way into their conversation because of his near slip up.

"Oh...um...Well, that sounds kinda fun actually. Who else is going?" she asked, her smile spreading just a little wider.

"Well...just about everyone with the exception of Wrex, Tali and Liara. We're gonna go cruising around the meadow Joker should be touching us down in." Shepard said as the hiss of the elevator echoed through the Cargo Bay.

Ashley nodded as Lycan, Kaidan and Garrus came into view and headed for the Mako with a good sized crate to be loaded inside.

"Grab a few pistols Ash and let's head out...Oh, and call me something other then Commander. You're making me feel old." he laughed as he grabbed his pistol from the workstation and headed to meet everyone already inside the vehicle.

Ashley felt another blush coming on as she nodded and retrieved a few weapons for their excursion, "Alright...Skipper." she mumbled to herself as she followed him to the Mako.

Everyone whom was coming had climbed inside, Shepard in the driver's seat to start, with Lycan in the Navigator's seat next to him. Kaidan sat behind her in one of the passenger's chairs while Garrus strapped into the Gunner's turret and Ashley occupied the last open seat behind Shepard. He slipped the comm piece into his ear and activated the Mako, taking the time to show Lycan how to turn it on which was a rather easy procedure as all she had to do was flick a couple switches and hit the green button. Kaidan unstrapped his harness and reached over Lycan, activating their navigation systems and radar with a quick flick of his hand over it's interface as the slight shutter of the ship touching down threw his balance off just enough to cause him to brace himself by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh...um...Sorry." he mumbled as he regained his balance by placing his other hand on the back of her seat.

"You're fine." she said with a soft smile and a quick glance up at him.

The Mako's comm clicked, _"We are dirt side Commander. Atmospheric pressure is stable, air composition is a nitrogen/oxygen mixture. We are breathable. Permission to pop the cork sir." _Joker reported without even missing a beat.

Everyone inside chuckled at the pilot's interpretation of asking to open the Cargo Bay door.

"Permission granted Joker. Get some fresh air in here and let the crew get some sunlight. It'll do them some good." Shepard said with a crooked grin.

The heavy groan of the bay door filled the Cargo Bay as a brilliant line of light broke through the darkness. The door slowly opened to reveal an amazing sight which instantly took Lycan's breath away as she set her eyes on the surface of another planet for the very first time. The sky shone as bright a blue as she had ever seen, so blue in fact that it reminded her of a tropical ocean on a cloudless day. The sun hung high in the sky, spreading it's warmth to every part of the perfectly molded clearing that the ship had landed in with it's swaying grasses and colored splashes of flowers that she had never seen before. The horizon was arced with vast mountains with jagged crags and sloping cliffs that were painted a dark grey, but were still beautiful to the eyes of someone whom had never ventured passed the realm of Earth.

"My God..." she breathed, finding that that was as loud as she could speak at the moment.

Kaidan leaned forward again and peered around Lycan's chair at her, "Welcome to another planet Lycan." he whispered with a smile.

Lycan couldn't help but stare at the scenery as her breath brushed passed her lips once more, only Kaidan being close enough to hear it, "Ly...Just...Ly."

Shepard chuckled again as he slowly pushed the Mako forward, down the ramp to touch the ground and headed away from the ship roughly half a click to allow Lycan plenty of room to play around as she learned to control the all terrain vehicle. Once he had reached his target distance, he stopped and shut down the Mako before he unbuckled his harness which finally snapped Lycan out of her stupor.

"Alright Lycan. You're up." he said as he pulled himself out of the seat.

"Oh goodie." she said with a beaming smile as she did the same and flopped down into the drivers seat, hearing the tightening and buckling of harnesses behind her.

"Start her up." Shepard said, now sitting in the Navigator's seat and tightly strapped in.

Lycan bit her lip as she quickly took in the interface before her, finding the switches that he had used to prime the engines and then, pressed a delicate finger onto the green button, bringing the beast to life with a great roar.

"Nice...Ok, so this is kind of an odd beast to handle. You have those two handles and those two pedals down there. The right one is the throttle, left operates the front brakes and the two your feet are on operate the middle and rear sets of brakes. To turn, you just shift your hands in the direction you want to go." Shepard explained as he pointed each component out to her.

"Huh...It's like a cross between a car, and a motorcycle then?" she asked, trying to dumb it down so she didn't have to stress too much about all the tech that was now at her disposal.

"A motorcycle? Oh! Yeah...it kinda is. Don't worry too much about the jump thrusters by the way. We're on some pretty flat ground so you aren't gonna need them." Shepard said as he prepared for the jostling.

Lycan nodded and bit her lip once more as she carefully placed her hands and feet on the required controls and drew in a deep breath, readying herself to try her hand. She gently began to put her right hand into the throttle, bringing the power output up slowly and pushing the Mako forward with only a slight jarring, nothing anyone was going to complain about. She let the Mako talk to her in a way, putting more throttle into her and picking up the speed, riding the small bumps in terrain like she was driving on an old highway.

"Well, well...Someone was paying attention." Shepard laughed, kicking back to enjoy the ride.

"I used to ride motorcycles back in my time. It taught me how to coordinate my hands and feet to do different things at the same time and how to not pour a ton of throttle in to start off with. When a thousand cc's of internal combustion engine is between your legs...you learn real quick how to keep a tight reign on that monster before she decides to buck you off." Lycan said, splitting her concentration just enough to talk and pay attention to what she was doing.

Everyone started to chuckle at the way she had described the old two wheeled machines and Kaidan, for his own sanity, had to hide the massive blush that painted his cheeks and noticeably darkened his olive skin.

"Nice description Ly." Kaidan laughed as he watched her hands delicately work the controls while still trying to keep the attention away from him.

She laughed, "Thanks. Does Earth still have them?" she asked, letting off the throttle and gently laid on some brakes as the ground began to slope down, her left hand and both feet working in unison.

"At the bottom of this hill, turn her around and head back up and head towards those mountains behind us." Shepard said quietly, trying not to interrupt the conversation.

Lycan nodded quickly with a beaming smile as Kaidan answered her question, "Sure, but they aren't internal combustion anymore. They don't fly or anything but they run on small Eezo cores. I know there's a few clubs back in Vancouver that go riding every weekend." he said, watching out of the viewports at the passing scenery.

"I'd love to see them someday," she giggled as she slowed and turned, the Mako smoothly banking left and coming around, "This is easier then I thought it was gonna be." she chuckled as she gave it some more throttle and held it, driving the vehicle up the hill.

She continued to smoothly drive the Mako around the clearing, making a nice circle around the _Normandy_ a couple times before she turned and went to explore the other side of the clearing, enjoying everything there was to see on the untouched planet. After a while, Shepard could feel his stomach beginning to contract in preparation for a thunderous growl.

"I gotta say Lycan...you sure picked this up quick. This is like a smooth Sunday drive." he joked, making a show of putting his hands behind his head and kicking his feet up.

Kaidan laughed out loud, "She's better then you are and this is her first drive." he poked, not realizing that he just signed all their death warrants.

"Oh really Lieutenant?" Shepard popped an eyebrow and glared at Kaidan...whom gulped, "Chief, our lunch strapped down tight?"

"Yes Skipper. She isn't going anywhere." Ashley answered as she tightened her harness, knowing what was going to happen.

"Come take the Navigator's seat...Lycan, all stop." Shepard ordered as he sat up straight and unbuckled his harness.

Lycan's smile faded slightly as she slowed the Mako to a stop and relinquished her seat, slipping in back to take the passenger's seat next to Kaidan as Shepard retook the driver's seat and Ashley took the Navigator's. She buckled herself in tightly and glanced nervously over towards Kaidan who mouthed his apology to her as he too, tightened his harness even more.

"Sunday drive my ass." Shepard growled as he hammered the throttle hard and launched the Mako forward with a harsh jolt.

Lycan was firmly crushed back into her seat and she quickly grabbed both armrests, hoping to keep herself from melting into a puddle of goo to slosh around on the deck. The Mako jarred from side to side as nearly every bump in the terrain sent them into the air, each boulder bouncing them higher and higher as Shepard made for the mountains that ringed the wide open clearing.

"Holy shit!" Lycan yelped as she tried to keep her heart from busting out of her chest.

"Shepard! Watch out!" Kaidan barked, seeing a drop off approaching at great speed.

"I see it. Keep your panties on." Shepard smirked as he banked hard to starboard to a far smoother slop before they reached a steep upgrade that looked to lead to an overlook halfway up a small mountain.

The sharp turn nearly jammed Lycan's head into the bulkhead as the Mako shot for the slope. The sudden change in pitch pushed the back of Lycan's head hard into the head rest of the seat, giving her a slight headache from the force. She quietly groaned and placed her hand on the back of her head, shooting a sidelong glance over towards Kaidan who was watching her to make she wasn't hurt. He lipped his concern to her, silently asking if she was ok and smiling slightly as she nodded her answer. The Mako, skidding slightly as it climbed, finally reaching the overlook and leveled out before Shepard cranked it hard, sending it into a whipping fishtail and spinning it around to look out over their clearing. Shepard laughed as he powered down the Mako and opened it's rear hatch to let everyone out, thinking it a good time to sit back, relax...and have some lunch.

Shepard unbuckled his harness and clapped his hands together, "Lunchtime!"

Lycan laughed quietly, "Memo to self...Don't let Shepard drive."

Everyone, including Garrus laughed and slipped outside into the fresh, untainted air of the garden world and plopped down on the ground with their lunches from the crate that they had loaded to enjoy the breathtaking view.

"Wow...I'm really on another planet." Lycan said as she accepted her meal from Kaidan.

"You have never left Earth?" Garrus asked, plopping down on her other side.

"No. In my time, we could barely make it to the moon. Hell...we haven't set foot on Mars yet." she said, taking in everything, including the warm rays of the sun high overhead.

"Interesting." Garrus said with a slow shake of his head as he began to eat his dextro-DNA based meal.

"Yeah. It's hard to believe...I mean look at this! I bet this is what Earth looked like before humans evolved. The mountains aren't eroded. The air isn't smog filled...It's...entirely a virgin planet." Lycan said, drawing in a deep breath of pure, sweet smelling air.

"You sound like me the first time I saw a new planet after I signed up." Shepard said, now seated on the other side of Garrus, next to Ashley.

"I could stare at this for hours...I bet it's even more breathtaking at night. No street lights, no smog, no broken Ozone layer to hide any of the stars. Even in my time, places like this were hard to find." Lycan said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Earth has changed quite a bit in 172 years. No more internal combustion, the Ozone layer was repaired, forests were replanted and the oceans were cleaned up. She's in a lot better shape now then she was back then, but there's a lot of people living on it. Finding open country side is a job all in itself." Kaidan said, looking over at her and realizing, that the sunlight glistened off her skin, highlighting every freckle on her cheeks, deepening the chocolate color of her eyes and reflected small hints of dark red strewn through her dark brown hair. He couldn't help the small curl of his lips as they twitched upwards.

"So...humans don't normally live to be 200 years old correct?" Garrus asked, not to any particular person but wanting to keep a conversation going.

All the humans giggled.

"No Garrus we don't. We usually make it to 100 this day and age. What was the average age back in your time Ly?" Kaidan asked with another quick glance over to her.

She finished chewing her bite of food and swallowed, "Oh I hate math...I suck at it...um...I'd say somewhere between 75-80 years old on average. Of course there were those that lived longer but that's the average I'd say." she said with a small shrug.

"That's about the same for turians as well." Garrus added with a quick bite of lunch.

"Really? I didn't know that. I thought turian lives were shorter for some reason." Lycan said, looking up at Garrus whom she felt was starting to finally warm up to her.

"You don't know everything I assume?"

Lycan shook her head, "No, not by a long shot. I don't know all that much about you, or turians actually. All I know is that you're C-Sec, just like your father and that you have a sister but I don't remember her name."

"I do have a sister. Her name is Solana but I call her Sol...as in your planet's star." Garrus said with a clank of his mandibles.

"Tis a good name Mr. Vakarian." Lycan said with a smile.

Garrus huffed a small chuckle and brotherly shoved Lycan's arm, making sure to keep his talons from cutting into her skin, "Garrus is fine. You're alright Lycan."

"Aw...Thanks Garrus. You're alright too." she said with a wide smile, his gentle shove pushing her over enough to bring her other shoulder to Kaidan's which caused her to look over at him rather shyly.

Kaidan was slightly taken aback but the sudden contact of Lycan's arm against his and he had to glance down to make sure that it was, in fact, her skin he felt and not just a gentle breeze. He muffled his sharp intake of breath by clearing his throat, subtly covering his mouth like perhaps a piece of food was not cooperating. When she finally pulled away, he released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding and he was starting to wonder why he had reacted that way. He had touched her skin before, mainly when she had first arrived and he saved her life but he had never reacted that way. Perhaps it was because of the massive confusion that he suffered from the sudden tidal wave of water but he couldn't be sure and thinking to hard about it could trigger a migraine and he didn't want that...not today with the beautiful scenery, and his wonderful company.

"What's wrong with you Alenko? You look like you're choking." Shepard asked with slightly furrowed brows once he had glanced away from Ashley whom had pointed out the odd look on the LT's face.

"Huh? Yeah...I'm fine. Why?" Kaidan stuttered as he snapped back into the land of the coherent.

"Uh huh. Right," Shepard laughed as he glanced down at his Omni-Tool, "We should probably head back and get our bird back in the air to find that ship while we still have it on our sensors."

Everyone quietly groaned as they finished and packed away the remnants of their meals, not wanting to be finished with their light conversation, or staring out at the tremendous scenery that was so brilliant, so peaceful in such a violent time. They repacked the crate that they had brought with them and loaded it back into the Mako before slipping back into their seats and buckling in. Shepard took the driver's seat once again, as Lycan felt uncomfortable taking the beast down such a steep slope so instead, she took the other passenger's seat next to Kaidan. She felt so comfortable around him, so safe that she would often seek him out, just for his company whether they talked or not. Over the passed few weeks that she had been on board, he had shown her nothing but kindness and understanding and he was more often then not, the shoulder she would cry on when she felt things were overwhelming. He really was her best friend.

The Mako slowly crept over the side of the overlook and began it's decent, it's tires skidding down the loose rocks and sending small rivulets cascading alongside it as they rode the small waves. Shepard took it slow, knowing that everyone's bellies were full and he wasn't in the mood to clean up the inside of the vehicle because he made everyone sick from his crazy driving. The Mako touched down onto the level grassland and started smoothly back towards the _Normandy_, the sun hovering high overhead and nearly eliminating all shadows except the ones just underneath the ship. A few crew sat outside, absorbing the sunlight as it helped to perk their spirits and boost their overall morale as they drew closer, standing and moving out of the way to allow the Mako plenty of room to back up the ramp and into it's usual spot to be tied down.

"See...I can drive somewhat reasonably." Shepard sighed as he shut down the Mako and unlocked the hatch to let everyone out.

"That's only because you were trying to show Ly up." Kaidan snickered as he unbuckled his harness and slipped out of his seat.

"I was not...You did pretty good by the way Lycan. Just gotta get you more confident with it and you'll be hopping mountains in no time." Shepard said, craning his head around and sending her an approving nod.

"Thanks Commander. I really appreciate you letting me learn how to drive this thing." she said with a soft smile as she helped Garrus to unstrap their crate and remove it from the back of the Mako.

The Cargo Bay door began to raise as the last of the crew that had been outside filtered in to prepare the ship for dust off. A small team came over and began securing the Mako to the deck as Shepard was the last to exit, turning around and shutting the hatch before he walked over to Ashley's station to return his pistol over into her very capable hands.

"Did you have a little bit of fun?" he asked quietly as he gently set his weapon down.

"Actually...I did. The view was really pretty from up there." Ashley said as her eyes flicked over the small scar that cut into his hairline, which he caught.

"Remnants from Mindoir. The one from Akuze is a lot better to look at." he said with a subconscious touch to the small scar on his head.

"You got injured then?" she asked, her hands continuing to sign in the weapons while still glancing over to him, wondering where that particular scar resided.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. Almost lost my left arm...Here, check it out." he said as he rolled his uniform sleeve up enough to show the bottom half of the long, jagged and darker toned mark.

"Holy shit Skipper..." she gasped as she had to resist the urge to trail her fingertips over it, just to see what it felt like against his unmarked skin.

"It wraps all the way around to the back of my shoulder. I was lucky that the little one wasn't big enough to sever it." he said as he rolled his sleeve back down.

Ashley's brows furrowed slightly as her head tilted, in hopes that he would explain, if not vaguely of the tragedy.

Shepard sighed and leaned his back against the table with his arms crossed, "I was heading off to check something out when the attack happened and a...I don't know...newborn or something like that popped up in front of me. It's tentacles were really short and underdeveloped but it got a good swipe in when it lunged. Cut right threw my armor like I wasn't wearing any and to be honest...I didn't even feel it at first. The claw was so sharp but then all the blood came pouring out and I couldn't hold my rifle up...blah blah blah...I ended up killing it with a knife to that glowing eye thing in the middle of it's head." he shortly explained, glancing over at her as he searched her face for her reaction.

"Wow Skipper...If...you don't mind me asking...How did you survive the attack?" she asked as sweetly and with as much concern as she could as not to sound incredulous.

"I cut the little bastard open and crawled inside it when I saw one of the big ass ones coming my way. I had just enough medi-gel to stop the bleeding and get inside before it got to me and thank God in Heaven above it didn't find me in there. I thought I was gonna pass out, throw up or both. One of the scariest moments in my life trying to keep quiet and praying to God that it wouldn't sniff me out when it's tentacles started to slim their way over the body." Shepard with a small shutter from remembering the sight, the smell, the terror that he felt when he thought he was going to die.

"Oh my God Skipper...I couldn't imagine going through that. If...it makes you feel better...I'm...uh...glad, that you made it." she said nervously. _Did I just say that? _

That caused Shepard to look at her for longer then a second as the corners of his lips curled up in a thankful smile. _Did she really mean that? _Kept running through his head as their eyes locked for slightly longer then usual and only served to make his heart thump just a little harder. _I can't cross that line again...people die when I cross that line._

"I appreciate that Ash. I'll uh...I'll see you at chow." he said quietly with a hesitant, yet gentle pat to her shoulder before he left...confused now, more then ever.

He walked into the elevator, thankfully alone and took to short ride up to the Crew Deck to think. He slowly shook his head as his thoughts ran wild, only adding to his confusion as to why he couldn't think logically around her, why he so willingly and without hesitation told her nearly everything that he's done. It took anyone years, even Kaidan, to even begin to scratch the surface but Ash...Ash was cutting through his defenses like a scalding knife through cold butter.

_**-Wait till she finds out what you did to Michaela. That'll make her run in fear.-**_

_-She begged me to do it. She told me that she didn't wanna live a life as a slave. She begged me!-_

_** -And you gave in. You're a monster in denial Gabriel. The right hand of God is a murderer. Are you going to do the same to Ash if she begs you to end it all?-**_

His temper started to boil at the little devil on his shoulder.

_-I'm not a monster! I'll never forget the last thing Michaela said to me! Never! I could never hurt Ash! Ever! -_

_**-Do you think Michaela meant it? How can such a young girl forgive her older brother, her sworn protector for murdering her? She could have lived life as a slave...but she would have been alive-**_

_-No! No! No! She didn't want that! She wanted to be free! She begged me! She forgave me! She said it herself in her dying breath!-_

_**-Did she Gabriel? Will Ash forgive you?-**_

Shepard slammed his eyes closed as his fists balled tightly and smashed into the bulkhead of the now stopped elevator, snapping him out of his fuming, internal debate. He panted in anger, trying to calm his racing heart as he drew in shaky breath after shaky breath, locking the evil voice away so it couldn't be heard, not by him, not by anyone.

"Commander? Is everything alright?" Dr. Chakwas asked with a heavy amount of concern.

He finally opened his eyes, "Yes...I'm fine...or...I will be. I...fuck...I just need some time is all." he stuttered as he dragged his fists down the bulkhead.

"Perhaps you should go rest Commander. I'm sure Pressly or Kaidan can handling things." she said calmly.

"You're right. Let the Lieutenant know he's got the con until chow. Have him get us back in the air and en route to find the _MSV_ _Fedele_." he softly ordered as he headed out of the elevator and disappeared into his cabin.

The doctor just watched with caring eyes as he walked away from her, making her completely forget what she was going to do as she headed around the corner and found Kaidan at work, once again, on the flickering monitor and to her surprise...alone.

"Lieutenant...May I have a word with you?" she asked as she stepped up to him with her datapad cradled against her chest.

"Of course doctor. Is something wrong?" he asked as he stopped his work and looked up at her.

"No...not yet at least. The Commander has given you the deck and wishes you to get the _Normandy_ underway." she informed evenly and quietly.

"Of course. Something else is on your mind though." he said with slightly furrowed brows.

"Perhaps later Lieutenant. Just...Keep a close eye on the Commander. You're the only one he trusts enough with his demons." she said as she quietly walked off to think.

Kaidan filed away what the doctor had said as he dusted his hands off and headed for the bridge, taking a moment to skim over the course that Navigator Pressly had plotted before finally arriving behind Joker's chair.

"We ready to take to the sky?" Kaidan asked as he glanced down at the consoles Joker had up.

"Just waiting for the go ahead from the Commander. I've got the _MSV Fedele_ on long range. It shouldn't take us long to reach her." Joker said without even looking up.

"Shepard gave me the deck for a bit...Go ahead and get us airborne." Kaidan said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Is the Commander alright?" Joker asked as he began the procedure of getting the ship off the ground.

"He just needs some time is all. Get us on course to intercept with the _MSV Fedele_." Kaidan said quietly, not wanting his voice to carry anything about Shepard down the CIC.

"Whatever you say Alenko," he smirked as the hum of the ships drive core sounded through the ship, "So...How was you're little excursion with the creepy fortune teller? Have fun making googly eyes at her?" he added, the ground began to draw away from them as the ship lifted off smoothly.

"I don't make googly eyes at her Joker and she has a name." Kaidan defended with a sneer at the top of Joker's head.

"What do _you_ call her?" Joker snickered.

"_I _call her Ly...Why?" Kaidan grumbled, still with his arms crossed to keep from smacking the pilot upside the head.

"Aw...Alenko already has a pet name...What's next...dinner?"

"Do you want me to snap you in half with my brain?" Kaidan sneered, tightening his grip around his biceps.

"If you did, who would fly the ship everywhere and pull your asses out of the proverbial fire?" Joker shot back with a victorious sidelong glare up at the Lieutenant.

Kaidan just grumbled loudly as he watched the sky streak by through the viewports, whisking them up through the atmosphere and back into the eternal blackness of space once again.

"What's our ETA to the freighter?" Kaidan asked with a long, calming breath.

Joker's hand flighted over his console for a brief moment, "Looks like an hour or so." he reported.

"Let me know when we're ten minutes away and I'll relay it to Shepard. I think he's probably in a mood." Kaidan said as he started to turn to head back down the CIC.

He wove around a few crew and headed back down the stairs to the Crew Deck to resume his work when he found Lycan by the monitor with a frustrated look on her face as she tried to navigate her way through the near endless throngs of vids for something to watch. He quietly walked up beside her and skimmed the monitor, seeing she had gotten stuck somehow in the chick flicks and was trying to find her way out of it.

"Need some help?" he asked quietly as his eyes shifted back and forth from her, to the monitor and back again with slightly furrowed brows.

"I thought I was gonna be able to finger fuck my way around this site but I seem to have managed to get myself stuck in these awful chick flicks." she laughed, slowly shaking her head at her misfortune.

Kaidan laughed as he reached across the monitor and gently pressed the rather faded and flickering back indicator, "Ever since the flickering started, it's kinda tricky to work unless you work it from your Omni-Tool."

"Well I didn't know that...Thanks. I'm not having much luck finding anything to watch while we travel to the frigate." she said with a slight grumble at herself.

"We've only got an hour so if you start something now, you won't be able to finish it." he told her, glancing down at the deck as his smile faded.

Lycan was about to respond when the door to the Med Bay hissed open and Liara walked out, gently rubbing her neck as she spotted Lycan and started the short walk over.

"Pardon me Lieutenant, but may I have a moment alone to speak with Lycan?" she asked politely, unable to look Kaidan in the eyes.

Kaidan regarded the asari for a moment, "Sure." he nodded as he shot Lycan a soft smile and headed off, leaving them to themselves.

Once Kaidan was out of earshot, Liara turned back to Lycan and nervously smiled as she slowly sat down in one of the chairs, waiting for Lycan to take the seat next to her.

"Is everything alright?" Lycan asked as she sat down, her hands in her lap.

"Well...There are a few things I was wanting to ask you if that's alright." Liara said, her cheeks slowly turning a slightly darker shade of blue.

"Of course but I'll tell you now...I don't know everything there is to know." Lycan said with a subtle glance down towards her hands.

"Oh...well...if you know then...Do...uh...you think that Commander Shepard would wish to meld with me?" she stuttered, her blush darkening.

Lycan held down her sigh, "He will after we go to Feros for help interpreting the vision. Is that what you mean?" she asked with feigned ignorance, knowing what Liara was meaning but wanting the asari to say it herself.

"Well...sort of. I've...um...It would seem that I've developed...feelings towards the Commander and...was more interested in joining for a more...romantic experience." Liara stuttered, unable to look Lycan in the eyes.

Now Lycan sighed, "I can't tell you that Liara. Whomever the Commander chooses...if he chooses anyone at all is up to him. It's not within your power to make him choose anyone." she said as kindly as she could.

"I understand that but it's just...he saved my life on Therum and has shown me kindness since I arrived...I thought maybe...he felt the same." her blush lightened just a little.

"I couldn't tell you if he did Liara."

"Perhaps I misinterpreted his actions?"

"It's possible. The Commander's a good man and he shows just about everyone who's on his good side kindness. Not everyone on the crew has feelings for him because of it. I don't have those kinds of feelings for him, but I do care about him." Lycan said with a very soft smile.

"How are you able to do both?"

"Humans can not have romantic feelings but still care for the person. I care about him because I consider him a friend. That's all. It's ok to care about him as a friend you know."

"I apologize...It's my inexperience with your species that I get confused sometimes when I try to read body language and speech patterns." Liara said, somewhat ashamed that she was reading too much into the Commander's kindness.

"It's not as easy as understanding the spoken language. Body language is harder to understand. I'm no expert at it myself and I don't claim to be, but I do know...is that it's hard." Lycan said, gently placing a hand on Liara's shoulder.

"I suppose some more research is necessary then..."

Lycan chuckled, "No amount of reading is gonna help you figure this all out Liara. Experience is what's gonna aid you the most. Try being the fly on the wall as it were."

"What is a fly on the wall?"

Lycan's smile broadened, "It's a human expression. Mainly meaning to just observe others' actions."

"I think I understand now. Thank you...for your help. You are very wise for only being 200 years old." Liara smiled.

"Oh, I'm not 200 Liara...I'm twenty-five." Lycan corrected kindly.

"Oh...uh...I hope you don't mind that I looked up your file after I was feeling better and it said you were born in the Earth year 1985." Liara questioned.

"Yes, that's true but...well, I'm sure you saw when you melded with me that I was missing 172 years."

"You are right. I shall have to make a conscious effort to remember that you are twenty-five and not 200. I thank you for speaking with me." Liara thanked, finally able to look Lycan in the eyes.

"It's no problem Liara."

Lycan sat quietly as Liara smiled and stood, leaving her sitting by herself for a brief moment before Kaidan meandered back and sat down with a quiet sigh. Lycan studied his face, seeing distance in his eyes and it seemed he was deep in thought.

"You look like something's on your mind." she said quietly, tucking one leg under her and shifting to face him more.

"Just trying to determine what we're gonna find on this ship." he answered without even looking at her.

"You could always ask me..."

he slowly shook his head, "I'm with Shepard. If I can figure things out on my own, I'm gonna do it. You aren't just a tool for us to use whenever we please. You're a real person and you deserve to be treated as such." he finally looked at her with a soft smile.

That made Lycan's heart flutter, "You're sweet to say that Kaidan. You're my best friend." she said, softly placing her hand on his arm, which caused him to look down at the contact.

Kaidan smiled, debating with himself if he really wanted to place his hand on top of hers to tell her that she was one of his closest friends too, even if they had only known each other for a short few weeks. Even if neither said a word and they just sat in a companionable silence, he wanted her near because she had a way of always making him smile. He decided he would just go for it. He raised his hand and placed it over hers, pinning it to his forearm as he returned the soft smile and looked into her eyes.

"We should...uh...watch a vid sometime. No one else here wants to watch stuff from that far back." he quietly suggested as he slid his hand off of hers and his heart started to thump a little more when she didn't remove it.

"I'd like that..."

_"Lieutenant...We're ten minutes out from our rendezvous with the MSV Fedele." _Joker's voice interrupted.

Kaidan swallowed down his groan, "I should go get Shepard and Garrus so we can get changed out." he said, shifting to get ready to stand.

"Be careful when you get on board Kaidan. You're gonna run into that psycho's test subjects and they spew green bile that can make you really, really sick. Please...be careful." she said with overflowing concern in not just her voice, but her eyes.

"We will Ly." he whispered as he stood, her hand still on his forearm.

As he began to walk away, her hand slid down his arm towards his hand and he found, that he had rotated his hand so that their palms and fingertips lightly grazed over each other. That small gesture, as insignificant as it may seem to others, made him wonder if maybe...just maybe that her claim that he was her best friend that had blossomed so quickly in just a few weeks, could possibly turn into something more. _Could it? Could this turn into something more then just friendship? I...I can't let that get in the way of doing my duty, but I can't just abandon her either. Jesus...What am I going to do if she does develop feelings for me? _He thought, hiding his subtle wince as he entered Shepard's quarters to inform him that they were close the closing a chapter for Garrus.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The _MSV_ _Fedele_

_(Bioware owns anything related to Mass Effect! *hearts beta*)_

The _Normandy_ slowly glided through the emptiness of space towards the looming freighter that hung in the distance. She had her stealth systems activated, hiding her signature from the other ship's sensors but if the doctor on board had any sort of brains, and by his description...he did, he could just look out the window and see them coming. Shepard and his chosen squad stood on the bridge, all arms tightly crossed across their chests as they watched the ship creep up behind the freighter.

"How do you plan on getting this guy to extend his docking arm Commander?" Joker asked as he slowed the ship to a crawl and began to circle the freighter like a shark does it's pray.

"Pulling the Alliance card. Do an overall scan and see if there's something we can hang him on." Shepard ordered with a quick point towards the viewports.

Joker nodded as his hands began to work, bringing up the required screens to scan the freighter and finding nothing of the sort that they could use to convince the owner to allow them to board.

"I'm sorry Commander but I've got nothing. The registration comes back clean and there's no outstanding anything. No leans, no warrants, no nothing." Joker reported with a scoff.

"Dammit...There's got to be something we can use," Shepard growled as he started to think of an excuse, "We're gonna have to make something up I guess." he added as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Does the Alliance have the authority to board for random inspections?" Lycan asked from the co-pilot's seat with one leg tucked underneath her.

Shepard grinned, "Yes...Yes we can."

"Then why not just board for a safety inspection or something like that?" she asked with a soft smile, pleased that she might have just given the Commander his excuse to board.

"That's a damn good idea Ly." Kaidan said with a gentle pat to her shoulder.

"Commander...What if he refuses the boarding?" Garrus asked with a slight brow plate shift down as he played Devil's Advocate, making sure that their plan would work.

"If he refuses, that gives us probable cause to board him whether he wants us to or not." Shepard answered without even looking at the turian, "Joker...hail them." he ordered.

Joker nodded as he opened a link and smoothly spoke into it, "_MSV_ _Fedele_, This is Alliance frigate _SSV_ _Normandy_. Please come in." he spoke with a perfect business tone that no one knew he even had.

After a moment, the comm began to crackle as a rather high pitched and hyper voice came fluttering through, _"Normandy...This is Fedele. State your business."_

Joker hid his snarl as Shepard took over the conversation, "This is Commander Shepard. Prepare to be boarded for a routine search." he said evenly and with his lips set into a hard line.

_"What? Why is the Alliance out this far?" _the hyper voice rattled.

_Shit! He's catching on...Think, think, think, _"We are on patrol for some escaped fugitives and are inspecting every vessel in the quadrant. I say again, prepare to be boarded." Shepard lied perfectly through his teeth...well, sort of.

The other end of the comm link stayed quiet for a few moments, obvious that the person on the other end was most likely mulling over what to do next.

_"Fine...fine. Come aboard, but be quick about it. I don't have all day." _the wily voice said as it's owner cut the link.

Shepard inhaled a deep, lasting breath as he glanced around the bridge at his team before gazing out once again towards the freighter who's docking arm was now extending. He gave Joker the go ahead to bring the ship into dock before he motioned for his squad to follow and took the few short steps to the airlock where they waited. The ship crept up to the docking arm under the deft hands of her pilot and slowly, perfectly connected to the airlock without so much as a disturbing shutter, or a soft thud.

"Ship is docked and seals are holding Commander." Joker reported as he made some order out of his screens.

"Understood."

The airlock hummed and hissed open, allowing Shepard, Kaidan and Garrus to walk inside and wait the brief moment while the inner door locked, and the outer door opened into a long and empty entry foyer with a singular door on the other end. There was nothing inside the room. No crates, no chairs, no tables. Nothing but the lights on the bulkheads and the other door.

"Where are these test subjects you were talking about Ly?" Kaidan asked through his comm as they began walking to the other end of the room.

_"They're in a room filled with tons of crates. Once you're through that door, they'll be to your right." _She explained as Kaidan picked up on her nervousness.

Shepard nodded and pulled his pistol, Kaidan doing the same as Garrus pulled something with a little more firepower. They slipped through the door, slowly scanning the T shaped intersection and finding nothing inside as they pressed their backs against the bulkhead and turned right. They reached the door, Shepard punching the button to open it while Kaidan and Garrus primed and ready themselves to defend against what could possibly be on the other side. They saw that the room was filled to the brim with crates and blocking any decent view of what could possibly be inside. Shepard carefully slipped through, still pressing himself against the bulkhead as Kaidan and Garrus pied what they could see for any indication of hostiles, when a muffled screech echoed through the room. They all readied their weapons when a shadow slowly began to stumble out from around a corner and the strong scent of mold assaulted their sinuses. They all cringed and had to swallow down their own gags as the mutated form of what looked to be human came into view, it's mangled feet dragging on the deck as it's head lolled from side to side like it had no control over what it was doing. It's skin was a disgusting shade of green with gray splotches and it looked as if it was rotting off, hanging loose in some places and taut to near tearing in others.

"That...is a test subject?" Shepard gasped as he took aim, ready to pull the trigger.

_"What's left of them. I don't know what he did to them, but they look like Thorian creepers." _it was obvious she was saddened by their fates.

"Thorian creepers?"

_"You'll see on Feros."_

The presumed test subject stopped walking, seemingly taking a brief moment to study the trio before it raised it's gangly arms and screeched loudly, beginning it's rushing charge with it's jaw, lazily hung open.

_"Watch out! It's gonna spew!" _Lycan gasped just as a long, unbroken stream of green bile came flowing from it's mouth.

Luckily, Lycan's warning came soon enough where the three managed to duck out of the way in time before they were doused by the fluid. Each nearly lost their balance as they jumped back and immediately began firing shot after shot into the zombie like being. After absorbing over a dozen shots, the creature exploded with a wet pop, sending splatters of chunky soup in every direction that Shepard and his team had to attempt to dodge and keep away from their faces or any exposed skin.

Just as they had dispatched the first being, more began to run around the corners, ready to attack and vomit all over the intruders. Shepard and Kaidan's bodies both flared brightly as they Lifted two creatures to hang in the air and flail about like fish out of water as they turned their attention to another hostile coming at them from the other direction. Garrus kept his attention on the left side of the crate wall as he fired from his assault rifle until another subject exploded with a wet explosion. Once the first wave of bile creatures was dealt with, they made their way around the corner, finding that the room was not as filled as they had originally thought. The crates gave out enough to allow them a decent view of what was inside as another pair of test subjects came running at them. Before Shepard could activate his nervous system, Garrus had sent a barrage of bullets into the first creature until it was nothing but an odorous pile of green sludge. While Shepard took care of the last creature from the pair, Kaidan inched around him and peered to the right, finding another creature wandering aimlessly in a circle until it faced him. It screeched loudly as it began it's unsteady charge, ready to smother him in it's green bile but it's steps faltered once the rounds from Kaidan's pistol slammed into it's head. As the creature pushed through the trauma and drew closer, it opened it's mouth and spewed violently with a decrepit retching sound, nearly covering Kaidan as he felt back onto his backside and scurried away as fast as he could. The splatter from the bile sailed through the air towards him, causing him to panic for a brief moment as it nearly came in contact with his face. Instead, he stopped his frantic scurrying and covered her face, twisting around and burying it into his arms in hopes that it would protect him.

"Alenko! You alright!" Shepard barked as he ran over and knelt down next to him.

Kaidan hesitated a moment before peaking, finding that all the subjects were dead and laying in soupy piles all around them, "Yeah...I think so. Did any of that shit get on my face?" he asked as he sat up, keeping his hands that had a few splats of bile on them, away from any exposed skin.

"No you're good," Shepard said, helping Kaidan to his feet, "You're gonna need a hose down before you get back on the ship though." he added, trying to avoid touching any of the green bile on Kaidan's armor.

"And a shower. I'm still trying to keep from throwing up." Kaidan groaned as he situated himself on his feet.

"I hear ya. Let's go find this doctor character." he said simply as he began to move.

The trio made their way to a door on the far side of the room and took up posts on either side, ready for anything that could be laying in wait for them. The doors hissed open into a long hallway with two adjacent doors in the middle to form a cross. They slipped through and inspected the door on the left, finding it had no power before they looked across the hall to the other, and finding that _it_ had power. Again, they took up posts on either side before Kaidan pressed his hand onto the button and opened it, revealing one of the crew quarters with one, singular being inside. Shepard peered through the door and saw a tall, lanky salarian standing in the middle of the room with his thin arms crossed.

"What the Hell is going on here! What the Hell were those things out there?" Shepard growled as they slid inside, not pleased with the situation thus far.

"You killed them! Thank you! One of my associates was upset that I was letting you onboard and he let them out to try and kill you!" the salarian yammered, clasping his hands together.

Garrus began to growl menacingly, "That's him Commander. That's Dr. Saleon." his brow plates shifting down into an angry sneer.

The salarian reeled, "What! M-My name is Heart. Dr. Heart. Please...You have to get me out of here or those things are going to get me!" he pleaded.

Shepard glared, "Are you certain Garrus? I can never tell these guys apart unless they have their face paint on." he asked quietly towards Garrus without taking his eyes off the salarian.

Garrus's growl grew louder, "I'm positive," his answer was laced with anger, "You can't escape this time doctor...I'd harvest your organs first but...uh...we're on a bit of a tight schedule." he hissed.

"You're insane! Protect me! I order you to!" the salarian hissed, angrily pointing a finger towards Shepard and Kaidan.

"You...are demanding we...protect you...from him? Ha! Fat chance." Shepard laughed, crossing his arms over his chest as he had no intention of doing so.

"You are supposed to protect people!" the doctor screamed, beginning to take a few steps back, away from Shepard and his team.

"Garrus, take him into custody." Shepard said with a shrug.

"Spending the rest of his short life in prison is too good for him but you're right but you're right. Rotting in prison, he'll get to feel what his test subjests went through." Garrus growled, tightening his grip on his rifle as he went to arrest the salarian.

"No! Get away from me!" he screamed as he tried to run away towards something that looked like it could blow up.

"Stop him!" Shepard barked, staking a step forward but was stopped by Kaidan's hand on his shoulder.

Garrus raised his rifle and hardly hesitated a fraction of a second before he pulled the trigger, slamming one, just one round into the back of the salarian's head and dropping him instantly to the deck as dark green blood pooled all around him. Shepard walked up to Garrus standing next to the body as he looked down upon what used to be the only person that Garrus had never caught.

"He was an evil man Commander. He's killed hundreds, maybe even thousands of people for his little scheme. It would have been better to take him in and have him face justice." Garrus said quietly as he put his rifle away.

"We can wish in one hand, shit in the other and see which one fills up faster, but as long as you don't regret your actions. Living with this kind of regret can tear you to pieces. Trust me." Shepard said quietly as he glanced back over his shoulder towards Kaidan whom was still standing by the door, waiting to leave and get cleaned up.

"I don't regret it Commander. Either way, he received justice for what's he's done. Thank you...for stopping here so that I could finally close this chapter." Garrus said as he finally tore his eyes away and headed back towards the door.

"It's not me you should be thanking Garrus...It's Lycan."

Shepard was right, he had to thank her for giving him the chance to find the salarian doctor whom had escaped him. She had been right about so much and he had refused to see it, refused to trust in her knowledge that she possessed and even accused her of working for their sworn enemy. Now, he was beginning to trust her, and would gladly believe anything she would have to say from here on out.

"You're right Commander. We should get back then."

With a final look back, they exited the room and retraced their steps back through the room full of crates and through the empty hallway where they reentered the _Normandy's_ airlock. The decontamination cycle started up as a bright beam of light slowly panned back and forth, swiping over them as it eradicated what it could. However, when the beam reached Kaidan, the light turned red and an alarm sounded as it detected the foreign material that was still splattered over his hardsuit.

"Shit...I forgot," Shepard groaned as he removed his helmet, "Joker..." he started to say until the pilot's voice interrupted him.

_"Already got someone waiting to hose him down Commander. Opening inner airlock now." _

The doors hissed and opened, allowing Garrus and Shepard to exit while Kaidan stood, slightly frustrated with a big red sign pointing to him. He removed his helmet and looked up, seeing Lycan waiting to enter with a scrub brush and a bottle of disinfectant. _Joker set this up didn't he. I'm gonna kill him. _He thought as he watched her walk in, somewhat nervously and shyly.

"Joker put you up to this didn't he?" Kaidan chuckled, feeling his cheeks start to blush.

"He said he would buy me a package of cookies next time we're somewhere where he can get some. I'm kind of a sucker for cookies." she snickered, her cheeks turning a bright pink.

"Oh...He's bribing you now? You could have just left me in here. The decontamination..."

Another quiet alarm sounded as the inner airlock door closed, locking them both inside as several small ports in the ceiling opened up, allowing water nozzles to pop out. They both looked up as the red light changed from red, to white once again.

"Shower is gonna activate. You're about to get very wet Ly." Kaidan mumbled, still staring up at the nozzles.

"I didn't have to come in here did I?" she asked, shoulders's slumping as she realized he was right.

"No...You didn't."

"I'm gonna kill him."

With another alarm, the decontamination shower activated, unleashing a pure blanket of cold water raining down on them, completely soaking them from head to toe. The cold water penetrated into Kaidan's hardsuit where it warmed against his skin, but the water stayed cold as it drenched Lycan's clothes from the black tank she had on, all the way down her jeans to her socks and shoes. She wrapped her arms around herself as her skin immediately grew a thick layer of gooseflesh and her hair went limp, hanging lazily around her face and clinging to her shoulders. She cringed as she glanced up and saw how stiff Kaidan was as the water poured over him, washing away the small splotches of green bile from his armor. His hair hung down to his dark brows, surprising Lycan as to just how long it actually was, as she thought it was shorter and curly, not medium length and rather straight.

After a long, cold couple of minutes, the shower turned off, leaving them both shivering, Lycan more so then Kaidan and dripping wet. Lycan's teeth were chattering loudly as her cold hands tried to warm up her cold arms but neither gaining any ground until the far warmer hands of Kaidan began to rub up and down her arms once he had removed his gloves.

"I-I'm g-gonna k-kill h-him." she chattered as she sucked in a long breath and began ringing out her tank.

Kaidan had to make a conscious effort to avoid looking at her chest which very clearly told him that she was very, very cold, "Only if I get to help." he quietly swallowed.

The decontamination cycle began once more and swept the room, clearing away any last remnants of the foreign contaminants before chiming happily and stating that the cycle had been completed. The doors clicked finally, and slid open, revealing Shepard with Ashley and Garrus all trying not to double over, laughing their asses off. Lycan sneered at the three and walked right passed them and onto the bridge, leaving squishy, wet shoe prints in her wake as she walked up behind Joker, gathered her soaked hair over her shoulder, and rung all the water out all over the top of his head.

"Hey! What the Hell!" Joker yelped as he stiffened, the cold water running from the top of his head, all the way down his chest and back, to his waistband.

"That's...for lying to me." she smirked, satisfied that Joker was now suffering from his own practical joke.

"I didn't lie! I just didn't tell you everything." Joker cringed as he tried to hold his wet shirt away from his skin.

Lycan leaned down, hands firmly placed on her hips, "I don't care. You still deserved it." she said, running her fingers through her hair to try and get more water out of it...not like it mattered, she was already soaked.

"You are so mean. I'm soaked!" Joker whined, not seeing that Kaidan had walked up behind him with his helmet full of water and proceeded to empty said helmet over Joker's lap.

"Oh come on!"

"Next time you cook up one of your practical jokes, make sure there's no blow back." Kaidan snickered as he wiped his nose, that was now running from the cold, before it dripped.

Joker growled, ignoring their peanut gallery as they tried to support themselves against the bulkhead while they laughed so hard that their abs hurt, as he stood up carefully before he grabbed his crutches to support him while he walked.

"You jackasses can wait till I get changed before I get us back in the air." he snarled as he hobbled passed everyone and headed down the CIC, the crew doing their best to try and contain their own laughter.

"You two...look like...wet cats!" Shepard laughed so hard that it was getting harder to understand what he was saying.

"Can it Shepard. You're just as at fault as he is because you could have stopped her." Kaidan sneered, blowing a short huff of air through his lips, up to clear a lingering drop of water from the tip of his nose.

"I'm sorry...I couldn't...help it...That was...so fucking funny!" Shepard struggled to say through his laughter with an arm wrapped around his gut.

"Lycan...Are you...cold?" Ashley laughed just as hard, leaning back against the bulkhead and laughing even harder as Kaidan's cheeks began to turn a rather pretty colored red.

"Stupid Joker. He owes me so many more cookies for this." She laughed as her blush deepened, crossing her arms over her chest in hopes of hiding her erect nipples that where poking through her soaked shirt.

With all still laughing, they stumbled down the CIC to head to the crew deck, Lycan breaking off as she headed into the Med Bay to change into some dry clothes and wrap up tightly in the zip she still had of Kaidan's, in hopes of warming back up. Garrus waited outside the Med Bay for Lycan to return, back pressed against the bulkhead with his arms crossed over his chest and his brain trying to scramble something to say to her. He had said awful things back on Therum and she had had every right to be angry with him and withhold the information about Dr. Saleon, but she had given it up without a second thought. She had been right about everything that she had predicted and he found, that she was being rather humble when it came to how much she knew. She had never once claimed she knew everything, and often asked questions about cultures that were new to her in hopes of learning more about them, his included.

The quiet hissing from the doors broke him from his minds scrambling as Lycan walked out, now in dry clothes with her long dark hair pinned up. She nearly screamed when she say Garrus leaning against the bulkhead, not from fear for the alien, but from being startled by his presence just on the other side of the doors.

"Oh! Jesus Mr. Vakarian, you scared me." she said with a smile and a hand over her heart, feeling the quick thumping slap against her palm.

"Please, call me Garrus. Mr. Vakarian is my father. I was wondering, do you have a moment to talk?" he asked, standing up straight and beginning to follow her.

"Sure. Over here," she said softly, leading then to the row of chairs by the flicking monitor and taking a seat, "What's on your mind?"

"Well...Now that I've found and dealt with Dr. Saleon, I wanted to apologize for the things I said back on Therum. I had no right to accuse you of working for Saren and if you were a turian, you would be completely within your rights to ask the Spirits to dishonor me." he said, his eyes cast down into his own lap as he was unable to look at her while he spoke.

Lycan smiled softly, "I wouldn't anger your Spirits by asking them to dishonor a good man Garrus. I'm happy I was able to help you gain some closure on this." she said, placing a kind hand on his shoulder.

"That case has plagued my dreams for some time. I had my suspicions that Dr. Heart was just an alias, but I had no real evidence to convince my superiors to allow me to pursue it." he said with a quick glance over towards her.

"I assume he tried to convince you to let him live?" she asked, holding back her snicker until the situation warranted it.

Garrus chuckled with a quick mandible flare, "Yeah. He even tried demanding the Commander protect him from me like a sniveling idiot."

Now Lycan laughed, "Figured." she said, retrieving her hand from his shoulder.

The two remained silent for a brief moment without any of their usual awkwardness as they both absorbed the new found, fledgling camaraderie between them. Lycan was beginning to not feel as if she was under a microscope when she was around him, usually feeling like someone was staring at the back of her head whenever they were in the same room. They glanced around the Crew Deck as a gentle rock tumbled through the ship as it disconnected from the _MSV_ _Fedele's_ docking arm to smoothly back away from the freighter that was now empty and left to float aimlessly out in the eternal blackness of space.

"We must be headed to Feros now. I wonder what we'll find there." Garrus said, finally breaking the silence.

"Some more green bile spewers, scared colonists and a whole lot of Geth." Lycan listed, tucking her leg underneath her again while she got more comfortable in her chair.

Garrus nodded, "We're lucky to have you with us Lycan. Without you, I'd fear that people would die."

Lycan's smile faded as she thought of the trials that were to come that would only test everyone's resolve, "Yeah. I'm glad I am here too." she tried to hide her worry that began to sit thick in her stomach.

"I should go find out what Shepard wants to do once we get to Feros. Who's he gonna take and such. I thank you for talking the time to speak with me and...I just want you to know, that I'm beginning to trust you." he said with a short nod as he stood, leaving Lycan to sit by herself with her own thoughts.

She sat alone while her mind raced, only adding to her thickening worry as she mulled over what was to come. She was scared to put it mildly. She was unsure if there was anything she could do to save lives and the thing that worried her most, was she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to save the life of her best friend, if that was in fact, what was to transpire. She felt the back of her eyes begin to sting as a singular tear slowly crept down her cheek at the thought of not being able to change some things but she knew she wanted to try, she just wasn't sure how. She looked up when she heard the low hiss of the elevator door as Kaidan came walking around the corner, seeing her sitting there and most likely picked up on the small tear that had left a glistening trail down her cheek. He walked up to her and sat down without saying a word, now dressed in his Alliance uniform and his hair still damp. He regarded her for a moment, spying the drying trail down her cheek and making him wonder if Garrus had said something to upset her.

"You ok?" he asked, just above a whisper.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Did Garrus say something to you?" he asked, concerned that the turian had hurt her feelings...again.

She shook her head softly, "No. He said that he was starting to trust me and that he was thankful I helped him and such. I'm ok...really." she said with a quick glance at him.

"If you were ok, then what's with the tear? Is it because of Joker's prank?"

"No...In hindsight, it was pretty funny. I didn't know your hair was that long." she giggled, leaning back into the chair with one leg curled into her chest while she continued to sit on the other.

"Yeah, I keep the top a little longer so I at least have the option of doing something with it. Shepard just doesn't wanna care about it...hence the buzz cut." Kaidan smirked as he ran his fingers through his raven hair.

Lycan nodded as she tried to resist the strong urge to touch it, curious if it was as soft as it looked when she saw the irritating cowlick slumped over his forehead. Her hand raised on it's own accord as she ran her fingers back through his hair, tucking the offending lock back into line with the rest of it's buddies and fluffing his bangs up to look more like he always wore it, minus the cowlick.

"There. I don't know why, but those things drive me nuts." she said quietly, wrapping her arm back around the leg that was curled into her chest.

Kaidan shrugged, "I only have myself to blame for that one. It wouldn't be a problem if I cut the stuff shorter then this." he smiled with a quiet huff.

"I like it that length. It looks good on you."

Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck at the compliment, feeling a gentle temperature increase in his cheeks as she giggled, but then slightly winced which caused his brows to furrow.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh...my knee is aching." she said as she gently messaged the joint on the leg that was tucked underneath her.

"That's because you keep sitting like that. It's throwing your knee out of whack." he said, pointing at the way she was sitting.

"I've been sitting like this for years."

"And you should stop before you do any real lasting damage," he smiled at her as he slipped off the chair and onto his knees to kneel in front of her, "Come on, let me see it."

He gently grasped her ankle once she had slipped her leg out from underneath her rump and straightened her leg out slowly, allowing the joint to acclimate itself back to it's normal position before he rolled up her sweats to just passed the knee. He carefully examined the joint, gently pressing a finger into the slightly swollen flesh that surrounded it and rocked her lower leg from left to right, slightly frowning at just how much play her knee allowed.

"You weren't kidding. How many years _have_ you been sitting like that?" he asked, his brows still furrowed as he grasped her other ankle, rolled her sweats up and compared the two joints to gauge just how swollen her knee was.

"Years, upon years, upon years." she answered with a small shrug, watching him inspect her knees.

"It looks like your tendons are stretched in your right knee. It wouldn't hurt to get you into the gym for some weight training to strengthen the muscle around it before it goes out on you. You are far too young for that." he said softly as he inspected the back of her knee, gently kneading the flesh to see if there was anything out of the ordinary.

"Yeah, I need to go in general. If I don't, then I'll gain weight quick. My whole family is...was like that." she said with a half assed shrug.

Kaidan caught her correction, "You can talk to Dr. Chakwas and see if she can give you a metabolism booster. You're the only one on the ship with 'clean DNA' as the medical field likes to call it, so she won't have to do a physical to determine if it will mix with the other mods." he said with a smirk as he rolled the legs of her sweats back down to cover her heels back up, like she liked to wear them.

"What do you have done?" Lycan asked, this time, bringing both knees up to her chest as Kaidan pushed himself up to sit back into the chair.

"The Alliance Class-B Infantry upgrade package, just like every Marine on the boat. Then there's the L2 implants which you know about already. That's all I have." Kaidan answered as he crossed a leg over his knee.

"Ah. How is the doctor gonna give me a metabolism booster?" she asked, curious and hoping it wasn't a complicated procedure.

"It's a series of shots. Nothing major. Actually, come with me. We can do it right now." he said as he stood and motioned for her to follow.

"Huh? What? Right now?" she stammered, standing and shuffling to catch up to him.

"You heard me. It'll take not even five minutes." he chuckled as they walked through the Med Bay doors.

Lycan, now nervous, went and sat down on her bed, watching as Kaidan stopped and quietly talked to the doctor for a moment before he nodded and headed for a cupboard near the back of the Med Bay. He quietly gathered a small case that contained three small vials, setting it down on the counter before turning his attention to a drawer and pulling three, not very large syringes. He pulled out a pair of latex gloves, snapping them on before he collected a few more items and walked over to her, gently setting them down next to her on the bed.

"Off with _my_ sweatshirt." he said quietly with a quick point as he organized the supplies.

Lycan sighed quietly as she unzipped the sweatshirt and slipped it off, letting it flop to the bed behind her, "Is there a particular spot you need to put those?" she asked nervously, rubbing her upper arm to stifle a shiver.

Kaidan huffed a laugh, "Two in your arm and one in your hip." he said with a quick glance.

Lycan just sighed.

Kaidan smiled softly once more as he filled each syringe with the required dosage before opening an alcohol swab and cleaning a site on her right arm. He picked up the first syringe and gently grasped her arm, holding it out slightly before he plunged the needle into her skin and injected the serum. He glanced up from her arm to look at her, seeing her face never even flinched from the sharp prick. _High pain tolerance. _He thought. He set down the emptied syringe and picked up the next one, plunging it nearly into the same spot in one, fluid motion and quickly injected the material before he let go of her arm, applying a small dab of medi-gel to her skin.

"Now, for the not so fun one. Lay down." he said softly as he moved his supplies to give her enough room to do so.

Once she had laid down, he gently brushed her shirt up, exposing the soft, pale skin of her flat stomach as his fingertips lightly touched the silky layer. His cheeks began to feel hot and he was eternally grateful that the lights in the Med Bay were low, hiding his sure to be embarrassing blush from Lycan. He took in a deep breath as he retrieved another alcohol swab, tearing it open and bringing it the skin of her hip to clean off the injection site. He took the last syringe, slightly bigger then the last two and plunged the needle into her, this time, only getting a short intake of breath as the pain was much greater then before. He smoothly injected the last shot and removed the needle, dabbing another amount of medi-gel on the site and gave her a reassuring smile as he pulled her shirt back down.

"There. That'll boost your metabolism and even out your weight gain if you end up not going to the gym. However...my dear friend...You are going to have a voracious appetite for the next couple days while your body adjusts to the mod. So when you get hungry, have one of those high protein bars in the Galley." Kaidan explained with a soft, crooked grin across his lips as he collected the trash and got it ready to throw away.

"Oh good. I get to eat like a horse and stuff my face like I haven't eaten a day in my life." she smirked as she sat up and wrapped the zip up back around herself.

That made Kaidan chuckle for a brief moment before his grin faded, "Listen Ly...I keep catching those 'passed tense' slip up's and I know that the passed few weeks have been tough on you, they've been tough on all of us, but..." he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "How...are you dealing knowing that there is probably very little chance you'll get back to your own time?" he asked kindly, looking into her dark eyes and seeing them slightly glaze over.

She couldn't look him in the eye as she thought about how to answer his question. Sure, it had been a few weeks since she first arrived, but her nights were still filled with memories of her family which had long since passed. She was never going to see her younger brother again, or her mother and father, even Kristy. She was never going to get to drive her new car, which she had just bought or spend a night gazing up at the stars as she was now traveling through them. She was never going to see her home again. Her eyes began to sting and her throat closed up, making it harder for her to breath as she picked at her nails with her hands in her lap.

"I...I've been trying to keep it together because you guys have enough to deal with...but...but..." the tears started to come, "Kaidan...I'm never gonna see anyone again." she buried her face in her hands as she started to cry.

It broke Kaidan's heart to see her like that, crying and feeling alone when she had friends there, on the ship. He felt awful, knowing that he had drudged up how she felt, rather had been feeling and he felt like he had to do something in hopes of making her feel better. He took a step up to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a comforting embrace as she cried into his chest. He cradled her head to his chest, softly placing his hand on the back of her head and interlaced his fingers in her hair as he rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"I'm so sorry Ly." he whispered, slightly tightening his hold around her.

Lycan continued to cry into his chest, pulling her arms free from between them and wrapping them around his trunk, holding him tightly as more tears poured from her closed eyes.

"It's...not your f-fault. I'm j-just feeling h-home sick I g-guess. I m-miss my family K-Kaidan but t-there isn't anything I c-can do about it. I h-have no f-friends. N-no family. N-no money. N-no h-home. I w-wouldn't have what I h-have on if it w-wasn't for you." she sobbed heavily.

Kaidan began to feel a wet warmth against his chest from her tears as he unwound his arms and placed his hands on the bed on either side of her. He hunched over, looking into her now red and swollen eyes with his own saddened ones as he wiped away a large tear that clung to her cheek.

"You do have friends here Ly. You have Shepard, Ash and even Garrus who's coming around finally. And...you have me and I'm not going anywhere Ly. You can hold me to that." he said quietly.

She sniffled hard as she looked into his honey colored eyes, finding them saddened but truthful and she added this to his growing list of things he's done for her, upon which she was sorely behind. Her tears started up again, hanging her head as her sobs continued and she felt Kaidan's warm arms wrap themselves back around her in comfort, bringing her back to his strong chest. She curled up into him, her ear pressed against his chest as she heard and felt his strong heart thumping away beneath her ear. Over and over his heart beat in sets of two against his ribs as he held Lycan, just letting her cry.

After a short while, her sobbing had ceased, now only the quiet sniffles as she curled his uniform shirt in between her fingers and finally pulled away from his chest with a quiet sigh. She cleared her throat and looked up at him briefly, feeling as if some of the weight that rested on her shoulders had been lifted after her crying spell.

"Thank you...for just letting me cry. It helped some. I feel a bit better." she said quietly.

Kaidan smiled softly, "Ly...I am your shoulder to cry on and I'm here whenever you need me..." his train of thought was broken by the ravenous growl that rumbled from Lycan's stomach, "And that would be the voracious appetite I told you about."

"That didn't take long." Lycan chuckled through the thick mucus that had built up in her sinuses and throat.

Kaidan laughed quietly along with Lycan, "Never does. Blow your nose, do what you need to do and come on. We'll get something to eat and see just how much that new metabolism of yours can pack away." he said, finally fully pulling away from her.

Lycan's lips curled into a relieved smile, "I doubt I'll be able to keep up with you."

"Ly...No one can keep up with me...Not even Shepard."

Lycan dried her eyes and splashed some cold water onto her face to retard some of the redness before she walked up next to Kaidan and they left the Med Bay, both rather hungry, and eager to get something to eat with the trials and tribulations of Feros, hanging over their heads.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Colony of Zhu's Hope

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! Happy Valentine's Day all! *Hugs beta*)_

From the black, the planet of Feros glistened like a child's marble, much like every other habitable planet strewn throughout the galaxy. Her surface was darker then most as layers upon layers of multicolored clouds swirled and danced through her atmosphere like aquatic leviathans through an endless ocean. The _Normandy_ dove through the invisible safety blanket of her atmosphere, the blackness lightening into a soft pastel blue with strings of subtle pink, delicate purple and warming yellow laced through it as Feros's sun streaked across the sky. The landscape was hidden beneath an immensely thick layer of dense clouds and spotted with tall, ancient skyscrapers left behind by a long dead race.

Joker glanced down at his scanners, finding that they had picked up a small gathering of organic life signs inside one of the larger buildings directly in front of them and closing fast. He slowed the ship as they drew closer to the indicated building, finding an open docking bay that was large enough to house the _Normandy_ as well as being close to the life signs which they had deduced with Lycan's help, was the colony of Zhu's Hope. He expertly banked his baby and came around to gently glide into the bay, crawling into position for the docking clamps to come down and take hold while a short gangway extended and sealed around her airlock.

"Docking clamps secure Commander." he reported as he secured the ship's drive core.

"Nice work Joker. How far away is this colony?" Shepard asked, situating himself better in his hardsuit.

"Not far Commander...Looks like they have someone on the dock waiting for you."

"He's not the only thing waiting for you on the dock Commander." Lycan said as she sunk down into the co-pilots chair with her leg tucked underneath her again which earned her a glare from Kaidan.

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked with furrowed brows.

"He won't get much further then telling you his name before another Geth ambush shows up." she said, slipping her leg out from underneath to cease the glare coming from Kaidan.

Shepard groaned, "Roger that. Keep our heads down...Alright you two, let's get this show on the road." he said with a quick glance to Ashley, whom was to be his spearhead, and Kaidan, whom was the only field medic on the ship.

They both acknowledged with short nods and walked towards the airlock with Shepard close behind them. They stepped inside and waited the brief moment for the inner door to close and the outer one to open, revealing a rather glum looking bay that was nearly entirely the same color...gray.

"Not much to look at is it." Ashley commented as she stepped out onto the short docking arm.

"Looks like an office building if you ask me." Shepard shrugged, pulling his pistol from his hip as he quickly scanned the immediate area for any hostiles.

A middle aged man waved at them as he rather quickly walked up to them with worry apparent in his eyes, "My name is David. David al Talaqani. Our leader Fai Dan wishes to speak with you." he quickly said nervously.

_"Get him down Commander or he dies." _Lycan warned, watching through the helmet cam that was now carried by two of his squad, himself and Kaidan.

Shepard drew in a deep breath as he looked passed the man, seeing the slight shimmer of light from behind a tall crate as a Geth trooper popped out, weapon at the ready. He grabbed the man's collar and threw him down behind a shorter crate just as a bullet slammed into Shepard's shield's sparking them a bright blue. Ashley and Kaidan both immediately took cover, drawing their weapons as Shepard pressed up against the concrete wall out of the Geth's line of sight. Ashley popped up, bearing down on the Geth trooper that had fired the shot and let a powerful bark of bullets rip from her assault rifle to punch into the Geth's synthetic chest to take it out of the picture. Kaidan leaned out and took a quick head count of the their remaining opposition, finding that there was a nice handful of Geth units holding rocket launchers which made his stomach spike with nerves and his breath to form an airy 'oh shit.' He brought up his Omni-Tool and primed and disabling pulse, leaning out just as a Geth was about to emerge from around the corner to fire at Shepard and temporarily disabled it so that Shepard could concentrate on eliminating another rocket trooper further down the way. Shepard's corona emerged with a vengeance as he Threw a Geth hard against the wall before he ripped his arm back and Pulled the unit over the side of the waist high barrier to plummet God only knew how far to the ground below. Kaidan kept his head down as he scurried over to Shepard and yanked a grenade from his belt, taking a brief moment to set an Overload burst before he chucked the device into the alcove where most of the Geth were behind cover. The grenade landed just in front of the nearest archway a moment before it detonated, releasing a burst powerful enough to cause multiple units to spark before exploding into tiny bits to pepper the ground. Ashley quickly followed the Overload grenade up with a hail of her own rounds, destroying one last Geth trooper that was slightly larger then the rest before it had a chance to close the gap between it, and them.

The docking bay grew quiet again as the last hostile fell, giving Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan a moment to collect themselves before they stood and scanned the area to check for more targets. When they found none, they saw the middle aged man named David huddled behind the crate where he had landed from Shepard's toss. He glanced around, seeing the mangled metal bodies of the Geth and slowly stood, somewhat shaky from the ordeal.

"You...You saved my life. How did you know about the Geth?" he asked, dusting himself off.

"A little birdie told me." Shepard huffed, not about to divulge which little birdie it was.

"Well...whoever they were, thank them for me."

"You just thanked them yourself. Look, I'm Lieutenant Commander Shepard. This is Gunnery Chief Williams and Staff Lieutenant Alenko. We're with the Systems Alliance Navy. What's been going on here?" Shepard asked as he check his pistol.

"Fai Dan would be able to tell you more then I would. The colony isn't far." David said as he motioned towards the alcove.

_"More of those jumper Geth are in that stairwell Commander," _Lycan warned as David jogged ahead, _"Stop him!"_

Shepard immediately lunged forward and grabbed a large handful of David's shirt, yanking him back as a loud crack sounded, echoing through the hallways with a quick plume of dust as it shot into the air.

"You...sit there and stay put. I don't need you up and getting yourself killed after we just saved your ass...twice." Shepard frowned as he forced David to plant it behind a crate.

"Ok...Sure. The colony is just up those stairs, on your right. You can't miss it." David said as he made himself comfortable.

Shepard motioned for his team to follow, leaving David behind as they pressed themselves against the concrete wall and prepared to confront the jumpers laying in wait. Both Shepard and Kaidan opened up their Omni-Tools and prepare Overload pulses before they leaned out, taking a round in the shields before they unleashed the bursts. The two jumper Geth twitched and sparked before they fell off their positions on the walls to tumble down the stairwell, seemingly into an abyss upon which their landing would never be heard. They carefully walked up the stairs, listening, watching for anymore Geth that could be waiting for them. At the top of the stairs, Shepard halted his squad as hushing whispers touched his ears from around the corner.

"Don't fire! We're human!" Shepard called out.

"Human! Did ExoGeni send you?" a woman's voice called back.

"No! Systems Alliance!"

"Slowly come around the corner with your hands up!"

Shepard's brows furrowed hard at the order as he glanced at Ashley and Kaidan, both mirroring his expression and wondering what they were going to do. Shepard nodded and placed his pistol on his hip before he took a step out, hands raised in front of him into the hallway, looking down the barrels of four separate weapons and all pointed at him and his squad.

"I'm not here to cause you problems, I'm here to solve yours." Shepard said, taking another, slow step towards the barricade that the colonists had erected.

""We can see that now. Come on in. Fai Dan has been waiting to see you since your ship broke atmo. He's on the other side of the freighter." the same woman said as she gave the order for her companions to lower their weapons.

Shepard blew out the breath he had been holding and dropped his hands, motioning to Ashley and Kaidan that is was safe to follow him as they walked through the barricade and towards the converted freighter. On their way, they passed a woman whom was infuriated as she worked with a barely functioning control console attached to a large pipeline that spanned across nearly the entire colony before it disappeared into the ground.

"Come on you stupid thing! Work!" she grumbled, banging a fist on the control panel.

"Ma'am? Is something wrong?" Shepard asked as he stopped walking and turned to face her.

"Who wants to know?" she snapped, looking over her shoulder.

"Relax miss, I'm just here to help with your Geth problem. That looks like the water main. Did it shut down on you?" he asked with a subtle point to the control panel.

"It did and I can't get it running again. If you're thirsty, then you'll have to go somewhere else because we're dry as a bone here." she said, frustratingly putting her hands on her hips as she was out of ideas on how to possibly fix their water problem.

"Is it just that console that's causing the problems or is it something else?" Kaidan asked simply.

"It's the three shut off valves down below in the tunnels. I'd go down there myself but the tunnels are crawling with Geth." she said with a defeated sigh.

"Understood. If we head that way, then we'll see what we can do." Shepard said with quite a bit of compassion in his voice.

They walked through a door that let them inside the freighter, finding that the colonists were having issues keeping it up as several panels had been removed and fashioned to serve another purpose. They passed several crew quarters that had been turned into people's homes, and passed by an angry looking man whom said nothing to them, just glared with the flicker of an eye twitch. On the other side of the freighter, they saw two people standing behind another barricade havng a discussion, and it seemed to be a heated one at that.

"Are you Fai Dan?" Shepard said as they walked up to them, interrupting their conversation.

"I am. You must be the crew from that ship that just arrived." the man greeted, extending his hand for them to shake.

"Systems Alliance. I'm Commander Shepard, and this is Chief Williams and Lieutenant Alenko.

"A little late, aren't you?" the woman standing next to Fai Dan snipped with an angry glare.

"Enough Arcelia. They are here to help." Fai Dan barked, feeling just as much strain from their constant barrage as she was.

Shepard drew in a breath to keep himself calm, "How long have the Geth been attacking?" he asked, ready to get down to business.

"For sometime now. They've been steadily attacking us in waves and we're being stretched pretty thin. We're pretty sure that there is a Geth Transmitter somewhere in the lower tunnels but we don't have any real, concrete evidence to prove it." Fai Dan explained as he wiped away a bead of sweat from his forehead.

_"Head's up. Geth attack incoming." _Lycan said softly, just as a plume of dust shot up from the barricade.

Shepard and his crew immediately drew their weapons, seeing two Geth advancing on their position with their weapons aimed down range. Kaidan's body flared high as he Lifted a unit into the air so that the three could concentrate their fire on one target, which they did by firing a wall of bullets into the Geth's chest and spraying the concrete with copious amounts white blood. The Geth that Kaidan had Lifted fell hard to the ground with a heavy clank and began to right itself, temporarily relinquishing it's weapon as it placed it's hands on the ground and began to push itself up. Ashley didn't wait for the Geth to have a chance to take hold of it's weapon as she opened up her assault to it's fullest, sending an unbroken burst of bullets into the machine and breaking off large, mangled chunks of metal.

"Jesus Ash. Remind me to take you with me next time I get into a bar fight." Shepard chuckled as he stood up straight.

"Next time?" she popped a dark eyebrow.

"Ok...So I've been in a few. I'll explain later," he shifted his gaze over towards Fai Dan, "Were does that lead?" he asked, pointing over his shoulder.

"The upper tower. They must have just arrived. Please Commander, you have to help us." Fai Dan pleaded, his exhaustion showing on his face.

"We'll take care of it. Stay here and keep your heads down."

_"Careful in there Commander. You're gonna run into a lot of Geth." _Lycan warned.

With that, they slipped passed the barricade and headed into the hallway that would take them to the upper tower. They ducked behind some cover as more jumpers hopped across the stairwell and fired high powered shots at them, sending columns of dust and small bits of concrete into the air. This time, Shepard didn't give Ashley the chance to show off her prowess with her assault rifle as he leaned out and sent an Overload burst to the closest jumper, causing it to spark and twitch before it flopped to the floor as a giant paperweight. With a smirk at their new found game, Ashley darted across the stairwell and ducked behind a solid pillar before she zeroed in on the last jumper, Kaidan's rounds whizzing passed her shoulder, and pulled the trigger to pepper the last hostile. Once it had fallen into the never ending chasm, she glanced over towards Shepard with a victorious grin plastered over her full lips.

"Are you trying to show off Chief?" Shepard asked playfully and with his own smirk across his lips.

"Don't have to show off when you already know I'm good." she shot back, starting towards the stairs.

Shepard's grin grew slightly as the Chief rendered him speechless but his attention was drawn when Lycan's voice came fluttering through their comms.

_"If you don't hurry, the colonist at the top of the stairs will die!" _

"Shit! Move!" he ordered.

They charged up the stairs, taking the steps two by two as fast as they could to reach the top in time. When they rounded the last landing, the colonist in question came into view as she spotted them and began to run in their directions.

"Help me! They're after..." she yelped before she just...stopped screaming and running to slump to the ground where her blood began to pool around her.

Shepard and Ashley both raised their weapons and opened fire, driving back the Geth that had killed the woman as Kaidan skidded up to her side, dropping to his knees in hopes that he could help in some way. He quickly looked her over, eyeing the entry wound between her shoulder blades and checked for a pulse, sadly finding none. He glanced away from the body and towards Shepard, slowly shaking his head as he stood and stepped away, not looking back at the body in hopes Lycan wouldn't have to see it.

Concerned for his friend, Kaidan quietly spoke to her, "Ly...You ok?"

the comm stayed quiet for a moment, _"I will be. I guess I need to be quicker." _he could tell she was fighting with herself to keep her composure.

"Ly, you weren't too slow, we were. You tried to save her life. Sometimes no matter how hard we try, we can't save someone." he said, hoping he sounded reassuring and not upset, even though he had no reason to be upset.

"Lycan, you've already saved one life today and there's gonna be many more. We all lose people but that doesn't make it easy. You tried and that's all that matters. The three of us need you now though. We need to know where the Geth are coming in from. This hallway breaks off in two different directions." Shepard said kindly before his voiced changed to business.

_"I understand...Um...Can you scan the hallway for me?" _

Kaidan, being in the best position to do so, slipped closer to the corner and peered through the archway to gaze down the hall.

_"Uh...I believe it's left and go straight. If you head right, I think it will take you to a stairwell that leads down to the lower tunnels." _she sounded unsure.

"Are you sure?" Shepard asked with one eyebrow popped.

_"Pretty sure. Could you do me a favor and glance down that right passageway?" _

The three nodded and slipped through the archway, guns raised, and slowly crept to the corner until Kaidan reached the passageway that broke off to the right. He pressed himself against the wall and peered around, seeing that it was far longer then the one they were in and empty. He jumped to the other side to get a better look at the other wall and saw the closed doors of an elevator and a small 'whoop' come through his comm.

_"Oh good. I was right. Yeah, don't go that way yet. That way will take you down to the lower tunnels were that Geth Transmitter is, a super crazy giant varren, power cells for the colony's generator, the water shut off valves and a crazy dude." _

Shepard's brow popped once more, "That's quite the list Lycan. What's the crazy varren and power cells about?"

_"The colony is starving and they can't hunt the verran until the big alpha one is dead and their power generator kicked the bucket. There's some power cells from an old Mako looking thing down there." _

"Understood," he acknowledged before turning to face Ashley and Kaidan, "After we clear these out, we're headed down into the tunnels to help the colony."

Ashley and Kaidan both nodded and readied to continued their plight as they followed Shepard passed the long passageway and headed through an archway into a darkened foyer type alcove that opened up into a large, crescent shaped room with a massive hole in the high ceiling. Just before Shepard stepped out of the alcove, his comm barked to life and made him wince slightly from the yelp that came through.

_"Oh! There's a whole ton of Geth in that room Commander!" _she yelped a little too loudly.

"Not so loud Lycan...You're right in our ears woman." Shepard hissed quietly as all three pressed up against the concrete wall.

_"Sorry." _she whispered.

Shepard signaled Kaidan and they both brought up their Omni-Tools to prime their attacks, Shepard choosing a disruption pulse, while Kaidan primed an Overload to deal with what waited for them around the corner. Ashley readied herself behind the two Biotics and waited for Shepard's signal, readying her assault rifle to unleash it's fury. Once Shepard gave the signal, Kaidan and himself leapt out and targeted the first Geth they saw, both being shock troopers and let their attacks fly, one freezing in place to spark and twitch before collapsing to the ground and the other stopped to inspect it's weapon which had ceased to fire which ended with several bullets in it's head. They ducked behind the first thing they could that would provide adequate cover from the storm of bullets and rockets that came flying their way and began to systematically pick off Geth one by one. The form of a far larger Geth came into view from around a corner on the far end of the room, holding a very large, very powerful gun in it's two fingered hands.

_"That would be a Destroyer." _Lycan's voice fluttered into their helmets.

"Kaidan...Help me slam that thing!" Shepard ordered as his body began to glow.

Kaidan nodded as both stepped out from behind their cover, seeing that the Destroyer was the last Geth standing as Ashley had expertly eradicated the couple units that had perched themselves on the tops of a tall wall. Their bodies flared high as they both moved in unison, raising an arm and Lifting the Geth Destroyer high into the air before they followed through with their movement, at the same time spinning around and Biotically sending it hard into the wall.

_"Heads up. Dropship." _Lycan's voice said simply, just as the distinctive rumble filtered into the alcove.

As they all looked up through the giant hole, said bug shaped and dark purple ship floated into view where it hovered as it's underbelly opened and deposited another wave of Geth, including an enormous rocket yielding Juggernaut, for them to deal with. The squad immediately ducked back behind their cover and began picking off the smaller Geth units while the Juggernaut acclimated itself. The ground shook violently beneath their feet as rockets sailed over their heads to slam into the wall, sending large and small chunks of debris to rain down on top of them. Ashley took care of the small number of Geth drones that hovered near a corner by blasting them senseless with her rifle, raining debris down on top of the Juggernaut that was starting it's charge and firing messy shots all over. The Juggernaut began to run as it continued to fire heavy shots at them whether they were ducked behind their cover, or not. Shepard used the Juggernaut's momentum against it as his body flared once more with his corona and Lifted, the momentum carrying it head on into the wall behind them and giving them a moment to fill it with rounds.

Once the Juggernaut was destroyed, the dropship which had hovered and thankfully, just watched the battle rage on, it buzzed away as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Shepard and his companions to stand alone in the quiet, debris filled room.

"I really hope the Council doesn't start charging me for every prothean thing that get's riddled with holes or blown up because of this." Shepard laughed as he leaned up against a stone slab to catch is breath.

Ashley and Kaidan both chuckled, as did Lycan and Joker for that matter.

"Anymore Geth we have to deal with Ly?" Kaidan asked, somewhat out of breath as he took a breather.

_"No more until you head to either the ExoGeni building, or the lower the tunnels." _

Kaidan nodded before he glanced over towards Shepard to find out what plan he was cooking up in that little head of his.

"We're headed to the lower tunnels to get the colony back on it's feet. Let's head back and let Fai Dan know we cleared the area." Shepard said as he stood up with a soft groan from being crouched for so long.

Kaidan and Ashley stood and dusted off their armor from the thin layer of dust that had accumulated from the firefight and followed Shepard, retracing their steps as they made their way back to the colony. When they reached the rather dismal looking courtyard, the gravity of just how bad their situation was hit them. The colony sat atop the rooftop of an ancient prothean skyscraper, nestled within piles of gathered debris and lit by the dimming lights of the converted freighter that was now their home. The darkening sky cast long, sinister shadows across the dirt and aged everything they touched. The freighter, the ancient building and even the colonists. Everything looked old, and long forgotten. The three Marines found their way back to the barricade where Fai Dan and Arcelia stood their posts, finding that they looked defeated, exhausted and hungry.

"We cleared the Geth from the tower. You said that you think there might be some sort of transmitter in the lower tunnels?" Shepard asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

Fai Dan looked over to him with an exhausted sigh and nodded, "Yeah but we aren't sure where. There's Geth down there too which only adds to our problems."

"How short on food, water and energy are you?" Shepard asked simply.

"Ah, it would appear you spoke with Macha, Davin and May about our other problems." Fai Dan said with the hint of a smile.

"No, but I saw the generator and everyone here looks like they haven't had a meal in sometime. How low are you?" Shepard repeated.

"Our rations won't last much longer. A day...Maybe two." Arcelia answered before Fai Dan had the chance to.

"Then there's our timeline," Shepard nodded with a glance over his shoulder towards Kaidan and Ashley, "Let's move. We've got a lot of work to do."

With their own nods of acknowledgement, they headed back down the passageway they had when they went to clear out the Geth from the tower except this time, they turned right and walked passed the elevator to head to the stairwell that led down into the lower tunnels. The fading light from the darkening sky gave way to the dim glow of fires as they steadily descended the stairs, flight after flight before eventually, the lightening changed into a string of flood lights that had been strung up along the corridors of the lower tunnels. The passageway T'ed at the bottom, left being a dead end and right, leading into a vast, wide open tunnel.

_"The tunnels are in pretty bad shape so you're gonna have to make your way through the openings along the walls. You'll find the water shut off control panels in them along with Geth so watch out." _Lycan's voice broke the silence that had befallen the small squad.

"Were do we go to find this giant varren and the power cells?" Shepard asked in a hushed tone, trying to keep his voice from carrying across the tunnel.

_"They're in the same spot but I forgot which door they were threw. I'll recognize it if I see it though."_

"No ones perfect Ly." Kaidan whispered to her, peering down the long open tunnel for any signs of incoming hostiles.

The three readied their weapons and slowly crept out onto the small bridge, keeping their heads on a swivel as they scanned the area until they reached the other side. The pathway was narrow and strewn with debris from constant bombardment, large chunks of ceiling and wall lay crumbled in mangled piles and blocking off a direct path to the other end. They couldn't go left, as their only coarse led them right towards a grating that had seen better days and to a large hole that had been blasted through the wall. They crouched low and crawled through, knowing there to be Geth and took cover behind the many pieces of fallen debris. As Kaidan took up his position, he glanced towards the outer wall and saw a water shut off control panel, sitting dark and just above the top of his cover. He debated with himself whether he should reach up and activate it or not until Lycan's voice fluttered into his ear.

_"Don't you do it Kaidan. Do you really want Shepard performing the field triage?" _she giggled playfully and it started to make him blush. _Thank God for my helmet. _He thought.

"Not so much my dear guardian angel." he answered her in an ultra low and raspy tone.

"Kaidan...Make sure that big one can't shoot anything." Shepard ordered, still with his hushed tone.

All Kaidan did was nod as he brought up his Omni-Tool and primed the pulse, ready, upon Shepard's signal, to lean out and do some crowd control. Once Shepard nodded, he checked his shields for his own sanity's sake before he leaned out, his shields sparking a couple times as they caught the enemy rounds and sent the pulse sailing towards the large Geth that wasn't behind any cover. The larger unit just stood stiff, shimmering and sparking red as the rest began to open fire, only managing to hit the concrete slabs as Kaidan immediately ducked back behind his cover to let his shields recharge. While he let his shields recharge, Shepard and Ashley worked like they had been killing Geth together their entire lives as they tag teamed the smaller units, Shepard Overloading the shields, while Ashley unloaded Tungsten rounds into their heads. The recharge indicator on Kaidan's shields pinged, letting him know that they were at full power and gave him his cue to send a few of his own rounds down range, or possibly discharge some Biotic energy. As the disabling pulse began to wear off, Kaidan's and Shepard's minds jumped on the same wave length as their bodies flared up. They manipulated the dark energy around two large slabs of fallen concrete on either side of the larger Geth and brought them together, smashing the Geth flat between them.

"What are you two? The Bopsy Twins?" Ashley snickered as she moved passed Shepard and took point.

"Great minds think alike Chief." Shepard smirked, saying her rank with a rather flirtatious flare.

Ashley scoffed, "Then how the Hell am I supposed to compete with that Skipper?" she grumbled with a crooked grin, using her new name for him with the same tone as he used as she played along with their little game.

"I don't know Chief, you seem to be a doing a _fine_ job with that rifle to me." he told her with a slightly deeper voice.

Ashley stopped moving and slowly turned to look at him in time to catch the wink he sent her way and his bright blue eyes told her that he was smiling beneath his helmet. She couldn't hold his gaze for longer then a couple seconds as her cheeks started to burn inside her helmet from a strong blush that she knew was creeping down her neck as well as crawling up to her ears.

_"The comm is still open by the way. Just thought you should know that I can hear all of your banter." _Lycan chuckled into their comms which was soon joined by a sharp bark of laughter from Kaidan, slowly shaking his head.

That shut the Commander and the Chief up as they both cleared their throats and continued on the mission at hand as they started down the low tunnel, while Kaidan quickly switched on the water shut off valve before he followed.

Once they reached the other side of the tunnel, Kaidan spotted another shut off valve and just as quickly switched it on, "That's two. Ly...Do you know how many more there are?"

_"One more. It's in another one of those tunnels like the one you're in now." _

"Alright."

They stepped out of the tunnel and back out onto the main walkway on the other side of the mangled grate that had originally blocked their path. The area was quiet...almost a little too quiet for Shepard's tastes as each slowly walked down the path until they came upon another walkway that went back across the chasm to a closed door. It provided Shepard with a choice. Go straight, or turn right. He asked his little birdie.

"Lycan...Where's that lead?" he asked, still trying to keep his voice from carrying.

_"Uh...give me a minute. Let me think," _a slight tapping could be heard coming from her end for a brief moment, _"I think...it's the Geth transmitter which means that there's gonna be two drones perched up top when you walk through...I think." _she most definitely wasn't 100% sure and they all knew it by the sound of her voice.

"How sure are you?" Shepard asked, taking a step onto the small bridge.

_"Well...It's a 50/50 chance. You'll know right away if I'm right now not. Those drones are gonna fire the second you open the door." _

The three Marines sighed hesitantly before following Shepard towards the door. When they got close, the door began to hum as it prepared to open, causing them all to stop dead in their tracks before it did and seeing that there was absolutely no cover to be had on the narrow bridge. The door screeched loudly as it flew open, revealing a long corridor with a high ledge that indeed, had two drones perched and poised to take them down.

Again, the two Biotics brains were on the same wave length as they wrapped themselves in shimmering blue Barriers and stood, shoulder to shoulder as they provided Ashley with cover, her rifle firing over their shoulders and taking out one of the drones. Kaidan opened up his Omni-Tool while he continued to concentrate on keeping his Barrier up and primed and disabling pulse, sending it towards the last drone and ending it's hail of bullets. After the drone had stopped firing, all three began firing which quickly destroyed the drone with little effort.

"Ok...So the transmitter is this way apparently. Anything else this way that can fire back?" Shepard asked as he let his Barrier drop.

_"Do krogan count?" _it was obvious she was being sarcastic.

"Uh...yeah...yeah, it kinda does." Shepard huffed, starting to make his way down the corridor.

As silently as they could, the three crept along the left wall with their weapons ready as they headed deeper down the corridor until they reached the corner. Low, rumbling voices drifted in from the room...distinctive, low, rumbling voices. Shepard raised a finger and placed it to his helmet, over his lips for Ashley and Kaidan to stay as quiet as possible while he worked out the best way to deal with the small group of krogan. Krogan in general were a pain to deal with, as they regenerated their wounds incredibly quickly and had multiple sets of vital organs that they could switch to at will. Shepard hated fighting krogan. He was snapped out of his mental strategic planning session by a soft voice in his ear.

_"Grenades work well." _Lycan's voice whispered into their ears, which made each crack a devious smile.

"What _kind_ of grenade do you suggest our little birdie?" Shepard whispered, still with a smirk on his hidden lips.

_"I don't know. Something incendiary maybe?" _she suggested it in a way that told them she shrugged while she said it.

"A woman after our own heart Shepard." Kaidan whispered with a smile.

Shepard reached for his belt to pull a small device, taking a quick moment to set the high powered incendiary charge and timer before he tossed it around the corner where it landed at the feet of one of the krogan. Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan stayed out of sight until the loud explosion of the grenade filled the room and echoed down the corridor, engulfing a krogan within it's spreading fireball. Once the explosion had consumed the room, the three Marines spun out, weapons barking to life as they fired on the rest of the confused krogan. Kaidan's body erupted in a stark blue as he raised an arm, manipulating the dark energy he commanded as he Threw an enemy hard against the far wall with a heavy thud, knocking the breath from the krogan's multiple sets of lungs. As Ashley finished off the other krogan by slamming home enough bullets to make a whole new ammo block from, Shepard centered his attention on the one that Kaidan had tossed around like a rag doll, unleashing his own bullets into the beast but this particular krogan was quick as it shifted it's fatally wounded organs to it's untouched, intact ones. The krogan growled as it stood, bleeding heavily from the vast collection of holes in it's body and readied his shotgun before it charged and headed straight for Shepard. Shepard reacted in time to dive out of the way of the charging beast, only giving it a clear line to plow into Kaidan, sending him hard into the wall and actually spider webbing long cracks through the concrete. Ashley spun around and immediately took aim at the close enemy, her rifle instantly barking at point blank range into the krogan's head. That...he wasn't getting up from.

Kaidan slumped to the ground where he tried to regain his breath, laying limp against the wall. He heard Lycan's worried calls in his ear and he concentrated on that to ground him. Her concern was evident in her voice as she continued to repeat her question, over and over. Saying his name and hoping for an answer in return.

_"Kaidan? Please say something...Kaidan?" _Lycan's voice was shaky, concerned as she watched what had happened from back on the ship.

He began to cough and suck in long, long breaths that filled his lungs to near bursting, "I'm...alright Ly...Just got...the wind...knocked out of me." he said through long breaths as he tried to get to his feet.

"Is anything broken Kaidan? That was a Hell of a hit you took." Shepard asked, grabbing Kaidan's arm and helping him to his feet.

"I'm ok. Let's get that transmitter shut down." Kaidan said, rolling his shoulders to work out some of the stiffness that had very quickly set in.

Shepard nodded and motioned for them to follow as they crossed the room to the small alcove on the other side where they found the Geth transmitter, flashing happily as it broadcasted it's location to God only knows how many more Geth. All three took aim upon Shepard's signal and opened fire, their bullets puncturing it's outer shell with little resistance as the device began to spark violently. After a brief moment of near endless gunfire, the Geth transmitter went dark with a loud explosion, sending all three back into the wall from the shockwave.

"I'm really tired of getting blasted into a wall." Kaidan groaned as he knew he was either gonna have a migraine, or a back ache later, he didn't know which one yet.

_"I'll have the painkillers ready when you get back here Kaidan." _Lycan said kindly into his ear, which made him smile a little.

"You read my mind Ly. I'll hold you to it when I get to the ship." Kaidan smirked.

"Let's get moving. We have a lot of work to do before we get a break." Shepard groaned as he started back down the corridor and back to the tunnel.

The three Marines continued to clear the lower tunnels, turning right once they had crossed the other bridge and continued deeper inside. Once they had crossed the bridge, Shepard caught sight of another door down a short hallway directly across from them, hidden in the shadows in the deep recess.

_"That's where you'll find the varren and the power cells Commander." _

"Is it just one varren?" Shepard asked before heading towards the door.

_"No. There's a whole pack."_

Shepard stepped closer towards the door with Ashley and Kaidan covering his six as it barked open and allowed them to pass into a darkened room, lit only by the light of fire. They carefully stepped through, hearing the low, rumbling growls of something that possessed a lot of razor sharp teeth. The door closed, causing them all to turn around which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as they caught sight of a large pack of snarling, hungry varren. Ashley immediately opened fire while Shepard and Kaidan used their Biotics to dispatch several of the beast as they couldn't fire their pistols fast enough to do them much good. Varren bodies flew everywhere as the three killed off the charging pack, hearing an angry roar rip through the room to reverberate off the walls. A massive, muscled varren emerged from a shadow towards the back of the room, it's large, red eyes reflecting the image of the fire nearby like a mirror and it's mouth bore it's many teeth with long strings of saliva dripping down. Kaidan didn't wait for the beast to get any closer as his body erupted into a near blinding corona in the dark room and Lifted the rabid beast where it quickly became subject to target practice. Once riddled with holes, the beast flopped to the ground with a wet slap as blood and meat jumped off of it to splat into the dust.

Shepard glanced around the fire lit room and very quickly noticed the scrapped vehicle, perched on a ledge above the door. He scrambled up the steep incline, having some issues finding good footing because of the rather thick layer of dust that had accumulated. After a short burst of effort, he reached the ledge and walked up to the vehicle to begin his search. After a brief moment, he found the mangled panel which housed the power cells. He forced it open and found, that the power cells were still good, despite the vehicle's disrepair which allowed for a brief sigh of relief as he yanked them out and tossed them down the ledge to be caught by Kaidan.

"That should power their generator. Now we just need to find that last shut off valve and the colony will be back up and running." Shepard smiled, sliding down the slope on his backside.

Kaidan quickly rummaged around before leaving the room and found an old bag just inside the wrecked vehicle which he used to store the power cells and slung it over his shoulder before quickly catching up with Shepard and Ashley whom were waiting for him on the other side of the door. They turned left and came up to another low tunnel that would allow them to get to the other side of a downed grating, finding it too was filled with Geth that were easily taken down by the carefully coordinated movements of two Biotics and a crack shot soldier. At the other end, they discovered the last water shut off valve which Kaidan quickly activated, hearing a dull hum as the water began to flow towards the colony once again. As they started to turn to head back, the muffled ramblings of someone nearby reached them but they where unable to determine what was being said. It was Lycan whom provided some clarity to the three before they exited the tunnel and laid their eyes on a singular man standing with his back to them.

_"He's trying to mentally fight the Thorian's control. You aren't gonna get much from him." _she said quietly, almost in a whisper.

Shepard nodded but figured it best to find out why the man was down in the lower tunnels in the first place with all the Geth around and slowly, cautiously walked up to the man.

"Hey...You ok man?" Shepard asked, gently placing a hand on the man's shoulder.

The man was slightly startled as he glanced over his shoulder and saw that he wasn't alone anymore.

"You...You don't wanna go down there." the man stuttered, his eyes severely blood shot and wide open.

"Why? What's back there?" Shepard asked, keeping his voice low and as kind as possible.

The man's breath stuttered slightly, "I could tell you. I could tell you everything," his eye twitched as his demeanor shifted to slightly more hostile, "How would you like that?"

A low buzz began to flutter over Shepard's amp jack, letting him now that Kaidan was priming his Biotics in case the man turned violent, but the man began to shake instead and scream.

"No!" he yelled, clutching his head like it was about to explode, "That was a good one...Ha! Very intense." the man laughed, with a morbid smile across his face.

Shepard removed his hand and placed it's heel on his pistol as he started to feel nervous by the way the man was acting, "What's the matter with you? Are you alright?" he asked with slightly furrowed brows.

The man's smile faded, "Just invoking the master's whip. It help's to remind me that I'm still alive," the man's mouth twitched for a brief moment back into the morbid smile, "You're here for the Geth aren't you?"

"Among other things." Shepard said, remembering when Lycan mentioned that the colonists were under the control of a sentient plant.

"They're looking to get rid of the...Ah! Ha ha!...They want the...Ah!" the man started to scream as something unseen pulled his strings and was very clearly causing him pain.

Shepard and his team cringed at the man's actions, "Commander, he's in danger if he stays down here..." Kaidan said quietly until Lycan's voice caught his attention.

_"There's a squad of Geth about to attack behind you...Should be anyways."_

They had all heard her warning as they spun around, seeing a larger unit, surrounded by smaller ones approaching from behind. Shepard pushed the crazed man against a pile of debris, causing him to fall on top of it and out of the way of any incoming bullets just as the shields caught the first rounds. They managed to all duck behind the same slab of cover, cramming themselves together to quickly formulate a plan of action and allow their shields a brief moment to recharge. Shepard, being the closest to the edge of the slab, wrapped himself in a Barrier for extra protection before stepping out and sending as many shots as possible to the larger Geth unit. Kaidan, being stuffed against the slab and a pile of debris, dug out a small opening for his pistol and began to fire blindly, hoping his rounds were doing something beneficial. Ashley leaned out and opened fire, doing the most damage with her trusty assault rifle as she laid down a spread that took out two of the Geth. Shepard's Barrier began to fall as it absorbed more rounds from the last Geth and consumed that last bit of his concentration. As the shimmering blue shield dissipated, a round from the Geth's weapon punched hard into his shields and he new, he had little time to take it out before his body was the next to absorb rounds. The Geth's body became wrapped in it's own blue blanket as the bright glow from Kaidan's body caught his eye. The other Sentinel had wrapped the last enemy in a Stasis Field, perfectly immobilizing it and giving Shepard and Ashley the perfect opportunity to dispatch it without threat of being struck.

"Thanks for the heads up on that one Lycan. That could have been bad." Shepard said through heavy breaths.

_"No need to thank me Commander. Otherwise, you'd be at it all day long. Let's just assume it's implied." _Lycan giggled and it caused the rest of them to join in too.

"Alright. It's implied. There anymore Geth we need to deal with on our way back to the colony?" Shepard asked as he started back the way they had come."

_"I don't believe so." _Lycan said softly.

"Alright. Let's head back."

They started back down the walkway, ducking through the same tunnels they had come and jogged back across the bridge into the stairwell. They took the steps as many as they could until they reached the top and headed back down the corridor to reach the colony, finding Fai Dan and his companion Arcelia in the same spot behind the large concrete barricade. The colonist's leader glanced up as the three Marines returned from their plight into the lower tunnels, seeing the layer of dust that had gathered over their armor and the thirst in their eyes.

"Heavens...You're alright. We were beginning to worry. Thank you so very much for you help. Macha has told me that the water had started running again. I don't suppose you had much luck with everything else?" Fai Dan asked, his expression pleading and hope evident in his eyes.

Shepard nodded and held a hand out for the bag still slung over Kaidan's shoulder, "Here are some power cells we found and we took out that large alpha varren that was giving you problems. You should be able to go hunting without interference."

"And what of the Geth transmitter we thought to be in the lower tunnels?" Fai Dan asked as he took the bag and passed it to Arcelia whom took it and left to deliver them to May.

"Took care of it." Shepard simply said.

"Thank you...I wish we had something to offer you besides this small handful of credits. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to help us." Fai Dan thanked with a relieved smile.

_This ain't over yet man, _"How do we get to the ExoGeni headquarters?" Shepard asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"Across the skyway. The elevator is back down that corridor and there should be a vehicle in the garage you can use." Fai Dan answered while he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Are you alright?" Kaidan asked, seeing the wince on Fai Dan's face as it seemed he was swallowing down some pain.

"I'm fine. It's just our exhaustion from defending ourselves for so long. Is there anything you need before you go?"

"Something to drink would be great and a place to take a breather for a short time before we head out." Shepard said, releasing a slightly tired sigh, mainly from using his Biotics in combat.

"Of course. Head back and see Macha. She will help you.

With a thankful nod, Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan headed back to the other side of the colony and found Macha, whom quickly gave them three canteens full of crisp, cool water which they gladly took and went to take a seat, leaning and sitting against a pile of large debris.

"Looks like it's getting dark out." Ashley said quietly, removing her helmet and taking a long draw from her canteen.

Shepard and Kaidan both removed their own helmets and looked up, having to agree as the sky had darkened into a deep purple.

"Could be here for a day while we hunt this...thing," Shepard said, raising a hand to his ear, "Lycan...You doing ok? I know you're probably going to be up pretty late with us running around."

_"As long as I get food on occasion and bathroom breaks, I should be fine. I'll push it if I have to." _her voice fluttered into everyone's ear.

"Just let us know if you need a break then Ly. We don't need our guardian angel passing out on us." Kaidan said with a soft smile as he took a drink and brushed several locks of sweaty raven hair back away from his forehead.

_"I will."_

They sat quietly for a short time until they finished their canteens and handed them back to Macha before they slipped their helmets back on. Shepard rolled his shoulders, as did Kaidan and Ashley before they started back towards the same corridor, ready, willing and able to continue on their mission now that Zhu's Hope was stable. Now...it was time to hunt down Geth, and the Thorian.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: ExoGeni Headquarters

_(Bioware owns anything related to Mass Effect! As always, I heart my beta! :)_

The short elevator ride to the garage was spent working out stiffness from aching muscles and readying weapons for upcoming battles. Lycan had informed them that once the elevator arrived at the garage, there would be two colonists trying to defend themselves against a Geth drone and not having much luck. Just as she had said, the two colonists where firing at that very Geth drone and missing as the machine darted around to avoid the shots. Shepard immediately opened up his Omni-Tool and primed a disruption pulse to cease the drones firing, darting out of the ancient elevator and sending it flying with deadly accuracy. The garage bay instantly went silence as the drone ceased, being reduced to nothing more then a hovering target waiting to be used for practice. Ashley, being adept with her rifle was the quickest to take aim and open fire, burying round after round into the enemy like she had the entire mission thus far and making Shepard watch with not just admiration for her prowess with the weapon, but also sending a shiver down his spine.

"Goddamn Ash! You handle that rifle better then anybody I've seen! You...are a Goddamn Goddess woman!" Shepard yelped after the drone had exploded into tiny bits, dropping to his knees and bowing at the woman he was proclaiming to be a deity.

Said deity blushed, thankful that her helmet hid most of it, "Skipper! Get up! You're embarrassing me!" she hissed, grabbing Shepard's arm and forcing him to stand, all while hiding the embarrassed smile on her face.

Shepard laughed out loud, "Just stating the truth Ash..." he was silenced by Lycan's sighs.

_"Again...The comm is open and I so don't wanna hear you two flirting like you're in high school." _Lycan chuckled into the comm whom was soon joined by Kaidan's low laugh, and eventually Joker's.

"We aren't flirting! At least I'm not!" Ashley defended herself as she made her way to a Mako that was parked nearby.

"Hey! What are you trying to say Chief?" Shepard smirked, climbing into the Mako and stealing the driver's seat away from Ashley.

All he received as a glare from the woman.

Lycan sighed, _"Do I have to ask Joker where the mute button is? Anyways...On the other side of the garage door, you're gonna run into a whole lot of Geth. Just about every type too and they're all gonna be firing at you. The ExoGeni building is on the far side. This is when Shepard's driving should actually be useful." _she giggled again, along with Kaidan and Ashley whom both thought the crack was rather funny.

"Hey hey hey. Easy now. No picking on the guy with the ship." Shepard huffed, starting the Mako and throttling it up to the garage door, ready to span the skyway.

This time, Joker's voice came through the comm, _"The guy with the ship would be me __Commander, as I'm the one sitting in the pilot's seat waiting patiently for your happy ass to get back."_

All three inside the borrowed Mako laughed out loud as the garage door opened up, allowing Shepard to throttle forward onto the open aired skyway. The skyway was in horrible disrepair as the road was mangled and strewn with large, jagged cracks that made the skyway very much not level and extremely dangerous to traverse by Mako. To add to their problems, the broken skyway was littered with Geth of all sizes, ranging from normal troopers, to the vastly larger Armaments that were firing large, blue dark energy shots that Shepard had to either try to avoid, or hop over using the jump thrusters. He drove over the smaller Geth while he caught air over the many crumbled slabs of skyway, landing with heavy bounces and managing to keep the vehicle on the road without tumbling over the side to fall God only knows how far to the streets of the prothean megalopolis below.

After roughly a click, the Mako blasted through another garage door onto another portion of the skyway that was in the same condition. Shepard barely slowed down through the door as he continued over the debris and Geth, drawing closer to the building that resided on the other end.

"Shepard, there's another parking garage coming up. It's just on the other side of the next door." Ashley informed, her dark eyes never leaving the radar screen in front of her.

A quick bark from the main cannon and machine gun rang out as Kaidan had climbed up to thin a gathering of Geth that had set up a barricade between them, and the door. With a massive blast, the cannon launched an unforgiving rocket towards the barricade, smashing brilliantly into the Geth and sending a majority of them over the side. Shepard blew passed the destroyed barrier and barreled towards the garage without even laying off the throttle.

"Shields down to 50% Skipper. We won't have much to get back with if we don't hurry!" Ashley warned, tightening her grip on the armrests of her seat.

Shepard barely acknowledged her as he held the throttle firm, keeping the Mako at speed until finally, they reached the door and shot through. He immediately let go of the throttle and slammed on the brakes, nearly smashing Ashley's head into the interface and successfully sending Kaidan's trunk into the rim of the turret with a heavy groan before the Mako plowed nose first into an pile of debris so large, the main cannon wasn't going to do them much good.

_"There's a small group of scientists held up in some bunker type place not far from you Commander." _Lycan's voice said quietly, causing both Shepard and Ashley to scan the radar and see the small blip.

"On our way to check it out," Shepard said flatly when he heard another groan from the turret, "You alive back there Alenko?" he asked as he slowly turned the Mako and started toward the small blip on their radar.

"I think you're trying to kill me Shepard." Kaidan growled as he slipped from the turret to flop down in a passenger's seat.

_"Kaidan. Joker showed me how to bring up the vital signs and yours are all over the board. Are you alright?" _he could tell she was actually worried.

"I will be Ly. The armor absorbed most of the force just like it should have. Don't you worry about me." he answered, the corners of his lips curving upwards into a soft smile.

_"You better be ok or I'll kill you." _

"Yes Ma'am."

"Now who's flirting huh little birdie?" Shepard smirked as he stopped the Mako once they were close enough to the blip that they could just get out and walk.

_"Uh...I wasn't...um...but...I...uh..." _

It was Kaidan whom jumped to her rescue...again, "She's just making sure you don't lose your field medic to friendly fire. Which happens to be me...need I remind you." he shot Shepard a knowing and rather smug grin.

"Yeah yeah, I know." Shepard grumbled with a crooked grin, making his way towards the downward sloping ramp.

The three carefully peered down the ramp, seeing that a makeshift guard post had been made out of some old crates, but it blocked off a majority of their view into the bunker. Shepard cautiously walked down the ramp, pistol in hand, and seeing that the crates were accompanied by two security guards from the ExoGeni corporation whom had their rifles aimed directly at the three incoming Marines. Shepard placed his pistol on his hip and raised his hands in front of him, glancing over his shoulder and seeing that Kaidan and Ashley had both followed suit, as they followed him down the ramp.

"Who are you!" one of the security guards hollered out from behind a crate.

"Systems Alliance. We're here to help!" Shepard called back, carefully taking a few more steps towards the guard post.

The security guards took a silent moment, glancing at each other as they quickly decided if the three visitor's were friend or foe, upon which they decided, that they were on their side.

"Alright...Come in."

Shepard and his team lowered their hands and passed through the post to enter the impromptu refugee camp. The area was lit with several flood lamps scattered around and it housed many more people then Shepard had originally thought. There must have been over a dozen people, all dressed in their scientist garbs and all wearing some sort of patch that identified them as employees of ExoGeni. Shepard caught sight of an elder woman arguing with a slightly younger man holding a gun and obviously fidgety with the whole situation as he laid his eyes on the three approaching Marines whom were far more heavily armed then him.

"That's far enough! Who are you? What do you want?" the younger man growled at them as his hand holding the gun began to shake.

Shepard glared at the man while his eyes shifted back and forth from the gun, to his eyes which told him, that this man was on a hair trigger, "I would recommend you put that gun away before it accidentally goes off. We have enough bullets flying around here. We don't need more." he said calmly and rather void of any emotion.

The elder woman spoke up, "Don't worry, he's harmless and he only cares about the company."

"Quiet! How do you know we can trust them Julianna? The Geth have been attacking nonstop for days. How can we be so sure that they haven't developed machines that look human?" the younger man scowled, his gun hand still shaking and making Shepard nervous.

"Enough Jeong! They are not Geth and that's obvious! I'm happy to see someone whom isn't trying to kill us. We all thought that we were the only ones left on this planet." she retorted harshly, scowling herself at her irritating partner.

"Who told you that? Fai Dan and a handful of colonists from Zhu's Hope are still alive and they've been fighting the Geth head on for just as many days. What are you doing besides hiding?" Shepard asked, his brows drawing down hard.

Julianna reeled, "Jeong! You said that they were all dead!" she yelped angrily.

"I said they were 'probably' all dead which is probably true. There's no way to prove other wise and I'm not stepping foot outside this camp. You go, if you want to find out so bad." Jeong scoffed.

Ashley's anger grew that the man could be so insensitive, "Well, they're not dead and if you choose not to believe us, that's your problem." she snapped.

"Where are the Geth headed to? Where can we find them?" Shepard asked, holding a hand up to silence the Gunnery Chief.

"You see? They aren't here to save us! We should just wait for the company to send us support..." Julianna interrupted him.

"Shut it Jeong! The Geth are headed into the ExoGeni headquarters. It's just a little further down the skyway. You can't miss it."

"Those headquarters are private property! Remove the Geth and nothing else. You hear me?" Jeong scowled and it was not only making Shepard nervous with his shaky gun hand, but it was starting to bring his temper to a boil.

Ashley and Kaidan rolled their eyes as Lycan's voice came fluttering quietly into their ears which made them have to try to swallow the chuckle.

_"He's an ass."_

"Please, before you go. My daughter Lizbeth...she's...she's missing..." this time, Jeong interrupted.

"They shouldn't waste their time poking around. Like I said, the headquarters is private property and they shouldn't be wasting their time trying to find your daughter whom is probably dead anyways."

That, brought Shepard's temper to a boil as he lunged forward and violently grabbed the man's collar and pulled him real close so he could hear the strong growl coming from Shepard's throat.

"You listen here you insensitive, sorry excuse for a human being. She's asking for fucking help to find her daughter, and all you can say is that she's probably already dead? I should just shoot you now and make the galaxy a better place." Shepard hissed through clenched teeth.

Julianna made no effort to help her co-worker, "That's my daughter you're talking about. If you were a parent, you would understand." her voice gave the impression that she was on the verge of tears.

Without taking his eyes off of Jeong, Shepard spoke up a little louder, "Where can we find her?"

"The last time I saw her, she was working in the ExoGeni building when the attacks started." Julianna answered in a far more motherly tone.

"We'll see what we can do."

Shepard finally released his hold on Jeong's collar before the three quickly spun and jogged back up the ramp to return to their borrowed Mako. Once they had retaken their seats and strapped in, Shepard restarted the vehicle and took a moment to look over the map that was displayed to get his bearings. The map showed that their path took them down a narrow ramp right next to the refugee camp to another level below them which would take them to another extention of skyway. He slowly and carefully navigated the ramp which did a full turn back, making it slightly difficult for the Mako to inch it's way around the tight corner without scrapping along the wall. The ramp dumped them out into a far more open tunnel with piles of debris that were low enough, that the Mako could just drive right over and another garage door to the far left. Shepard put a little more throttle into the vehicle and closed in on the door, triggering it to open and revealing, another long stretch of skyway that was filled with more Geth. He drove like he always did, bouncing over the smaller units, blasting the larger ones and rolling over the large cracks until the skyway lead them to their final garage which was not empty.

A large contingent of Geth lay in wait behind the several barricades that had been erected through the garage. The second the door opened, they had opened fire, all rounds slamming into the Mako's diminishing shields and making Ashley's nerves spike as they got closer to zero percent. Kaidan had already slipped up into the gunner's turret and began firing as many rockets as the Mako would allow, their explosions reverberating through the garage like a gunshot does a cave. Kaidan had managed to thin the herd, as it were, enough that Shepard drove through the door and popped open the rear hatch to slip out and use the Mako as cover while it lasted. He pulled his pistol and targeted a Geth sniper up on a ledge and fired, easily taking it out as the machine gun sprang to life to lay down a vast spread over the remaining Geth, taking out just about every one of them.

"You two, out of the Mako. We're moving up to take out that last Geth." Shepard ordered, still pressed behind the Mako.

The other two climbed out and readied their weapons as Shepard darted across the short distance to come close to the wall of the ledge and out of the line of fire of the last Geth. Kaidan and Ashley quickly followed, forming a single file line as they pressed themselves against the same wall, their hearts slamming against their chests from the surprise Geth and all wondering why they hadn't been warned first upon which they didn't have to ask.

_"Oh my God...I'm so sorry. I forgot about them! Are you all ok? I'm so, so, so very sorry!" _Lycan pled into the comm with a shaky voice but to her surprise...none were upset.

"Lycan...birdie, calm down. It's alright. We'd be doing this anyways if you weren't here and we'd be having a Hell of a lot more surprises then that. One every now and again is ok. Keeps the blood flowing." Shepard said surprisingly, rather calmly.

_"But...Commander..." _she was silenced.

"Lycan...It's fine. Really, it's ok." Shepard repeated in a softer, even kinder voice which neither Ashley nor Kaidan knew he had.

_"I promise I won't screw up again." _her voice was nearly inaudible it was so quiet and it very clearly told them that she felt awful.

"Ly...No ones perfect, and we aren't demanding that you be. Just you being here and watching over us is enough." Kaidan said softly, knowing she was probably going to beat herself up about it.

_"Ok...I believe you. Again, I'm sorry. I'll do better." _

The small squad continued single file along the wall towards the back end of the garage bay, to a ramp that led up to the ledge the last Geth had perched itself to take pot shots at them. As they drew closer, Shepard could see the Geth's legs and figured, bringing it to the ground would be best. He dropped to one knee and took aim, closing his weaker eye to look through his dominant one and began to pull the trigger when he felt the slight pressure of someone's hand on his shoulder. He looked up, seeing Ashley standing above him with a sniper rifle in her hand.

"I'm not nearly as good with this as I am with my rifle but I'll give it a shot. Might as well make it count right?" she said quietly as she took a knee behind him.

Shepard went to move out of her way, but was halted when the barrel of the high powered rifle came to rest against his shoulder. He steadied himself on his knee as he took the brief moment to seal his helmet, shielding him from what was sure to be a deafening crack inside the cavernous garage bay as Ashley steadied her aim. She got in close to Shepard's back so her hand that rested further up the rifle was pressed against it and drew in a deep breath, chanting the mantra she had learned when she was working on her weapons proficiencies. _Draw in, hold it in, squeeze the trigger, follow through. _She followed the steps precisely and squeezed the trigger, sending that deafening crack to echo through the bay and a far more powerful round sailing towards the Geth's legs. It slammed full force into the machine's leg, ripping it apart and taking it clean off in a hail of sparks and shrapnel. The white fluid that served as the Geth's blood splattered all over the ground and dripped long, unbroken lines down the wall to pool on the ramp.

"I think that's all over them." Kaidan said after the loud crack had silenced throughout the garage bay.

"At least for now." Shepard whispered.

The top of the ledge was just as much in disarray as the rest of the building with fallen slabs of concrete and crumbled piles littering the floor. To the far end of the ledge however, something that seemed quite out of place caught their attention. A solid blue barrier had been erected over a large archway, sealing it off from anyone getting through and keeping unwanted visitors out, as well as keeping people in.

"What is that?" Ashley asked quietly, replacing her sniper rifle on her back and pulling her preferred weapon of choice.

_"It's some kind of energy barrier that the Geth put up. You have to drop down into that pit and go around. You see it?" _Some of the sadness had left her voice but it was still obvious that she felt bad about forgetting about some of the Geth.

"Yeah...We see it," Shepard acknowledged as he strode up to it, seeing that it was rather deep, "Once we jump down, we're committed. You all ready?"

Kaidan and Ashley nodded as Lycan spoke her acknowledgement, the three Marines sitting down on their backsides and slipping off the ledge into the pit one by one. Ashley was the last to slip into the pit, her booted feet skidding on the loose debris and throwing her balance off as she fell forward to be caught in Shepard's arms. Their helmets lightly clanked as Shepard took a step back to keep from falling which would put them both in a rather compromising position as she would then be laying on top of him. His blue eyes caught hers for a little longer then their usual exchanges as he started to see her rare, lightly tanned skin begin to darken and take on a slightly reddish hue.

His lips curled slightly upwards, "You ok?" he asked in a whisper, somewhat oblivious to anything around him.

She nodded, "Yeah." her words were airy, laden with nerves and embarrassment at her clumsiness.

Shepard found himself hesitating to unwrap his arms from around her as a strong wash of heat all over him finally brought him back, forcing him to tear his eyes away from hers and to focus back on the mission. He loosened his grip, letting her go as she pushed off his chest to stand upright on the pile of loose debris and bent down to pick up her rifle, now avoiding his gaze as best she could.

"Sorry about that Skipper. The...um...debris shifted...and...well, you saw." she stuttered, forcing back more embarrassment as she pushed her Marine persona back up front.

Shepard blew out a slow breath that he had been holding, "Um...It's..uh alright. There's a lot of debris around here. It could have happened to anyone." he quietly cleared his throat.

"I apologize Skipper. I didn't mean to be so clumsy." she said, stepping off the pile and onto far more stable ground.

"There's no need for you to apologize Ash. I wasn't gonna let you fall." he mentally kicked himself for saying that, especially since they were out on a mission and in hostile territory.

_"I hate to interrupt Commander, but Lizbeth is hiding inside that room with a gun and she's probably going to fire a shot at you." _Lycan's voice quietly said.

"Roger that birdie."

After the brief, slightly awkward exchange between the Commander and his Gunnery Chief, the three moved into a large...cavern for lack of a better word and just like the rest of the building, was cast with heavy debris and thick dust hung in the air. They closely listened to any hint of were Lizbeth could be hiding, seeing that none of the piles had been dug out, or any sort of bunker that could possibly be used as a hiding place. The soft tumble of a rock broke through the silence as it skidded down a slope, softly colliding with the other small chunks on it's way down. Shepard pressed himself against the wall, protected by the corner and scanned the area once again, looking for what could have caused the shift in mangled earth.

_"That was either Lizbeth, or one of the many varren hiding in there." _Lycan's voice whispered into all their comms.

"There's more varren in here Ly?" Kaidan whispered back.

_"Yes. A lot of them. There must be...I don't know...eight, nine of them. Something like that." _her voice was still a whisper.

"Lizbeth!" Shepard called out, hoping for an answer but to his disappointment, received none.

Shepard sighed, his brows pulled tightly together as he inched around the corner with his pistol pointed at the ground. Kaidan and Ashley closely followed him, scanning the rest of the cavern for the presumed varren as Shepard gazed down the wall towards the far right side. Another tumbling of small chunks echoed around them, causing them to stop and look around once more in hopes of finding it's source.

The cavern exploded with a resounding bang as the very close whiz of a projectile whisked passed Shepard's and Kaidan's head. Kaidan hit the deck on instinct, landing in a low push up with his stomach hovering just above the ground.

"Damn!" he barked, still in his low push up as he glanced up, seeing a rather small woman, standing nervously with a shaky pistol in her hands.

The woman looked tired and hungry, her uniform was stained with darkening smudges of dirt and grime and her eyes were somewhat sunken, mostly likely from a lack of sleep. The woman was in desperate need of some help and Kaidan knew it.

"I'm...I'm so sorry. I thought you were more of those varren I've been seeing. Are you ok?" she whimpered, her face clearly exhausted and scared.

Kaidan pushed himself back onto his feet, "Fine. You missed." he said as he dug around in his belt for a protein bar for the woman to eat.

"You Lizbeth?" Shepard asked, silently asking Kaidan at the same time if he was alright upon which he received a nod.

"Yes...Lizbeth Baynem. How did you know?" she asked, lowering the pistol she still held as she took the protein bar and immediately began to tear it open.

"Your mother. We saw her back at a refugee camp not far from here." Shepard answered evenly.

"My mother? She's still alive?" the corners of her lips started to tug upwards.

Shepard nodded and placed his hands on his hips, "Yeah. Along with quite the handful of other scientists..." he was going to continue but Lycan's voice quietly pipped into their ears.

_"She know's things about the Thorian Commander." _her voice was a near whisper once again.

Shepard raised a hand to cover his mouth and feigned a cough, "We do too," he dropped his hand and got straight to the point, "What do you know about the Thorian?"

Lizbeth reeled that these perfect strangers knew anything about their top secret specimen, "What? How do you know about the Thorian?" she was unable to look Shepard in the eyes as she held her pistol back up, now nervous about the three people in front of her.

Shepard sighed as he figured he was going to be saying this next statement quite a lot, "A little birdie told me. Where can we find it and why is it controlling the colonists?"

"That's not good enough...How did you know about that? Did my mother tell you?" the pistol was shaking and she started to prepare to take a step back.

"No, she didn't tell me," _Shit. What am I supposed to say? I can't tell her about Lycan, _"Listen...Lizbeth. I'm Commander Shepard with the Systems Alliance. Do you know who I am?" he kept his voice calm.

"Y-Yes. The survivor of Akuze. H-How did the Alliance find out?" she didn't take her step back, but kept her pistol aimed.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be a Commander. I'd be a spook. Please, we're here to help but we need yours to do our job and get these Geth out of here."

Lizbeth looked at the three Marines for a moment before she slowly began to lower her pistol once again, deciding that it was probably in her best interest to believe them, "Alright. What do you want to know? I'll try to answer."

"Why is the Thorian controlling the colonists?" Shepard asked with a muffled sigh that he had managed to skirt around having to tell the young scientist about his own secret.

"I don't know why it's controlling them but I know it's underneath Zhu's Hope." she quietly relinquished as her shoulders slumped defeatedly.

Shepard glared and crossed his arms over his chest, now wanting to ask that 'Little Birdie' why she hadn't told them that before they drove all the way out there, "So now we're trapped in here until we get that barrier down right?"

"Yes, unfortunately."

"You stay here and we'll go get that barrier shut down." Shepard ordered a little more sternly then needed.

"Don't have to tell me twice."

The cavern began to rumble from the multiple low growls that had begun to slowly get louder and louder, as the many varren stalked into view. Lycan had been right, there must have been nearly a dozen of the vicious, snarling, and salivating creatures coming at them from all directions. Lizbeth ran and hid back in her corner while Shepard and his squad very quickly drew down and opened fire on the animals, eliminating several before the whole of the group closed in. One of the varren lunged at Ashley, mouth agape and baring enough teeth to dig into her armor and begin to tear it apart. Without any other way to fight besides her rifle, she stumbled backwards and fell, left to stare at the snarling beast about to take it's first bite when something far larger plowed into it to tumbled over the ground. She watched as Shepard began to wrestle with the beast, Biotics flaring, as he snaked a thick arm around the varren's neck and squeezed, sealing off it's ability to breath. While Shepard slowly drained the life from the varren that had threatened Ashley, Kaidan's body had been aglow with his Biotic corona as he tossed, snapped and shot the others. His forehead became covered with a sheen of sweat as he kept his Biotics in use for an extended period of time as fallen slabs of concrete began to lift from the sheer power that Kaidan wielded. The dark energy began to collect in other places then the ones he had originally intended. Shepard tightened his grip around the varren's neck that was still struggling in his grasp, trying to get it's teeth on Ashley and only serving to piss off Shepard more as he jerked his upper body, snapped the beast's neck with a loud snap. Kaidan launched the last beast across the cavern, slamming it into a large slab of concrete where it became impaled on a mangled bar of metal. His heart pumped quickly in his chest, his breath heaved in and out of his lungs and his body was still awash with dark energy.

Shepard hurried over to Ashley and helped her up while he carefully avoided the still floating slabs on his way to Kaidan.

"Kaidan...You gotta shut down or your implant is gonna overload." Shepard said, having seen the display before from his friend.

"LT?" Ashley tried her hand, also unable to shake the Lieutenant from his Biotic rage.

In the end, there was only one voice that brought him back from the brink of ultimate power, _"Kaidan? Kaidan you have to calm down or you'll trigger a migraine. Please Kaidan...come back." _Lycan said softly, evident that she could tell what was happening through the cams, as well as his vital signs that were still displayed on her screens.

Kaidan closed his eyes, forcing back the raw power that was threatening to break it's bonds and tear apart the building upon which they resided as Lycan's pleas softly drifted into his ear. His heart rate began to slow, his breathing evened and the radiating corona that enveloped him began to dull and pull itself back. The hovering slabs of debris dropped back down to the ground with loud thuds and settled, sliding slightly down the mild slopes until they ran into each other and stopped.

"Welcome back. You alright?" Shepard asked, still concerned for his friend.

Finally, Kaidan fully returned to a coherent state after a moment of deep breathing, "Yeah...I'll be fine. There was just too many of them to just keep shooting and you were busy so I had to do something...I...I didn't mean..." he closed his mouth once Shepard raised a hand to silence him.

"You're fine. I'm just happy Lycan was able to bring you back down before you ended up in a coma again." Shepard said calmly with a soft glance to Ashley.

_"A coma?" _Lycan was slightly shocked.

"Another story for later Ly." Kaidan said softly, rolling his stiffening neck and ready to continue there mission.

_"Oh...Ok."_

"So if this Thorian is underneath Zhu's Hope, why did we drive all the way out here?" Shepard asked into his comm, doing his best to hide the frustration.

_"There's something in that building that the Geth have on their databanks that the Alliance and Tali could find useful. That, and Lizbeth is trapped in there unless you smash the Geth dropship off the side and if you don't get her out, her mother doesn't give you something to neutralize the colonists with so you don't have to shoot them." _Lycan explained quietly.

"Why would we have to shoot them?" Kaidan asked with furrowed brows.

_"The Thorian makes them violent. It uses them to try and kill you."_

"That makes pretty good sense then. Let's move." she had sucked the frustration right out his sails.

The three Marines crossed to the far side of the cavern, to a door that took them into a stairwell that lead up. With weapons ready, they slowly ascended the steps, listening closely for any indication of something laying in wait at the top as the ultra low rumblings of a singular krogan came down.

_"There's just the one krogan arguing with that VI up there." _Lycan whispered.

Shepard thought quickly of how best to deal with the massive being, as the last time they fought with one, he had trained Kaidan right into a wall and he was pretty sure that the other Sentinel wasn't up for another hit. He laid his eyes on the brute and decided a nice Stasis Field would be best as his Biotic aura returned. With a quick movement of his arm, the krogan's bulk began to shimmer blue as the field immobilized and silenced his insistent arguing with the virtual intelligence. The humans walked up to him and stared for a moment, watching the deep red eyes shift back and forth as it struggled against the immobilizing field. Shepard cocked his head slightly as an idea popped into his head and a crooked grin appeared over his lips. His corona returned once again as he sent a very powerful Throw, at close range, into the stilled krogan and sent him sailing through the air to slam into the wall within the stairwell where he stayed, as his backside had punched a hole through the severely aged concrete. Kaidan, for his part, once more tapped into the dark energy that hid within his own body. He raised his arm, Lifting the chunks that had fallen to the ground into the air, then sent a Throw that was even more powerful then Shepard's and slammed the chunks into the krogan, crushing him further into the wall.

_"Remind me never to piss you two off." _Lycan said quietly with a slightly shaky voice.

"I'd never hurt you Ly. None of us would." Kaidan said to her, his voice flat and saddened as it clearly told Lycan that he was struggling with something deep inside him.

Shepard had also picked up on Kaidan's vastly darker mood and regarded his friend for a moment, seeing the quick flash of...something he couldn't quite make out streak across Kaidan's eyes. He thought it was the same flash of primal fury that proceeded the incident that rendered Kaidan in a coma and it was something that he didn't want to happen to his friend once more.

_"You won't get much from that VI that you don't...al...eady...ow...Comm..." _Lycan said softly as the transmission became broken and eventually turned into nothing but static.

Kaidan's mood immediately changed from sullen, to worried, "Ly?...Lycan?...Lycan!" he called into his comm as his heart rate began to pick up it's pace.

He went to dart back down the stairs, unsure why he suddenly wanted to get back to the ship so badly but was halted when Shepard grabbed his arm, "We're stuck until we get that field down Kaidan. It's blocking our transmissions now. We're on our own."

_Dammit...He's right. I hope that's all it is, _"You're right...I'm sorry. Let's hurry."

Shepard nodded and released his hold on Kaidan's arm before turning to head through an archway that took them into a long corridor. The air took on a slightly musky scent as they walked, being extra cautious as they no longer had their little birdie squawking in their ears. The corridor opened up slightly into more of a catwalk with thick cables strung along the cracked ceiling and the far end was crumbled, dropping down to the level below. It was the strange light however that drew their attention as they crouched low and looked over the edge of the short wall, seeing two Geth kneeling in front of some type of alter with a immense ball of light underneath some sort of claw type structure. Shepard silently directed Ashley to perch herself on the short wall with any weapon she saw fit to provide them with cover fire, while he and Kaidan crawled further down the catwalk to get a little closer to the two Geth.

Ashley opened fire, sending a surprisingly accurate spread down range and peppering one of the Geth with a majority of her rounds while the other caught on to what was going on, standing and for some reason, not pulling it's weapon. Shepard sent a disabling pulse, also seeing that the last Geth had not pulled it's weapon as Kaidan opened fire without so much as waiting for the pulse to take full effect. The last machine fell quickly as the room they were in fell back into silence once more.

Shepard looked around the room with furrowed brows, "Are those claws anchoring the ship to the building?" he fully stood.

"If they are, does that mean the ship is providing the power to the field?" Kaidan asked, his own dark brows furrowed.

"I think it is. How are we supposed to cut the power?" Shepard shrugged.

"Maybe we can swat it off or something. There's gotta be some kind of weakness or flaw in one of these claws right?" Ashley suggested, walking up to them.

"We'll keep our eyes peeled for something," Shepard shifted his gaze to the strange alter, "What do you think that thing is for?" he asked, coming up to the ledge of the catwalk and starting to climb down.

"It looks like some kind of religious alter. I didn't know the Geth had any sort of religion." Ashley answered, following Shepard down the pile of crumbled catwalk and taking it extra careful so she didn't want to slip and fall again.

"I didn't either."

They scanned the room before they ducked through another archway that brought them into yet another corridor with plenty of sparking wires and cables that ran it's length. They approached a smaller room, seeing another shimmering barrier that blocked one way and pretty much funneled them into the only open archway if it wasn't for the small squad of Geth. Their opposition was quickly dealt with by the precision firing of Ashley's rifle and the keen Biotics from the twin Sentinels. Geth parts flew across the room as Biotics and bullets alike claimed their targets and plenty of the white fluid rained down on them.

Once the Geth had been dealt with, they walked deeper into the room seeing only the one way to go as the other ways were blocked by the barriers. They headed down the next corridor that dumped them out into another room that resembled the room with the Geth shrine. A couple of Geth hadn't noticed them, as their backs where turned and facing strange looking console as the three Marines managed to dispatch them silently. The room had been sectioned by erected barricades and it had blocked their view of anything deeper inside as Shepard didn't want to alert any other Geth that could be in there with them. They climbed the stairs and crouched once more to crawl along the catwalk to the other side of the room where they saw more Geth, one of which was significantly larger then the rest and carried a rocket launcher. Shepard disabled the larger Geth's weapon with a strong pulse as Kaidan wrapped a Stasis Field around one, and Threw another. Ashley, as always, opened fire with the weapon she had proved was deadliest in her hands, taking out the smaller units before turning her attention to the larger unit Kaidan had immobilized. All three concentrated fire on the larger unit while it was frozen in place and took chunk after chunk, claiming each limb and shredding the Geth to pieces, leaving them a moments peace to rest.

Kaidan drew in a deep, tired breath as his body began to feel weak from the extended use of his Biotics, "This looks like same type of claw we saw in that other room. We don't have the ordinance to blow it. There's gotta be something we can do to sever this." he panted, rummaging through his belt for one of the several protein bars he carried for situations like this.

"Looks like there's some controls or something over there. Let's go check it out. Kaidan...Look at some of these consoles and see if you can find that information Lycan mentioned." Shepard ordered as he walked down the intact stairs to the staging area.

Kaidan went to inspect several of the Geth terminals, finding nothing sufficient until he went to a slightly larger console not far from where Shepard and Ashley stood. It took him a moment to decode some of the harder security but once he had, he found a rather detailed report of sorts of some Geth that were gathering in the Armstrong Nebula.

"Shepard! Looks like I found what Lycan was talking about. I've found some reports about some Geth in the Armstrong Nebula." he called over his shoulder as he began downloading the information onto his Omni-Tool.

"Grab it and come take a look at this!"

Kaidan finished downloading the reports and headed over to Shepard and Ashley whom were standing in front of a control console for the bay door that the claw was coming through. He glanced over the work order that Shepard had brought up, slightly furrowing his brows as he studied the console for a moment, trying to think outside the box...and somewhat along the lines of what Lycan would say if their transmissions weren't jammed.

"PSI sensitive huh? Can we get the PSI just right so the door slams shut on the claw?" Kaidan suggested as he side stepped left to stand in front of the pressure controls for the door.

"Worth a shot. If anything, it should weaken it." Ashley said, looking over her shoulder...mainly just in paranoia that some Geth might sneak up on them.

Kaidan examined the controls and began crunching numbers in his head as he worked the PSI levers. He glanced back at the work order, making sure he had the target number right as he flicked another lever, bringing the PSI level of the door up to 33 PSI before he flicked the activation button and crossed his fingers.

The door began to hum and quiver before a loud hiss rang through the room, colliding with the large claw as it's edges began to shred through the wires and cables. The door continued to close with great force as it started to cut the thicker metal, shearing the fingers of the claw until finally, with a great slam, severed the claw with a hail of sparks. The whole building began to groan loudly as the Geth ship fell away from the ExoGeni building, taking with it a number of the wires and cables that still clung to the building. Dust and smaller debris started to fall from the crumbling ceiling to land without so much of a threatening thud on the various console that were scattered about the room. After a few moments, the building stopped shaking and the debris stopped falling.

"That did it..." Kaidan started to say until a voice fluttered into his ear.

_"Normandy to shore party! Come in Commander! Talk to us!" _Joker's worried voice called into their ears.

Kaidan blew out a heavy sigh of relief, "Joker? Ly?" he called, beating Shepard to the punch.

_"There you guys are! Just thought you'd like to know that we're on lockdown here. Lycan says the Thorian took control of the colonists. They're trying to claw their way inside the ship." _Joker reported evening as a nearly silent banging sounded in the background.

"Wonderful. Protect the ship as best you guys can without harming the colonists. We're on our way back." Shepard said, starting back the way they had come.

Kaidan and Ashley followed Shepard as they quickly darted back into the previous room, finding that the barrier that had been up was now gone, and Lizbeth standing in the archway that led back into the garage bay.

"You're safe! Hurry! Let's get out of here before more Geth get here!" Lizbeth yelped, looking over her shoulder.

"The colonists have gone crazy back at the colony. How do I stop them without hurting them?" Shepard asked sternly, anxious to get back and deal with the Thorian.

"I don't know, but my mother might. You have a vehicle right?" Lizbeth asked, stepping out of their way so they could pass.

"Nope. We walked." Ashley snarled sarcastically with a glare that just screamed that if the young scientist thought about her own question, she would answer it.

"Ash..." Shepard glared, "Yes, we have a vehicle. Come on. We don't have much time."

All four hurried across the raised ledge and down the ramp where they jogged back to their borrowed Mako to travel back across the skyway. The Marines of the group took a few moments to check the vehicle's systems, double checking their shields which had slowly recharged while they were inside the ExoGeni headquarters before they started the beast and headed back towards the colony. They drove out of the garage door and onto the skyway once again, firing and avoiding some fire from whatever remaining Geth lay about. Shepard hopped over the larger, more jagged cracks to avoid blowing one of their six tires with the jump thrusters, whilst at the same time swerving and maneuvering around the piles of debris that he was frankly, tired of seeing until they reached the garage door that deposited them inside the garage bay where the refugee camp resided. He slowed the Mako down and turned to head back up the ramp and stopped once he had reached the entrance to the refugee camp. Lizbeth hurriedly leapt from the Mako and darted towards the camp, closely followed by Shepard and his team as they tried to stop her from just running in there blindly. Muffled voices came up the ramp to greet them as someone was yelling inside.

Lizbeth ducked behind a crate and watched as one of the security guards forcibly grabbed her mother and detained her. Shepard, hiding behind another crate, looked over at her, silently trying to tell her to stay put but she didn't get it. She stood up and ran into the camp yelling.

"Let her go!" she yelped, scared for her mother.

"Lizbeth! You're ok!" Julianna gasped, struggling her way free from the guard and running to her daughter, immediately wrapping her arms around her in a motherly embrace.

Jeong, still with gun in hand wheeled around with anger on his face, "Dammit! You survived. I guess it was too much to ask that the Geth would best you..._Commander_ _Shepard_." he had used the name as a curse which started to piss the owner of that name...off.

"What the Hell are you doing? There's been enough of this crap. Why the fuck are you adding to it?" Shepard growled as he had had just about enough of Jeong's attitude.

"You need to leave while you still can! The company wants the colony purged and there's nothing you can do stop it!" Jeong snarled, tightening his grip on his pistol.

"You need to be dropping that gun before someone get's hurt. Unless you are prepared to use it. I'm not just gonna execute those colonists if there's something I can do to help them." Shepard stared the scientist down.

_"He's gonna use it." _Lycan's voice said.

Sure enough, Jeong squared his shoulders, "You wanna go? F-Fine! Let's go!" he threatened with a shaky voice.

As Jeong went to raise his pistol, Kaidan drew down, ready to fire as the shaky scientist shift his aim to point right at the him. Shepard stepped in front of Kaidan, blocking his shot as Shepard placed the barrel of his own gun to Jeong's forehead...and pulled the trigger. With a resounding bang, Jeong dropped to the ground and in a heap as crimson blood began to pool around the body.

"As if enough people haven't died in this mess..." Julianna said with saddened eyes despite her disdain for the man.

"He drew down on one of my crew and I wasn't gonna take the chance that he would get cold feet. He was an insensitive bastard with no compassion for other people. If you ask me, the human race is better off," Shepard said flatly, "The colonists need your help now. We know about the Thorian and it's taken them over. I don't wanna hurt them. Do you have any ideas?" he added, quickly changing the subject.

"Well...you can use a modified nerve agent to knock them out. It's not weapons grade or anything but it should do the trick." Julianna said as she motioned for Lizbeth to go retrieve the product.

All three popped their eyebrows, "I don't think tossing a bunch of nerve gas around is particularly a great idea." Shepard questioned as he didn't want to get trapped in the clouds himself.

"The nerve agent shouldn't affect you. It's too low grade but it acts like a paralyzing nerve agent because of the spores inside the colonists. It's far more potent to them." Julianna explained simply as she took the vials of nerve agent from her daughter and handed it to the Marines.

"Thanks. This gives them a better shot then just having us try and figure something out on our own. You're in charge Julianna. Stay bunkered down here." Shepard ordered and turned, not waiting for her acknowledgment as they headed back into the Mako.

Shepard handed Ashley the vials of nerve agent while he started up the Mako and rolled his shoulders which were quickly becoming sore. He took a moment to center himself for the upcoming predicament, silently saying a small prayer that this would work, and they could save the colonists. He wasn't the only one with those worries as Ashley spoke up.

"You think this will work Skipper?" she asked concerned.

"Maybe Lycan knows." Shepard said with a long sigh.

_"The nerve agent works just fine, but it's up to you how many of the colonists survive." _

"So it's not a guaranteed thing that all of them are going to make it out ok." Shepard sighed again.

_"I wish it was Commander, but it's not."_

"Then we take it slow. Let's go try and save as many of these colonists as we can."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Ding Dong, the Wicked Plant is Dead

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! My Beta is totally awesome and we owe the title of this chapter to a hollywood classic. The Wizard of Oz.)_

The Mako flew across the back half of the skyway as it barreled towards Zhu's Hope, dodging and running over Geth as it's driver kept on the throttle. The garage loomed in the distance as they drew closer, the vehicle bouncing and swerving all over the remains of the skyway until Shepard finally started to let off the throttle, slowing the vehicle in preparation to get out and proceed on foot.

_"This is where those Thorian creepers come in Commander and there's a lot...a lot of them." _Lycan warned.

"You mentioned that they're like those test subjects?" Shepard asked, slowing the Mako even more which happened to even out the ride into something more comfortable.

_"Yes. More bile spewing and wet chunks so be careful my sweets." _

All three smirked at her nickname for them as Shepard finally stopped the Mako and popped the rear hatch to exit with weapons drawn. Once they had stepped out, they glanced over towards the large garage door and saw a figure, crouched into a ball and off to the side. The creature uncurled and slowly stood, revealing that it did indeed, strongly resemble the test subjects that they had encountered on the _MSV_ _Fedele_, right down to the rotting flesh and moldy odor. Neither waited for the creature to start walking towards them as they opened fire to quickly destroy it with another, sloppy wet pop and splattering the ground with the rotten green bile.

"I assume there's more inside the garage Ly?" Kaidan asked, scrunching his nose from the sharp odor assaulting his nose.

_"Oh yeah."_

They all nodded as they approached the door, activating the proximity sensor and lifting it up to reveal just how many of the Thorian creepers were crouched inside. The garage was filled with dozens of the creatures as they all began to stand, their heads lolling from side to side as they all began to screech and charge forward. Ashley's rifle faithfully erupted into a hail of gunfire as she began mowing down creature after creature while Shepard and Kaidan, as their pistols were too slow, solely used their Biotic power to deal with them. Again, loose debris around them began to slowly lift from the ground as Kaidan's Biotics grew in their intensity, destroying every being that came close to them. Chunks of broken creeper began to rise into the air to hover over their heads, which was just as dangerous as the bile they spewed when they were 'alive'. Lycan's voice started to flutter into his ear as the last few creepers blew apart, raining bile back down to the ground and nearly on top of them.

_"Kaidan please. If you tax yourself too much, you'll pass out. Please...For me."_

Her voice soothed his power as the bits of floating creeper began to drop back to the ground, Shepard and Ashley dodging the bits as they fell to avoid being doused with the fluid while his corona lulled back into his control. His muscles were tight as if he were lifting weights, his mind pulling back his power to lock it away once more before it did any lasting damage. It had been the second time that day that his full power had nearly been unleashed, and it was the second time that day, that his dear friend had luckily been there to bring him back by just using her voice. Imagine if she had really been there.

"I'm...I'm sorry Ly...It's the best weapon I have. I..." he panted, clenching his fists tighter till his knuckles were white underneath his armor.

_"There's no need to apologize Kaidan. Just...be careful...Ok?" _

Kaidan closed his eyes tightly and drew in a long breath, "I'll be careful..."

_"I'll hold you to it...There's two colonists in there. The same ones you helped with that drone."_

Just as she warned, the two colonists opened fire, none of them having anything bigger then a pistol and their rate of fire was quite slow. Shepard darted to Ashley and stood behind her, using her shields as they slowly drained, taking the slow fire as he dug around in her belt, trying to find a vial of the nerve agent so he can nullify the colonists without harming them. Once he had a vial gently grasped in his hand, he sprinted around her and towards the colonists, wrapping himself in a Biotic Barrier for added protection. He ducked down low, crawling up the ramp and around to come to rest in front of the barricade. He took a moment to let his shields recharge as he observed the crazed colonists, seeing that they were paying him no mind as if he wasn't there. He readied the vial still in his hand and popped up, slamming it down onto the ground between them. The second the vile shattered, the green liquid inside erupted into a spreading cloud, enveloping the colonists as they began to cough and choke before they collapsed to the ground in a deep sleep.

"That worked fast." Shepard smirked as he stood and dusted his hands off.

_"It works quick but you are on limited supply. Use them wisely Commander. Otherwise, you'll have to hit them and knock them out." _Lycan informed.

Shepard nodded once more and motioned for Kaidan and Ashley to follow as they headed back into the elevator. The brief moment of peace inside was soon broken as they exited the ancient car and headed around the corner, finding two more colonists were stationed at the top of the stairs. Shepard dug around in Ashley's belt once again and retrieved a vial upon which he took aim and tossed it, shattering it on the concrete barricade they used as cover and wrapping their faces with the green cloud. They continued down the stairs and to the main of the colony, finding a lot more colonists had taken up posts behind the barricades. Shepard and his team took it slow, taking careful aim with the limited supply of vials they had to make sure that they pacified more then one colonist at a time. They walked around the outside of the freighter and found that the backside was not only filled with crazed colonists, but with Thorian creepers as well. Shepard thought of a way to draw their attention and decided that tossing a good old fashion rock was the best way without risking harm to the colonists. The Thorian creepers rushed at them as Kaidan and Shepard used themselves as bait to draw them around the corner, away from the colonists so that Ashley could mow them down with her rifle fire. They plowed through the waves of creepers the same way, all while avoiding more of the bile soup so not to get sick later on as that was something they very much did not want.

Once the Thorian creepers had been dealt with, they turned their attention back to knocking the remaining colonists out. Shepard took point as he continued to toss the vials, pleased that they were working as more and more colonists hit the dirt in a deep slumber. He held the last vial in his hand as there was one more colonist whom was firing at them from behind a tall crate. He was about to roll out and toss the vial until he saw a white streak running passed him which also grabbed the vial from his hand. He knelt, wide eyed as Ashley ran towards the colonist, her shields sparking blue as they absorbed the slow shots from the weak pistol. She ducked around the left side of the crate and landed on her shoulder, tossing the vial at the colonist's feet and shattering it. However, the colonist was standing and the cloud needed a moment to expand up to her head. The colonist stared blindly for a moment as she took aim, ready to pull the trigger but not really seeing the blank stare from the soldier on the ground. She was about to pull the trigger when the cloud drifted up enough to touch her nose, knocking her out and sending her to the ground.

Shepard ran up to Ashley and helped her up with a rather furious scowl on his face, "What in the Hell were you thinking Chief! You could have gotten yourself killed!" he snarled angrily.

"Skipper, if you would have leaned out, you would have been shot and hurt. Your shields were down." a soft smile crossed her lips as she tapped a finger on Shepard's belt where his shield indicator resided.

His scowl vanished as he tore his eyes away from Ashley and glanced down at the indicator, "Well, it would seem you saved me from having to explain another scar to the dear doctor. Nice work." Shepard said softly, now with a smirk.

_"You see that console up ahead?" _Lycan asked, breaking the moment.

Shepard glanced around to find the console she was referring to, "Yeah."

_"That lifts the freighter up and gives you access to the Thorian's lair."_

"On it."

Shepard and his team jogged over and got ready to operate the console when shuffling steps sounded through the colony and caught his attention. All three spun and stared down the way, seeing a long shadow come around the corner as Fai Dan came into view with a pistol in his hand, and pain in his eyes.

"I-It...wants...m-me...to kill...you." Fai Dan stuttered, his voice pained as he continued to shuffle his steps closer to the three Marines.

"We know the Thorian wants you to stop us, but we're going to stop it. You can fight it Fai Dan." Shepard called out, feeling his heart rate quicken as the pistol Fai Dan held slowly raised.

_"He's gonna shoot himself if you don't stop him!" _

That immediately caused Kaidan to react as he dashed forward, his body flared once more as he wrapped the colony's leader in a Stasis Field, halting the pistols advance just before the barrel was pressed to his temple. Kaidan lengthened his gate as he picked up speed into a full sprint, reaching Fai Dan in time to yank the pistol away from him and wrap his thick, armored arm around his neck as he let the Stasis Field drop away.

"Just relax Fai Dan. Just go limp." Kaidan whispered to the man as he started to gasp for air that was being denied by the muscle laden arm around his neck.

Fai Dan slowly slumped to the ground as his grasping at Kaidan's arm grew weaker and weaker, his body becoming more and more starved for air until finally, he was unconscious. Kaidan let go and gently laid him down, checking his pulse to insure that he was still alive and finding that he was to his satisfaction. All the colonists had been nullified and they were all breathing.

"Nice hustle Kaidan. Let's get down there and take care of this damn thing." Shepard said as he activated the lift and moved the freighter out of the way to reveal a staircase.

Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan cautiously peered down the stairs, seeing nothing but a thick layer of dust and the glow of fire as they slowly descended into the belly of the beast, unsure of what they were going to find. They followed the winding corridor down until it finally leveled out and took a sharp right, taking them into a shorter corridor with...something seemingly looking back at them. Shepard stopped their progress as they all looked with furrowed brows at the...thing. They drew their weapons and continued once more, watching with rising nerves as the thing grew larger and larger, seemingly without end. They finally reached the end of the corridor and all they could do was look up at the very large, very slimy and very bad smelling creature that hung in the middle of a near bottomless shaft.

"That's...the Thorian!" Kaidan yelped, his eyes trailing up...and up...and up.

_"Yup." _was all Lycan said.

"We...are gonna need...a much, much bigger gun." Shepard said, mouth agape as he spoke.

Ashley was about to throw in her two cents until the creature began to twitch and gargle. The long tentacles at what they thought was it's mouth began to whip around as long, thick streams of slime oozed from between them, dripping down to flop on the concrete floor. Legs began to dangle from between the tentacles, followed by a torso as what looked to be an asari slipped free, only, that her skin was green, instead of blue.

"Intruders! Every step you take is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, yet you are only good to dig and decompose. I speak for the old growth...as I did for Saren. You are before the Thorian and it demands that you be in awe." the green asari said flatly, as if she wasn't the one whom was actually speaking.

"In awe of what? A giant slime ball hanging in the middle of a shaft that enslaves innocent colonists because it's too much of a puss to actually lift a finger? Please! You have got to be kidding me." Shepard hissed angrily.

"The Thorian only uses those that are weaker then it to do it's bidding. Humans are weaker." the green asari spoke without even looking at the three.

"We are hardly weaker. What was Saren after? What did he want?" Shepard insisted.

"Saren wanted what the old growth possesses. Saren wanted the Cipher."

_"You can get the Cipher if you kill the Thorian. Shiala will help you. She's being held captive in one of those pods on the wall. She's what the Thorian is using to make his clones." _Lycan said quietly.

The green asari's head tilted, "The Thorian senses knowledge. A great understanding of things that have not yet come to pass. The Thorian is intrigued. Whom possesses this knowledge?" the Thorian began to gurgle and snarl.

"I'm not gonna tell you. It's my knowledge." Shepard laughed.

"Then the Thorian shall take it."

The asari's body erupted in a blue corona as she charged a strong attack. However, Shepard and Kaidan were quicker as they both physically pushed the asari off the ledge to plummet to her death, leaving just them, and the Thorian.

_"She's a clone and she'll be back. Hurry around and find the nerve nodes attached to the walls. Blow them off and keep fighting off the Thorian creepers." _

"More of those damn spewers?" Shepard cringed.

_"Afraid so. Now hurry...before the Thorian cooks up another clone." _Lycan urged strongly.

They primed their weapons and took off, looking for the nodes Lycan had mentioned as they came upon a large, pulsation fleshy mass on the wall. Shepard opened fire, quickly followed by Kaidan and Ashley as all riddled the node with bullets. It didn't take very long until the massively thick tendril slipped free from the node with a wet, slippery pull to slime it's way through the hole in the wall it had created. As the node was destroyed, a wave of creepers rushed at them, easily dealt with by a wave of bullets and Biotics as they pushed through to the next node.

They continued their push through the throngs of creepers and asari clones, Shepard and Kaidan using as much of their Biotics as they could without wearing themselves out. Kaidan, for his part split his concentration so he wouldn't reach the brink again, as he was afraid. He was afraid that if he did, he wouldn't be able to come back, even with Lycan speaking softly into his ear. Node after node, they destroyed them, weakening the Thorian's hold in the shaft. The asari clones kept coming as fast as the Thorian could spit them out until they reached the last node where two of the clones came at them. They concentrated their fire on the first, eliminating her quickly as the second, went after the presumed weaker of the three. She went after Ashley, as she had no Biotics to use against her and readied herself to unleash a powerful Throw against the human. This caused Shepard's panic to spike as he darted for the asari, lunging with all his might and driving his shoulder into her gut. They both tumbled to the ground as the asari's fist wrapped in a Biotic aura, sending it forward with a tremendous amount of power to crash into his helmet and knock it free. The clone pushed Shepard off of her as she sent another punch forward, rocketing it into Shepard's nose with a loud crack.

"Son of a!" Shepard growled, cupping a hand over his pulsing nose.

Ashley felt a severe hatred for the woman spark to life as she unleashed her fury in the form of mass accelerated Tungsten to punch large, bleeding holes through her body and spray Shepard with blood. Kaidan eliminated the last node, sending the Thorian into a fit of screams, pain and thrashes as the severed tendrils tried to find it's hold once more, unable to do so and fell to it's death, far below and vanishing from sight.

"God! I hate getting fucking punched in the face!" Shepard snarled, turning over onto his knees, hunched over in pain.

Kaidan ran up with a heavy sheen of sweat on his forehead, "Let me see it. I'll reset it." he panted as he placed his pistol on his hip.

Shepard sat up to reveal the extent of his injury as a thick layer of crimson blood covered his mouth and chin.

"Yup...It's broken. Hold still...in fact...Ash, hold him down." Kaidan ordered, knelt in front of Shepard as Ashley moved in behind the injured Commander and held his thick arms behind him, causing him to lean against her.

"I'm gonna..." he started to say until Kaidan straightened his nose.

With a loud snap, the field medic pushed Shepard's nose back into place with both hands, causing Shepard to scream out from the massive rush of pain that wrapped itself around his head.

"You asshole! You could have warned me first!" Shepard griped, leaning his head back against Ashley's shoulder as he just concentrated on breathing until the pain lessened.

"Why? It's like a bandaid." Kaidan smirked, standing before helping the Commander to do the same.

_"Shiala incoming Commander. Don't worry, she's friendly and blue." _Lycan said softly with an equally soft sigh.

They looked up to see a blue asari stumbling towards them with her head in her hands and a heavy groan before she finally looked up, seeing the three humans looking back at her.

"You...you saved me. I suppose I should thank you." she said, still somewhat confused as to what was going on.

"So you're blue now?" Shepard groaned, talking through the throbbing in his head.

"Yes. I was only green as they were all clones." she quickly answered.

"How did you end up in that thing?" Ashley asked with furrowed brows.

"I served with Matriarch Benezia before she allied herself with Saren. My name is Shiala. I followed her when she lost her way." she explained with somewhat no shame that she had been an ally of their sworn enemy.

Lycan sighed, _"She's gonna yammer on about how Saren sacrificed her to the Thorian in order to take the Cipher from it and how she was left the second he got it." _

All three Marines smirked, then immediately cleared it as the asari looked at them with a questioning glare.

"Is something wrong?" she asked with her own furrowed brows.

"Nothing's wrong. Listen, we know what Saren did, and what he was after. How do I get the Cipher. We need to stop him." Shepard interrupted, in no mood to listen to a lengthy story as he wanted a shower, and pain killers.

"You do? But...but how?"

"The Thorian hinted at it when it was speaking through the clones. We just put the pieces together with what we already know about Saren. He's an evil, scheming SOB who would rather turn on you the second you fullfilled your end of whatever plan you worked out." he explained.

"Then you would be right. I was left after I gave him the Cipher." Shiala nodded.

"How do I get it?" Shepard repeated, eager to find out how and if it was a lengthy process.

"I can give it to you as I was melded with the Thorian. Are you ready?"

_"She isn't gonna try anything funny."_

"Yes."

"Then try to relax Commander. Slow, deep breathes as you let go of your physical shell, to reach out and grab the threads that bind us. Every action sends ripples across the galaxy. Each idea must touch another mind to live and each emotion must mark another's spirit. We are all connected. Every, single being united in a single, glorious existence. Open yourself to the universe...Embrace eternity." she chanted as her eyes went jet black and Shepard instantly stiffened.

Shepard sucked in a sharp breath as his mind was not just his own any longer. He felt Shiala's presence within his own head as the throbbing got worse, feeling as if someone was stuffing more and more information into his head. He started to feel weak, his knees starting to quiver as they began to falter in their ability to keep him standing under his own power. The images from the beacon began to flash by again, the same darkened images of blood, carnage, circuits and synthetics making themselves known as they bullied their way back into the front of his mind.

After a moment, his mind was his own again as the asari's presence left, leaving him dizzy, feeling weak and slightly nauseous. He started to topple but was caught by his companions, keeping him up on his own two feet.

"Whoa...So that's what it feels like. Can't say I much liked that." Shepard grumbled with his head in his hands.

"I apologize if I hurt you Commander. The Cipher will take some time for your mind to process but once it does, the ancient knowledge of the protheans will be with you." Shiala explained shortly.

"Are you alright Skipper?" Ashley asked in a whisper, helping Kaidan support Shepard's weight.

"I'll be alright," he answered with a quick glance to her, "What do we do with you?" he addressed Shiala.

"If it is alright with you, I would like to stay here...with the colonists. I played a part in their suffering and I would like to make amends." Shiala suggested, hanging her head with shame that she had done the colonists wrong.

"It's a noble idea. If it's alright with Fai Dan...Then it's alright with me."

"Then that is what I shall do."

Shiala helped the other two get Shepard steady on his feet before they turned and headed back down the corridor to the colony. Once there, they found that the colonists had begun to wake and were gathering in the town circle, all groggy and groaning as they tried to deduce what had happened. Huddled in a corner, Fai Dan sat with several colonists gathered around him to make sure he was ok. He glanced up, seeing Shepard and his crew coming their way, covered in dirt, grime and sweat and now accompanied by an asari.

"Commander Shepard," he called out to them as a couple people helped him stand, "Thank you for all you've done for us. You went through all that trouble for people you don't know."

Shepard cracked a smile, "I was a colonist too Fai Dan. I couldn't just sit by and not help. Are you going to be ok from here on out?" he asked with genuine concern.

"I'm sure we will be thanks to you Commander. If...If it's alright, I would like to invite you to a celebration tonight to thank you for your help." Fai Dan extended his hand, hoping the Commander would accept the invite.

"Oh...uh...Well, you know what, that sounds nice. Let me and my team here get cleaned up and we'll be back in a couple hours." he nodded and shook Fai Dan's hand.

Shiala stayed in the colony as Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan limped their way back to the ship, getting stuck inside the airlock as the decontamination shower activated and hosed the down from head to toe before it opened to allow them to enter. Once inside the ship, their exhaustion hit in full force. Their bodies began to ache and their joints cracked with each step as they made their way down the CIC to get cleaned up. However, Kaidan lagged behind with his head hung as he made it down to his locker and started to strip off his armor, tossing each piece inside without a care until his mind just wouldn't allow for him to stand any longer. Half stripped, he slumped with his back against the locker and his head resting in his tired hands. He thought about just how close he had come to being overtaken by the power hidden inside him, how it scared him that he was so close to not only eradicating the enemy, but possibly severely injuring Shepard and Ashley or even worse. But the thing that angered him most, was that Lycan had seen what he is. Something other then human. He felt a warmth begin to slowly trickle down his face, but he paid it no mind as he just hung his head, lettingh is thoughts roam free in his mind and the small drips of blood silently splattering to the deck. He hated how she had seen what he is. He hated that he wasn't able to keep his power in control and he was afraid that she wouldn't want to speak to him after seeing what he was truely capable of.

"Kaidan? Are...you ok?" Lycan asked softly, kneeling down in front of him with worried eyes.

He didn't bother to look up at her as he just nodded his head in a blatant lie that not even a blind man would believe.

She placed a couple fingers under his chin and lifted his head without any resistance from him, "Oh Kaidan...You're nose. It's bleeding." she said airily as she saw the slow trickle from a nostril.

She stood and went to Ashley's station, pulling several clean, dry cloths and returned to kneel in front of him and gently began to wipe away the crimson blood. She gently held his head still by placing a hand on the back of his neck with her fingers over his amp jack while she continued to wipe away his blood, cleaning away the red to reveal his olive skin once more. His eyes watched her the entire time, but they never truly were set on her as it seemed he looked through her instead, staring off into oblivion as she worked. Once she was done, she removed her hand which brought him back out of his stunned state and his eyes finally truly looked at her.

"Why?" he asked in a shaky whisper with glassy eyes.

Lycan slightly tilted her head, "Why what?"

"Why aren't you afraid of me? I could hurt you at any moment and yet...You aren't afraid of something not human." he said quietly, staring into her eyes and looking for any hint of the fear the wasn't there..

She slightly gasped from the familiar statement, as she knew that despite using his Biotics, he never truly thought of them as a gift. Instead, he thought them more of a curse. She sat on her heels and gently set the bloodied cloths down on the deck before she folded her hands together in her lap.

"Don't say that. I know for a fact you're human. One of the most gentlest, most kind and caring humans I've ever met. You can't be anything other then human Kaidan." she said softly as she gently grasped his hand and lifted it.

Kaidan watched her lift his hand and spread his fingers and placed their palms together, his hand obviously bigger as his fingertips extended passed hers, fully exposing their pads.

"You should be afraid of what I could do." he hung his head once more.

"There's no reason for me to be afraid of you Kaidan. I know you wouldn't hurt anyone without cause. You're too kind, and gentle. I don't care what other people say and I don't care what you say. To me, you are human." she said softly as she placed her other hand gently on his bicep.

"There are things that I've done that I'm not proud of Ly. I've done things only a monster would do." he refused to look into her eyes as he didn't want to see his reflection in their deep brown depths.

Lycan raised to her knees and scooted closer to him, wrapping her arms around his head and bringing him to her chest, his ear over her heart as he listened to it beat, "You aren't a monster Kaidan. You're kind hearted and sweet, and your my best friend. Without you, I wouldn't be here and I won't let you sit here thinking that you're something other then what you are." she rested her cheek against his soft raven hair on the top of his head.

"And what am I?" he mumbled.

"Human...Kaidan. You can't be anything other then human."

After a few, brief moments, he wrapped an arm around her waist and returned her embrace, tightening his grip as the comfort of her just being there manage to crack through his sadness. He listened to the beats of her heart that thumped against his ear as he made no effort to move away from her. He held her tighter as he closed his eyes, seeing what had happened many years ago that brought on his doubts of what he was. _She has to know. I have to tell her what I did. Even if she might change her mind of what I am. _He thought as he drew in a long, scared breath.

"I put seven people in the hospital...including myself. This punk in our Sentinel class I was sparring with started saying that the only reason I wasn't in a straight jacket was because I sucked the Alliance's dick enough times that they took pity on me and decided to keep me around. I was young and stupid and I lost control. The same thing you saw tonight happened except I didn't have anyone to keep me grounded like you do. I don't remember much after I reached a certain point but I woke up a week later in the hospital. I'd been in a coma and six other people had broken bones from what I did. I never wanna go that far again Ly." Kaidan said with a muffled voice as he spoke into her chest.

Lycan released a soft sigh that gently fluttered through his hair, "You won't. I promise. I won't let you. I wouldn't care if you had enough power to rip a planet out of it's orbit. I won't let you go that far again."

Kaidan tightened his hold around her waist as the two remained there in each other's arms. He thought more about what she had said and the more he thought about it, the more he beleived it. She didn't care that he commanded a vast amount of Biotic power that he continually kept under tight control, and she didn't care that if he ever crossed into the unknown again and she was actually there, that she could be hurt...or killed, which he would not allow. He had taken the risk and told what he did, thinking that would get scared of him and walk away to leave him alone once more but she didn't. She stayed and held him without even reacting.

"Thank you Ly. Just...Thank you." he whispered, finally releasing his hold on her.

"You don't need to thank me. I owe you so much as it is."

The door to the showers opened as Shepard walked out, now cleaned and refreshed from the steaming shower as he looked at them with a blank face. He watched them for a moment, his brows slightly furrowing at just how close they were. He saw the comforting embrace, saw Kaidan lean into her for solace and understanding and he saw the emotion in his eyes. _Uh oh...I know that look all too well. I was wondering when you were going to cross that line my friend, because you...are almost there. _

"Kaidan...If you don't get yourself cleaned up, you're gonna be late for that celebration." he said, watching as Kaidan immediately pull away from Lycan and look at him.

"Aye aye Commander."

Shepard stood for another brief moment before walking off, heading into the elevator and riding it to the Crew Deck for something to take the edge off the soreness. He emerged, seeing Ashley with a glass of water in one hand, and a couple painkillers in the other that she had gotten from the doctor as she popped them into her mouth and took a long draw from the glass.

"You alright?" Shepard asked as he walked up next to her.

She swallowed her mouthful of water and set the glass down while rubbing her sore neck, "I will be once these painkillers kick in. That was one Hell of a fight." she sighed.

"Yeah. You did great out there today Ash. I think it's official that I'd trust you at my side on the battlefield anytime." he smirked, placing a hand on her shoulder and kneading the flesh in hopes of working some soreness from her muscles.

Ashley had to stifle the groan as the Skipper's impromptu massage felt great, "I'm honored to hear you say that Skipper. I feel the same. How's that nose of yours?" she asked as she found her head lolling to one side to let him have further access to work the muscles in her neck.

"Throbs but nothing a stiff drink won't fix. It was worth it though." he admitted, taking a step behind her and started to massage her neck and shoulders with both hands.

Ashley hung her head, "I don't think getting Biotically punched in the face is worth anything Skipper." she quietly huffed a laugh.

"Sure it is. It kept you from getting hurt."

Ashley's heart skipped a beat and her breath caught in her throat for a moment at Shepard's admission. The whole time they were out, he had protected her. He had kept her from falling when she slipped. He had strangled a varren that had almost gotten it's teeth on her and he tried taking on an asari clone which had earned him a broken nose. Had he risked his life not just because she was part of his crew?

"Thank you...for everything you did out there Skipper. I appreciate it."

She felt Shepard lean in close, bringing his mouth close to her ear so he could whisper, "I wasn't gonna let anything happen to that pretty face of yours."

Before she had a chance to retort, his hands slipped off her shoulders as he started to walk away towards the stairs. Just before he disappeared, he stopped and looked back at her.

"Come on. We're gonna be late for our celebration."

The crew of the Normandy had began to slowly filter into the colony with Shepard being the first. They wore their Alliance BDU's and saw that Zhu's Hope shined in a whole new light. The freighter that served as their homes had been subtly lit from below, as the town square as it were burned with a large bonfire. The colonists had gone hunting now that the alpha varren had been slain and several were strung up over the flames, cooking and simmering while they were attended to by a pair of cooks. The nicer slabs of debris had been set up around the fire pit to serve as seats for their guests and music echoed all around them as it brought the mood up from dark and depressing, to relieved and happy. Fai Dan had greeted the crew, welcoming them and wishing them a good time, despite not having much but none seemed to mind the simplicity of the celebration. The colonists were happy to be alive. Happy to be finally free from the Thorian's control and happy that their losses were minimal. They were eternally grateful to the Commander and his crew and were bound and determined to have a good time. The colony's own brew was passed around, a harsh but smooth liquid that strongly resembled the old fashioned moonshine back on Earth, but had been flavored with various fruits and berries and served to lighten the mood even more.

Lycan had gone ahead of Kaidan to the celebration and sat on a slab around the bonfire as she finished her meal of varren, which on all accounts tasted like beef as Liara and Garrus sat next to her. She glanced up in time to see Kaidan walking in, cleaned and dress as he scanned the crowd, taking in the scene for a brief moment before spying her and starting to make his way over. Lycan hadn't noticed as Liara and Garrus stood and went to mingle with other colonists as she met him halfway and handed him her cup of the rather pleasant brew for him to have a sip.

"Trying to get me drunk already?" he asked, taking a sip and cringing slightly with a soft smile before he handed her back the cup.

"Well...no." she lightly laughed.

"Sorry I'm late. I needed some time to myself. Thank you...for earlier." he said softly and with a smile.

"I told you...You don't need to thank me. I owe you so much as it is. Come on, I bet you're starving."

She lead him over to where she had been sitting and got him a plate, finding that he preferred to sit on the ground with his back against the makeshift seat as it was sore from the krogan hit and he wanted something to lean against for support. She slipped in behind him, sitting on the seat with her legs on either side of him as she began to rub his shoulders, gently working on the muscle in hopes of releasing some tension while he ate.

"Hey, that'sh a good idea. I rubbed your'sh Ash. It'sh my turn." Shepard hiccuped as he plopped down, rather ungracefully in front of Ashley and pointed to his shoulders.

"Fine fine...Shkipper. Shit shtill." she groaned, setting down her fourth mug of the brew and started kneading his shoulders.

"They're drunk." Kaidan laughed as he set down his emptied plate and chuckled.

"As a skunk. It's been pretty funny watching them. I'm still nursing my first cup and I lost count after four for them." Lycan giggled, running her hands across his shoulders and up his neck, earning a sigh of relief from him.

"That stuff isn't too bad but I'm not in the mood right now to get shitfaced. I'd actually rather have a migraine then a hangover." Kaidan laughed, hanging his head and loving just how good Lycan's work felt.

"Is there really a difference between the two?" she quietly laughed as her hands trailed over his amp jack on their path down his neck to between his shoulder blades where her thumbs began to work a knot.

"Good point," he sighed, "God that feels great Ly." he groaned, still hanging his head.

"It'd be better if I actually had some sort of training. I'm just flying by the seat of my pants on this one." her hands traveled back to his shoulders where they resumed their work on the hard muscles that stretched over them.

"If this is by the seat of your pants, then you'll be doing this a lot more," he was going to say more but Shepard and Ashley broke out in a random fit of laughter as Shepard had flopped over and had managed to take Ashley with him to the ground, "I wonder if they'll remember any of this in the morning." he tilted his head as he watched.

"If not, I plan on having some fun teasing them about it." Lycan giggled and stopped her massage.

Kaidan whined, "Aw, you stopped." he pouted as he grabbed her hands and moved them around his shoulders, neck and chest, hoping she would continue upon which to his delight...she did.

"Are you feeling better from earlier?" she asked kindly as her fingertips grazed over the front of his neck.

Kaidan stayed silent for a moment, thinking about how best to answer her question. He did feel a bit better, mainly because she had told him he was human and it meant so much to him, even if he hadn't told her that. It kept him grounded to know she wasn't afraid of him, or his curse. She didn't care about what he's done or what he could do, she only cared about him.

"Yeah...I am. I always have such tight control on my Biotics, mainly because I don't want people to think I'm unstable. I never release more then I absolutely have to but when we get into situations like you saw, it just comes out like I don't have any control over it. It's like I have some kind of demon I'm trying to keep from taking over my body but when you just held me...I felt like I was me, that I could keep things in control no matter what happened and that the demon wasn't there. It's been a long time since I've felt like I wasn't cursed." he explained, crossing an arm over his chest to gently clasp her hand to his shoulder.

"You're my best friend Kaidan. You can feel like the world is crashing down on you and I'll be there to help. I'm deathly loyal to my friends. You'll learn that if you're around me long enough." she said with a soft smile as her other arm wrapped itself around his chest and with a gentle squeeze, she hugged him which put another smile on his face.

The hug only lasted a second before she glanced across the fire, seeing Shepard on his back, asleep with Ashley laying on top of him...also asleep and looking rather comfy laying against his chest with a subtle smile on her face. Her eyes went even further across the dying fire to see Wrex, standing in a shadow and leaning against the freighter with his arms crossed and his deep, red eyes watching her with what she thought, was an angry glare. It made her slightly nervous under his gaze as she immediately averted her eyes and stared at the back of Kaidan's head.

"Wrex is staring at me." she whispered, leaning down enough to hide her lips behind Kaidan's head as she spoke.

Kaidan didn't move his eyes, instead, he looked out of his peripherals to see for himself, "Do you know why?" he whispered back, now tilting his head to the right to hear her better.

"No. he hasn't said a word to me since I've been on board. The only thing I can say in confidence is that I'm pretty sure he doesn't trust me." she whispered.

Kaidan drew in a deep breath to steady his temper before his body began to flare, "He won't lay a talon on you. That...I promise."

She was about to say something when the gentle tingle of electricity began to hum over her hands, "Is...that buzzing you?"

Kaidan nodded.

Lycan began to run her fingers up his neck to weave through his hair, continuing on their path up as she gently rubbed his scalp. It seemed to be working as the buzzing she could feel started to vanish and his head lolled back into her lap. A soft smile returned to his lips as she noticed the tiny, barely there scar on his lower lip. She smiled back at him, managing to look him in the eyes longer then a fleeting second as she placed her hands on either side of his head, stroking her thumbs over his temples which caused him to close his eyes and sigh. She continued with the short, soft strokes that seemed to pacify him into putty as her hands moved down the side of his face until they rested on either side of his neck. Her thumbs now stroked along his jaw as one lightly grazed over the scar, leaving the taste of her skin behind and forcing Kaidan's eyes to shoot open. He lifted his head from her lap as his tongue slicked over his bottom lip, picking up the subtle taste that had been left by accident.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, removing her hands from his neck.

A strong flutter of butterfly wings rocked through his stomach and his heart rate quickened, "Yeah...Yeah, everything's fine. It looks like it's getting late. Half the crew has either passed out where they sat, or headed back to the ship." he said as he noticed that the amount of people that were actually awake was diminishing quickly.

At the mention of possible sleep, Lycan yawned and covered her mouth, "Oh my. It would seem so. We kinda lost track of time didn't we." she smiled as she swung a leg around and slid off the seat to sit next to him on the ground.

"Happens when you're with friends."

he felt a strong wave of sleep wash over him as he felt Lycan's head resting against his shoulder. He looked over to see that she had very quickly fallen asleep against him with a soft expression that told him she was actually happy, which was something he hadn't gotten to see enough of since he had saved her life. A lock of her hair had slipped from it's scrunchy and had fallen across her face, obscuring a good portion of it from his view as he slowly raised his hand and brushed it way. He tucked it behind her ear, allowing his fingertips to trace along her jaw and neck longer then he had intended. He forced his breathing to stay even as he felt how silky her pale skin was, letting his fingers linger before retreating them back and away so he wouldn't wake her up. He carefully pulled the arm she leaned against out from between them and wrapped it around her, giving her his chest to lean upon instead of his hard shoulder as she curled into him further, perfectly content in staying where she was. He watched the few people that were still about find places themselves and fall asleep as others vanished inside the freighter to their beds until he was the last person awake, left to think by himself which he quickly squashed. He had done enough thinking that day and if he did any more, he was sure to have a migraine. So instead, he just listened to Lycan's steady breathing and watched her chest rise and fall with each breath she took until he too...drifted off to sleep, holding the person whom was proving that she would be there for him, no matter what happened.

* * *

The rays of sunlight beamed down and warmed Kaidan's chilled skin, causing him to slowly awaken from his sleep as he drew in a long breath and the scent of something sweet filled his nose. The scent he couldn't quite place put a soft smile on his face as he returned to consciousness without opening his eyes, realizing that he was laying on his side, and not sitting up like he was when he had fallen asleep. The soft noises of people as they awoke told him that it was probably time to get up and return to the ship as he was sure Shepard was eager to get back underway and en route to their next destination. He slowly began to open his eyes, finding that he was not laying alone and that his arm was draped over the body that lay next to him. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the light and to focus as the body's features became distinguishable from something other then blurs and he noticed...the short hair? His brows furrowed lightly as he carefully picked up his head and took in the hair's color, as it was blond and not the dark brown locks that belonged to the woman whom was next to him when he had gone to sleep. His body stiffened as he retrieved his arm and slowly sat up, finally figuring it out as it was a colonist that lay on her side instead of Lycan. His throat closed up and his heart skipped a beat as he glanced down at his chest, finding he was still fully clothed which eased his worry some. He was worried that perhaps he had not fallen asleep with Lycan in his arms which was something he had not planned on and was perhaps something he had dreamt of. He looked across the dead fire pit, seeing that Shepard was still fast asleep with an equally asleep Ashley still laying on top of him as a quiet gasp punched his ears, causing him to stiffen more in panic. He looked to his right, seeing Lycan with a coffee mug in her hand and a fading smile on her face as she studied him for a moment.

His breath finally left him in a stunned whisper, "Ly..." he went to stand, stirring the colonist woman awake as she sat up, looking confused.

"I...I brought you some...coffee...I'll...just leave it here for you. When you're ready." Lycan stuttered as she set the mug down on the stone slab and turned to leave.

"Ly wait..." he called as he went to stand but the blond grasped his arm.

"Where are you going?" she asked quietly.

"To catch up to her...Please let go of me." Kaidan pleaded, resisting the urge to forcibly get the woman to let go.

"Is...she your...significant other?" the woman asked, somewhat saddened that the very handsome man wanted to leave her side so quickly.

"No...I...I mean...She's my friend...Just...let go. Why are you laying next to me anyways?" this time, Kaidan angrily glared at the woman, upon which she finally let go of him.

"She had gotten up in the middle of the night and went back to the ship. She didn't come back and I thought that...you might have been cold...so I laid down to keep you warm." she looked ashamed and was unable to look him in the eyes.

"It didn't cross your mind to just get a blanket? You know what...never mind, don't answer. I don't wanna know."

Kaidan scurried to his feet and ran after Lycan, seeing that she had very quickly walked back towards the ship and found her standing near the docking ramp, looking out of the bay at the sky. He stopped and took a moment with saddened eyes and watched her, seeing no indication that she was crying and slowly walked up to her, gently placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Ly...I...Nothing happened Ly. I swear it." he pleaded quietly as he walked up next to her, looking at her face and finding...it was blank.

"Even if it did Kaidan, there is nothing I could say about it. I hold no claim to you. If that's what you wanted, then by all means. Don't let me stop you." she said, not looking at him and with a tone that told Kaidan she was fighting herself to keep her composure.

"It's not want I wanted. She said you got up in the middle of the night and didn't come back...why?" he asked, fighting with himself to keep from dropping to his knees and begging for her forgiveness.

This time, he caught her bottom lip quiver ever so slightly, "I...I didn't want Shepard to see us laying together. You could get in trouble for breaking regs..." Kaidan sighed heavily, silencing her from continuing.

"There aren't any regs to break Ly. You aren't Alliance but I can see your worry and I appreciate it," he said quietly, placing his hand once more on her shoulder and turning her to face him, _Tell her you idiot before she stops being your friend altogether! _"Ly...I didn't want to wake up next to that colonist...I wanted to wake up next..."

"Lieutenant!" Shepard called out from just down the ramp, rubbing his eyes free from sleep.

_Uh oh...He said my rank, _"Yes...Commander?" Kaidan answered, quickly removing his hand from Lycan's shoulder and squaring his own.

"Rouse the kiddies and get everyone back on the ship. We have a lot of black to cover." Shepard said flatly as he headed down the docking ramp to the ship.

Kaidan sucked a long, nervous breath, "Aye aye Commander," he stood silent for a moment before he glanced back towards Lycan whom held her gaze with his, seeing the flood of emotion she was trying to hide, "Ly..."

Lycan raised a hand and silenced him before she placed it on his bicep and gently squeezed with a soft, reassuring smile across her lips, "Kaidan...It's ok. We'll talk later after you're done." she said quietly before she turned and left, leaving Kaidan to carry out his order with the hopes that later, they would talk.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Debriefed and Untrusted

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! Thank you so much to my Beta Herr Wozzack :D)_

The last of the crew had filtered into the ship from the colony, all rubbing their eyes free of sleep and somehow, only a few were slightly under the weather from their night of drinking and having a good time. Joker fluidly brought the ship to power, the gentle hum of her drive core awakening greeted the crew like an old friend and the docking ramp detached from the ship's hull. The holding clamps relinquished their grasp soon after, allowing the ship to slip free of her berth and back away from the bay to streak across the brilliant sky on her continued journey through the black.

Shepard and his elite team sat in the Briefing room, ready to start their debriefing of everything that had happened on Feros but they were a bit slow at it. Wrex as usual, sat stiff in his seat with his arms crossed over his chest and with the same, scowling sneer he always wore. Garrus slouched, holding his head in his hand. Liara seemed to be miss morning perkiness as she was the only one whom was wide eyed and bushy tailed. Tali stayed as quiet as ever, just scanning the room. Ashley sat and made damned sure that she never came close to making eye contact with Shepard while he, slouched in his seat and rubbed his eyes. The sheer awkwardness of his morning was still front and center in his mind as he also avoided Ashley's gaze. When he had opened his eyes, he had to cup a hand over his mouth to keep from screaming out loud when he saw her laying on top of him. He had started to panic that he had crossed that line again but he was fully dressed, a little worse for ware, but still, he had clothes on. That morning was only going to add to his frustration as he was still trying to figure out what was going on with him, mainly as to what he was feeling.

Kaidan seemed to be the only one in the Briefing Room whom wasn't actually feeling the effects of the previous night as he sat with slumped shoulders and a hung head. He appeared more defeated then exhausted. He wanted desperately to talk to Lycan, just to drop to his knees and beg her to forgive him and he didn't care how long it would take, as long as she forgave him. He found to his startled realization, that he was actually rather upset that she had gotten up in the middle of the night and had gone back to the ship to keep him out of trouble if Shepard had awoken and found them laying next to each other. He wanted to open his eyes and see her there but instead, it had been a colonist whom seemed a little...off and not quite all there and it frustrated him. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much. She was right when she said that she held no claim to him...wasn't she?

Shepard finally looked up and took a head count, coming up one short, "Where's Lycan?" he asked with a gravelly voice.

No one answered, not even Kaidan.

_I need to have a chat with you later Kaidan, _"Liara...Can you go find our little birdie please?" he asked flatly and with a long, drawn out sigh.

Liara nodded and headed out of the Briefing Room, taking a moment to think of where she could be as she headed down the stairs to the Crew Deck where she found Lycan, sitting curled into a chair by the flickering monitor and sadness in her eyes that Liara quickly picked up on. She walked over to her and sat down, regarding the young human for a moment with a kind face and concern in her azure eyes.

"Are you alright Lycan?" she asked softly, placing a kind hand on Lycan's shoulder.

Lycan blew out a short sigh, "Yeah...I'm fine." it was almost impossible to hear her speak.

"It would not appear so." Liara whispered, hunching down a little to try and see Lycan's face.

Lycan quietly huffed a laugh, "You've been practicing reading body language haven't you?" she asked, unable to stop the gentle smile from crossing her lips.

"I took your advice and it seems to be working. What's wrong my friend?"

"You promise you won't tell anyone?" Lycan asked, resting her temple against Liara's shoulder.

"Oh...A sisterly secret. Of course I won't tell. As your species says it, your secret is safe with me." Liara comforted as her arm wrapped around Lycan's shoulders.

"Well...This morning...I went to bring a cup of coffee to Kaidan and I found him sleeping next to a colonist. I had gotten up in the middle of the night so he wouldn't get in trouble and she was just...there. She slinked in there like a snake as soon as I was gone and I don't know why it bothers me so much. I have no claim to him. I have no right to be upset about it." she whispered, lifting her head from Liara's shoulder and picking at her fingernails.

"Is it perhaps...because you have developed feelings for him?" she asked, earning a quick glance from Lycan.

"I don't really know to be honest. I care a great deal about him as my friend. I mean, he's my best friend but he has done so much for me that I have no idea how to repay him for it. I guess I somehow misread his intentions. I should really just heed my own damn advice." she said sadly and with an equally sad sigh.

"You believe he is not interested in you?" she gently rubbed Lycan's upper arm.

"I don't know. He shows me nothing but kindness and friendship and I feel so comfortable when I'm around him. I was stupid in even entertaining the idea that he could be even remotely interested in someone like me. I mean, I'm 5'6 on a good day. I have no tech skills, no income, no fighting skills. I can barely take apart a pistol to help Ashley clean it and I'm starting to feel more like a mooch then anything else. Why would he even want a girl like me." she continued to whisper to keep their conversation between just the two of them.

"What is a mooch?"

Lycan huffed another quiet laugh, "Someone who lives off of others without the intention of repaying the debt."

"But I thought you wanted to repay the Lieutenant for all he's done?"

"I do but that's not the point. The point is...I don't even know. It was silly of me to think that Kaidan was interested in something more then just friendship. He's just my best friend...That's all." she sighed, still hanging her head and picking at her fingers that were hidden inside of the cuffs of the zip up she wore.

"It would appear he is rather upset to me. He hasn't said a word all morning that doesn't pertain to work, and he seems lost in thought up in the Briefing Room." Liara said, still with her arm around Lycan's shoulders.

"What? They're all in the Briefing Room?" Lycan's eyes went wide as she saw Liara nod.

Lycan sprang to her feet and darted for the stairs, taking them two by two as she rushed through the door and into the Briefing Room, trying to hide her blush for being late from everyone else.

"I'm...uh...sorry Commander...For being so late." she mumbled as she went to stand in her usual spot behind Kaidan's chair.

"We haven't started yet so you're fine," he glanced around the room, still finding that they were one short, "Now where's Liara?" Shepard asked with a slightly frustrated tone.

"She'll be here shortly. I kinda ran off when she said you guys were all in here." Lycan informed quietly, tapping her toes inside her shoes.

Shepard nodded as he drew in a long, frustrated breath while he, along with the rest of the crew, waited for Liara to return. Not even a minute later, Liara walked in and retook her seat with a soft smile on her face until she noticed how flustered and...pale Shepard looked.

"You appear awfully pale Commander. Are you suffering any ill effects from receiving the Cipher?" she asked kindly, and with a good amount of concern.

"No...not from the Cipher." he grumbled, still slouched in his chair.

"Then from the celebration perhaps?"

"Something like that..." he sighed, "Ok, so I've got this Cipher thing tumbling around in my head and I can't say I very much liked having that asari probing around so if I seem a little...on edge, we'll say, I apologize now." he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose in more frustration.

"There is no need to apologize Commander. Perhaps I can help you make some sense of the Cipher by joining my consciousness to yours..." the look on Shepard's face silenced her train of thought.

Shepard groaned again...loudly, "Not again...I suppose it is the best course of action though. Don't stick around longer then you need to in my memory warehouse because it's a mess and trust me, not a very fun place to hang out in."

Shepard stood and walked with Liara to the center of the room where he faced her with his arms dangling at his sides. Liara stared through him almost as she uttered the words that joined their minds, seeing more and more flashes of frightening images as they flew by. The same images that Shepard had been seeing every night since the beacon intruded into his mind came flashing through again, and he was getting really tired of having to see them over, and over and over again. His stomach lurched, just like last time, his head pounded, his heart thumped harder in his chest and his breathing quickened as the sudden falling sensation consumed everything around him. After a moment, his mind was his own once more as everything came back into focus. Liara lay on the deck, propped up by Garrus and he was slumped over someone's arm, sitting on his butt with his head leaning against the same person's shoulder.

"My God! Those images...All my research...Everything was so...vivid... so intense." Liara mumbled, grasping her head as she sat up to sit on her own.

"Now...you know how I've been...feeling for the last month and a half." he stammered, not bothering to pick his head up off the person's shoulder as he was rather comfy and didn't wanna move.

"You are incredibly strong willed Commander. Those images would have destroyed a lesser mind..."

"Again...Don't mean to interrupt...but uh, we do need to stay on track." Ashley interrupted whilst trying to not sound so rude.

Shepard stiffened as he determined that Ashley's voice was awfully, dreadfully close.

"You're right...I apologize. It would seem that the beacon on Eden Prime was severely damage, as there is large parts of the vision that are missing. It's incomplete." Liara said, accepting help from Garrus to stand once again.

Shepard now wanted to relinquish his comfiness in order to stand as he started the process with Ashley's help, "I'm sure Lycan knows what's missing." he glanced over at her.

Lycan slowly nodded, "It'll eventually tell you where to find the Conduit, but not how to get there. I'm afraid that's it." her voice was very quiet...she was still nervous talking in front of the elites.

"Where do I get the rest of it?" Shepard asked, holding back a cringe from a heavy throb that thumped between his eyes.

Lycan's body stiffened, but the only one who noticed it was Kaidan. She gulped as she scanned the Briefing Room, the strong flutter in her stomach rolling and nearly causing her to double over and throw up. She knew exactly where he was going to get it, but she didn't wanna go there just yet.

"V...Virmire." was all she said.

"Then we head there..." Shepard started to say until a yelp rang through the room.

"No!...I mean...uh...I wouldn't recommend it yet Commander." Lycan yelped, nervously rubbing the back of her neck as she tried not to throw up.

"Why not?" Shepard's brows furrowed.

"Uh...Because...um, the Council will eventually give you a report to go there and check things out but...it's a place you don't wanna go to too soon." she stumbled, trying to get Shepard to stay clear of Virmire as she wasn't ready for that defining trial...not yet.

"But if I can get the rest of the vision there, we have to go." Shepard's brows creased further.

"You'll have to go there eventually Commander. My recommendation...would be to head to Noveria first," _I have to tell them a little more to convince him...Oh! I know, _"After Virmire, the Council is gonna order you back to the Citadel."

Shepard slightly reeled, "Alright. That's a good enough reason not to go there just yet so...we'll head to Noveria next. Dismissed and relax. I know I need some time to recover and such." Shepard ordered as he watched everyone exit the room, leaving him alone.

_"Commander, I've got the Council on the horn. They're wishing to speak with you." _Joker's voice informed.

"I am really in no mood to talk to them Joker. Just feed them some story about how I can't come to the phone right now. I'm gonna go lay down and clear my head." Shepard growled as he too, left the room and headed to his cabin for some sleep...alone.

Kaidan glanced up as he saw Shepard disappear into his cabin with a disgruntled look on his face before he glanced over to Lycan, sitting curled up in a chair as he worked on trying to get the monitor fixed. He thought now would be a good time to try and fix things but he wasn't sure what there was to fix. He sighed as he knew if he kept mulling things over he was going to get a migraine and he didn't want one right then and there. He wasn't in the mood. They sat in silence while he worked, tinkering with some wires and circuits and some settings on the screen itself until an idea popped into his head. A soft smile crossed his lips as he put everything back together, finding that the tool he needed to secure the cover panel was missing.

"Hey Ly?" he called softly, getting her attention.

"Hmmm?" she glanced up from the Omni-Tool she was still borrowing from him with a soft smile across her lips.

"I don't suppose you could do me a favor could you?" he asked, returning her a soft smile as it seemed she wasn't upset with him.

"Sure."

"I'm missing the driver I need to secure this panel, but I have a spare down in my locker. Could you go snag that for me?" he asked kindly with a small amount of pleading in his eyes.

"Yeah...I can. How do I get into your locker?" she shifted in her seat and pulled her leg out from underneath her.

Kaidan slipped his hand under the collar of his uniform, grasping the chain that dangled around his neck with his dog tags suspended from it and pulled it over his head to hand it to Lycan, "The barcode on the back of the dog tag will open it up for you. When you get back, maybe...if you want...we could talk and watch a vid?" he asked nervously with pleading hopes which earned him another smile.

Lycan nodded softly, "Yeah...We can. I'd like that."

She clutched the chain in her hands as she walked off and headed into the elevator, looking at the dog tags and studying them. She trailed a finger over the embossed lettering, reading his name, service number, birthdate and blood type all written in the standard military old typewriter style. She smiled as she decoded what she could from the information on the tag, finding he was a universal donor, and that his birthstone was the Emerald which was a gem she loved just as much as her own birthstone of the elegant Sapphire. The doors to the elevator hissed open and allowed her to walk out into a deserted Cargo Bay, finding that the space was void of any people as she made her way over to the lockers. She read off the names to herself as she walked passed them and stop in front of the one with the 'K. Alenko' over the top, grasping the dog tag with the barcode stamped on it and slid it into the small slot. The locker's door hissed open, just like everything else on the ship and revealed a neatly kept array of uniforms, armor and weapons that had already been kept by Ashley and herself. She carefully rummaged through the neatly folded things that rested on the bottom and found the driver near the back, laying up against dark datapads and a small collection of Omni-Tools. She grasped the tool and pulled the dog tag from the slot, closing the locker's door and turned around only to drop the tool on the deck as she saw that a very large and angry looking krogan was standing behind her.

"Oh! God, you scared me Wrex." she said as she went to bend down to pick up the tool but she didn't get that far.

Wrex grabbed her forearm and held it over her head, slowly tightening his grip as his hand nearly covered her entire forearm's length.

"Wrex! You're hurting me...Let go!" Lycan yelped, the chain to the dog tags dangled around her elbow on her captured arm.

"Why were you snooping around the Lieutenant's locker?" Wrex rumbled, hunching over to glare at her dead in the eyes, still holding her arm over her head.

"I wasn't snooping! Kaidan wanted me to get something out of his locker for him! Please...Let me go!" she pleaded, feeling her hand begin to go cold from the lack of blood unable to reach it.

"Lies! Who do you work for? You fooled the turian but I won't bite. Who?" Wrex growled, tightening his grip even harder which caused Lycan to whimper and try to pry his fingers open to get free.

"I don't work for anyone! I swear...Ow! It hurts! Let me go...Please!" Lycan began to cry from the pain nearly crushing her arm.

"What is Saren's agenda? What are you supposed to do for him? I find it just a little too convenient that you knew everything we were up against on Therum and Feros!" Wrex hollered, scaring Lycan even further.

"You know his agenda already and I'm not working for him! I'm helping you guys! Please..." Lycan was starting to beg.

"Pleading for your life isn't going to help you here human." his red eyes told no lie.

"Kaidan!" Lycan screamed, silently pray that the sound would reach him one deck above her, "Kaidan! Help!" she continued to scream.

Wrex took his other hand and thwacked it across her face, silencing her cries for help whilst only using a mere fraction of his true strength.

"Silence human! Answer my questions truthfully and I might leave you breathing with a broken body. Are you working for Saren?" he growled once more, tired of her presumed games.

The tears in Lycan's eyes began to pour out, streaming down her face as one cheek began to redden from the strike, "I don't...please...Let me go." she whimpered, trying to pull her arm free by dropping her minuscule weight compared to her captors.

"How did you know what was going ot happen on Therum and Feros? How!" Wrex barked, shaking her arm with each question he asked.

"F-From my own time! All of this was in a video game! I don't know why it was and I don't know how this ended up our real future! Please Wrex...Let me go!" she begged harder as the pressure started to become too much for her to bear.

Wrex was about to slap her again when the doors to engineering hissed open, allowing Tali to walk out. The young quarian stopped and stared across the bay at the krogan whom had the human she wasn't quite sure about yet by the arm, seeing the tears and fear in the human's eyes.

"Tali! Please! Help..." Lycan pleaded once more for aid as the pain grew in her arm and telling her it was near breaking.

Tali didn't say anything, she just stood motionless ringing her fingers together nervously under the angry gaze of Wrex, and the terrified one of Lycan.

"Tali...Please, I..." Lycan's voice trailed off as she started to lose hope that she would receive help before she received any lasting injuries.

"Choose your side quarian..." Wrex rumbled flatly.

Tali continued to stand nervously, thinking it over as she started to walk, seeing the slight change in Lycan's expression as she started to smile in relief, but it died, when she changed her course. Instead, heading across the bay and disappearing into the elevator. Lycan just started to weep harder as her only hope vanished into the elevator. Her heart sank with fear as she glanced back up towards Wrex, seeing his face was blazoned with a morbid, satisfied grin.

"Ha! Your pleas go unheeded human. No one cares about you. They know you're an agent for Saren...Just like I do." Wrex laughed loudly, seeing the human's eye's widen in terror.

Wrex tightened his grip, only adding to Lycan's mounting fear as her arm spiked with more pain, a muffled pop sending an intense wave of heat up her arm and causing her to whimper. Her tears started to come larger, dripping from her jawline to splash against her shirt, leaving darkened spots of fabric behind. She tried with all her strength to pry Wrex's fingers open, neither getting them to budge, nor loosening his vice like grip that was sure to break her bones if he squeezed any harder. She gulped with more terror as she began to give up the struggle, thinking no one was going to come to her aid when the returned hiss of the elevator broke the trembling silence. She looked over and saw, to her frantic relief, Kaidan sprinting towards her with Shepard, Ashley, Garrus and Liara closely behind and all with weapons in hand. Kaidan skidded to a stop, hands balled into tight fists as he glared at the krogan with the most furious, vengeful glare she had every seen. The other four had also halted their charge, priming and pointing their weapons at Wrex with blank faces as they took aim at his head, fingers at the ready to pull their triggers. Lycan peered passed her rescuers and saw one more figure, standing half obscured by a long shadow, ringing it's fingers together as the shimmering reflection of light bounced off their face mask.

"Let her go Wrex." Shepard ordered evenly, but angrily.

"I caught her snooping in the lockers." Wrex growled, still tightening his grip slowly and making Lycan wince.

Shepard's eyes shifted for a fleeting second down to the whimpering Lycan before they returned to Wrex, "I don't believe you Wrex."

"No! I was...I...I was getting a tool for Kaidan! His dog tags are around my arm! See!" she defended, holding the chain out for them to see.

"Lieutenant?"

"Exactly as I asked her to Shepard," Kaidan confirmed without even tearing his eyes away from Wrex, "Let her go krogan or you'll see exactly how far my Biotics go." he threatened, and he was dead serious.

Wrex started to laugh, "Is that a challenge human? Finally growing a quad I see."

"Let her go Wrex! I'm not going to tell you again!" Shepard hissed through clenched teeth.

"You'll have to shoot me first." Wrex rumbled.

"That can be arranged..." Ashley snarled.

"No! Don't shoot him!" Lycan yelped, her struggling picking up it's pace once more as she continued to try and get free with her renewed vigor.

Now Wrex was confused, "I threaten your life, but you defend me?"

"Yes! You're not an evil man Wrex! Please let me go! My arm is gonna break!" Lycan cried, struggling even more.

"You're well being is not of my concern human..."

"No...It's mine! Let. Her. Go!" Kaidan's temper fumed even more as the subtle glow of his corona began to expose itself.

Wrex started to laugh again, "Oh, I understand now. You're Lieutenant...Shepard...Seems to have found himself a play thing." that caused Kaidan's corona to glow more brightly.

"You are testing my patience Wrex! Let her go now!" Shepard's own corona was starting to make itself known, but was far dimmer then Kaidan's.

"Please!...Ah!" Lycan cried harder and it sent Kaidan over the edge.

The few crates that were near the group started to hover, rising to float three feet above the deck as Kaidan's Biotics began to take control. The Biotic demon was forcing it's way out as his muscles tensed to near bursting. His heart pumped harder in his chest and his lungs filled themselves with as much air as possible until it hurt. Kaidan's fuming glare was intensified by the baring of his teeth and the pinching of his brows to the point where they nearly touch. His hands were no longer fists, as he had relaxed the clench to form a claw and Lycan could tell, he was ready, willing and able to tear Wrex apart...limb from limb. The air around them began to crackle and distort as more power flowed from Kaidan's body, his eyes burning with an unmatched fury and his corona only served to glow more brightly the longer Wrex kept ahold of her. The crates floated higher in the wavy air, long, snapping bolts of energy sparking between them and jumping to the deck as the unstable mass effect field that had been generated around them began to warp their exteriors.

She cried once more from the pain, watching Kaidan's fury grow to dangerous levels, "Kaidan...Please...You have to calm down...Please, calm down!" she whimpered, now clutching the elbow of her nearly crippled arm in hopes of stopping the pain from spreading.

Her pleas went unanswered as Kaidan continued to rage and the crates rose higher and started to crack.

"Kaidan! Please, don't do this! Don't hurt yourself because of me! I'm not worth it!" she cried out harder.

Again, her pleas went unheard, in fact, they seemed to be causing him to anger further.

"Lieutenant! Stand down!" Shepard ordered, not gaining any ground as a crate cracked open, allowing bits of cargo to spill out onto the deck.

Wrex glanced around at the floating and breking objects, "Have I touched a nerve?" he growled and smirked.

Lycan was getting pissed, "Shut up you overgrown lizard!" she started to smack at his arm which only made her free hand hurt.

Kaidan's demonic snarl grew as more Biotic power poured from him, raising the crates higher till they were over their heads. Lycan watched as a steady stream of blood began to trickle from a nostril, not even wavering his fury as he ignored it and in fact, his tongue slicked over his lips to wipe away what had covered them. She had to do something before one of several things happened. One, Kaidan's rage exploded and he took everyone out. Two, Wrex broke her arm and three, Shepard and those with weapons shot and killed Wrex which she didn't want to happen. She didn't want any of it to happen. She couldn't let anyone get hurt, she had to think of something. _Think! I have to think of something! Kaidan's gonna hurt himself if Wrex doesn't let go! I have to think of something to get him to let me go!_

"Let me go and I'll tell you where you can find your family's armor!" Lycan screamed as loud as she could with more tears streaming down her cheeks.

It worked.

Wrex's face immediately went blank as he looked at the human he still had a firm grasp on, "How...How do you know I've been looking for my family's armor?" he snarled.

"The same way I know everything else. Let me go and I'll tell you where you can find it." she said through the tears still streaming down her face.

"You tell me now or I tear your arm off."

_Good enough_, "A turian on Tuntau named Tonn Actus." she whimpered.

"You best not be lying to me human..." he was interrupted by the Biotic God incarnate.

"She's not lying!" Kaidan snapped, his voice seemingly otherworldly as it had taken on a double timbre like a turian's.

Wrex glared at the radiating human Biotic for a moment, still seeing that the crates were floating around them before he relinquished his grip, letting Lycan go. She ran straight to Kaidan and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his chest where she wept harder. Her touch did nothing to pull him back from the brink as his arms wrapped around her, his aura still flowing through the air around him and extending to envelop Lycan as well. She looked up to him as the crates continued to hover and crack open, seeing the blue tendrils fluttering up from his eyes like he was a ghost, or some sort of powerful being she saw in movies. She began to ignore the pain in her arm and she placed her hands on his cheeks, forcing his head to turn down to look at her.

"Kaidan please...Come back. It's ok. He let me go." she pleaded through her tears, looking into his Biotically radiating eyes.

Kaidan's furious expression softened at the sound of her voice pleading for him to regain control, but he couldn't as more power flowed from his body.

"Look at me Kaidan! I'm not mad at you! Please don't do this!" she continued to plead.

Kaidan tightened his grip, bringing her closer to him as his shoulders started to slump and his gaze softened even more. His knees started to buckle as he leaned into Lycan for support, his hold weakening as he dropped to his knees.

"I...c-can't..." he spoke, still with the double timbre as he held onto Lycan for ground, something to stabilize himself before it was too late.

Kaidan started to gasp for breath as he drew on his reserves of will power to try and bring back his power back under his control, but it was taking every bit he had.

Lycan followed him to his knees and as tightly as she could, held him up against her own body, "Yes you can...I know you can."

Kaidan started to press more of his weight onto her as he was quickly becoming unable to keep himself up. His aura began to flicker around them as he slumped to the deck, his nose still slowly trickling blood as it changed direction to flow down his cheek. He stared into Lycan's eyes, the broken crates clattering to the deck as he no longer had control over what his Biotics were doing. He could see the fear he had been waiting for, except that it wasn't fear of what he was doing, it was fear of what was happening to him. He was weakening fast and soon, would slip into unconsciousness. He weakly raised his hand and touched Lycan's cheek, his eyes now void of the Biotic mist and half lidded as he wanted the last thing he saw to be her, despite her eyes being full of fear and sadness.

"No! Kaidan...Please! Wake up!" Lycan cried, seeing his eyes close as he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Garrus, keep and eye on him. Liara, get Lycan to the Med Bay. Ashley, help me move Kaidan!" Shepard swiftly ordered has he holstered his weapon and ran to Kaidan's side.

Liara followed Shepard and grasped Lycan's shoulders, "Come on. Let's get you to the doctor." she said kindly, pulling Lycan to her feet.

"I can wait. Please, help Kaidan!" she cried, shrugging off Liara's hands and dropping to her knees again where she started to shake him, "Wake up damn you!" she continued to weep.

Liara bent down once more and grasped her shoulders again, "The doctor will care for him but you need attention as well. You are bleeding." this time, she used more force to pull Lycan to her feet and keep her there.

Lycan hardly kept up her struggle as Liara led her away, the entire time watching as Shepard and Ashley grasped Kaidan's body and hoisted him into the air. Lycan wept into Liara's shoulder, peeking out the entire time to stare at Kaidan, reaching out with her good hand and softly grasping his to tenderly stroke her thumb over his knuckles. The elevator opened up and they headed into the Med Bay. Shepard and Ashley laid Kaidan down in the bed next to Lycan's as Shepard rushed to get Dr. Chakwas, leaving the others to do nothing but wait. Lycan hopped up on her bed, still staring at Kaidan and all but ignoring Liara and Ashley as they couldn't do a thing but wait for the doctor to arrive.

After a moment, Dr. Chakwas and Shepard emerged back into the Med Bay.

"Lycan dear...Are you gonna be alright while I stabilize Kaidan?" she asked as she stepped up to Kaidan's bedside.

She slowed her weeping, "Just help him doctor." she continued to stare at her best friend.

Dr. Chakwas immediately began working as she placed several small diodes on Kaidan's forehead and activated a small monitor against the bulkhead that showed that his brain was still active. She plunged an IV into his arm to keep him hydrated and placed a clip on his middle finger to register his heart beats before she pulled a blanket up to keep him warm.

"Dr. Chakwas?" Shepard glanced up from Kaidan to her, "Well?"

Dr. Chakwas sighed, "We wait. It would seem he slipped into a coma Commander and I'm unable to tell you how long he'll be unconscious for." she answered as she changed her latex gloves and turned her attention to Lycan whom sat, whimpering and staring at the unconscious man.

"I don't think he'll be out as long. He didn't..." he sighed, "he didn't erupt this time." he went to stand next to Ashley and Liara.

"If he would have, then I'd have a lot more to work on then just these two," she carefully slipped the zip up off of Lycan's shoulders to take in the full extent of her injury, "Oh my. We've got a little work to do my dear."

Shepard, Ashley and Liara all quietly gasped as they saw the shape her arm was in. Her entire forearm was a darkening red that was quickly becoming joined by dark purple, swirling blue and a sickening black as the bruise began to form beneath her skin. Several, slowly bleeding cuts had appeared around her wrist, as the Omni-Tool she had been borrowing was crushed into her skin and broken. Pieces had embedded themselves into her flesh and would need to be pulled out before any medi-gel could be applied to close her wounds.

Liara walked over to Lycan's side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders in comfort as the doctor gathered a few tools so she could pull the broken pieces from her arm.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" Liara asked softly, gently rubbing Lycan's upper arm.

Lycan sniffled, "I...I'm more worried about Kaidan." her eyes never shifted away from his unconscious form.

Shepard silently sighed, "You gonna be ok Lycan?" he asked.

Lycan just merely nodded as she glanced up to see Ashley and Shepard leave the Med Bay, leaving the doctor to her work as she plucked piece after piece from Lycan's arm. She dropped the bloodied pieces into a small tin that sat on Lycan's bed, seeing that she was still staring over at Kaidan while she rested her head against Liara's shoulder. She just remained silent the entire time while the doctor worked, hardly even registering any sort of pain which the doctor was sure she was in. She just stared at Kaidan the entire time with sadness in her reddened eyes.

"Is...Is he dreaming?" Lycan whimpered, still staring.

"I am unsure my friend. If it is alright with the doctor, I can meld with him and find out if there is any damage that we should be concerned about?" Liara glanced up towards the doctor, whom nodded.

Liara relinquished her hold on Lycan and walked up to Kaidan, gently placing her blue skinned hands on either side of his head and softly pried his lids open with her thumbs to see that they were rolled into the back of his head. Her eyes darkened into the jet black holes like they had before, as she dove into Kaidan's subconscious. Immediately, she was washed over by a strong sense of duty, the same strong sense of duty that he, himself possessed. She saw images of his childhood that gave way to images of...something...or was it someone. She couldn't determine whom the person was as the images continued, showing her a wall of water, a flowing fabric that fluttered in a breeze as it wrapped itself around the figure. The images changed from flowing fabric, to long, flowing locks of dark hair within the same breeze. She was filled with a sense to protect whomever it was before her which was joined by a strong fear of his power as traces of...of...she couldn't quite tell fluttered in. The images changed once again to ones that belonged to his dream as she saw flashes of pale skin slicked with moisture that was slowly being touched by a darker hand and the sense to protect changed to a growing sense of attraction that started to become too much. She ended her probing meld and left his mind to himself once again as she emerged back into her own consciousness, glancing over towards the doctor as she applied the medi-gel to Lycan's cuts.

"He...He is dreaming but about what, it wasn't clear. I felt...several emotions that he's feeling. His need to protect and his fear of his own power mainly." Liara said, releasing Kaidan's head and walking back over to Lycan's side.

"Is he ok?" Lycan whispered.

"He should be fine in time. How much time however, I am unable to tell." Liara answered as she wrapped her arm around Lycan's shoulders once more.

Lycan just nodded as she placed her head once again on her shoulder and continued to stare at the man in the bed.

Dr. Chakwas finished with her care to Lycan's arm as she wrapped it in a soft fabric to protect the freshly sealed wounds as they healed. She took the bloodied zip up to take it to get cleaned and handed her a blanket to use instead which she hesitantly took. The doctor silently left the Med Bay, closely followed by Liara as they left her to her thoughts and reported to Shepard.

Lycan never removed her eyes from Kaidan as her weeping started up once more. She hugged the blankets around her, feeling not just ashamed, but a hatred for herself that she had broken her promise to him so soon after making it. She had promised that she wouldn't let him go that far again. She promised that she would be there to bring him back but she hadn't been able to. As much as she pleaded, he hadn't come back from the unknown and she couldn't bare to think about him not waking up. She slipped off her bed and stepped to his side, gently grasping his hand in both of hers as she softly squeezed, hoping he would return it...but he didn't. She grasped a clean tissue from nearby and gently wiped away the blood from his nose, lips and cheek, taking care that every drop was soaked up by the cloth before she toss it away and clutched his hand once more.

"I failed you Kaidan. I promised I wouldn't let you go that far and I broke it...I broke my promise to you Kaidan," she let his hand slip from hers, "I'm...I'm sorry." she whispered as she turned and left the Med Bay...a failure.

* * *

Dr. Chakwas and Liara walked out of the Med Bay and saw Shepard seated at a table in the mess with a datapad in hand. They walked over and took a seat on either side of him, glancing at the datapad and seeing that it was the mission report from Feros. He was most likely double checking it to insure that everything was in order before he sent it off to the Council.

"Lycan's wounds should heal in a few days Commander. The worst part will probably be the bruise, but those cuts might scar." she reported quietly.

Shepard sighed and set down the datapad, "And Alenko?" he glanced over towards her.

"Liara melded with him and said he was dreaming which is a good sign. His beta waves are strong and stable so he should wake in a couple days at the latest I'd say." she released a sigh of her own.

"Keep me informed on both of them doctor. I'll be in my quarters if anyone needs me." he grasped his datapad and headed for his quarter's, seeing Ashley round the corner and disappear into the elevator.

He walked into his dark cabin and sat in front of his monitor where the same report sat waiting for his attention. He made a few adjustments and sent it off with a heavy sigh before he raked his hands back over his short hair as his mind started to wonder. The lashing he had given Wrex after he had left the Med Bay was one he would have rather not had as getting into a melee with a krogan was not high on his list of things to do. He had already authorized their change of course to head towards Tuntau and get this over with as he thought that the best thing to do at the moment was to get Wrex to trust Lycan sooner, rather then later. He was starting to feel worried, not just about Lycan and her obvious sadness, but also about Kaidan as she was unable to bring him back this time. _Kaidan must have been more furious then I thought to not even bother listening to her but he had some coherency to him. He held her close and I could see his expression soften but...Why didn't he draw back? Was he that worried that Lycan could have been more seriously hurt then she was? I honestly don't know but I still need to have that talk with him once he wakes up. _He tormented himself with the same train of thought until he lost track of time.

The chime to his door shattered the silence withing his cabin and startled him out of his mental torment. He pushed his chair back and stood with a groan from lingering soreness as he made his way to the door and opened it, finding his Chief was on the other side.

"You need something Ash?" he asked, trying to sound as kind as possible.

"Do you have a moment Skipper?" she nervously rubbed the back of her neck.

"Sure...Come on in."

Shepard stepped aside and allowed her to enter, opting to stare at the bulkhead instead of her...he coughed lowly before he closed the door, crossing his arms across his chest and not moving from his spot as he didn't wanna stand too close to her.

Ashley sighed, again with nerves, as she wheeled around and looked at him, drawing in another deep breath to blow it out as her stomach lurched, nearly causing her to throw up, "Skipper...about this morning...I...uh...I wanted to apologize. In fact, I want to apologize for everything last night."

Shepard quietly sighed, uncrossing his arms to place his hands on his hips with a subtle smirk on his face, "Ash, I'm the CO of this boat and I should have exhibited better leadership by not drinking whatever the Hell that stuff was, but I didn't. I am just as at fault as you are."

_Again with the not flying off the handle? _She sighed, "Skipper...I...I didn't mean...to wake up on top of you."

"Again, I'm just as at fault. I'm just happy I woke up with clothes on." he chuckled.

Ashley rubbed the back of her neck, "Yeah...That would have made things even more awkward...Um...Can I ask you something?"

"By all means. You know my policy." he crossed his arms once more.

"Would you...like to have a drink to celebrate Armistice Day? I know it's a silly thing but there's no other Williams's aboard." she was starting to blush.

"Odd thing to celebrate don't you think?" he took a few steps further into his quarters.

"Well...it's not really a celebration...it's more of an obligation...If that makes sense." she glanced down at the deck.

"Obligation to what Ash? You can talk to me...you know that." he said with a smirk.

Ashley sighed again, "To the liberation of Shanxi...Um..." she cringed.

Shepard just put two and two together, "Ah...I didn't realize that was your bloodline."

"Yeah. I'm General Williams's granddaughter." she still couldn't look Shepard in the eyes as she hung her head.

Shepard's smirk turned into a soft smile as he walked up to stand in front of her, placing two fingers beneath her chin and lifted her head, "Ash...There's nothing to be ashamed of...Not in here."

"Most of my Commanding Officer's fly off the handle when they find out. It takes a special kind of bullheadedness to march into a job where your family name is blacklisted." she found his stunning blue eyes and managed to keep her head up on her own accord.

He slipped his fingers off her chin, "There's nothing wrong with being a little bullheaded in this job Ash. I happen to be the same way." his smile spread just a little wider as he made for a small cupboard underneath his console.

He pulled a pair of tumblers and a bottle of half drunk bourbon from the cupboard and set them down on the small table, unscrewing the top and poured the liquid into the glasses before he slid one across the table towards Ashley.

"Here's to the liberation of Shanxi..." Shepard said, lifting his glass haphazardly into the air.

"Here's to you grandpa..." Ashley added, doing the same.

"And here's to clearing your name."

Ashley's heart skipped a beat before she took a drink, slightly wincing as the liquid burned on it's way down her throat and set the glass back onto the table.

"Thank you Skipper...for the drink, which I'm probably sure just made me drunk again." she smirked herself.

"Best way to get rid of a hangover Ash, is to have a drink. Don't worry about this morning. As long as things stay professional, we'll be fine." Shepard reassured, walking her to the door.

Ashley stepped through, about to head towards the elevator when Shepard's voice stopped her before she got too far.

"Hey Ash..."

"Yes Skipper?"

He smiled a little more at her, "There are far worse things to wake to then you." then, the doors closed.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Interim III

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! It's finally here! Thank you to my beta! I know you're busy and can't thank you enough!)_

_Over a day now. _Lycan thought to herself, sitting alone in a chair where she would have normally found Kaidan. She hadn't gone to see him until last night, where she laid awake for hours in her bed, watching him, seeing his eyes flutter frantically as he dreamt. She wondered what he was dreaming about, whether it was old memories, good or bad times in BAaT, or even replaying what had happened in the Cargo Bay just the day before. She found herself idling nervously in her seat, her heart playing a steady beat in her chest as her mind laced itself with enough worry to make her stomach lurch every time she thought about him. _He's gonna be livid with me when...if he wakes up. Please God...Even if he is pissed at me, let him wake up. He deserves that much. _She ranted in her own, racing mind as she continued to stare at the Med Bay door. She rapped her fingers over and over against her bicep, debating whether or not to go check on him but...she really didn't know if it was a good idea. She was so sure that her best friend was going to shun her for breaking her promise so soon and it something she wasn't ready to face. She didn't want to lose him and thought it best to give him some time before talking to him, just in case he was upset when...if he woke up. _I'm not ready to face him yet. It would tear me apart if I saw him upset, or hurting more because of what I did. I'm not ready. _With her eyes beginning their familiar sting, she stood...and disappeared into the elevator, away from the Med Bay.

* * *

The Med Bay was darkened and quiet as Dr. Chakwas worked away on her console. She periodically glanced up at the monitors that surrounded Kaidan's bed, each showing that he was still stable and hopefully on the mend from his ordeal. She looked back down to her console and made a note in her file that Kaidan had been unconscious for just over a day now but still showed no indication that he was going to wake up anytime soon. She wondered why his dearest friend wasn't in there with him to make sure he was ok, as she thought it would be beneficial to not just him, but her as well to be close, so she stood to go find her as she heard a low groan coming from Kaidan's throat as she passed by.

"Kaidan? Are you feeling alright?" she quietly asked as she stepped up to his bedside and gently pulled the blanket down to his waist.

He slowly raised his hand, ignoring the tube sticking out and clutched his forehead, "L-Ly?" he groaned, "Ly...Is t-that you?" he hadn't opened his eyes yet.

Dr. Chakwas sighed, "I'm sorry Kaidan. It's Carolyn. How's your head?" she asked as she started to take his vitals.

Kaidan finally opened his eyes to take in the darkened Med Bay and set them onto the doctor, feeling a pang of disappointment deep within him as she came into focus, revealing that it truly was her, and not the woman he had called out for. He slowly started to sit up, still holding his head that in all actuality, was only mildly throbbing considering what had happened. Once he was sitting up, he started to peel the diodes from his forehead and pulled the IV from his arm, despite the doctor's protests that he need to move slowly and lay back down.

"Kaidan, you're still rather weak. Please..." she gave up when he sent her a pleading look that he wasn't going to listen...not this time.

"I appreciate your concern doctor but I'm fine...really. Where's Ly? Is she alright? Is she hurt?" he went to stand but the doctor stopped him by pressing her hand into his shoulder, forcing him back down onto the bed.

"She's fine Kaidan. I had to pull out a few bits of your Omni-Tool from her wrist and her forearm is badly bruised but she'll be fine." she answered softly, checking his pulse and finding that it had risen in his urgency to see Lycan.

"What? Where is she? Why isn't she here?" he asked, his face saddening with each rapid fire question and his head swimming, nearly drowning with even more.

Dr. Chakwas sighed softly once more, "She hasn't said a word since you've been unconscious Kaidan. She's been avoiding others, even the Commander and Ashley and she's been keeping to herself." she explained with just a hint of worry as she clutched the datapad that she had carried over to her chest, now allowing him to stand on his own.

Kaidan's brows furrowed, as he had a rough idea of why she was acting that way. She hadn't been able to bring him back from the brink and he had slipped back into a brief coma right in front of her. The mere thought of it, the fact that she had seen first hand what he really is made him want to vomit. He hated that he had come so close to hurting her, and everyone else for that matter but it was the thought of hurting her that made all the blood drain from his face. He clenched his fists tightly, trying to quell the slight shaking that had begun to build up from the darker thoughts and he knew, he was going to have a difficult time seeing her again...especially after this.

"Can't say I blame her. I'd probably be doing the same thing if my best friend was a monster." he hung his head in a weak attempt to hide his emotions from the kind doctor.

Dr. Chakwas cupped his chin like she would a child and raised his head, "Kaidan...You know better then to call yourself that. I've told you that you aren't a monster. Shepard has told you that you aren't a monster," she saw his eyes shift away from her to avoid her kind gaze, "But the one that matters most, and I see it in your eyes whenever she's around, is that Lycan has told and shown you, that you aren't a monster." that caused his eyes to shift back to her.

Kaidan gently pulled his head free of her grasp, "She probably thinks otherwise now," he sighed and slowly shook his head, "Thanks for your help but...I've got work to get to."

He slipped off the bed finally and stepped around her to walk out into the quiet Crew Deck, realizing that he had scanned the area for Lycan but found that she wasn't there. He scuffed over to the monitor by Shepard's quarters and stared at it, figuring he could try and get the flickering to stop but he just didn't have the motivation to do it, not without her company. He sunk down into a chair and rested his head in his hand, debating whether or not he should just forget about the damn thing as he was pretty sure that Lycan wasn't going to want to watch a vid with him...not anymore at least and it began to tear a hole in his heart to make it physically ache.

The low hiss from the door to Shepard's cabin went unnoticed as it's owner stepped out to see Kaidan sitting there with a far gone look in his eyes, staring blankly at the flickering monitor and obviously deep in thought. Shepard went and sat down next to him without saying a word, just followed his friend's line of sight and stared just as blankly at the monitor with him, figuring it best to let Kaidan speak when he was ready. Shepard knew that he was fighting a devastating, internal battle.

After a few silent moments, Kaidan sighed heavily and broke the silence, "She probably hates me now huh?" he asked quietly without shifting his gaze away from the migraine inducing screen.

Shepard knew exactly whom he was referring to and shrugged, "I don't really know. She hasn't said much since yesterday."

"I don't blame her for it. I just...couldn't pull it all back. I tried to. God knows I tried to...but I just couldn't." Kaidan said with a slow shake of his head.

"We've all been to the point of no return Kaidan...even me."

Kaidan scoffed, "Yeah...but yours don't put you into a coma if you can't reign it back in." he shifted in his seat to sit up a little straighter.

"True," he sighed, "You two need to talk things out though Kaidan. She's blaming herself for what happened." Shepard placed a brotherly hand on his friend's shoulder.

Shepard stood after Kaidan didn't respond to his advice and headed for the stairs that lead up to the CIC. He could tell by the look in Kaidan's eyes that he was battling with emotions he hadn't felt in a long, long time...Hell, so was he but that didn't change the fact that Kaidan was the type of personality to think long and hard about things before taking action. He had thought that the first thing Kaidan was going to do when he awoke, was go find Lycan but it was obvious that that didn't happen. _Kaidan my friend...I __hope you make the right decision. _He thought as he vanished up the stairs, leaving his friend to fight the battle he could only win himself.

* * *

The day progressed like normal for everyone else except for Kaidan and Lycan, as they spent the time avoiding each other as best they could on the small frigate. Kaidan spent most of his time brooding to himself by the monitor like usual, as he had figured he'd might as well try to fix it for the rest of the crew whom would use it. Lycan, for her part, spent her time down in the Cargo bay with Ashley and Liara as they aided the Gunnery Chief with her work as she swapped out various mods and upgrades.

"Hey Lycan?" Liara asked quietly after a while, sitting in the seat on the right side of Ashley.

"Hmm?"

"May I ask what's wrong? You have been awfully silent today." she handed a mod to Ashley whom slipped it into the weapon she was working with.

Lycan shrugged, "Just...thinking is all." she handed Ashley the tool she requested.

"About?" Ashley asked with a quick, sidelong glance to her left.

"Nothing really."

"I don't believe you're telling the truth. I've noticed you haven't been with the Lieutenant at all since he woke up." Liara stated kindly, feeling rather worried for her young friend.

Lycan sighed, "I doubt he wants to see me at all. I broke my promise to him." _I should have never told her about being a fly on the wall. The woman is gonna be the death of me._

"What promise?" Ashley fully looked up at Lycan and finished the weapon she was working on without even looking at it.

Lycan hesitated for a moment as her shoulders slumped, "I promised I wouldn't let him lose control of his Biotics again. That lasted all of a day before he went too far and passed out." she grumbled inwardly at herself and stared, saddened at the table. _He probably hates me now._

"He was worried about you." Liara said kindly, softening her gaze.

"Yeah, I know but...he could have hurt himself so much worse then he did and it's my fault. I wasn't able to bring him back." Lycan sucked in a long, slightly shaky breath and avoided both their gazes but could still feel them bore holes into her.

"We were both there Lycan. You did something because he didn't erupt." Liara took the mod Ashley handed her and placed it into a small case on the table.

"That wasn't a Biotic eruption?" Ashley's brows slightly furrowed as she continued her work.

Liara shook her head, "Goddess no. If the Lieutenant had erupted, we would have all ended up in the Med Bay with serious injuries. A Biotic eruption is like an overpowered Singularity that explodes with great force. We were lucky you were there Lycan." she explained as simply as she could.

"I didn't do anything though."

"Yes...you did. We saw it in his eyes. When he looked at you, it gave him something to hold onto to keep him coherent. Enough, so that he was able to reign in his power and keep it under relative control. He lost consciousness because it took everything he had." Liara's voice was soft and full of a sisterly kindness that put a small smile on Lycan's lips.

"Really?" Lycan's saddened expression softened slightly.

"Of course. His bond with you is a strong one and he holds it in a very high regard. It's something that he could grasp and keep him from succumbing to the power." Liara sent Lycan a soft smile.

"I guess," Lycan sighed and was going to continue when she heard the hiss of the elevator, glancing over her to shoulder to see Kaidan walk out with a small bundle in his hand.

Lycan's breath hitched in her throat as her stomach lurched, opting to stare at the table, listening to his foot steps draw closer and stop as she guessed he had halted in front of his locker. The rough hiss as the locker opened comfirmed her assumption, hearing the soft rustling of items as he placed whatever the small bundle was inside and closed the door. She felt the strong ache in the back of her neck that someone was watching her, making it increasingly difficult not to look up and see what she was sure to be a furious scowl on his face. She glanced up to meet the duel glares from Ashley and Liara, both looking as if they were expecting her to act and speak with him but she didn't, she just sat real still like she was a statue, just listening to his boot falls grow quieter and eventually vanish as he disappeared back into the elevator.

"See...He's pissed at me." she glanced back down to the table.

"Hardly Lycan. You didn't see the look on his face. He's heartbroken you won't even look at him. He glanced over here before he walked off." Ashley whispered.

"Probably to glare."

Ashley and Liara glanced at each other, silently having a conversation as they both thought the same thing. _We need to do something._

_

* * *

_

The night cycle was setting in as the crew who's turn it was were finishing their meals and heading towards their stations. Shepard, Ashley and Liara all sat on one end of the table as they quietly held their conversation in secret and out of ear shot of the man sitting by himself at another table. They were all leaned in close to each other so they could whisper as they pushed their emptied trays out of the way, ready to scheme and plot.

"We have got to do something about the LT and Lycan Skipper." Ashley whispered, glancing over towards Shepard.

"I know. They've been avoiding each other all damn day. Kaidan thinks Lycan is pissed at him." Shepard relayed from his earlier conversation he had had with the man.

"Really? That's funny because Lycan thinks he's mad at _her_ for breaking her promise. How long is this gonna last?" Ashley asked.

"Knowing Kaidan, he's gonna brood about it for a while and Lycan...she seems a bit on the stubborn side so I don't think she's gonna make the first move." Shepard glanced over towards Liara, whom nodded in agreement.

"So what do we do? They seemed lost without each other." Liara glanced over her shoulder to see the back of Kaidan's head on the other side of the Mess.

Shepard and Ashley nodded their heads.

"I'm thinking we might have to recruit the help of a certain pilot we happen to know." Shepard suggested, trying to hide the growing grin on his face.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Skipper? He can take things a bit...far, we'll say."

"What other choice do we have? We need Kaidan in his right mind for this mission. I can't have him moping around the ship because they won't take to each other." Shepard was still whispering and leaning into their little circle just a little more.

Shepard had a point and the girls knew it. The whole day was spent walking on egg shells around those two because they didn't wanna make things any worse. All three knew they had to do something and they knew exactly whom they were going to talk to.

* * *

Kaidan set his tray into the sink, ignoring the muffled whispers that he couldn't make out, coming from the huddled group that sat at one of the tables and headed for the elevator to go to the Cargo Bay. Once inside the slow moving car, he leaned back against the wall and folded his arms over his chest, still thinking about just how tense the day had been. The entire day, he had avoided her as best he could, blaming himself for not being able to keep control of his demon and he had nearly hurt her. He had sworn he would never hurt her, or let her be hurt and he had failed on both accounts. When he had been unable to stop his rage, it had been the third promise he had broken. _Three strikes. I've gotten my three strikes and now I'm losing her. I'm losing my best friend. _He thought until the door chime sounded and let him out.

He walked out into the nearly barren bay and headed for his locker, grabbing his shower gear before he turned and headed for the showers, hoping that the steaming water would help clear his head. Each foot fall that brought him closer, he could hear the raining sound of running water through the door and he wondered whom else could possibly be taking a shower that late. He opened the door and nearly fell over when he saw whom it was, as Lycan was facing away from him with her hair foamed with her shampoo who's scent wafted into his nose. The light floral scent made his eyes roll into the back of his head as it had become the smell that he immediately associated with her and every time he caught the faintest hint, his stomach would start to twist and flutter. He choke as he stood frozen in place, his eyes flicking over her skin that was visible. He scanned her neck, her shoulders, her arms, one of which was severely bruised and strutting just about every color under the sun.

The bruise alone made his stomach twist even more, knowing that it was because him and that he had failed to protect her. The dark cloud spread from her wrist to her elbow and was scored with dark red marks that had been sealed by the talented doctor. It was an eyesore against her pale colored skin and he wished, that she wasn't upset with him so that she would allow him to care for it. He wanted to make the pain he was sure she was in go away, to leave her be and to plague him instead as he believed it was his fault that she had to suffer. He wanted to ease her pain, ease her mind and beg...all out beg for her to forgive him and he didn't care how long, or what it took. He wanted her to forgive him.

His eyes caught the slightest glimpse of her back through the joint in the stall door and he noticed several darkened areas like a bruise, but they had shape and definition like they were not a natural occurrence. _Ink? That's ink...She has a tattoo? _He thought as his brows lightly furrowed and his lips parted, still unable to stop looking at her. He silently gulped as he saw her head start to turn towards him, making him freeze even more.

Their eyes met for the first time that day, both sets blank and holding back the flood of emotions that both were feeling. Lycan pulled her soaked hair over her shoulder and tried to soften her gaze, hoping, wishing that he would understand that nothing was his fault and that everything was hers. Her day had been miserable, trying to avoid him but at the same time, wanting to be near him. Her emotions were conflicted and it was making her head spin as she saw his eyes shift away from her, his brows drawing down as his face contorted to form a mild scowl, which made her eyes sting with tears. Kaidan stood rigid for a moment longer, not looking at her as he spun and left, leaving her alone once more to finally shed the tears that had threatened all day.

Once outside the showers, he pressed his back against the bulkhead and thudded his head against it, his heart starting to hammer in his chest and his breath coming short. He closed his eyes, trying to push the sight from his head, but was failing miserably as his mind erased the stall door on it's own accord, revealing what his imagination was running wild with. Her face refused to leave his mind's eye, forcing him to stare into her chocolatey eyes without the option of looking away. He saw anger deep within them, but it seemed that the anger wasn't directed towards him, but somewhere else. He could have sworn she was upset with him, but her face didn't show it, it only showed what he thought was loneliness. _Why would she feel lonely? I thought she was mad at me?_

He clutched his head and growled at himself angrily, "I broke my promises...All of them. She hates me now. I know it." he mumbled to himself as he pushed off the bulkhead, no longer having the will to take a shower.

He walked back out onto the Crew Deck and avoided the looks from Shepard, Ashley and Liara, whom were still seated at a table, and headed right passed them to find himself an empty sleeper pod. He claimed it for himself by slipping his barcoded dog tag into the slot which activated the device and it would now, only work if he was the one operating it. He balled up his pajamas and headed into the Med Bay to change, trying to dodge the kind doctor on his route to the back room, but failed.

"Kaidan...Do you have a moment?" Dr. Chakwas asked, looking up from her console.

Kaidan stopped just before the door to the back room and looked over his shoulder, "Something you need?" his voice was low and void of any emotion.

"I'm worried about you. You've been awfully quiet all day and I fear that all your internal tormenting could trigger a migraine." she said as she stood from her desk and walked over to him.

"If it does...It does. It wouldn't matter anyways. I'll just suffer alone in the dark." he answered, looking away from the doctor as he didn't want to see her face.

"Kaidan...You are not alone and you know it." she made it sound kind and sweet...like his mother would have.

"I might as well be. I've lost the only thing that matters."

Dr. Chakwas gently placed her hand on his shoulder, "You haven't yet...but you will if you keep avoiding her. You need each other Kaidan."

"If that was true doctor...then I wouldn't have broken every promise I've made to her. She's better off without me."

"You know that's not true. If I may make the suggestion, perhaps you should call your mother. She's worried about you." she suggested.

Kaidan spun around and looked at her with furrowed brows, "You told my mom?"

"You know we are friends Kaidan and she asks about you. I didn't say anything about your relationship with Lycan, or your Biotic episode. She just wishes you would call her more often so I give her reports on occasion." she sent him a small, reassuring smile.

Kaidan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I don't have a relationship with Ly Dr. Chakwas. She is...was my best friend...That's all."

"She still is your best friend Kaidan. Call you mother. It might make you feel better. I'll keep the crew out of the back room to give you some privacy."

Kaidan sighed once more and nodded before he headed through the doors into the darkened room, sitting down in a chair to begin taking off his uniform and sighed once more. He pulled his boots off and set them aside, leaving his socks on as the deck was cold and he hated having cold feet. Next, his uniform shirt came off with one, smooth motion over his head, leaving him with only the white tank he wore underneath it which was soon lifted over his head to be replaced with the simple gray Alliance t-shirt he had multiples of. His pants were tossed over the back of his chosen seat before he pulled up the dark blue sweats with the large 'Systems Alliance' silkscreened in the same gray down the side of one leg as he saw the empty console resting on the desk. _Maybe I should call mom...or dad. Either one would work. _He thought as he sat back down and started to work the console. He thanked Joker for liking to stick close to comm buoys as he logged into the network and the whole of the extranet. He found the FTL comm program and opened it, skimming through his contracts until he found his parents number and dialed it.

After a few moments, the screen on the console changed from the standard soft, glowing orange, to a vid link where an aged man came into view. His hair was salted with streaks of gray amongst his raven hair that was neatly kept from years of service and his dark complexion was lightly spotted with moderate wrinkles that, instead of adding age to the man's face, added an appearance of wisdom.

_"Aw Kaidan my boy. It's good to hear from you son. How are you?" _the aged man beamed, smiling back at him.

"I've been better dad. Things are...hectic we'll say." he knew his father would understand the need for discretion, as he was Alliance as well many moons ago.

His father nodded in understanding, _"Why do I feel like there is something else you aren't telling me?" _a salted brow raised up in question.

Kaidan sighed, "Because there is," he scoffed a sad laugh, "I...screwed up huge dad."

The aged man tilted his head, waiting for his eldest son to continue.

"I...had another incident the other day. I almost had another eruption." he admitted.

_"What happened?"_

Kaidan drew in a steadying breath, "One of the members of the crew was hurting another and...I was furious that he wouldn't let her go and I lost control." he explained as best he could without shattering the confidentiality that he had to maintain.

_"Her?" _his father caught the reference.

"Yeah...Her."

_"Now I think I understand...Perhaps your mother would be a better person to talk to son. She can stay and talk to you while I go and bail your brother out of trouble again." _his father chuckled low with a familiar smokey rasp.

"Nate in jail again?" Kaidan's brow popped up.

_"Drunk in public this time. I'm just happy he hasn't committed any serious crimes like robbery or murder. I can handle his drinking and occasional drug use." _the aged man shrugged.

"Let's hope it doesn't go any further then that." he tried not to scoff.

_"Very true. He is trying to turn himself around though."_

"How so?"

_"He's been looking into enlisting. I just hope he makes a decision soon. His bail is getting expensive." _the aged man chuckled again which Kaidan joined in with.

"Let me know if you need help with it dad."

The aged man waved him off, _"Nonsense. Your brother isn't your problem. Though, he might be if he enlists."_

"That would be interesting." he rubbed the back of his neck.

_"Very...Here's you mother son. I'll give your brother your best when I see him." _

"Alright dad. Good luck." he sent his father a weak smile.

_"Thank you son. I love you." _he shifted to walk off the screen.

"Love you too dad," he waited the short moment until a nicely aged woman with a slightly lighter complexion came into view, "Hi mom."

_ "Kaidan! Oh my sweet little boy! How are you?" _she was beaming with a beautiful, radiant smile.

Kaidan scratched the side of his neck, "I'm alright mom. Carolyn said you were missing me." he couldn't help but return his mother's smile...He was never able to resist them.

_"I must admit, I miss my babies. Even though they are grown and have left my nest. Your father told me what happened. Are you ok?" _her smile faded slightly.

Kaidan sighed heavily, "I'm fine. I was only out for a little over a day."

Her smile faded completely, _"Then why do you look so lost? Is it because of this 'Her' you father mentioned?" _she asked sweetly.

He shrugged, "I'm not sure mom. All I know...is that I couldn't stop even when she started pleading for me to." he hung his head.

_"Is she apart of your crew?" _

_ Damn she's good, _"Sort of. She's a civilian on the ship."

_"Is she a romantic interest?"_

Kaidan thought a moment, not quite sure how to answer...which surprised him, "She's my best friend but...I think she's upset with me because I broke the promises I made to her." he held up three fingers to drive his point home.

_"Which promises?"_

He sighed once more, "I promised I wouldn't hurt her. I promised that I wouldn't let anyone hurt her and I promised that I wouldn't go that far again with my Biotics. The crew member hurt her, I lost control and it hurt her." he quickly explained.

_"Physically?"_

Kaidan shook his head, "No. Not physically. I hurt her because I broke my promises. Now she's upset with me." he rubbed a small ache that popped up in his shoulder.

_"Has she told you that?" _her head tilted at her question.

"No." his brows slightly furrowed.

_"Then how do you know for sure?" _her soft mouth began to smile once more.

He rubbed the back of his head, again, unable to answer his mother's question so instead, he just shrugged, "She's been avoiding me all day. Won't even look at me."

_"Is she avoiding you? Or are you avoiding her?" _

Kaidan just looked into his mother's eyes on the screen, having to rattle his brain for another answer as she was doing a fantastic job stumping him.

He groaned loudly, "Dammit mom...How do you do that? How is it you can just ask and I willingly spill my guts out to you without a second thought?" he wasn't angry...just amazed that she was able to pick apart his words like she, herself were telling him what to say.

_"I'm your mother sweetie. I can read you like a book. You have the same ability my boy, you just don't recognize it often enough. Plus, your emotions are printed all over your face." _her motherly smile returned.

"They are?" he cringed.

She nodded, _"Yes honey...They are. You have feelings for her don't you." _it was a statement, not a question.

Kaidan found himself sighing yet again, "I care about her yes...but I wouldn't call it feelings. Plus...I could get into trouble because we're on the same ship." he lowered his voice to try and keep things between him, and his mother.

_"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret honey. You aren't the only one who's broken regs."_

Kaidan's brows drew together tighter as he tilted his head at her.

_"Many many moons ago Kai...I was enlisted too. I only served a short term and was on my way out when I met your father on the Everest. He was a full Commander when I met him." _she smiled again.

"Really? How come you never told Nate and me when we were kids?" he felt his lips curling up slightly.

His mother shrugged, _"It was something we thought we would tell you later on in life. After a while though, we just forgot about it. You boys were happy as it was."_

"I'll have to get the full story sometime."

_"I'd be more then happy to tell you honey. As for your friend sweetie...You can't assume that she's upset with you if she hasn't blatantly shown, or told you. You should talk to her." _she urged as only a mother could urge her son.

"I just don't know how mom. What do I do if she is mad at me?"

_"If you truly care for her...and I can see that you do...You'll figure it out. You're a smart boy honey."_

He rolled his eyes, "Mom...I'm 32."

She smiled and laughed a quiet laugh, _"You're right. I'm sorry. I forget sometimes honey. To me, you'll always be my little boy. You're a smart man,"_ she sweetened her smile, again, a trick only a mother could do, _"So...tell me about her?"_

Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck as his stomach started to get nervous, "Well...She's 25...uh...Long, dark brown hair. Chocolatey brown eyes," his lips took on a crooked grin, "5'6 or so. A unique name that suits her well. She likes to watch vids. The ones I like too and...yeah"

_"Seven years younger. She sounds lovely and not many people like those old vids from the 20__th__ like you do. What's her name?"_

"Lycan...I call her Ly." his smile widened.

_"You do have feelings for her. Look within yourself sweetie and you'll find it."_

"You think so?"

_"I do...What time is it for you?" _

Kaidan glanced down at the bottom of the screen, "Almost 2300 hours. I should probably head off and hit the pod. I'm sorry to cut this short."

_"It's alright sweetheart. Get some rest and you'll figure it out eventually. I love you." _she smiled wide as she got ready to cut the link.

"Good night mom. Love you too."

The link cut and the screen went dark, leaving Kaidan alone in the back room with his own thoughts of what his parents had said. He stood from his seat and gathered his things before he walked out, nearly stopping dead in his tracks when he saw Lycan slipping into her bed. Their eyes met again for a brief moment but neither said anything as Kaidan pushed through the awkwardness and headed straight for the door. He stuffed his uniform into his bag and hung it on a hook on his chosen pod before he slipped inside, sealing the door with a quiet hiss and pulled down the privacy screen to give a fleeting sense that he was alone. He got as comfortable as he could and closed his eyes, trying to push all thoughts from his mind so he could fall asleep but it was proving difficult as his mother's words kept fluttering through his head. Had she been right when she said he was developing feelings for her? He wasn't sure. All he did know for sure, was that if he was gonna keep thinking about things, he was going to get a migraine and the last time that happened, he had thrown up on his best friend that he was slowly losing. After some time, he gave up trying to fall asleep on his own and hit the assist button, listening as the pod began to fill with the sleeping aide that smoothly, lulled him off to sleep.

* * *

Shepard and his little group got up and left the Crew Deck, walking up the stairs and emerged onto the CIC where it was quiet and already in full swing for the night shift. They walked up to the bridge where the _Normandy's_ faithful pilot was diligently at work and they all wondered if the man actually slept.

"Joker...Got a minute?" Shepard asked as he slipped down into the empty co-pilot's seat with Ashley and Liara standing behind him.

"I suppose. It's not like I'm flying a ship or anything." Joker snarked with a crooked grin.

"One of these days Joker, you're gonna get popped for insubordination." Shepard was trying his damnedest not to laugh out loud, but the girls did.

"Probably...But not by you." Joker laughed.

Shepard slowly shook his head with a smile across his lips, "I'll make sure to be at your mast. God I hate the green tablecloth," he looked over towards the pilot, ready to get down to business, "So...We've got a proposition for you."

Joker's brow popped up, "What kind of proposition?"

"We need to come up with something to do about the LT and Lycan." Ashley divulged simply.

Joker grinned wide as he set the autopilot and turned to face the Commander, "You have my undivided attention."

* * *

Kaidan felt his heart hammering in his chest as his hands slowly drifted up her sides, relishing in the warmth of her skin, it's feel and it's taste. Their bodies shimmered with a smooth layer of sweat and their breathes came hot, filled with passion and lust as they pulled each other closer to bath themselves in the feel of each other's hot skin. Their lips pressed harder together in a bruising, feverish kiss like they had been apart for far too long. Tongues slicked passed their crushed lips to duel with each other as if they were waring for dominance over the other. Soon, a throbbing pain began to build in his head, a steady pound that spread all over to encompass his brain in it's entirety as it started to squeeze and blur the image in front of him. The sight of her faded and distorted into an indistinguishable smudge of pale colors as the pressure in his head grew stronger and stronger, causing his moans of pleasure to change into whimpers of pain.

He was ripped from his dream when the pounding in his head started to shatter his skull as the very sound of his breathing screamed in his ears. He clutched his head, hoping to keep it from exploding into a thousand pieces and tried to open his eyes, seeing only blurs of dimmed light upon which he was grateful. He swallowed hard as he lifted the privacy screen to step out, having to grasp the pod for stability before he dropped to his knees. He kept from whimpering out loud as he started the painfully long journey to the Med Bay, hoping for relief and not caring how he got it, he just wanted a reprieve from this sudden, violent migraine. He dragged a hand along the bulkhead for as long as he could until the bulkhead ended, then having to rely only on himself to make it the last leg to his salvation. He walked into the dark Med Bay, the light behind him lighting his path as the low rustling of someone in a bed hit his ears. His vision was blurred as he looked at her, sitting up in her bed and looking at him with a worried gaze that made him smile, even through the immense pain in his head and the awkwardness that they had both been feeling throughout the day.

Kaidan carefully scuffed up to her with heavy pain in his distant eyes, "Make the pain go away Ly." he whimpered as he walked up to her, wanting nothing more but her comfort and completely forgetting that he was still sure she was upset with him.

Lycan just looked at him, seeing how glassy his eyes were and threatening to shed a torrent of pain filled tears, "Oh Kaidan...Come here." she whispered as she reached up and brought his head to her shoulder.

Kaidan closed his eyes which shed the tears that had pooled as he nuzzled into her shoulder, eventually wrapping his arms around her waist to bring her closer. He couldn't take being apart from her any longer. He couldn't take not being able to talk to her whenever he wanted. He couldn't take not being able to catch fleeting wisps of her scent which always put a smile on her face, no matter his mood. He couldn't take not being able to see her, sitting in a chair near him while he worked and occupying her time with a datapad in hand, or helping him work as best she could. He missed teaching her tech, feeling the ever growing sense of being complete burn deep within him, where, he was still trying to figure that out. He felt her softly pet the nape of his neck, slowly lacing her fingers through his hair each time she brought her hand back up to start a new stroke.

"Do you need anything?" she whispered as softly as she could, knowing that the slightest noise could cause him agony.

Kaidan released a shaky, whimpering breath as he just shook his head against her neck and tightened his hold.

"Come on...Lay down." she went to slip out of her bed to let him in, but he held her down so she couldn't get off.

"Don't go...Please...don't go. I...need you." he admitted, his shoulders starting to shake as his hand drifted up her back to grasp her shoulder.

Lycan couldn't deny his request. Instead, she just continued stroking the nape of his neck. She was slightly confused, as she had thought that he had been upset with her and was the reason that he had been avoiding her all day. She knew she blamed herself for what happened, but this was not something that someone did if they were mad. This was something someone did when they wanted nothing more then to be near another whom they found comfort in.

"Do you want to lay down?" she whispered, shifting her head over to give his more room.

Kaidan just nodded, again into her neck.

Lycan relinquished her gentle grasp of him and scooted back into her bed, inclining it's head some so that she wasn't laying flat before she opened her arms, inviting her best friend to come to her. Kaidan opened his eyes, half lidded and slipped into the bed, limply crawling up to her and laid down against her, resting his head on her shoulder once more and clutching her upper arm like a scared child does it's mother. He didn't think, refused to think of what he was doing but just laying there, against her, with her, made the pain dull. She wrapped her arms around him again, picking up her tender strokes to the nape of his neck as it seemed to make him relax and weaken his shaking. She pressed her lips to his soft hair on the top of his head, content to just lay there holding and comforting him as she knew his pain was great.

Kaidan carefully shifted his weight so not to crush her underneath him, threading a leg underneath hers which hopped it up, almost to his hip as his other just rested next to hers. He didn't want to close his eyes again, as he was afraid that if he did, he would drift off to sleep and he would wake up somewhere else and she wouldn't be there. He just laid there, half blanketing her as he nuzzled into her shoulder, his eyes glassy as he blindly stared at the bulkhead, listening to her breath and watching her chest rise, and fall.

"Ly?" he said quietly after a short while, his voice ultra low and full of pain.

"Hmm." she hummed into his hair as her lips were still pressed to his scalp.

"I'm sorry I broke my promises to you..." he spoke into her neck, moving his hand from her upper arm to twirl a lock of her hair around his fingers.

Lycan's brows slightly furrowed, as she didn't know what promises he was referring to, "What promises?" she lifted her head from his hair and leaned it over to look into his face as best she could, still stroking the back of his neck.

He swallowed down more pain as his head thumped hard, "I p-promised that I wouldn't hurt you...I did. I p-promised that I wouldn't l-let anyone hurt you...I let them...and I promised t-that I wouldn't go that f-far again...I w-went that far. I'm s-so sorry Ly. P-Please...I need you to forgive me." he was trying not to whimper but found it increasingly more difficult the more he spoke.

Lycan lightly sighed as she choked back her gasp and leaned her cheek against his forehead, "You're blaming yourself because you thought I was mad at you?"

Kaidan nodded shallowly.

Her eyes began to sting again, "Oh Kaidan...I wasn't upset with you. I was upset at myself for breaking my promise I made to you." her lips slightly smiled against his skin, which was cold to the touch and clammy.

Kaidan stared at her hair twisted around his knuckle and silently laughed, despite the pain in his head, "We thought we were upset at one another?" he leaned into her a little more as he grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled it up to half cover then both.

"I guess so," she softly kissed his forehead, "Kaidan...I'm sorry too. I should have been here when you woke up and I wasn't. I was too upset at myself and I shouldn't have abandoned you like that." she whispered as she began another, delicate stroke to his neck.

He planted his foot into the mattress and pushed himself up slightly, bringing his head higher up on her shoulder. His glazed eyes shifted down to see her arm, the one that had been badly bruised and appeared black in the dark. He let the lock of her hair slip from around his finger as he gently grasped her darkened arm, pulling it away from caressing his neck and stroked his thumb softly over her skin.

"You don't need to apologize to me...D-Does it hurt?" he asked softly as he continued stroking her skin.

She watched him inspect her arm, "It's sore but it's getting better." she rested her cheek once more against the top of his head.

"I'm sorry he hurt you Ly..." one of his pained tears dripped from his cheek to continue it's path down her chest, over her exposed skin that her tank didn't cover.

"You don't need to apologize to me."

She smiled softly as she watched him trace his fingertips down the length of the deep bruise, his calloused fingertips that were usually used to fix and destroy, take on a warm and gentle touch. Her free arm was draped across his back, feeling the hard muscle beneath his t-shirt as they lightly quivered from the pain he was suffering through, just to stay awake and talk with her.

"How's your head?" she whispered, wanting him to feel relief.

He released his grasp on her arm, allowing it to return to it's strokes as he pulled the blanket up a little higher for more warmth, "It h-hurts but...it feels better when I'm with you," he quietly swallow down a groan of pain, "Ly...I n-need you. You know that right?" he went back to twirling the lock of hair.

She nodded as a soft smile graced her lips, slightly shifting underneath him to get more comfortable as she held him, hoping that she wasn't aggravating his migraine with her strokes, "I do. I need you too. You're my best friend and I feel like I'm at home when I'm with you," she started another, soft stroke, "Am I making things worse when I stoke your neck?" she pressed her lips to his forehead once more.

"No...It feels g-good. It feels good just to be close to you...knowing that you aren't upset with me. I couldn't stay away from you any longer," he huffed a small laugh, "How sad is that? I couldn't stay away for more then a day." he nuzzled further into her neck.

"You aren't sad. If you didn't come here tonight, I would have come to you tomorrow. I missed you." she lightly kissed his forehead again, letting her lips linger for a moment longer then before.

Kaidan ignored the pain in his head to lift it up and look into her eyes, as blurry as his vision was, he still wanted to see her. Their eyes met as he searched her kind, yet tired eyes, seeing nothing but forgiveness and affection. He saw a glimmer of something else in the reflection of her eyes but in his pained haze, he couldn't determine what it was. He let the lock of hair slip once more from his fingers as he gently placed his hand on the side of her neck, letting his thumb trail over her jaw as he shifted, bringing him up just a little further.

"I m-missed you too Ly." he slightly winced as a strong thump racked his brain.

Kaidan's lips slightly parted as he started to lean towards her, his eyes flicking down to her lips for a fleeting second before meeting her eyes once more. His head throbbed beyond reasoning, causing him more pain but he wanted to push through it. His mother's words started to drift through his mind again, remembering that she had said he would figure it out. He had...figured it out. His insatiable need to protect her had grown into an equally insatiable craving for her to be near him. His craving grew stronger everyday he denied it and it had become so strong in fact, that if he wasn't able to at least see her, his heart started to physically ache and his breath would come short. His mind would reel with thoughts of her if he wasn't able to see her or catch a lingering trace of her shampoo. Whenever she was near, his work was easier somehow, so much so that when she had been just sitting there next to him, he had almost got the flickering stopped on the monitor.

He leaned in ever closer, bringing him a hair's breath away from touching her lips with his own. He could feel the heat from her lips, it's warmth a welcome reprieve from the cold shiver that continued to rack through him. He glanced up to met her eyes once more, seeing them scan his face with nothing but kindness writen all over her soft features. He wanted to close the miniscule distance, to feel her lips against his but he was nervous, as he wasn't sure if she too, wanted the same thing. He held his breath as he slowly, pushed himself closer to meeting her lips when a wave of pain thundered through his head, causing him to groan in pain and shatter their moment into millions of pieces. His hand slipped from her neck and came to rest once more on her upper arm as he slumped back against her, resting his head on her shoulder as the pain finally began to become too much. His eyes closed as his breathing evened, drawing him closer to sleep despite not wanting to. Not yet. He tried to fight it but Lycan started to stroke his neck and it felt as good as her massage on Feros did. It comforted him and made the pain dull enough that he fell deep into sleep as his last thought was the woman whom was holding him close. The woman he had finally admitted to himself, that he was falling for.

* * *

Schemer Prime alone in his seat after the other three schemers had left some time ago. He scanned the ships systems for any abnormalities but found nothing out of the ordinary so he opted to shift through the ships surveillance feeds instead hoping for something interesting. He quickly lost hope as nothing was going on until he came onto the feed from the Crew Deck. He saw the Staff Lieutenant scuffle down the grating with his head in his hands.

"Oh shit. Someone's brooding caused a migraine." Joker sang to himself as he watched the feed.

He saw the Lieutenant turn and hobble to the Med Bay to disappear through the doors. Joker switched the feed into the Med Bay as he saw the Lieutenant stumble inside, also seeing the creepy fortune teller sit up and he took exceptional notice, that she was wearing a tank and very short shorts.

"Oh? What's this?" Joker's mouth quirked into a devious grin.

He continued watching as Alenko rested his head against her shoulder and eventually..._Oh! Oh! Bout damn time Kaidan! _Joker was trying not to yelp with excitement as he saw Kaidan slip into the bed with her, resting his head against her shoulder as she held him close.

"My my. Looks like I won't have to pull our little scheme after all...At least on them," Joker snickered, "A little change up in the old game plan and I have other target's in mind." his grin spread wide on his face as the wheels started to turn.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Tuntau

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

The _Normandy_ entered orbit around the giant, gray and barren looking ball of rock of Tuntau in the Argos Rho cluster where it had been said that Wrex's family's armor resided. Shepard had been the first person up, taking the moment of peace to eat some breakfast, have some awful, military grade coffee that made him cringe and decide on whom he wanted to take planet side besides Wrex. He had ordered Joker to orbit the planet, as the rest of the crew was still showing no signs of waking up. He had always been a early riser, but the crew deserved to have a couple more hours of rest every now and again as he hadn't taken into account that they would arrive during the middle of the night cycle.

Shepard set down his datapad and figured he would go inform his chosen squad when he wanted them suited up and ready to go. He walked over to the sleeper pod he had seen Kaidan step into, but found it empty and it caused him to wonder where the Lieutenant could possibly be. He hadn't seen him around the ship and figured, that he probably had gotten up to get a workout in which hopefully would help him work out some tension from avoiding Lycan the previous day. He drifted into the Cargo Bay, his eyes briefly scanning Ashley's workstation, mainly out of habit before he saw Wrex, actually sitting against his crates with his head slumped into his chest. _Hmm...is he asleep? He sleeps sitting up. Interesting. _He thought as he quietly and carefully walked up to the krogan. As he drew closer, Wrex's low, rumbling voice all but echoed through the Cargo Bay and thundered into Shepard's ears.

"Have we arrived?" Wrex asked without even looking up.

"We're in orbit. It's still the night cycle for the next hour and a half but I wanted to let you know to be ready by 0800." Shepard said quietly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'll be ready Shepard. Who else are you bringing." he grumbled.

"I was thinking Alenko. Have you seen him by chance? Is he in the gym?" Shepard asked.

"No and no."

Shepard just blinked at the krogan and spun on his heel to leave, debating with himself if Wrex wasn't much of a morning person and figured that that was probably true. He headed back up to the Crew Deck and stepped into the CIC where he headed to the bridge, seeing Joker happily awake with a stupid grin on his face like he had just won a bet.

"Morning Joker. Do you ever sleep?" Shepard's lips quirked into a soft grin.

"Sometimes." he never looked up from his consoles.

"Have you seen Alenko? I can't find him and I wanted to bring him when we hit dirt." Shepard leaned a shoulder against the bulkhead.

Joker snickered, "Have you checked the Med Bay?"

"Shit...Did he have a migraine?" he groaned.

"Something like that." the pilot chuckled again.

Shepard began to notice that Joker's mood was oddly...enthused, "What's wrong with you?" one of his brows popped up in question.

"Your Staff Lieutenant isn't...alone, we'll say." now Joker tore his eyes away from his screens to glance at Shepard.

"Of course he isn't. Lycan sleeps in there...Joker?" something was up.

Joker's grin grew a little wider as he rummaged through the vid feeds from around the ship, finding the feed from the Med Bay and brought it up for Shepard to see for himself. Shepard pushed off the bulkhead and walked up to the console to get a closer look, seeing exactly what Joker was talking about.

"How...the fuck...did that happen?" he pointed to the screen and glanced down at Joker.

"Don't know but I wish I did. They've been like that the whole night."

Shepard sighed and slowly shook his head, "Do you know if they talked things out?"

"They were awake for a while but I couldn't hear what they were talking about." Joker reported it like he was relaying mission sensitive information.

Shepard sighed again as he stared at the screen, seeing that both were still very much asleep and snuggled against each other. He could faintly see Lycan adjust in her sleep which shifted Kaidan as he subconsciously lifted himself to allow her to do so with ease. He saw Lycan reposition her arm that was draped across his back so that her hand rested softly against his bicep and her head leaned over to rest her cheek against his forehead. They showed no signs that they wanted to move anytime soon.

Shepard sighed again, "Restrict access to the Med Bay to Dr. Chakwas only. Let them sleep." he ordered softly as he straightened up.

"Are you sure Commander? That means Liara isn't gonna wake up anytime soon. That and the creepy fortune teller won't be awake because let's face it...She looks content to stay there all damn day." Joker mildly protested, fighting the devious grin that was playing at both corners of his mouth.

"I know. I'll bring Tali when we go down and we are perfectly capable of doing a mission by ourselves. They need some time."

Joker nodded, "What time do you want me to bring her in?"

"Start decent at 0700." he patted the back of the pilot's chair.

"Aye aye."

* * *

Kaidan inhaled a long, relieved breath that was filled with a soft scent that brought a light smile to his lips as his eyes slowly began to flutter open to give him a sight that made his smile widen just a little more. He remained as still as possible, just taking in the sight of the skin of his best friend's neck and shoulders. He had stayed exactly where he had fallen asleep, which sent a flush of heat over his body as he became hyper aware of her beneath him. He softly slid his hand up her arm, watching his fingertips glide over the velvet until it came to the lock of hair he remembered that he had been twirling around his finger during the night. He took the lock and started to play with it once more, sighing with delight as the silky strands wrapped themselves around his finger. His hot breath caressed the exposed skin that covered her collarbone every time he exhaled, which stirred Lycan from her slumber as her eyes fluttered open to see that the man leaning against her was now awake and his eyes were void of pain.

"Morning. How's your head?" she whispered with a soft smile on her lips as she started to stroke the nape of his neck again, earning a delighted, ultra quiet moan from his throat.

Kaidan inhaled another long, scent filled breath, "Better," he huffed another delighted sigh, "I can...get up now...if you want." his smile faded as his stomach started flutter with nerves of what her answer might be.

Lycan just moved her arms so that she could hold him closer, "No...You're fine. It's still pretty early." her eyes flicked to the black band around his thick wrist that showed that it was still early.

"I'm...sorry about last night. I hope this doesn't make things awkward for us...Well, more then they already are." his low voice rumbled over her skin.

Her short huff that left her nose rustled his hair, "Things aren't awkward between us Kaidan. At least I don't see it that way. We talked things out. We just had a misunderstanding is all."

"We talked most things out. You're probably still upset with me about Feros." he leaned his head into her neck a little more, hoping to convey that he wanted things to be ok.

"You're right, we haven't but...it's ok if you...you know. I'm just the wing girl." she lightly laughed.

Kaidan shifted and sat up, doing his best to ignore that her leg was now draped across his lap and a hand rested against it's knee, "Ly..." he slowly shook his head as he raked a hand down his face, "I didn't do anything with her. I'm not entirely sure why she was laying next to me in the first place." he rubbed the back of his neck while keeping his other hand on her knee.

"Yeah well..." she rolled her eyes and looked away.

His brows furrowed slightly as he reached up and cupped her chin to make her look at him, "What's on your mind?"

"I don't know...She just...slinked in there after I got up like she was stalking you or something. It just...I don't know...rubbed me the wrong way I guess." she shrugged.

"So it really did bother you then." he removed his hand and placed it on the bed to lean against it.

"Yes!" she exclaimed in a harsh whisper, "It really did but it's like I said. I don't have a..." she was silenced when Kaidan placed a finger to her lips.

He slowly leaned forward, causing Lycan's stomach to flutter strongly as she thought of what he was about to do, but he redirected his head to bring his lips to her ear, "I'm gonna let you in on a little secret," he whispered, his raspy voice playful and full of mischief.

Her heart started to stutter in her chest as she tried to find her voice, "W-What is it?" she was trying not to lean into him, her eyes quickly scanning over his side and back.

He pressed his lips a little harder into her ear as he placed a soft, lingering kiss, "You do have a claim."

Before she had a chance to reply, Kaidan slipped from her bed and left, emerging out into a nearly deserted Crew Deck as he saw Shepard seated in front of the monitor by his cabin. He rubbed a hand down his face a couple times before he raked it back over his hair to somewhat rearrange his bedhead back into some sort of order and sat down with a low sigh.

"How's your head?" Shepard asked without glancing up from his datapad.

"Not trying to kill me anymore. Are we close Tuntau?" Kaidan asked, bringing up his Omni-Tool to skim through the extranet for any interesting news from around the galaxy.

"In orbit until the day cycle starts. You could have slept longer. I know you had a migraine last night." Shepard glanced up, seeing that Kaidan was still in his pajamas.

Kaidan's eyes widened slightly as he gulped, wondering if Shepard knew where he had slept after the onset of said migraine, "Uh...I...couldn't sleep anymore. Didn't feel like lounging around." _God, if I could have, I would have._

Shepard shot Kaidan a knowing smirk, "Kaidan...Go rest some more. It's early and you had a rough night. Don't make me make it an order." _I know exactly where you're gonna go lay down._

Kaidan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah...ok."

He stood and padded back into the Med Bay, seeing Lycan lounging in her bed and looking at her deep bruise that spread over her forearm with a look that said she was deep in thought.

"Back already?" she asked quietly when she looked up upon his entrance, trying to hide that her cheeks glowed a delightful shade of pink, even in the darkness of the Med Bay.

"Shepard all but ordered me back in here to get some more rest." he rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone was watching before he walked up to her bed.

"Well...It would probably do you some good." she smiled softly as she let her arm flop back into her lap.

"Do I look that worn out?" he lightly cringed.

Lycan reached out and grasped his hand to give it a light squeeze, "You...look tired as Hell."

Kaidan sighed, "Alright...You win. I'll go lay back down." he went to head to the bed across the they way from hers, but stopped when she didn't let go of his hand.

"Sweet dreams Kaidan." she sent him an adoring smile.

Kaidan looked at her for a moment, his eyes flicking from her hand still clutching his, back to her face and he couldn't help but smile back at her. The night had been one of the best nights of his life, despite the monster migraine that had threatened to tear his brain out through his ear canals. He had soldiered through the pain just to stay awake because he had been afraid, that if he had fallen asleep, he would wake up back in the sleeper pod and the whole thing would have been a dream. Just laying there with her holding him made the pain hurt less. Every tender stroke to the nape of his neck dulled the Hellish pounding that served as a reminder of what he had to hold at bay. The feel of her breath rustling through his hair and the way her skin felt like velvet calmed his racing heart, giving him his safe harbor to ride out the storm in his head.

He padded back up to the side of her bed, their hands still gently clasped together as he raised her hand to his chest and held it there. He placed his other on the side of her neck, his thumb softly tracing a line over her jaw as he leaned in to place his lips to her forehead. He let them linger for a few moments, his hand slipping back to the nape of her neck before he tilted his head to place his forehead where he had kissed, just below her hairline.

"Thank you...for last night Ly." he whispered to her, gliding his hand over her soft hair, long hair.

"Anytime." she smiled, her voice soft and sweet as she smiled.

"You mean it?" his eyes were closed and his voice rumbled low in his throat.

Lycan just nodded as her smile widened a little, "Yeah...I mean it."

Kaidan quietly chuckled, a low, rumbling sound that thundered deep in his throat and it sent a wash of warmth all over Lycan's flesh. The skin her tank didn't cover pimpled with gooseflesh from the sound and she couldn't help but open her eyes, just to make sure that he was really that close.

"Go get some more rest before I make you." she provided her own low laugh.

"Yes Ma'am."

He finally removed his forehead from hers and stood up straight, still clutching her hand to his chest as he started for a bed across the way from hers. He didn't let go right way as their arms stretched to their full length where he finally allowed her hand to slip from his before he reached his chosen bed and slipped in. He sent her another soft smile, seeing her eyes lid themselves even in the dark of the Med Bay as she made herself comfortable once more. He watched her for a short moment before a wave of sleep washed over him, making him realize that he was still tired and needed more rest to recover from his ordeal during the night. His eyes finally closed as the last thing he saw before he slipped into sleep, was his best friend. A friend he wanted to be near for as long as his heart was still beating and he still drew breath.

* * *

If Tuntau looked deserted and barren from the black, then it was even more so from the ground. The atmosphere was thick, unbreathable by anything they had on the ship and frankly, uninhabitable for all intensive purposes.

"Wow..." Shepard grimaced, "What a wasteland." he sighed as he stared out of the viewports on the bridge.

"Remind me not to book my next shore leave here." Joker groaned as he closed the shutters, closing off the bridge's viewports as he didn't wanna look at the endless ocean of dust. It was depressing.

"You and me both. Alright you two. Ready?" Shepard glanced over his shoulder towards Wrex, whom was hard to miss, and Tali, whom was easier to miss as most of his field of vision was blocked off by Wrex.

They both nodded.

"Alright. Let's get this show on the road. To the Mako."

The three left the bridge and headed down to the Cargo Bay where Garrus had already prepped their vehicle for the trip. They slipped inside, albeit a little cramped as Wrex filled up the entire back end. Shepard flicked his couple switches and flared the Mako to life while Tali prepped their navigation, bringing up a map of the area they had landed in and looked for any hint that could lead them in the right direction. After the Mako was idling happily, Garrus strode up to a small panel near the door that had erected a mass effect field over the door to keep out the poisonous atmosphere and opened the large bay door.

The landscape was far more dismal looking once they drove out of the ship, as it stretched far out to the horizon. The land was rolled with large, jagged hills and steep, cragged canyons that marred the surface of Tuntau...not like it was much to look at in the first place.

"It looks like there is an environmental structure not far from here Shepard." Tali informed without pulling her eyes away from the map.

"Lay in a course and keep your eyes peeled for any hostiles we might run into." Shepard said flatly as he began to venture out into the unknown.

The Mako crawled over the terrain as best it could with it's current driver. Shepard tried to keep the speed up so he could jump the vehicle over the larger cracks in the land without causing the ride to be so unbearable, that the other two would rather walk. He glanced over towards the map and saw that he was quickly approaching a deep canyon which seemed to be where their destination resided. He slowed the Mako down to just a crawl as he crept it up to the edge and peered down, seeing that he had to take a few jagged rocks before he got to the bottom where the top of structure, and most likely it's entrance sat. He stopped the Mako to take account of the scene, seeing the building was rather large, and had a wide overhand that covered the entrance and obscured a large portion of the ground from their view.

_"Commander...Creepy fortune teller is here." _Joker's voice pipped into Shepard's ear.

"She get enough rest?"

_"I've always been an early riser Commander. It's a curse really." _Lycan giggled.

"Alright. As long as you got enough rest. The Lieutenant still in the rack?" he asked simply.

_"Oh...um...yeah. It looked like he had a migraine last night. He's still out." _she tried not to sound nervous.

Shepard tried his best not to laugh out loud, especially since he knows exactly where that certain Lieutenant had slept during the migraine, "Understood. Anything we need to know about before we reach the building?"

_"Uh...there should be a small handful of pirates stationed outside. There isn't many of them."_

"Roger that."

He pushed the Mako over the edge and down the slope, keeping pressure on the brakes so not to gain too much speed and smack, nose first, into the side of the building. Once he touched down onto more level ground, he peered out of the small viewports towards the overhang and saw the sentries Lycan had been referring...except, that there must have been a dozen pirates poised and ready to kill.

"Shit!" Shepard yelped as he cranked the Mako around to hide on the other side of the structure, out of the pirates line of sight.

_"What? Why are there so many?" _Lycan's voice was obviously confused.

"I was about to ask you the same thing! That's not a small handful!" Shepard grumbled, "Wrex, load up in the turret! Tali, man the radar!" he ordered as he continued on his path around the building.

The Mako came around and the second the main turret cleared, it unleashed a barrage of fire that shook the very vehicle they where in. The first rocket that left the barrel of the cannon smashed into the weak barricades that had been put up by the pirates, erupting into a ball of fire that quickly flashed out of existence from the lack of oxygen and took a couple of the pirates with it. Shepard poured on more speed and spun the Mako around in a textbook fish tail, whipping it's back end hard around and clobbering two more pirates, crushing them underneath the two sets of wheels that adorned it's back end.

"Shields down to 80% Commander." Tali reported, trying to hide any worry from her accented voice.

"Let me know when we hit 10%" Shepard flatly ordered as he straightened the Mako out and barreled towards another small grouping of pirates.

Tali nodded as the bark from the machine gun startled her slightly. Wrex moved the machine gun's muzzle and let it mow through a couple more pirates, splattering their multiple colors of blood all over the blank, gray landscape. With a loud rumble of laughter from the krogan's throat, Wrex fired another rocket that slammed into the side of the building, leaving a large, charred spot in it's wake.

Shepard aimed the Mako at the last grouping of pirates that continued their firing, hoping to whittle down the Mako's shields enough to start doing some actual damage before it reached them. He laid on all the throttle he could, holding it firm as the vehicle's engine roared loudly and pushed it closer to the group. He started to chuckle morbidly as he saw that the pirates weren't moving out of the way, deciding instead to stand their ground and keep on firing. At the last second, the pirates jumped out of the way and rolled on the ground where they crouched and continued firing. Shepard ground the Mako to a screeching halt and popped the rear hatch, pulling his pistol out and allowing a portion of his Biotics to radiate. He set his eyes on a turian huddled behind the wreckage of a burnt barricade and lifted his arm, raising the turian high into the air where a strong gust of wind took him away, to where, Shepard could only guess. Wrex stomped out of the Mako and wrapped himself in a Biotic Barrier for added protection as he strode right up the a rather small human whom persisted on firing his pistol at a target he had no hope of destroying. Wrex reached down and yanked the weapon from the human's hands before his other arm grabbed the human's neck, wrapping his thick talons nearly completely around it and squeezed. The human began to gargle and claw at the krogan's hand, hoping to pray it from their neck and free himself from Wrex's grasp.

Soon, the struggling stopped and the human's body went limp, robbed of life by the unaided hands of someone whom was very much on a mission for personal gain. Shepard and Tali both jogged up and looked at the limp human now laying on the ground before glancing back at each other.

_"Commander?"_ Lycan's soft voice broke their silence.

"Go ahead."

_"I could have sworn there were only a few pirates that stood on guard...but then again, sometimes I forget things easily." _she sounded confused and unsure.

"There are worse things to get wrong then the number of bad guys waiting for us around the corner." Shepard wasn't upset...just...surprised as he had been expecting only a few hostiles...not a dozen.

_"I don't know. It just seems off. I apologize Commander that I got that wrong. Not a good tick mark on my record I guess." _

"I've told you before birdie...No one's perfect." Shepard was trying to be reassuring.

_"I know that...Let's just hope I don't get anything else wrong. I don't wanna get tossed off the ship." _she chuckled low.

Shepard joined in on the laugh, "I'm not gonna toss you off the ship. Where else are you gonna go?" he started to make for the entrance to the building.

_"That's a good question. Remind me later and I might have an answer for you." _

"If it makes things easier, don't be in such a hurry to give us the info. I'd rather it come slower and be accurate, then quick with the possibility of being wrong." his voice was not sweet and kind, but filled with the Commander's tone he carried, wanting to make sure that he got his point across.

_"I understand Commander. Again...I'm sorry about that."_

"I know you are," he sent quick glances at Tali and Wrex, "Let's get inside. I have an itch on the back of my head and I can't get it with this helmet on." he snickered.

Shepard pressed the button to start the entry process, hearing the foyer on the other side pressurize itself with the outside atmosphere to allow them to enter. After a few moments, the indicator on the door turned from red, to green and unlocked the door, hissing open like every other door they have ever encountered to reveal a dull gray room with crates stacked on one side. The three stepped inside and closed the door, giving the foyer the time it needed to acclimate itself with the environment inside which would also allow the two that wanted to remove their helmets the chance to do so. A bright indicator over the top of another door turned green to inform them that the air was now breathable, as Shepard and Wrex unsealed and removed their helmets to smell the slightly stale air inside which made them both huff.

"This looks like a place that someone like Tonn would use for his schemes." Wrex rumbled with a harsh sneer on his face.

"Wait a second...You know this guy?" Shepard's brows furrowed as he stopped walking and looked at Wrex.

"Not personally. The guy's got a reputation for working out of back hole places like this. He deals in just about anything but his passion is collecting anything from the krogan rebellions. I have no clue how he got my family's armor, but he did and I want it back." Wrex growled angrily, readying his weapon.

"So when Lycan mentioned him, it hit home."

"Yeah. Tonn goes to great lengths to keep his name out of the limelight so there are only two ways I can think of that she would know about him. She either works for him, which wouldn't explain how she knows all this stuff about Saren. Or she's been telling the truth and really is from Earth's past and just happens to know what we're up against. I figured it was the latter because you kept her around." Wrex deduced with a nonchalant shrug.

"So...Are you at least willing to give her the benefit of the doubt?" one of Shepard's brows hopped up to rise over it's partner.

"I'll tell you if I get my family's armor back."

_"Works for me." _Lycan threw in her two cents.

"Alright. Let's move out."

The three moved towards the second door, triggering it's proxy sensor and causing it to hiss open rather loudly which most likely alerted whomever was inside that they had some uninvited guests. The room on the other side of the door was filled with crates and large pieces of equipment that blocked nearly any sort of view of the other side. They crouched low and snuck in, Shepard pressing himself against a short wall of crates just in case a bullet came in his direction. The other two moved across the way to a large piece of equipment and pressed up against it, waiting for Shepard's signal to proceed into the room.

"Do we have any opposition waiting for us?" Shepard whispered as quietly as he could to not let his voice carry throughout the room.

_"Yes. Don't ask me how many though." _she too whispered.

"Ok, I won't." he was going to say more but a sudden, loud ping sounded behind him from a bullet that had come his way, "Alright...That would be our opposition. Wrex, move around to the other side and pick off who you can." Shepard ordered, no longer whispering as their opponents knew they were there.

Wrex nodded and very quickly spun, heading further into the room where he encountered a couple enemies, both turian, which just served to piss the krogan off more as he blasted a large hole through one of them, and punched the other in the face so hard, that it was no longer distinguishable as belonging to a turian.

Shepard sprang up, wrapped in a Biotic Barrier of his own as he absorbed several shots from a collection of turian and human pirates as they shot from various positions and behind cover. Tali took the opportunity while the pirates were firing at Shepard, to fire her own shots and taking out one of the pirates with a spray of bright red blood. The three continued to systematically eradicate the pirates stationed in the large room. Several snipers attempted to put their rounds through Shepard's head but failed as he had continually kept up his Barrier. Wrex and Tali blasted their way through several pirates that had gotten ballsy and tried to charge the krogan, which turned out to be detrimental to their health.

After several more waves of pirates, the double toned yells of someone whom was very angrily came shouting back at them from a door that was kitty cornered to the one they had entered into.

"Name your price and I'll pay it just to get you assholes to leave!" the angry snarl came back at them from behind a stack of crates.

Wrex's brow plates drew down, "That's him...That's Tonn Actus." the angry thunder rolled from his voice, despite that he wasn't yelling.

"I know you're out there! Name your price!" Tonn demanded once more.

"I want my family's armor back!" Wrex's voice boomed through the room, echoing off the crates and only becoming louder with each ricochet.

"What makes you think I have that!" Tonn laughed out loud, which only grated on Wrex's nerves.

"Because you deal in krogan armors! Now where is it!" Wrex peeked around the corner of his cover to see if he could find where Tonn was hiding.

"Wrex...He's the only thing standing in our way of getting your armor back." Shepard hissed across the small gap, still in a whisper.

"Then let's move him out of the way."

Wrex popped up and wheeled out, gun at the ready and darted for another stack of crates that brought him a few meters closer to his target. He glanced over towards the wall, seeing the flicker of a tall shadow dance across it's surface and it had the rough distinction that it belonged to a turian. Wrex checked his shotgun before he glanced over back towards Shepard, silently telling him and Tali to draw the turian's attention while he slipped in around back.

Shepard and Tali immediately popped up from behind their cover and opened fire, sending a wide spread of Tungsten to punch into the crates that were hiding Tonn Actus from their field of view. The cover fire kept their opponent cowered behind the crates as Wrex wheeled around to the other side of his, giving him a far better view of the door and precisely where Tonn Actus was pressed up against his crates. His massively thick right arm flared with Biotics as he strode right across the small gap, letting his shields take the few rounds from Shepard and Tali on the chin, and appeared on the other side of Tonn's cover. The turian reeled when he noticed that he wasn't alone anymore and darted out, tripping on his own feet as he tried to scurry away from the krogan with a large gun in his hands. Once he had hit the deck, Shepard's and Tali's rounds punched full force into his shields, whittling them down quickly until he was exposed to whatever else they wanted to throw at him. The two still behind cover ceased their firing, giving Wrex a grand opportunity to reach the turian, which he did in two, lumbering bounds. He bent down and wrapped a large hand around Tonn's neck and lifted him up so his taloned and armored feet were dangling above the deck.

"Where's my family's armor?" Wrex rumbled angrily.

Tonn just clutched at the massive hand that was clamped down on his neck and gargled, trying to suck in a breath.

"Wrex...It helps if they can breath." Shepard suggested simply as he and Tali both stood up straight and watched.

Wrex grumbled low in his throat and set his captives feet back on the ground, loosening his grip enough to allow just enough air to pass into the turian's lungs so that he could answer the question.

"Go have a kid...Oh wait...You can't!" the turian spat angrily, knowing that that...was a sensitive subject.

Wrex leaned in close and whispered in Tonn's ear membrane, so that Shepard and Tail couldn't hear, "I already have one and she has more honor, and a bigger quad then you'll ever have," at the look in Tonn's face, Wrex grinned, "I'll ask you one more time, where is my armor?"

"There is a delightful little human expression that I rather like...it goes like this," Tonn started to laugh, "Fuck you!"

Wrex had had enough as he tightened his grip on Tonn's neck once more and brought his shotgun up to push it's barrel right into his face. The low growl that started to vibrate through the air around him gave him a menacing aura that would strike fear into any race known in the galaxy. His finger depressed the trigger of his shotgun, sending a massively loud crack of thunder through the enclosed room. Dark blue spray and large, fleshy chunks scattered across the room to paint the floor, crates and wall as the rounds from the shotgun peppered their own canvases. Wrex let go of the nearly headless Tonn to let the limp body flop to the floor in a pile of lifeless, armored mush where a spreading pool of dark blue blood began to grow.

"Jesus Christ Wrex! Why the Hell did you shoot him before he told you where your armor was!" Shepard tried not to snarl, but that's not exactly how it came out of his mouth.

"He touched on a sore subject." Wrex grumbled, his brow plates still drawn down in an angry sneer.

"I can see that. Why the Hell would that be a sore subject if he told you to go procreate?" One of Shepard's brows popped up.

_"The Genophage Commander. You've heard of the sterility plague haven't you?" _Lycan's voice pipped in, this time into all their ears.

"That's the sterility plague?"

"Yes...The turian's deployed a virus that knocked our breeding capabilities down to a fraction of what they were. That's how the Krogan Rebellions ended. Now, the males fight over fertile females like we're barbarians. We're dying faster then we can reproduce Shepard. Most of us will live out our entire lives without ever having children of out own. I'm one of the lucky ones and managed to have a daughter but she isn't fertile. Do you have any idea how long a krogan lives?" Wrex briefly explained as he folded his shotgun and placed it on the small of his back, just above his short, stubby tail.

"No...I don't." Shepard answered, seeing that Wrex was very defensive about what happened to his people and wondering to himself what kind of parent Wrex could be.

"On average...over a thousand years Shepard. We live for over a thousand years. That's a long time to spend alone." Wrex pointed a large talon towards Shepard.

Shepard threw his hands up, "Easy Wrex...Relax. I didn't know man," he glanced around the large room, "So are we supposed to search every crate in here until we find your armor?" he dropped his hands.

_"It should be upstairs in a wall safe Commander." _Lycan's voice fluttered into his comm.

"Upstairs it is then," he scanned the room for the ramp that would take them up to the top level, "This way."

Shepard and Tali started to make their way to the ramp that rested on the other side of the room while Wrex hesitated a moment, glaring angrily at the dead body of Tonn Actus.

"Wrex! You coming or what?" Shepard's brow popped up as he waved the krogan over.

Wrex's glare shifted towards Shepard for a moment before he uncrossed his arms and headed over, bounding up the ramp like it wasn't steep and met up with them on the balcony up top. The three headed over to the door on the other end and slipped through, taking a fleeting moment to scan the room for anything that had a tendency to explode on them before they set their eyes on the large safe deep inside the room.

"Tali...Can you crack that?" Shepard asked as they entered the room.

"I'm a quarian Commander." she simply said.

"Good point. Work your magic."

Tali nodded as she slipped her weapon onto her hip and strode up to the wall safe with her Omni-Tool lighting her arm. She knelt down and began to work, plugging in her Omni-Tool directly into the wall safe's security program interface to display it's coding. Her keen eyes scanned the lines upon lines of coding, seeing the near endless combinations of access pins and it all served to cause her to question her skills.

"Commander?" she called for him without even looking over her shoulder.

Shepard walked up next to her, "What's wrong?" he asked as his eyes bounced from her Omni-Tool to the safe.

"This safe is heavily encrypted. So much so that it seems odd that it would be on something as simple as a wall safe." she slowly shook her head, but didn't take her eyes off of the code streaming across her screen.

"Can you crack it?" he asked as he knelt down, bringing up his own Omni-Tool in hopes that he could assist.

"I hope so. This coding looks like it could permanently lock the safe if the wrong pin was entered. We wouldn't be able to open it at all if that were to happen." she explained with a slight shrug and a glance over to Shepard.

"Shit. That's a little much for a wall safe don't you think?"

Tali nodded.

"Lycan?"

_"I wouldn't know the pin Commander. I'm sorry." _

Shepard sighed as the coding started to look more and more alien to him, despite having significant knowledge in the tech department from his time in Sentinel training.

"So we get one shot to open this thing, or it's sealed for the rest of eternity...Fabulous." Shepard groaned.

Wrex lumbered up behind them, "Let me try." he grumbled.

Shepard and Tali moved out of his way, rather surprised that Wrex had any real tech skills to share with the rest of them. However, they were sorely mistaken as instead of him trying to hack his way into the safe, he put his iron grip on the door and started to pull. The low rumbling from Wrex's thick throat was joined by the groaning of metal as the door's joints started to be put under extreme stress. The groaning got louder the harder Wrex pulled and soon, his massive body began to radiate with a blue corona which increased his strength. A cracking pop sounded through the room as the first joint started to give way, sending tiny bits of metal shards to the floor. The next joint popped and gave way, closely followed by the third and fourth until finally, the door buckled and came off the body of the wall safe with a crunching twang that caused Shepard and Tali to look at Wrex with a whole new kind of respect.

"Uh...That was...um..." Shepard stuttered as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Wrex tossed the crumbled door to the floor and shrugged, "What?"

"Can all krogan rip a wall safe door off it's hinges?" Tali asked, her shock very clear in her accented voice.

"Just the big ones." Wrex grumbled with a reptilian smirk.

The big krogan turned and looked inside the now open safe, seeing a cloth wrapped bundle inside of considerable size. He knelt down and grasped the bundle, carefully placing it on the floor where he started to untie the string holding the fabric around whatever was inside.

What lay inside the aged fabric, was a collection of armor pieces, tinged with age and appearing more fragile, rather then solid, trustworthy armor. It was dark in color, with long strips of what Shepard deduced was white at some point, but had long since shifted to a sickened brown. Wrex huffed a very small laugh as he gently picked up a piece of the armor, revealing the many scars from many battles that have left their mark across it's surface. The armor looked small, too small in fact to fit around Wrex's massive frame but Shepard could see the small smile across his face growing slightly as he inspected the armor.

"Is that it?" Shepard asked quietly as he took a couple steps up next to him.

Wrex nodded, "This is it," he huffed another laugh, "I can't believe my ancestors ever wore this piece of crap." he rumbled as he looked at the other pieces. " _I'll need that human female Williams help to fix this, and make it useable again. I wounder if she'll help? _Wrex thought to himself.

Shepard's brow popped up, "What? That's like a family heirloom and your dissing it. Lovely." he grumbled low, rather surprised that Wrex would refer to something presumably important as a piece of crap.

"It is crap. It was made by my ancestors so many years ago, that the memories are blurred. This is older then everyone on the ship put together Shepard. Trust me...It's crap but I'm glad I have it back. Despite it's looks, it's a treasure to Clan Urdnot." Wrex answered without taking his eyes off of the piece in his hand. _And needs to be passed down through the blood line, as it should be. _He thought.

Shepard slightly reeled, "Damn. That is old...Considering that if you just add me and Alenko together, that's 61 years all by itself. God, we're getting old." he started to laugh.

_"I heard that Shepard. Speak for yourself." _a low, rather annoyed rasp came through his comm.

"Well good morning sunshine." Shepard laughed with a smile on his face.

_"Morning to you too darling." _the voice grumbled back, still annoyed by the sounds of it and taking on a lovely, sarcastic flare.

Shepard laughed again, this time a little louder then usual as he turned his attention back to Wrex, seeing him repack the armor into the bundle and tightly, tied it back up to hook it onto his belt.

"I'm glad you got that back Wrex." he said with a brotherly clap to Wrex's broad shoulder.

"I appreciate you changing our course to come get this Shepard. I might just be starting to like you." his reptilian lips curled into a smile once more which crinkled the long, jagged scars that covered one side of his face.

"We wouldn't have known about it if it wasn't for Lycan." Shepard reminded as he turned and got ready to walk out of the room.

Wrex quietly scoffed, "I know. I still haven't figured her out yet."

"What other proof do you need Wrex?" Shepard asked simply.

"I don't need any more proof, I just need time to sort it all out," he answered just as simply.

Shepard nodded as the sound of muffled voice drifted up to them through the door and caused him and his team to pull their weapons once more.

"What was that?" Shepard said in a harsh whisper as he crept up to the door.

"Sounded like more of Tonn's boys." Wrex suggested as he pulled his shotgun and pressed a shoulder into the wall.

"Great...More bad guys. Stay up top and pick them off from the balcony. Tali, hold down that ramp so none of them sneak up behind us." he ordered as he slipped through the door and onto their perch.

Shepard crouched along the wall and peered over, seeing another dozen or so pirates looking around the room at all the dead bodies, and the near headless form of their former employer. He listened in as they all exclaimed their shock at the sheer amount of blood that had decorated the warehouse and once they had found the limp, headless body of their boss, their exclamations grew louder as one started barking orders.

"Fan out! Find the intruders!" a fully armored turian snarled.

Shepard and Wrex ducked as low as they could once the pirates started their search of the warehouse, seeing Tali take up a post along the wall that would allow her cover from any fire that came up the ramp, as well as give her a decent line of sight to eliminate her opposition. Shepard pulled a tech mine from his belt and armed it with a disruption explosion so it would short out their enemy's shields and allow them a far easier time taking them out. Without popping his head up, he tossed the tech mine over the side of the wall, not really caring where it landed as the radius would be enough to knock out most of their shields anyways. He heard the clank as the device touched down, smacking into a crate before settling onto the floor to tick away the timer until it's detonation.

"What the Hell was that! Find it!" the same turian ordered, causing Shepard to smirk evilly as he mentally chuckled.

The three up top listened carefully as the pirates scurried around the bottom floor looking for the object that caused that clank. _Oh how I love delayed timers. _Shepard cupped his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud when he heard another pirate bark out that he had found it. The scurrying continued as the pirates converged on the spot to see the device, seeing that it was, in fact a mine and turned to run for their lives. However, Shepard had guessed right on the delayed timer and the device went off, sending a vast wave of electronic energy out in all directions which shorted out all of the pirates shields. As the confusion on the ground level continued, Shepard and Wrex popped up and rained down a storm of bullets, taking out more then half of the dozen pirates that had filtered into the warehouse and leaving them with only a couple to pick off.

Tali unleashed her weapon at a singular pirate that had tried to march up the ramp to flank them, taking the spread right in his chest which sent him rolling back down the ramp and leaving a trail of blood behind.

Wrex decided to use a little bit of the battlefield as a weapon, his body erupting into a bright blue corona and his arm swinging to the side as he manipulated the dark energy. A stack of crates began to topple on top of another pirate, leaving them with only a couple more which were easily taken out by another well placed grenade, and a solid peppering from Tali's shotgun as he had tried to sneak up on her.

"Another dozen pirates? Where the Hell did they come from?" Shepard questioned to his team, as well as through his comm.

_"Nothing entered atmo on our sensors Commander. They were probably held up in another warehouse structure somewhere." _Joker provided.

"Lycan...meet me in the Briefing Room. We're on our way back." he said without sounding angry.

Shepard wasn't angry at the woman, he was trying not to be anyways but he did need to have a word with her. He was starting to become a little perturbed that she was getting more and more things wrong...well, not wrong per say, but off. Her information was starting to crack but he didn't wanna just fly off the handle at her, as he figured there had to be some kind of explanation. Whether it be stress from the mission at hand, or she just didn't know about them, there had to be a reason she was off and he wanted to head it off at the pass before things got too out of hand and someone...ended up dead.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Stressed Out

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! Thank you to my new beta Hewhoislost for his help! I greatly appreciate it!)_

Shepard's shower had given him the time he needed to think before he had his talk with Lycan up in the Briefing Room. He didn't wanna get angry at her. He hated getting angry but sometimes that's what it took to get things done. It just wasn't what the situation warranted at the moment. He stopped by his quarters to drop off his shower gear and check his messages, finding that there was nothing to be had which eased his mind just a bit and let him consentrate on what he was going to say. He sighed as be walked out of his cabin, nearly having to skid to a halt as Kaidan was standing right on the other side of his door and it nearly scared the pants off him.

"Fuck! Alenko! Are you trying to give me a heart attack!" Shepard yelped, slamming an open hand into his chest and feeling his heart hammer back against it.

Kaidan shrugged, "Not trying to." his face was a blank slate, telling Shepard he had something on his mind. _Crap._

"Something you need before I go talk to birdie?" he stepped around Kaidan to make for the stairs.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you if I could be in there for it." Kaidan asked as he walked a step behind Shepard, both starting their ascent.

Shepard shrugged, "I'm just gonna talk to her about the slip ups while we were out." he glanced over his shoulder back towards the Lieutenant.

"That's why I wanna be there. Sometimes, you can be a bit brash and she doesn't need that. She looked terrified when you told her to meet you in the Briefing Room." Kaidan kept his voice low as they topped the stairs and turned for their destination.

"She thinks I'm pissed?"

"You sure sounded like it over the comm." he dropped his voice to a whisper as they stopped in front of the door.

"What would you do if you were in my position Kaidan? Our biggest asset is starting to get tarnished and I just wanna make sure it's gonna last till all this is over." Shepard said, starting to feel the heat of his temper as it started to get hot.

"She isn't an asset Shepard...she's a person. Did you forget that part?" Kaidan all but hissed, still trying to keep his voice low so it wouldn't carry down the CIC.

Shepard pinched the bridge of his nose, "Kaidan look...I didn't forget that. Really, I didn't. I'm not upset with her. I just wanna make sure she's alright. This whole thing is beyond stressful and not all of us handle it well." he crossed his arms.

"That's probably it Shepard. Can I sit in?"

Shepard sighed and threw his hands up into the air in defeat, "Fine."

Shepard spun on his heel and headed inside the Briefing Room, closely followed by Kaidan as they both saw Lycan sitting very nervously in one of the chairs. She again, had one leg tucked underneath her as she fiddled with the cuffs of the zip up, not even looking up from her hands when they entered and took their seats on either side of her.

"Relax Lycan. I just wanted to talk to you is all." Shepard said as kindly as possible, knowing that Lycan get's rattled when she's yelled at.

"I'm sorry about the pirates Commander! I really did think there was only a small amount out front...In fact, I would have sworn by it! And the group that showed after you got Wrex's armor back...I didn't even know about! Really! I had no, frelling clue that they were even gonna show up! They were never in the game!" she quickly defended, her voice rising the quicker she spoke to get her reasons out of her mouth before Shepard had a chance to interrupt her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Lycan. Calm down." Shepard urged as he rested his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together.

"I'm sorry Commander! I really didn't know that there would be more pirates! Honest!"

"I heard you the first time. Is the stress of the mission getting to you? Is that why you couldn't remember everything?" Shepard asked, rather surprised that she had gone on the defensive so quickly and was unable to look at them.

Lycan shrugged, "I don't know...maybe. I didn't think my job on this ship was all that stressful. All I have to do is tell you when something's about to happen." she sighed and hung her head.

Kaidan stood from his chair and stepped up to her side where he knelt down beside her, "Ly...Something else is on your mind, I can tell. What is it?" he asked kindly, seeing her eyes shift over to look at him briefly.

"I don't know. I mean..." she was trying to find the right words to use, "I don't know." she sighed again and looked away.

"What is it Ly? You can tell us. Whatever is on your mind...You know that." Kaidan said quietly as he placed a soft hand on her shoulder.

"I know I can...I'm just...not that great at articulating what's on my mind is all. It's like I'm cursed to keep things to myself because I can't say what I mean good enough where people understand what I'm saying." she sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"Try your best Ly. Whatever is on your mind is probably why you can't remember things and by the sounds of it, there's a lot to remember." Kaidan said, letting his hand slip from her shoulder.

"There is! In fact...there's so much that it spans two years...possibly even more!" she still didn't look up to meet their gazes.

"What do you mean by 'possibly more'?" Shepard asked as calmly as possible.

"I not 100% sure about the timeline. Once my knowledge runs out, it could very possibly be 2186."

A brow popped up, "When your knowledge runs out?" Shepard repeated as he sat up straight.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. There's a limit to what I know Commander. After that...I'm useless." she glanced up for a fleeting second to look at Shepard, then over to Kaidan before she stared at her hands again.

"Is this what you're stressing about? That I'll just cast you aside after I've used you up and bled you dry?" Shepard's brows furrowed slightly.

"It's part of it...There's a whole bunch rattling around in my head that I have no idea how to sort. I'm still coping with the fact that I'll never see my family, or my time again. I'm trying to not spill everything I know all in one shot because that would take all damn day and there is _a lot_ to go over and not all of it is sunshine and bunnies!" she huffed a sad laugh at herself for using such a familiar phrase. _You'll hear that later Commander._

"Everything will be fine Ly." Kaidan reassured.

"Oh that's not all! I'm not done!" she hopped up to her feet and started to franticly pace in front of them, "I'm still trying to not get any of you killed which is a whole nother matter that keeps me up at night! There is no reset button here! This is real fucking life which brings me to my other point! I'm still trying to wrap my Goddamn head around that too and...and...and there's trillions...or whatever the number after that is, riding on us!" she crouched down, sending a wave of pops from her hips, knees and ankles as she did so and clutched her head in her hands, growling loudly to herself in frustration.

Kaidan stood and walked up to her where he knelt down once more, placing his hand on her back between her shoulder blades and gently rubbed up and down, "Quadrillion." he provided.

"Yes! A quadrillion lives are on the line and we're responsible for them!" she finally finished.

"Ly..." he received no answer from her as she just held her head, "Ly?" he repeated again, watching closely as her shoulders started to shake, showing him that she had begun to cry, or sniffle.

"How do you two do it?" she whimpered after a moment without looking up.

Kaidan glanced over towards Shepard, seeing the same flash of uncertainty of how to answer her question flutter across his eyes that he felt in his heart. It was something they never had to teach someone else how to do. They had always just did it like it was second nature to them. In all honesty, it was something that often made them wonder if they were Human, because they would often be forced to show no emotion at all at what they do or risk becoming compromised during a mission. They had to appear robotic in a way, which made them think...Were they hunting down Geth, or hunting down their own brethren.

"It's something we developed over time Lycan. The longer you do this job, the more of yourself you lose...but that's not always the case." Shepard was the first to answer.

Lycan plopped her rear down on the deck, still preferring to sit with her leg tucked underneath her which only made Kaidan want to yank it out from under her so she would stop.

He sat down next to her, still slowly rubbing her back, "A lot of us manage to retain our humanity. Most find something to hold on to actually. A picture. Some kind of memento from the family. Anything that helps to remind them of who they are, and where they came from. It gives them something to fight for." Kaidan said softly.

"He's right. We all have our ground." Shepard confirmed.

"What's yours?" Lycan glanced over her shoulder at Shepard.

Shepard adopted a soft smile as he reached under the collar of his uniform shirt and pulled up the chain which suspended his dog tags. He clutched a small object, not his dog tags, in his hand and stared at it briefly before he passed it to Kaidan, whom handed it to Lycan.

"See the medallion?"

She nodded, gently grasping the tiny golden coin between her fingers.

"That's St. Anthony of Padua. He's believed to be the patron saint of lost souls. I wear it because of what happened to my family and I pray every night that their souls were found. I keep fighting so that it never happens to someone else." he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry you lost them Commander. I guess it's something we have in common." she handed back the chain.

"I wish it wasn't Lycan...I wish it wasn't. We were both ripped away from the ones we love, but that doesn't mean we aren't loved. We still have the people on this ship, and I'd trust anyone of them to watch my back. It took me a long time to figure that out." Shepard's smile faded slightly.

"I suppose that's true enough." she mumbled.

Kaidan stayed silent as he removed his hand from her back and slipped his fingers beneath his own collar to slip his chain and dog tags from their hiding place.

"Look at the uncoded dog tag." he told her as he handed her his chain.

Lycan took it and first, scanned the tag with Kaidan's name stamped on it before she looked at the other, seeing that it wasn't his name, but did share the same last name. She trailed her fingertips over the raised 'Gavin J. Alenko,' smiling as she rattled her brain as to whom this person was in relation to Kaidan. _Father? Older brother? Younger brother? Gosh, it really could be anyone. _She thought briefly before looking up at the man whom was usually, always in her thoughts.

"I hale from a long line of Alenko's Ly. That tag belonged to my father when he was still serving." Kaidan said simply, lacing his fingers together and letting his hands rest in his lap.

"Did he retire?" she asked with another sniffle, but she never looked away from the tag in her hand.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah...He was forced to retire when he developed cancer after an Eezo exposure in Singapore."

"I'm sorry to hear that Kaidan. It must have been hard." she glanced up at him.

"I wasn't born just yet. My mother was still pregnant with me. That's how I was dosed. He was stationed there and it was his day off. My mother and he were out for the day when the transport crashed. We were all heavily exposed which resulted in me being born a Biotic, mom ended up with some residual abilities because of me and dad got cancer...but," he held a finger up to keep her from speaking, "he beat it. It's in remission and has been for quite some time now. I keep that as a reminder that I do all of this for them. To keep them safe." Kaidan's smile widened a little bit.

"So...instead of doing this for the sake of the galaxy...you do this because of someone close to you?" she handed Kaidan back his chain and wiped a tear from her cheek.

"It's the only way we can do this Lycan. It's too much to shoulder trillions, or as you put it quadrillions of lives. You shouldn't be trying to shoulder that many, because we aren't." Shepard said with a slow shake of his head as he slipped the chain back over his head to hang from his neck.

"I think that's my problem. I wanted to make so damn sure that I got everything right for the galaxy's sake...I guess I need to find my ground." she sniffled, sending both men a quick glance before looking back down to her hands.

"You'll find something...or someone," Shepard said with a sympathetic smile as he headed for the door, "I'm gonna cop this up to stress Lycan. Take a breather...you've got plenty of time to figure things out."

Shepard left the pair in the Briefing Room as he headed for his cabin, wanting to chisel some off the mountain of paperwork that he had let accumulate on his desk because he just didn't have the motivation to do it. He sat down and brought up his inbox, seeing a small flashing indicator in the lower left hand corner that he had an unread message. He groaned and opened it, not really wanting to see what it was about as another window popped up to display the message.

_From: Admiral S. Hackett, Arcturus 5__th__ Fleet Commanding Officer._

_ To: Commander G. Shepard, SSV Normandy Commanding Officer._

_ Shepard,_

_ Call me._

_ Hackett_

Shepard looked at the incredibly brief message with a smile, as the Admiral was always blatantly straight forward and right to the point. He opened up his long distance FTL comm and found Admiral Hackett's contact information, quickly dialing it in and waited for the Admiral to pick up.

_"This is Admiral Hackett. Go ahead." _a low, gravelly voice came through the comm.

"Admiral...This is Shepard. I just got your message. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long." Shepard greeted as he folded his arms on the desk top.

_"I just sent it about five minutes ago. Listen...We just got done analyzing that information you extracted from Feros about the Geth and we are less then pleased about what it revealed." _

"Something about them massing in the Armstrong Nebula correct?"

_"Precisely. Our intel confirms that there are Geth bases on three separate planets with a possible fourth within the nebula Commander and intel is worried that they could be planning some sort of massive offensive. We need you to go and check it out." _Admiral Hackett said simply, like he was asking Shepard to go to the store.

"That will divert me from hunting Saren, Admiral." Shepard weakly protested.

_"I know it will but it's entirely possible that this is in connection to Saren. You're still Alliance Commander and right now, we need your help. You're the best we've got." _

Shepard quietly sighed, hoping that the Admiral couldn't hear it, "I understand sir. I'll change course and head there immediately."

_"Roger that Commander. I'll keep you informed as best I can with what we've got. Good luck."_

Admiral Hackett didn't wait for Shepard's reply as he cut the link, leaving Shepard sitting with his mouth open as he was going to reply...but couldn't...obviously. He shut down his console and went to head back to the CIC, now needing to change their course...again...and go on a little gaunt that wasn't in the direction of Noveria...again. He entered the CIC and strode up to Pressly whom was plotting their course.

"Pressly...I hate do this to you again, but we need to change course." Shepard sighed as he leaned back against the large, wrap around workstation.

"Again Commander?" Pressly popped an aged eyebrow.

"Afraid so. The brass wants us to head to the Armstrong Nebula and look into some massing Geth." Shepard relayed simply.

"Any connection to Saren?"

Shepard shrugged, "Don't know but might as well check it out. How long will it take?"

Pressly brought up a small version of the galaxy map and quickly typed in their current position before he put in what he wanted their destination to be. He waited the brief moment, while the workstation processed the information and displayed it on his screen with a happy sounding ping.

"About three days out from our current position Commander." Pressly reported.

"Make it happen and don't let Joker get his panties in a bunch about it." Shepard grinned as he pushed off the workstation.

"Aye aye Commander."

* * *

Lycan had left the Briefing Room shortly after Shepard had left and to Kaidan's bewilderment, had somehow managed to disappear on the small ship. His near constant work with the monitor to try and fix the flickering was starting to drive him more then a little nuts as he put everything back where it was supposed to be and packed up his tools. He sat in a chair directly across from it and determined if the flickering was any better, only slightly smirking to himself as he figured it was marginally less annoying. _I guess that's as good as it's gonna get. _He thought with a tired sigh and rubbed his eyes from the strain of staring at tiny connectors and wires with only the tiny light on his Omni-Tool as aide.

The talk in the Briefing Room went rather well and he thought it helped Lycan to get at least a little bit of the stress off her chest, but she still seem tensed when she had left. He hadn't followed her as he thought she needed some time to herself to think things over, but now that it had been a couple hours, he wanted to find her and ask how she was doing.

He grasped his tools and headed for the elevator, riding it down to the Cargo Bay and strode up to his locker to place the tools inside. The ultra low laugh that was distinctive to Wrex drifted across the bay to meet his ears, catching his attention to what the krogan could possibly be laughing about. He turned and quickly scanned the area, finding Wrex standing by a window that looked into the gym with his arms crossed and his broad shoulders shook with each, rolling laugh. He walked over to him, this time taking note that despite being six feet tall, he only came up to Wrex's shoulders and it solidified his opinion that Wrex was down right huge.

"What's so funny Wrex?" Kaidan asked, keeping his voice even and trying to keep the small amount of lingering anger from coming through.

"I'm starting to like that human you're so attached to Alenko. She's persistent and stubborn like a Krogan." he rumbled, which was followed by another bout of laughter.

"Her name is Lycan, Wrex, and what do you mean 'I'm so attached to?'" one of Kaidan's brows arced.

"Are you kidding? You two are rarely out of each other's company. It's either because you want to mate with her, or you are very over protective." he rumbled lowly and with a sidelong glare.

"What! I don't want to..." Kaidan started to blush, "She's my best friend! I'm protective of my friends!" he looked away from Wrex to try and hide his cringe.

"I can smell it Alenko. It's makes my stomach lurch." Wrex grumbled with a shrug.

"Smell what? Wait...I don't think I wanna know. Why am I even having this conversation with you? I don't wanna..._be_...with Lycan...I mean...I do, but not like that. We're just friends...That's it." _Wow...I'm not very convincing. Why am I stumbling over my words like this? _He blushed a little bit harder.

"Just stating the obvious." he started to snicker more as he saw something he thought was amusing through the window.

"Uh huh," he glared at the Krogan as he got their conversation back on track, "So, why is Lycan stubborn exactly?"

Wrex shrugged, "Look at her. She's pounding that bag in there despite having no clue how to throw a punch right but yet, she's still at it." he started to laugh again.

Kaidan tore his eyes away from Wrex and looked through the window, seeing Lycan with a rather angry sneer on her face and smashing punch after punch into the punching bag. Every strike that connected, the bag hardly moved at all but Lycan did, almost to the point where she would lose her balance and have to quickly adjust so she didn't hit the mats...well...so she didn't hit the mats most of the time.

"Ok, so you proved she's persistent, but how is that stubborn?" he pointed at her through the window.

"She's still at it even after she's already hurt herself once." another low, chuckle.

"What!"

Kaidan didn't even wait for Wrex to explain what had happened as he quickly headed into the gym, hearing Lycan's curses and snarls as she ignored his entrance and continued to take her blatantly apparent frustration out on the bag. He cautiously walked up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder which caused her to jump with a loud start. She yelped in surprise as she spun around and started throwing punches into his chest, not registering that it was Kaidan whom had become her target but all she knew, was that someone just scare the shit out of her.

"Get away! Get away! Get away!" she repeated over and over as she continued her blows which did little to her living target.

Kaidan tightened his chest so that it absorbed the untrained blows, "Ly...It's me...It's Kaidan." he said as he grasped her wrists, causing her to hiss loudly with pain once he had gotten ahold of her right one.

She didn't register him at all as she kept it up, not really caring what happened to her but he was happy she hadn't started kicking because by the looks of her legs, it would hurt...even without training. _She must have played some kind of sport because those are going to hurt like Hell if she finds a target. _He thought with an arced eyebrow as he spun her around, crossing her arms and brought her back into his chest, halting her punches...until she started to struggle...with her legs.

_ Uh oh, _"Ly...easy now...It's just me. Relax..." he said into her ear as he widened his stance to keep from falling over. _Don't kick me...Please, oh God don't kick me. _He silently prayed that her heel wouldn't connect with something he considered important.

It seemed, that Lycan was refusing to calm down as she continued to flail around like a fish out of water to try and get free of whomever had a hold of her. Kaidan was starting to get nervous as her heels grew closer and closer to that special target and he figured, to keep his manhood from getting blown back into his abdomen, that he had to do something to stop her before he was reduced to a ball curled up on the deck. He racked his brain for an idea because just whispering into her ear wasn't doing the trick, but he was coming up short and her flailing was getting stronger. He tightened his grip and spun them both, dropping them to the mat as he used his weight to pin her down and stop her kicking. However, her kicks were replaced with squirms as she continued to struggle against his body, sending a wave of heat straight through him and causing his breath to silently hitch in his throat.

"Ly...stop this! It's alright...it's just me..." he repeated, again into her ear, holding her wrists at her sides, but it was getting harder to maintain his grip as her skin was slicked with sweat.

Her struggling slowly started to weaken as she was out of breath, not having the will or energy to continue the fight against whomever had a hold of her.

"Kaidan?" she panted, plopping her cheek down on the cool mat.

Kaidan sighed in relief as his forehead found her temple, "Yeah...Are you ok?" he asked lowly, feeling his heart beat fast from trying to restrain her.

"Just trying to vent." she panted once more, slightly cringing as some pressure started to develop in her back, between her shoulder blades.

"Vent what? More stress?" he asked, his breath fluttering across the skin of her neck.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah...I don't mean to change the subject, but...my back is about to pop." she groaned, finally opening her eyes to look at him out of her peripherals.

Kaidan let her wrists go and pushed himself up, noticing that his hand had left a blood smear on the mat. He looked at his palm, not seeing any cuts or injuries that would warrant the blood and turned his gaze to Lycan's bandaged wrist, seeing that the white wrapping had spots of bright red soaking through. He pushed her back down to sit on the mat as he gently grasped her wrist, starting to unravel the cloth to expose the hidden flesh that had been marred by his broken Omni-Tool.

"Oh Ly...You opened your cuts," he sighed with slightly furrowed brows, "Sit there, I'll get a kit so I can clean and reseal them." he stood, balling up the soiled bandage and tossed it into the trash chute to be incinerated.

"Technically...you did." she defended quickly.

"No you don't. You can't fool the field medic Ly. Those have been seeping for awhile because they soaked through all the layers of your bandage. Nice try." Kaidan shot her a 'know it all' smirk.

Lycan stuck her tongue behind his back, her eyes following him as he headed for a small cupboard to retrieve the med kit before he came back over and sat down in front of her. He unzipped the bag and started to pull various supplies. A new bandage wrapping, a tube of medi-gel and a few wet cleaning cloths that had been presoaked with a cleaning astringent. He took one of the cleaning cloths and opened it before he grasped her wrist once more and started to wipe away the blood, taking care to avoid the opened wounds.

"I didn't even know I did that." she lightly shrugged, like it wasn't a big deal that she had reopened them.

Kaidan sighed, but it wasn't delighted or neutral, it sounded frustrated, "You gotta be more careful Ly. These are gonna scar." he sent her a saddened glance.

Lycan's eyes softened as she hated it when her friends were mad, or upset with her, "I'm sorry. I just...needed to pummel something I guess." she cringed as a small amount of cleaning astringent made it's way into a cut.

"Was it worth the permanent scars?" he tried not to glare, or sound angry.

"It's not my first scar Kaidan. I don't mind scars." she had to swallow down the defensive nature that had a tendency to rear it's ugly head when someone accused her of something.

Now Kaidan glared, "Ly...You're skin is far too nice to have marred by scars like these." he said it a little too sweetly then he intended to and he internally smacked himself. _Ugh...Batting 0 for 1._

Lycan felt a blush coming on, "I've lived with ones that were for dumber reasons then this. I've had the one on my shoulder since boot." she shrugged her left shoulder, not just from some soreness that was starting to develop, but to show Kaidan that she had one such scar there.

"What from?" he didn't look up from his work to her wrist.

"A vaccination shot. Left a nasty looking scar. Looks like I got shot to be honest." she grumbled, as she hated that particular mark.

"Oh...Nice...Anyways, it doesn't mean you should want others to make up for that one Ly." he softened his gaze as he glanced up at her once he had finished cleaning the blood from her skin.

"I didn't want more Kaidan. I didn't mean to reopen them. I just wanted to blow off some steam is all." it was getting harder to not get defensive.

"I just don't want you to end up looking like Shepard." he set aside the used cleaning cloths and picked up another to use so that he could clean the cuts themselves.

Lycan's brows furrowed, "Covered in them huh?"

Kaidan nodded, "I've patched more then my fair share of them. Trust me, you don't want anymore. I like you the way you are," it clicked just then at what he just said, "Uh...because...um...it's expensive to...um...fix them...uh..." he nervously hung his head as he started to turn a bright shade of red. _Really? 0 for 2. Nice._

Lycan couldn't help but feel her own cheeks fully flush with heat as she looked away from him, wanting to hide her blush but she wasn't trying very hard. The atmosphere between them started to thicken with awkwardness as both remained silent. Kaidan just kept his head down as he pressed the cleaning pad to her cuts, hearing Lycan hiss loudly from the sharp spike of pain as the astringent soaked into the slits to rid them of any contaminants that could cause an infection.

"Sorry..." Kaidan cringed sympathetically.

"It's OK. It's gotta be done," her neck started to ache as well as the left side of her back, "Now I'm wishing that you _had_ popped my back." she groaned as she used her free hand to massage her neck.

"Why? Something hurt?" he tilted his head to one side as he started to wrap her wrist once more with the clean bandage.

"My back is starting to. It flares up when I'm stressed out." she sighed, now actually looking at him as she ignored the fact that her cheeks still burned.

Kaidan nodded as he finished with her wrap, "I can...um...take a look at it...if you want." he was trying not to blush even harder...if that was even possible. _God, I'm pathetic._

"Sure. It could only get better right?" she spun around, putting her back to him so he could take a look. _This should interesting._

"Um...You might wanna lay down on your stomach." his cheeks started to darken again.

"Oh...uh...Ok." she shrugged as she did just that, folding her arms beneath her head to provide her with a pillow. _I'm liking where this is going. Huh? _She sang in her head.

Kaidan scooted up to her side and placed his hands on her back, concentrating mostly on her left side as he started to kneed the muscle. He slid his hands to her shoulder blade and pressed his thumbs into the meat, finding a lengthened lump that had knotted itself into her muscles. He followed the lump up her shoulder and around her neck where it turned and headed back down along her spine, all the way to the small of her back.

"Jesus...This is one Hell of a knot. Has this been bothering you for awhile?" any lingering awkwardness had already faded away as he was now concerned that she had a far more serious injury then just the cuts on her wrist.

"No...it only does when I get stressed out." she adjusted her head to rest more comfortably on her arms.

"So, that's a yes then...How did this thing form?" he pressed his fingers along her spine, still trying to determine if the knot went any further.

"From four years of hocking bails of buoy chain when I was enlisted." she simply answered like everyone had done such a thing.

"Geez..." he shook his head as he didn't like that the knot had misaligned her shoulder blades, "I'm gonna try something but I need to lift up your shirt to see exactly where this leads. Is that OK?" _Don't blush again..._ He cringed as his cheeks started to catch fire.

"If it helps me to sleep at night, go right ahead." she resisted the urge to shrug. _Am I seriously agreeing to this? Am I that comfortable around him?_

Kaidan drew in a long breath to steady himself as he slowly lifted her shirt, exposing her back and confirming his suspicion...that she had a tattoo. The design covered a good portion of her skin. Two dark S shaped designs had been placed on either side of her back while long lines plunged down her spine and each was a different thickness. On the small of her back, the lines brushed over a fashioned, almost tribal design that held them in place and kept them taught, like they were ready to be played and create beautiful music.

"Wow..." his breath brushed passed his lips while he traced a finger over her tattoo, finding that his lips were curling into a soft smile. _Oh. My. God._

"What? Oh...the tattoo. Yeah, I got that when I turned 18." she tried not to giggle as his calloused finger grazed over a ticklish spot near her side.

"It looks familiar...Is it supposed to be a violin or something?" his finger followed the long, straight lines up her spine which raised a small, barely visible layer of gooseflesh in their wake.

"Yes...the whole thing is supposed to make my back look like a cello. See it?" she smiled up at him.

Kaidan tilted his head as he lifted her shirt just a little more, ignoring that a portion of the piece was covered by her sport's bra and saw...that her back was shaped as such an instrument and had been decorated to look as such without completely covering her skin in ink.

"Oh I see it! God...It's beautiful. I've...got one too but it's on my right shoulder blade. " _Damn...her back is so...shapely. Did I really just think that? _He bit his lips to keep from saying his thought aloud.

"Really? What of?" she craned her head enough to get a better look at him.

"It's a tribal Alliance logo. It's kinda hard to explain. I'll show you some time and tell you the story," he had to choke down a quiet gasp as he found her skin was so, incredibly soft, "Anyways, lets see if I can get this knot to lighten up a bit." he swallowed as he focused back onto the task at hand.

He pressed his thumbs into the small of her back, over the bridge of the tattoo cello and applied a portion of his weight, rising to his knees as his thumbs started to slide up her spine. The applied pressure started to cause her spine to pop, relieving some of the tension as each, popcorn crackle sounded and eased her stress.

"Oh that feels so good." she sighed with relief at each snap.

Kaidan cringed as her back started to sound more like a loud zipper then cracking cartilage.

"Well...I found where you carry your stress." he said as his thumbs followed the knot along it's path up her neck and around to her left shoulder blade where it disappeared beneath the bone.

Lycan didn't answer him as she just relaxed her musculature with a delighted sigh to allow him an easier time getting to the offending knot. He lifted a hand and grasped her shoulder, rolling it back while his other pressed into her shoulder blade to try and realign the piece so it was in line with the other. After a moment of no indication that her shoulder was going to cooperate, he scooted around to kneel at her head where he placed his hands on either side of her neck and gently tugged it towards him, releasing more pressure in the same form.

"You are horribly tensed up Ly. Take in a deep breath and hold it for a minute for me ok?" he slowly turned her head and held it in one hand.

She sucked in the long breath as Kaidan placed his free hand between her shoulder blades and applied some of his strength, finally releasing the pressure that had built up and causing Lycan to moan with relief as the aching started to diminish.

"Oh...my God." her body went limp as she flopped her arms at her sides.

"Not done yet Ly. Try and completely relax because this one might hurt a little." he gently set her head down on the mat and pulled her shirt back down before he grasped her left wrist and knelt down next to her.

Kaidan slightly wiggled her arm, waiting for her to relinquish complete control to him and fully relax. Once she did, he pressed his forearm into her side, just below her armpit and pulled her arm towards him, while pushing the rest of her away and with one, loud pop, the rest of the pressure was released. Lycan groaned loudly as she felt her shoulder stop aching, however, the knot was still there but it wasn't bothering her any longer.

"Thank you so much Kaidan. That feels so much better." she smiled at him as she accepted his help to sit up.

"You're welcome Ly. I can't do much about that knot in your muscle though, but I hope that helps you sleep."

"I'll go take a hot shower. Maybe that will loosen it up a bit." she rolled her shoulders, loving that she felt no more ache.

He rubbed the back of his neck as he remembered seeing her in the shower not too long ago, "Yeah...I'm sure it will."

Lycan smiled again as she grabbed her bag from the bench and started for the door, only to stop when Kaidan called her name.

"Ly?" she turned to look at him, "After you get cleaned up, do you...wanna watch a vid?" his cheeks, again, started to burn.

She sent him a beaming smile, "Of course! I won't take long if you wanna go pick one out." she suggested.

"See you up there then."

Lycan smiled again as she bounded out the door, feeling a million times better now that her back, shoulder and neck weren't bothering her. She was nearly to the showers when she saw Wrex, leaning against his stack of crates with his arms crossed as always and watching her all but skip by. She stopped in front of the door, her smile fading as she stared back, thinking it a good idea if perhaps telling him that she wasn't upset with him would smooth things over. She hesitantly started over, her bag slung over her shoulder and her hands tightly clinging to it's strap as her stomach fluttered with nerves.

"Um...Wrex?" she tried not to sound so nervous, but the krogan was big...very big, and she had to physically tilt her head up to look him in the eye.

"Hmm?" he grumbled.

"Um...I just wanted to tell you, that I'm not upset with you for what happened the other day. I understand that it was probably pretty suspicious seeing me in Kaidan's locker." she tried to look him in the eye, but it was hard due to her vertical issues.

Wrex shrugged, "It wouldn't hurt my feelings even if you were."

Lycan's brows furrowed. _Right...Wrex is brash...I can do brash, _"Well...To bad. I don't care if you wanted to hear it or not. I told you, so deal with it." she shrugged nonchalantly.

Wrex just stared at her, arms still crossed and his deep red eyes boring holes into her resolve. He slowly bent down, bringing his head down to her level, which was a couple feet down from his, and stared her straight in the eyes. Lycan gulped as she thought maybe, she had just gone a little too far but when Wrex started to laugh, she looked at him in question.

"Did...I say something wrong?" she looked around, hoping no one was watching the spectacle.

Wrex cupped a hand over the front of his wide face, "Now that...I can respect!" he rumbled another low laugh, "No idea how to fight and you stare me straight in the face and say that!" his laugh started to get louder which caused Lycan's cheeks to start to burn for the umpteenth time that day.

Lycan just quirked the corner of her mouth up.

Wrex clapped a large hand down on the top of her head, "You're alright small one. I think I can like you human," his laughter faded, "You've got a krogan's fighting spirit. I watched while you were in the gym. You're stubborn." he took his hand off her head, messing up her hair which she had to smooth back down.

"I know I'm stubborn and it makes me butt heads sometimes which is something I don't particularly enjoy."

Wrex poked a finger into her forehead, "You're head's too soft to be doing that small one."

"It's a figure of speech Wrex. I don't physically butt heads with anyone." she huffed a small chuckle.

"That would be something to see...Hell, I'd probably join in."

"That doesn't surprise me...Though...it wouldn't be a very fair fight."

"How so?"

"That armor plating you have on the top of your head. It's kinda an unfair advantage." she had to really try not to knock on the thick scale that covered Wrex's head.

Wrex barked another laugh, "That's why it would fun." he grinned.

Lycan pursed her lips together and nodded, as Wrex had a good point. If she had an armor plate that covered most of her head, she'd headbutt...well...she'd headbutt a krogan too.

"Ok...so...um...I'm curious..." she rubbed her neck, unsure if she really wanted to ask her question but she did anyways, "What does that plate feel like?"

One of Wrex's brow plates popped up at her question, as it wasn't one he was normally asked. His glare wasn't angry, instead, it was more confused but he figured, with the small human's inability to fight, she was no threat, what so ever. He bent down a little more, making it easier for the short one to reach the plate that adorned his head and waited.

"Well?" he flicked his eyes up towards the plate, giving her permission to proceed with her curiosity.

Lycan bit her lip nervously as she slowly reached for the plate, uneasily, like she was about to touch a snake which was creepy to her anyways. She gently placed her hand in the center of the plate, feeling her lips twitch into a smile as she felt the surprisingly soft texture of the plate. It appeared rough and hard, but it was more of the texture of thick, aged leather that had been stretched over a steel plate and custom molded to fit Wrex's head perfectly. After a moment, she removed her hand to clutch the strap of her bag, her face now adorned with a smile.

"It's different then what I thought it would be. I hope that wasn't weird." she shrugged, her cheeks still burning.

Wrex shrugged himself, "Whatever," they remained silent for a brief moment, which filled the space between them with some awkwardness, "Look, this won't happen again but...I appreciate the information you gave me about that scumbag Tonn. You saved me from having to pay the Shadow Broker for it."

"You're welcome Wrex. I'm glad I was able to help...I hope...we can work things out...between us." her smile faded as she started to get nervous as to what his answer would be.

Wrex sighed, "It's a start Human...It's a start." he shot her a curt nod to fill the short pause before he continued, "You remind me of someone. She's stubborn too."

Lycan's brows mildly pinched together, "Ok, I'll bite. Who?"

Wrex drew in a long breath before blowing it out in a contented sigh, "A Krogan. My daughter, Grexa."

Wrex hardly waited for Lycan to reply before he sauntered back over to his spot along the wall and closed his eyes, appearing as if he had just fallen asleep...standing up.

Lycan's jaw hung open for a brief moment as her brain went wild with the new information. _That was never in the game. Just how different is this future from what I know? How long until I'm no help anymore? I thought I had two years but...what if I have less time? _She thought.

As her thoughts raced, she saw Kaidan walking over to the elevator and remembered that they were going to watch a movie together, and the mystery that was Wrex and his family was quickly pushed aside as thoughts of what happened on the mats took their place. She smiled once before she turned and headed into the showers, quickly stripping down and jumping into the nearest stall. She cranked the water on till it was so hot, that the room quickly became filled with a thick blanket of steam and the temperature was just below her tolerance. It took her skin a few moments to quit stinging from the heat until she was comfortable but once she was used to it, she let the water relax her muscles. Her back started to release the lingering amounts of tension that refused to leave when Kaidan worked his magic. The muscle started to relax, her shoulders allowed their movement without the strained pulling of worn tissues and her mind began to feel cleansed. The water just washed away the last of her stress.

After some time, she finally turned off the water and dried off, wrapping her long hair in her towel once she was done and began to get dressed. She gathered her things, stuffing them into her bag and slinging the strap over her relieved shoulder before she walked out, seeing Ashley heading for the elevator.

"Hey Ash!" Lycan called out as she hurried to her side and both walked inside the elevator.

"Hey...You look less stressed. Good shower huh?" Ashley asked with a nice smile across her lips.

"Oh my God...Kaidan did this...thing where he cracked my back and shoulder and it felt so damn good." Lycan sighed happily.

Ashley popped an eyebrow, "Did he now." she tried not to start laughing.

Lycan just glared at her friend, "What? You have that look on your face like you're hiding some big secret." she giggled.

"You two need to just hurry it up and get together." Ashley spilled as she started to snicker.

"Oh...like you're one to talk. Do I really need to bring up you and Shepard?" she nudged Ashley's arm with her elbow.

"We don't have anything going on." Ashley defended.

"Yes you do."

"We do not! You and LT have so much tension between you two that Wrex couldn't cut through it."

"We do not! We're just best friends. He's my buddy." she grinned.

"Yeah...buddy...right. I believe that. You want him so bad." Ashley was having a hard time not laughing.

"Right," she rolled her eyes, "And you want Shepard so bad you can taste it. Ha!" Lycan barked a short, victorious laugh.

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

Their childish banter was broken once the elevator arrived at the Crew Deck and let them out, Ashley going towards the mess, while Lycan headed into the Med Bay to drop off her stuff and brush her hair. She felt happy and ready to just sit, and relax with her best friend and watch a movie which was something they had been trying to do for some time, but things always got in the way. She felt like just lounging while she watched, so she changed into a pair of sweats and tank before she nearly skipped back out onto the Crew Deck and hopped up to Ashley while she was eating her meal.

"Kaidan and I are gonna watch a movie. Did you wanna join us?" she snatched a snack bar from a cupboard.

"What you guys gonna watch?" she had to swallow down the urge to start up their banter again.

Lycan shrugged, "Don't know. I told Kaidan to pick one out."

"Sure. Sounds fun." she smiled as Lycan happily headed over to claim her seat next to Kaidan by the monitor.

Ashley glanced up as Shepard sat across the table from her, "Hey Skipper. How far out from Noveria are we?" she took a bite of her meal.

"We changed course again. Hackett wants us to check out the Armstrong Nebula. He's worried that the Geth could be massing for some serious offensive." Shepard simply answered as he rubbed his neck.

"Great...It never ends does it..." she sighed.

"Nope."

"So...uh, Lycan invited me to watch a vid with her and the LT, did you...uh...wanna watch too?" she glanced down at her food while she started to feel her cheeks catch fire.

One of Shepard's brows popped, "Well...the day cycle is winding down, and I could use the down time so...why not. I'll go change and see ya there." he sent a quick smile while he stood and headed for his quarters.

Lycan curled herself into her seat as Shepard disappeared into his quarters, tucking her leg underneath her which grated on Kaidan's nerves even more as he was trying to keep her knees as one functional joint instead of in pieces, so he smacked her thigh with the back of his hand.

"Stop that Ly...I swear to God, I'm gonna tie your ankles together so you stop sitting like that." he playfully growled as he sent her a sidelong glare.

"But it's comfy." Lycan whined. _You promise?_ W_here the hell did that come from? _she thought as she readjusted her position so her knees were tucked into her chest.

Kaidan leaned in a little closer, "I. Don't. Care. Stop." he put emphasis on his P to get his point across.

She over exaggerated crossing her arms, "Fine...I'll stop." she actually stuck her tongue at him, which he returned.

"I haven't stuck my tongue out at anyone since I was like five. What are you doing to me?" he playfully shoved her shoulder. _There are so many other things I'd rather do with it. Where the hell did that come from? _

She shrugged, "I'm innocent...I swear." she grinned.

"Right...innocent. I'll remember that." he chuckled low, nearly causing a layer of gooseflesh to grow over Lycan's exposed arms.

Kaidan softly smiled as he opened his Omni-Tool and prepared to start their vid, when they were joined by Ashley and Shepard, whom had both changed and took their seats. He swiftly started their movie as the lights around them dimmed, allowing them an easier time to watch without the flickering causing them too many problems. All four settled in comfortably...until the title of the movie showed up across the screen.

"A horror? Oh man..." Lycan groaned as she slumped in her seat.

Kaidan glared, "You don't like horrors?"

"Not my first choice of genres...no. I like sleeping at night." she rolled her eyes as she leaned over to press her shoulder into Kaidan's.

"They give you nightmares?" Shepard tried not to start laughing.

"OK...yeah...They do. They freak me out!" she laughed at herself as her cheeks started to blush with embarrassment again.

"Chicken."

"Yup."

All four started to laugh at Lycan's expense, even Lycan as the beginning credits rolled by and the picture started to change into a dark night out in a farm field somewhere in some rural part of some area. Kaidan leaned over to bring his lips to her ear, shadowed from the other two by the darkness that had smothered the alcove and whispered.

"Don't worry Ly...I won't let the big, bad monster get you." the low rasp of his voice and the heat of his breath tickled her neck, this time growing that layer of gooseflesh along the length of her bare arms and down her spine.

Lycan shyly bit her lip from the tingle, leaning just a little further into his shoulder for not only warmth, but by the pull to be closer to him. Everyone quieted down as their attention was turned to the movie, just in time too as some poor dame had her guts torn out by the swirling teeth of an old chainsaw. The shear amount of blood that came squirting out of the poor woman's gut actually made Kaidan start to laugh with that low, rumbling chuckle.

Lycan stretched her neck so that she could whisper into Kaidan's ear, "What's so funny?" she let her breath brush down his neck, like he had with his and watched, as his skin started to pimple with the tiny bumps and placing a victorious grin across her lips.

Kaidan turned his head to whisper back his answer, "An abdominal wound doesn't spurt like that. It seeps." now, they were teasing each other as he one up'ed her by sighing a long, drawn out and quiet blow of breath along her hair line.

Just as Lycan was about to take her turn in their new found little game, the psychopathic killer in their movie surprised them and nearly scared her out of her wits. She yelped loudly as she buried her face into Kaidan's shoulder, hiding her field of view from the monitor as the screams of the victims filled the immediate area. Kaidan couldn't help but giggle as he pulled his arm out and wrapped it around her, pulling her just a little further into him as she clung to him in hopes of forgetting the sudden appearance of the crazy madman whom was having way too much fun cutting people up. He cradled her as she hid against him, waiting for some kind of all clear that it was ok to look and resume watching the movie as she felt a gentle pat to her shoulder from the man who's arms she was in.

Shepard subtly watched them out of the corner of his eye, seeing Kaidan rest his cheek against Lycan's hair as he held her close and watched the movie. He felt a pang of anxiety in the pit of his stomach that he would have to talk with Kaidan about his blooming attraction to their little birdie, as he didn't want things to become strained between them. Kaidan was one of his closest, and oldest friends and it was a friendship that he had held in high regard while he struggled through some of his darkest times in life. He felt like Kaidan deserved something that made him happy, he just wasn't sure if finding it while they were on a mission with an unfathomable amount of lives on the line was the right time.

His train of thought was shattered when he felt soft, warm skin resting against his arm. He quickly glanced down, seeing that Ashley and him were sharing the armrest which had brought their hands terribly close to each other. His mind started to race as his thoughts shifted to the ones he was trying to fight back and forget, but was starting to fail, as they spent more and more time together. Every time she was near, he felt like he could keep on fighting just a little bit longer. He felt like he could stay sane amongst all the insanity that seemed to be enveloping every thing that he had to deal with and he felt like he wasn't in over his tried not to groan inwardly as his hand twitched on it's own accord, brushed his little finger against her's which earned him a soft smile with a shy glance from under her long lashes. His stomach started to knot itself as he tried to not stare at her hand, feeling her finger inch it's way closer until his was laying gently over her's. He quietly gulped as he started to let his hand do what it wanted to, each finger slowly, cautiously making their way to weave themselves with Ashley's and hidden by the dark that surrounded them. He allowed a full glance, seeing that their hands were now softly clasped together but it was a bit awkward for his arm, so he decided to go for broke. He retrieved his hand and leaned towards her, threading his arm so that it was on the other side of her's and took her hand in his once more. Their shoulders were pressed together, instantly warming them both against the chill of the air on the ship, but it did nothing to quell the shiver that rampaged through him when Ashley rested her head against his shoulder. He couldn't stop his from tilting over to rest against her's, quietly sighing as the scent of her hair drifted into his nose and making his heart sputter in it's beats. It was the first time, in a long time, he had felt happy, just being close to someone that saw passed his misdeeds and his troubled past, and just wanted to be next to him. _Hell... We're both in trouble._


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Interim IV

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect!)_

Shepard tossed and turned in his bed, his sheets tangled around him like a ribbon of scratchy fabric instead of smooth, elegant silk that nourished his skin. His dreams were plagued by the same tall, lightly tanned woman with dark brown hair and deep, invading eyes that bore into his very soul. Over and over again, he would dream of touching her skin, kissing every inch of the velvet wrapped weapon with legs that went on forever and licking her long neck, just to hear her moan.

He shot up in bed panting, drenched in a cold sweat and his manhood pulsing with anticipation as his body was having a hard time determining what was a dream, and what was real. He wiped his forehead as he tried to untangle himself from his sheets, having issues as his organ was catching on just about every loop of the fabric with each tug. He tried to roll his way out instead, which just ended him up on the deck as he fell off the hard, military mattress with a heavy thud but thankfully, it freed him from the sheet. He laid there on the cold deck for a few moments, letting it's cold suck the heat from his body, giving his heart some time to return to it's normal pace and his breathing to slow. _Jesus Christ...These dreams are killing me. _He grumbled as he pushed himself up, rising to his feet slowly so he didn't get a head rush from the already lack of blood to his brain. He padded over to his super small bathroom, stopping in front of the mirror to see the man looking back at him and he looked tired with darkening spots under his eyes.

He scoffed, "You look like Hell Gabriel." he shook his head disapprovingly and looked away from the mirror, slightly disgusted at the man whom was looking back at him.

He raked a hand over his head, hissing through his teeth as the cloth of his boxers shifted against his erection which only added to it's involuntary throbbing. He quickly tore them off, freeing him from their confines with a heavy sigh of relief as he cranked on the water to his tiny shower and made sure the water was as cold as he could stand it. He preferred to shower in the Cargo Bay, as the space was far less constricting, but he figured, he couldn't go stomping around the ship with a raging hard on, so he took the plunge and got in. His teeth immediately began to chatter from the icy water and his skin instantly erupted with a very thick covering of gooseflesh as the light dusting of brown hair on his arms and legs stood on end. The shivering blast sucked the remaining heat from his body and relieved him of having to take care of his pulsing member himself, which was something he was thankful for.

It didn't take long until he was too cold to stay in there any longer, as his skin had taken on a slightly bluish hue and his lips were no longer their usual pale rose. He wrapped a towel around his hips and padded back into the main of his cabin, seeing the time on his console as it read 0130 on his way to his closet.

"Jesus..." he grumbled to himself as he threw on some sweats and an Alliance t-shirt and headed for his door.

The cool blast of air from the Crew Deck was a welcomed reprieve from the warmer air inside his quarters, which reminded him that he needed to have the engineers look into getting it cooler in there. He turned and headed for the mess, seeing that it wasn't completely empty as one person was seated at a table with a glass of water in front of them, and their head in their hands.

"Can't sleep either?" Shepard asked quietly, not letting his voice carry like it normally would as he drew himself a glass of crisp, cold water and sat down across from him.

Kaidan shook his head, "Nope...not a damn wink." he dropped his hands to the table and leaned back in his chair.

"I hear ya." Shepard sighed as he took a sip of his water and slouched in his seat and plopped his forehead on the tabletop.

The pair remained silent for a moment, both thinking of where to proceed next with their late night conversation and none wanting to divulge exactly what was keeping them up at night. Each sighed a couple times as they became lost in their own thoughts, running along the same track of the two that had only recently become their blight. Their attention was drawn as the quiet hiss from the Med Bay door caused them to look over, seeing Lycan shuffle out and rubbing an eye free of sleep as she paid them no mind and headed straight for the mess.

Shepard saw Kaidan try to hide the fact that he was watching her walk and go for a glass of water, so he decided to make himself scarce.

"Well," he sighed quietly, "I'm gonna go do some Commander like things. Might as well check up on the night shift and all since I'm up." he said in a whisper as he scooted his chair back and stood.

Kaidan nodded as Shepard walked off, leaving just him and Lycan alone in the mess which he was blatantly aware of. He sighed and opted to stare at his glass of water, which hadn't touched yet, instead of watching her, as she was in her pajamas...which was a tank and shorts. He started to hear a soft tone coming from behind him as Lycan sipped on her water and rolled her neck, trying to rub some mild soreness from her muscles. He sat very still and listened to the tone, finding that she had begun to hum to herself as if she hadn't noticed Kaidan sitting at the table. The song was soft, and smooth, each note drifting into his ears and calming his racing mind from the thoughts that tormented him. Her voice fluidly changed notes to form a melody that seemed celtic to him, reminding him of the songs his mother would play on her violin when he was a child but this was far slower, more serene and peaceful. It was beautiful.

He stood and turned around, swinging a leg over to sit backwards in the chair, "That's pretty." he said quietly, unsure if it was loud enough for her to even hear him in the quiet of the mess.

"Huh? Oh...I'm sorry Kaidan. I didn't mean to..." she started to blush that she had been caught humming.

"Oh...don't apologize. It was pretty. I enjoyed it." he nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he started to blush right along with her.

"It's just...I don't usually hum in front of others...let alone sing. I get all kinds of stage fright and it's just not a good thing." she looked down towards the counter to try and hide her growing blush.

Kaidan stood from his chair and grabbed his glass before he walked over to stand beside her, finally taking a sip and setting the glass down next to her's. He pressed the small of his back against the counter's edge and crossed his arms over his chest, still fighting with himself to not scan her up and down.

"You should. The song was really nice. Where did you learn it?" _I know I've heard that song somewhere. What's it called? _he smiled softly as he saw the blush spread down her neck to nearly touch her collarbone.

"Call it cliché, but my mom used to hum it to me when I was younger. It helps me get to sleep when I hum it." she quickly glanced over at him and took a sip of water.

"Do you know the name?"

Lycan shook her head, "No...I just remember the melody." she cringed as she waited for the low rasp that served as his spine tingling laugh to come, which it did and sent a strong shiver down her spine.

"I'd...like to hear more...if it's alright with you." his lips curled into a soft crooked grin as he noticed her eyes flash with a hint of surprise.

"You would?" she couldn't stop her mouth from smiling as she saw the sincerety in his whiskey colored eyes.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah...I would." his voice cracked from his exhaustion which only added to it's smokey flavor.

Lycan shrugged and her smile grew, "Oh gosh...um..." she blew out a nervous breath, "Ok," she silently laughed as her cheeks burned hotter, "I'm sorry, I just...don't usually...you know...sing in front of someone. No ones ever asked to hear more." she started to rub her neck once more as it began to grow stiff.

Kaidan furrowed his brows as he pushed off the counter and stepped behind her, placing his hands high on her shoulders at the base of her neck, "You're back still bothering you?" he asked softly, lightly pressing his fingers into her muscle.

"A little...yeah. That's part of the reason why I can't get to sleep." she hung her head and closed her eyes, sighing as his work started to relax her and it granted a small reprieve from the stiffness.

"Still stressed out?" he slid his hands down to her shoulder blades where he found a majority of the knot that he wished he could get rid of.

"I'm trying not to be. I just can't get my brain to shut the Hell up." she sighed, sounding saddened and tired.

"That happens to me sometimes too," he lowered his hands even further to the small of her back, finding a tight spot wrapped around her lumbar which made her instantly stiffen when he pressed into it.

"Ah...right there." she cringed, placing her hands on the countertop and hunching over which put her backside...into Kaidan's hips.

Kaidan had to swallow hard as her rear met the front of his hips, sending a wave of blistering heat straight through him to crash into his core like a dropped bomb. His body was trying to force him to draw closer to her, which was something he didn't want at the moment...or maybe...he did want that...shit, he didn't know. He was confused and he was having just as many issues trying to get his body to cooperate but eventually, his brain overruled his body and forced him to take a small step back. He needed to do something to change the thoughts rampaging through his head from their precarious situation that she hadn't realized she had instigated, or risk having an embarrassment that he swore was going to kill him.

"Here...turn around. I'll crack your back." he urged as he gently spun her to face him, relieved that her rump was no longer pressing into his hips.

She hardly resisted him as she allowed him to do what he need to do to help. He wrapped his arms around her, tightly balling his hands together as he placed it on the small of her back. He had to hunch over a little, like he was preparing to pick her up as he lightly leaned the side of his head against hers.

"Just breath...Try to relax as best you can." he whispered, hearing her drawing in a long, unbroken breath and blow it out just as smoothly as it danced across his neck, shoulders and back.

He waited a couple more seconds, waiting for her to go as limp as possible when he started to roll his clamped fist up her spine, letting her own weight do most of the work as he pressed to release the pressure. The silence about the mess was broken by the long series of popcorn sounds from Lycan's back the further Kaidan's fists rolled up her spine, till they rested between her shoulder blades.

"I think we're gonna have to do this pretty often Ly. I don't like what this knot is doing to you...um...your muscles...er...shoulder...blades." Kaidan stuttered, thankful that his face was out of her field of view.

Lycan sighed a delighted moan as Kaidan gently set her feet back on the deck, having to catch her before she fell over, seeing a wide smile on her face.

"You might just have to try your hand at massage Kaidan. It was the only thing that helped back when I was enlisted." she mumbled into his chest, letting him hold her up.

"I never took training in that Ly. I'm just a field medic that happened to pick up a few things throughout the years." Kaidan lightly protested as he marginally urged Lycan to stand on her own, as he was rather enjoying her body heat against his chest which wasn't helping the thoughts running through his head.

"Damn...And here I was...trying to con you into a back massage." she grinned an innocent smile up at him.

Kaidan couldn't help but smile back and placed a hand on her arm to feel her soft, cool skin, "Maybe some other time Ly. You should get back to bed and get some sleep." _Though, I most definitely wouldn't mind...Wait what?_

"That's easier said then done Kaidan. My brain just doesn't wanna leave me alone." her eyes saddened as she softly patted his hand, still resting on her arm.

"I'd hate to drug you up just so you could get some sleep Ly." he slid his hand down her arm and gently clasped her hand where his thumb grazed over her knuckles.

"Darn." she joked with a tired laugh.

Kaidan quietly laughed along with her as a thought popped into his head, "You said that song you were humming helped you to fall asleep right?" he released her hand.

Lycan nodded.

"Well..." he started to blush, "maybe...you could teach it to me...and...I could hum it to you?" he nervously started to gnaw on his bottom lip as he started to regret even asking.

Lycan's blush returned with a vengeance as she rubbed her arm just as nervously and looked away from him, "Oh...uh...I don't remember the words though..." she tried to protest, but it was a weak excuse.

"That's ok."

She sighed, still nervous as she nodded, finishing her water before she started back towards the Med Bay with Kaidan in tow. He had to make a conscious effort to not watch her walk, as her shorts were...well...just that. They were short, and provided a fantastic view of her shapely legs. They weren't long and thin, they were proportioned to the rest of her, packed with muscle and topped with quite the ample amount of rump. _Why the Hell did I get those for her? Was I trying to set myself up for torture? _He cringed at himself as he stared over her head, seeing her slip into her bed and get comfortable as she laid down on her stomach with her head facing him. He pulled up a chair and sat down, slightly adjusting her blanket to sit just a little higher on her shoulders as he waited for her to teach him her song.

"You can listen a couple times and join in whenever you want to...ok?" she whispered softly.

Kaidan nodded and compassionately brushed aside a loose lock of her hair that had fallen out of her hair tie, his eyes meeting her's as she started to quietly hum to him. Her song started off slow, easy to follow as he listened to her notes smoothly change from one, to the other. His mind went blank as her siren's melody eased his thoughts, something he was thankful for and it was something that would help him fall asleep back in his sleeper pod.

After a few rounds of her gentle, serene humming, Kaidan's low tenor joined her's in a harmonic balance that only nature, untouched by any sentient's hands, was able to achieve. Soon, Lycan's hum ceased, leaving Kaidan's alone to send shivers down her spin as she searched his eyes, seeing the same compassion, kindness and friendship that had always been there, but there was something else that had begun to show in his gaze. There was something there she couldn't quite see through her tiredness. Something that was far more intimate then he wanted to show and went to great lengths to keep it hidden from her view. But there, seated near her and humming a song that soothed her soul while he softly stroked her hair, she found solace and a comfort that she had never felt until now. She felt at home.

_I know this song...I swear my mother played this song on her violin...wait...Scarborough Fair! I know the words! _Kaidan's brain raked it's files for the words to the old song that his mother had played, finding that it didn't take long for him to remember the words as he slowly, quietly worked them in to the melody he was already humming.

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair," he saw her eyes refocus as she started to recognize the words as well, "Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme," her lips started to curl into a silky soft smile, "Between salt water and the sea strands," her eyelids started to fall as he whispered the last line, "Then she'll be a true love of mine." he silenced his low, trembling hum.

He watched her eyes close fully, his fingers tangled in her dark hair with his thumb lightly caressing her temple as she slipped into a long, awaited slumber. However, he did not stand to leave her to sleep right away. He was content to just watch her sleep for a few, selfish moments of silence to just listen to her breath. His eyes flicked to look at her lips, remembering when he had first seen them, so tinted with blue but now, they were a rosy flush that contrasted nicely with her pale complexion. He stared at her lips, deciding that they looked as soft as silk and wondered, it they felt that way. He turned his hand to softly glide the back of his fingers along her jaw, feeling her skin's warmth, it's silk. His fingers, feather light, trailed down her neck to her collarbone before sliding back up to rest on the side of her neck. His thumb cautiously moved up towards her lips, his stomach starting to flutter as it's pad gently, brushed across them to feel that his suspicions were confirmed, as they were plump and velvety soft. He just as cautiously leaned closer to her, unsure of what he was doing as he brought is face within inches of her's.

"Sweet dreams...my guardian angel..." he whispered so quietly, he hardly heard it himself.

He retrieved his hand from her neck, reluctantly standing from his seat and tiptoed his way to the opposite bed where he climbed in and laid down. He rolled to his side, using his bicep as a pillow as he watched her sleep, tugging the blanket up to his shoulders where he finally started to fall asleep. _What's happening to me? Why can't I get her out of my head? I can't sleep at night without seeing her every time I close my eyes. _He thought, just as his body pulled him under with his last sight being his her.

* * *

The CIC was far too quiet for Shepard's liking as the few crew that were awake went about their business. He remembered having to pull the night shifts when he was fresh in his enlistment. They were never fun, and it was always weird when you would wake up in the evening...to eat breakfast. He checked in with each crew member, asking if they were doing ok or if they needed anything but everyone just said they were fine and thanked him for asking. He made his way up to the bridge, seeing Joker diligently sitting in his chair as he flew the _Normandy_ towards their destination.

"How is everything up here Joker?" Shepard asked as he sunk down into the co-pilot's chair.

Joker glanced over, seeing that Shepard was still in his PJ's, "Casual Friday?" he snickered as he popped an eyebrow.

"I plan on going back to bed after this." he groaned, rubbing his hands over his tired face.

"Ah...So what brings you up to my little corner of Heaven?" Joker returned his attention to his screens, making a miniscule course correction which really wouldn't have become an issue until much later.

"Couldn't sleep." he reluctantly answered, again, not wanting to tell exactly why he was having so much trouble getting much needed rest.

"You didn't get all freaked too from the horror vid did you?" Joker started to snicker to himself as the thought of Shepard screaming like a little girl popped into his head.

Shepard scoffed, "Please...That was _not_ a horror vid. I've seen way worse then that...What was it called?" he asked himself, drumming a finger against his chin, then he snapped his fingers, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." he smiled that he was able to remember.

Joker shrugged, "I can't believe you let Alenko talk you into watching that ancient thing. Was it creepy fortune teller's idea?" Joker snarked without even sending Shepard a sidelong glare.

"No. Kaidan picked it and Ash was the one who talked me into it. I thought you knew everything that went on around this ship?" Shepard popped a smart ass eyebrow and smiled a shit eating grin.

"I do..." Joker turned his head slightly to get a good look at Shepard's face, "And I know what happens..._off_...my ship." Joker's lips started to grow into a grin that only a man who knew something he shouldn't would smile.

Shepard's brows furrowed, "What do you mean?" he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"I think you know what I mean Commander." he arced his brow once more.

Shepard stayed silent for a moment, just staring blankly at the pilot until his brain finally clicked, and the little lightbulb flicked on. The flood of emotions that bullied their way front and center made it really hard for him not to yelp in shock of his little secret...well, it was more like their little secret that they were trying to keep away from just this very person. He forced his eyes to stay blank, his breathing to stay even but his heart hammered violently in his chest and threatened to make him pass out as is blood thundered through his veins.

Joker noticed the bead of sweat that started to slowly creep down Shepard's forehead, a tell tale sign that he had started to get close to the truth of the ships little rumor. He figured it was time to start digging.

"So there _is_ a hint of truth hidden in that little rumor going around." Joker poked, trying not to blurt out his laughter.

"What rumor?" Shepard looked away from Joker in an attempt to obscure the gulp that his adam's apple made difficult to hide.

"You haven't heard it?" Joker was having a hard time not snickering.

"What rumor?" Shepard repeated, urging Joker to continue as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well...Since you asked so nicely," Joker let the silence hang in the air a moment to grate on Shepard's rapidly waining patience, "Word around the ship...is that our dear Gunnery Chief, and our creepy fortune teller have little school girl crushes on a couple of strapping, eligible bachelors on the ship." he smirked.

He lightly rubbed the back of his neck and gulped again, "Do they now. Does this rumor happen to mention whom they just might have these little crushes on?" he started to worry as his cheeks began to feel warmer.

Joker just shrugged and smirked, loving how much he was making the Commander squirm, "Didn't catch them...Though...I hear they're both officers so that kinda narrows it down don't it?" his smirk grew just a little bit.

Shepard felt himself sinking a little into the chair, "Yeah...kinda does." _Shit...Does he know about Feros? I swear to God...I will space whomever told him, _"You should know better then to put much weight into a rumor until you have viable proof Joker." he tried to do his Commander's glare, but was having difficulty pulling it off with his stomach doing flips.

Joker scoffed, "How do you think rumors start Commander? It's not like someone just woke up after a long night of partying and decided to start a rumor just for kicks." _Oh...this is rich. I have so much ammo to use it's not even funny. _Joker sat, staring at his screens with a satisfied grin plastered on his face.

_Oh dear Jesus, _"What makes you think there's any hint of truth to this thing? Ash wouldn't jeopardize her career by breaking regs, and Lycan...well, who cares if she likes someone. She isn't Alliance and has no regs to break." Shepard groaned, trying not to sound nervous or accidentally letting something slip.

"I'm surprised you haven't noticed anything yourself Commander."

Shepard lightly cleared his throat, "I have other things to do then try and find something to hang over someone's head." _Oh God...I think I just opened the door._

Joker started to quietly snicker again as he pretended to be hurt by the comment, "Ouch...Do you really think so little of me that I would do such a thing?" he placed his hand over his heart.

Shepard just glared.

"I'm hurt Commander...Truly. Well, I'll let you in on a little secret," he turned his chair enough to face Shepard and leaned in slightly so he could lower his voice, "I hear...that the Chief actually woke up...laying on top of the object of her affection." Joker's smirk grew as he watched Shepard's reaction.

Shepard nearly choked on his own tongue at Joker's statement. He forced himself not to look at the pilot, not wanting to see the smug, shit eating grin that he was sure was there to torment him and opted to stare out the viewports as the black of space whisked by. His stomach started to do flip flops as he racked his brain for the best way to dodge Joker but knew, the longer he stayed silent, the more ammo it would provide Joker with. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a quick pang of irritation rise in his gut as he figured right now, in the dead of the night cycle, he was gonna have to be Commander Shepard, and not Gabriel.

"Joker...Don't go spreading around rumors like that that could damage a good Marine's career. If I hear any more of it, you're gonna force my hand and I'm gonna have to write you up. I don't want to, but if I have to...I will." Shepard erased any emotion from his face as he sent a blank stare towards Joker.

Joker's grin faded as Shepard's tone was flat, even and almost cold. He threw up his hands in defense, "Alright...alright Commander. I'll keep my mouth shut. You win." he turned back to his consoles.

Shepard sighed once more, raking his hands down his face as his eyes finally started to feel heavy, "Good to hear it. I'm headed back to bed. Let me know if anything interesting happens." he groaned as he stood from the chair.

"Will do Commander."

Shepard nonchalantly waived over his head as he scuffled down the CIC and headed back onto the Crew Deck where he saw that it was now empty. He did a quick course change and headed for the sleeper pods, stopping in front of the first pod on the left which happened to be the one claimed by a certain Staff Lieutenant and saw...that it was empty. His brows furrowed as he pursed his lips together and glanced over his shoulder towards the Med Bay, having a pretty good idea of where the Lieutenant had disappeared to and decided, that pulling a Joker would be the best way to determine if his theory was right. He padded into his quarters and sat down at his console with a long, drawn out yawn as his energy reserves were dwindling quickly. He logged into his account and dove into the surveillance programs where he brought up the camera for the Med Bay, seeing Lycan fast asleep in her bed, with Kaidan across the aisle in the bed directly across from her. _Why do I get the feeling that you're in there for another reason besides a migraine Kaidan? How the Hell am I supposed to talk to you about this without you turning it back on me? I don't really think there is a way to talk to you about this without you turning it back at me... _He sighed as he shut down his console and climbed back into bed.

* * *

The day shift was in full swing, the night crew long since passed out in their pods while the rest of the crew went about their duties like normal. Shepard had already done his rounds and was now hidden away in his quarters as he plinked away on the slowly decreasing mountain of paperwork that he personally hated. Ashley was hard at work as usual on their tasty arsenal of ass kickery while Liara was perusing the extranet for anything related to the Protheans. Wrex sat back and watched the hustle and bustle about the Cargo Bay with a content grin on his face and worked on fixing and cleaning his family's armor with Ash's help every now and again. Tali had disappeared like always in Engineering where she was happiest and having a rather jolly conversation with Adams and the rest of the engineers. Kaidan continued the unending plight to try and fix the flickering and surprisingly, alone as Lycan was down in the Mako, helping Garrus.

"How do you fit up there Garrus? I mean...don't these things get stuck on stuff?" Lycan snickered as she lightly flicked the long spines that jutted out of the back of the turian's leg.

"Huh? Oh...No, I've never had them stuck on anything. When you grow up with them, you tend to always be aware of where they are." Garrus answered, stuffed up into the gun turret as he calibrated it's smart targeting system.

"Well, I grew up with toes, but that doesn't mean I don't stub them on occasion." Lycan cheerfully retorted as she handed him a tool, then returned her attention back to the console that displayed the needed schematics for the turret.

"You don't know where your own toes are?" Garrus started to chuckle as he slipped down from the turret and sat in the driver's sear to check the gun's systems.

"Really Garrus? Of course I know where my toes are, but I don't stare at my feet when I'm walking and sometimes...POW! I'll slam them into something. Most of the time, it's the edge of a door." she slapped her hands together to simulate the painful smacking.

One of Garrus's brow plates shifted up, "How do you smack the edge of a door if they slide open?" he handed the tool back to Lycan and pointed to another for her to hand him.

"Did you forget that I'm not exactly from this time?"

"The doors didn't slide open in your time?"

Lycan shook her head, "Not all of them. Most swung open. Those are the ones I'd smack my tootsies on." she giggled at herself.

"Ok...you lost me. What's a tootsie?"

"A fun word for toes." she giggled.

"Oh," he slipped off the driver's seat and climbed back up into the turret, "So what do we do next?" he asked simply as he got ready to continue his work on the turret.

Lycan looked down at the console and found where they had left off, "It says to adjust the...uh...targeting laser sights until the front and the back are aligned to form a single mark...Um...oh, and it has to be within a tolerance of...uh...I don't know this one." she slightly cringed.

Garrus slid down from the turret and knelt down to look at the screen, "Ah...Don't feel bad. That's a Turian measurement of scale. Techies are the only ones who can usually understand this stuff. You're doing a great job though." Garrus clanked his mandibles as he patted the top of her head.

"Aw shucks...Thanks Garrus. Kaidan's been teaching me a lot lately and it's been great. I don't feel so...out of place now." she smiled as she watched him climb back up into the turret.

"That...is another curious human behavior that I haven't quite figured out yet." Garrus huffed, reaching down for another tool that Lycan handed up to him.

"What is?"

"You and the Lieutenant's relationship. I can't figure out if you two are mating or not?" he handed her back the tool and pointed to another one.

Lycan started to blush as she handed Garrus the tool, "Huh?...No! No, we aren't doing that. We're just friends." _God...This is the third person who's thought Kaidan and I are having sex. _She was thankful that Garrus couldn't see her reddening cheeks.

"Then is it customary for 'friends' to be as close as you two are?" he air quoted himself as he managed to send her a quick glance underneath his arm.

"We aren't that close...are we?" she was starting to doubt what their relationship meant, as to someone on the outside, it appeared that they were more then just that.

"I've noticed that whenever you are near, the Lieutenant starts to...smell...different we'll say."

_Damn turian sense of smell, _"Um...is that good? Or bad?" she started to cringe.

"Depends on what your definitions are I guess. To be honest, the Commander smells the same way whenever Ashley is near as well. I'm starting to think that it's associated with the desire to mate." he slipped back down from the turret, this time, plopping down on the floor across from her to surf the console that sat between them.

Lycan's blush burned just a little hotter, "You aren't the first one to think that Kaidan and I are...yeah." she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Who else has said it?"

"Wrex said it too. Can you really smell that sort of thing?" she started to wipe off the tools so they were nice and clean.

"I don't know about Krogans, but a Turian's sense of smell is sensitive enough to smell the pheromones associated with mating."

"That must be weird," now...her curiosity was peaked, "So...Kaidan...really smells different when I'm around?" she kept her head down to try and hide her blush while she continued cleaning the tools.

Garrus nodded, "Yes, he does. It's hard to explain really if you can't smell it either."

"Is it gross?"

"To a male...it's not the best, but to a female...it would drive them crazy. That's what my sister says anyways. It's funny that human females can't smell the change in their own potential mates and visa versa." he opened up his Omni-Tool and started to download some data he would need to calibrate the system control in the driver's seat.

"I wonder if it smells like his cologne." she mumbled, mainly to herself.

"Why do females like that?" Garrus had overheard her.

_Damn Turian sense of hearing_, "I don't normally like cologne because a lot of them smell nasty and I'm picky, but Kaidan's," she started to shiver as her sense of smell recalled the scent, "Kaidan's is lovely. He uses a body spray that just smells so...damn...good." it clicked in her head at how she must have sounded, "But you know...I'm sure any girl would think that." she added as an after thought, hoping that it would deflate the way she had described it down to something a little less...infatuated.

Garrus's brow plate shifted up again as his small, cat like nose caught the scent the pheromone change, "I assume he wears it because it causes that reaction."

"Yeah...Maybe." she tried to act like the scent didn't cause her body to physically warm up.

"May I offer my opinion?" he stopped his work on the console to look at her, seeing her skin was a very bright shade of red.

She nervously nodded but still couldn't look him in the eyes.

"I think he wears the scent...because he receives that reaction from you. In fact, the same goes with Shepard, and is desire to please Chief Williams." Garrus simply explained as he returned his attention back to the console.

Lycan thought that her blush couldn't get any hotter but sure enough, it did, "Maybe I'm happy that I can't smell those pheromones."

Garrus skimmed through the data on his screen when a subtle, yet pungent scent came fluttering into his nose, "Ah...as you humans say it, speak of the devil." he blew out a huff of air.

Lycan looked up questioningly at Garrus, seeing him motion towards the open door of the Mako with his head. She looked over her shoulder and saw Kaidan walking towards them with a small...something in his hands which was wrapped in a dark cloth.

"Hey Kaidan...What's up?" Lycan's mouth started to curve into a soft smile as he set his eyes into her's and smiled.

"Nothing special. There enough room in there for one more?" he set down the small roll and leaned a shoulder against the side of the Mako.

"Sure. Slide on in." Garrus answered as he scooted over with the console now in his lap.

Lycan maneuvered herself so that she was leaning back against the driver's seat so that Kaidan had enough room to sit on the floor without crowding her...though it was something she probably wouldn't mind. Kaidan slipped in and sat back against the bulkhead on the other side of the door where he unraveled the small bundle in his lap. She was expecting the soft glint of tools that he usually had with him but once the light from overhead touched down, there was no gleam that shimmered.

"What's that?" she asked, trying not to be too curious.

Kaidan sent her a sidelong glance with a soft, crooked grin on his face as he picked up the small, black case, "Personal first aid kit. I came down to take a look at your wrist." he set the case down on the floor and popped the latch to slowly open it up.

"Oh...It doesn't hurt at all though. I'm sure it's fine." she lightly protested as she went to pick up another tool to wipe off, but was halted when Kaidan gently grasped her hand.

"No you don't Ly...Now scoot over here so I can take a look." he lightly tugged her over and guided her to sit right in front of him.

Kaidan started to unwrap her bandage, taking great care to slip the fabric from her skin while her hand softly rested in his. He balled up the old bandage and set it aside next to him as he started to take a close look at her well scabbed cuts, and the bruise was nearly gone all together. He started to hear small huffs of air coming from Garrus, still seated with the console in his lap and now plugged into the Mako's databanks.

"Something wrong Garrus?" Kaidan glanced up as he uncapped a small tube of what looked like a medicated lotion and deposited some in his palm.

"Uh...No. Just...um...a tickle in my nose...is all." he lightly cleared his throat as he avoided the Lieutenant's gaze.

"Turians sneeze?" Kaidan asked with a popped eyebrow as he noticed Lycan's cheeks starting to turn red. _Did I miss something?_

"Yes." Garrus simply said, not even bothering to look up from his console.

Lycan gnawed on her lip as she watched Kaidan gently massage a medicated lotion into her skin, enjoying the way it warmed, and cooled her skin at the same time. He paid a little extra attention to the still, slightly darkened portions of bruise which hardly reacted anymore to the increased pressure from his fingers as he working the lotion.

"Your bruise yellowed real nice Ly." Kaidan lightly smiled as he gently rubbed the last of the lotion into her skin, happy to see that the discoloration was nearly gone.

"What is this stuff? Some kind of menthol rub?" Lycan asked, smelling the distinctive scent of eucalyptus fill the inside of the Mako.

"Actually, I make it. It feels great when the muscles and joints start to ache. It's medi-gel and a menthol crème lotion mixed together." Kaidan said with a small hint of excitement in his low voice.

"That can't be cheap." Garrus chimed in as he set the console aside.

"I don't have to buy the lotion myself, my mother sends it to me on occasion." his ears started to turn pink that he still received care packages from his mother.

_Oh, he has a good relationship with his mother too, _"How does she mail it to you if you spend most of your time on starships?" Lycan asked, desperately wanting to ask about his family, but not wanting to make things awkward for Garrus.

"She sends the packages to the Citadel where a family friend picks them up and puts them in my apartment." he carefully lifted her arm and started to closely inspect her cuts, who's scabs were preparing themselves to fall away and reveal the freshly healed flesh.

The curiosity was starting to become unbearable, "You...have an apartment?"

Kaidan glanced up, "Mmhmm. I'm one of the few that keep one for those rare moments I actually get some time off." he smirked at his own joke.

Lycan added her far higher pitched giggle, "Is it a nice place?"

"It is. Costs me 1500 credits a month to keep it but I don't spend my money on much so it stacks up. It's really my only expense besides the Netflix Prime account." he turned her hand, palm down and began inspecting the scabs on the top of her wrist.

"Is that a lot this day and age? Because it's a lot back in 2011."

"There's worse then that. Some apartments range up to 3000 a month. Some even higher then that. Mine is pretty nice though. It's a good size. I like having a little extra room to stretch when I'm home." he smiled softly once more as he set her hand down to rest on his knee, while he reached into his personal med kit and pulled an off-looking bandage.

"Is that a different kind of bandage?" she looked at it's slightly, off white color and the slight hint of more menthol.

"Another special bandage of my own making. It's been presoaked in that medi-gel/menthol cream and dried. The oils and perspiration from your skin will reconstitute it and apply more over the course of time. It's like a time release thing. I'm trying to get as much oxygenated blood to your skin as I can to give you a better chance at not scaring." Kaidan explained as he gently started to wrap the bandage around her skin.

"You make a lot of your own medical stuff?" Garrus asked, now just as curious as Lycan was.

"Depends on what I need really." Kaidan simply answered, taking extra time to make sure the wraps were lined nicely around her wrist.

Lycan shyly smiled as Kaidan finished with her wrist, their eyes meeting for just a brief moment before hers flicked out the open door to see Tali walking towards the elevator.

"Do you think Tali will come around soon? I still feel like she doesn't trust me yet." Lycan's smile faded as she turned her gaze to stare into her lap.

"I think you two are off to a good start. If she didn't somewhat believe in the things you say, then why would she have come and gotten us when you needed our help the most?" Kaidan asked, sending her an empathetic and reassuring smile in hopes that she understood.

"I hope that's true. She seems shy to me but maybe that's because she never comes out of Engineering." Lycan quietly sighed as Tali disappeared out of her line of sight.

"I'm sure she'll come around Ly. She just needs to get to know you. You should go talk to her and try to break the ice a little bit." Kaidan suggested with a gentle placement of his hand on her upper arm.

"Are you sure?" she started to feel more and more shy.

"I'm positive Ly. Go on. I promise you won't miss anything here and if by the off chance you do, I'll fill you in." Kaidan smiled softly, slipping from the Mako and grasping her hand to coax her to go talk with the young quarian.

Lycan couldn't very well resist as Kaidan pulled her from the Mako, chuckling low in his throat as she decided to act just a little bit childish and passively resist. She went limp, giggling the whole time as she let Kaidan have the entertaining task of keeping her off the deck in a heap. With her ear pressed to his chest, hearing the low, rumbling rhythm of his heart beat accompanied by his deep laugh, she decided to finally heed his advice and go find Tali.

She stood on her own two feet once more and patted his hard chest, "Alright, alright. I'm going," she looked over her shoulder towards Garrus, "Do you still need me Garrus?"

"Nope, you're good."

She smiled at them both as she stepped around Kaidan and started towards the elevator, taking a few moments peace, alone in the car, to get her thoughts in order of what she was going to say. She was nervous, to say the least. Tali and herself hadn't spoken much since her...unscheduled arrival, and she wanted to make sure that things went well. So far, things between them weren't hostile, just...slightly tense as both tried to determine where the other stood in terms of friendship, or rivals. After the conversation with Kaidan, she got to thinking. What could she and Tali talk about? She wasn't into the tech and engineering stuff, so there wasn't much to go with there. As she stood there, she racked her brain for anything that could possibly be used as the grand ice breaker to get things rolling towards friendship.

The arrival chime sounded and drew her out of her head as she took a deep breath to ready herself before she stepped out, her stomach doing flips as she saw Tali in the mess, whipping herself up a dextro-DNA friendly meal. She rung her fingers together as her nerves grew, she decided she needed a little while to think of something so instead of walking up to Tali, she headed for the vid screen by Shepard's quarter's. To help take her mind off her dilemma, she brought up the gaming software Kaidan found for her a few days ago. It was an awesome piece of software. It was a collection of emulators that spanned all the systems she grew up with and some she didn't. There was the Playstation console series, spanning all the way from the Playstation 1, to the Playstation 3 which happened to be one of her favorites, and she even had the choice of tapping into the Playstation 4. There was the XBOX series, the long list of Nintendo consoles and enough games to keep her entertained for hours. She loaded the latest game she was working on with the still flickering vid screen and started killing and blasting away all the little aliens that crossed her path. However, little did she know...that she had gathered an audience.

Tali had come up to stand at the end of the row of chairs to watch, having heard the little screams and yelps in a language that her translator couldn't sort out. She was relived when the young human didn't seem to notice her and continued with what she was doing, blasting away all kinds of creatures of different shapes and sizes and all screaming, sometimes in Common, other times, in that funny language. Tali was a little surprised to see that it wasn't a vid that she was watching, but a game of some sort and Lycan was controlling the character on the screen with her borrowed Omni-Tool. The game was obliviously very old, as it was only in 2D. Everything stayed on the screen. She watched as the character moved about a lush looking area but she couldn't determine what race the avatar was, as the only thing she could see was a few stats in each corner, and the front half of an old looking gun. As Tali leaned forward to get a better look at the figures on the screen, she bumped in to the bench seats where Lycan sat and startled her.

As Lycan reacted to the sudden shift of her seat, she looked around noticing Tali for the first time. She also notice, that Tali was wringing her hands together like she always did when she was nervous.

"Oh...uh...I'm...uh...Keelah...I'm sorry." Tali stuttered with a shaky voice.

Lycan paused her game, "Hey Tali. Did...you want to use the vid screen? I'm sorry, I didn't know." she asked, feeling her cheeks begin to burn at being caught playing the game that everyone else considered old.

As Lycan went to get up Tali put her hands out, "Oh no...no I...uh...I was just making something to eat and heard weird noises is all. I just wanted to see what it was."

Lycan smiled, "Oh this," she gestured towards the vid screen, "It's a video game from my time. It's called Halo Reach. It's what people thought aliens might be like. Funny huh? We were way off...well, except for one game in particular." she explained, somehow managing to not jump into a long winded lecture about her favorite games from her favorite developers and favorite consoles.

Tali looked at the vid screen to take a closer look at some of the figures. Some looked like the volus. They were round, but not as round, and where just as short and stubby. They even had environmental suits on. Another looked like a turian, but not as angular. They were tall like a turian, but appeared to have bodies a little more similar to a humans, then a turians. The last two looked like a krogan, without the hump and covered with patches of hair, and the other looked like a Keeper, but could fly, well, sort of. It sat in a chair and hovered around in it.

"I didn't know there were so many similarities from most of those races on the screen. What's the point of this video game?" she pointed a finger towards the screen.

Lycan looked back at the screen and for the first time noticed those similarities that Tali had pointed out, "Oh my God, your right. I've never noticed that before," she lightly chuckled, "Well, to answer you question, the point is to fight off the alien invaders and escape the planet before they 'glass' it. The character I'm playing is an elite soldier whom is part of an elite team tasked with that mission." Lycan explained with a soft smile on her face, pointing to the screen.

Tali remained silent for a brief moment, seemingly in thought, "Would it not be easier to play this game with another person? The computer controlled members of you team seem...not smart?" she said, her eyes bouncing back and forth from the screen, to Lycan.

Lycan laughed and nodded in complete agreement, "Yeah. The game is easier with a friend and you're right. The computer characters are pretty stupid. We always called it A.I and it was actually scripted actions. They were just able to put more into the games as the technology got better," a thought popped into her head, "Hey...do you wanna play? I could really use the help." her stomach started to twist with nerves.

Tali shifted from foot to foot nervously, still ringing her fingers together, "But you are already so far. I wouldn't be any help and I don't have the program on my Omni-Tool any ways." she looked away from Lycan, opting instead to look at the deck.

"I can restart the game and I can give you the program. It's free so no one will get into trouble I think." she inwardly cringed as she thought she started to sound like she was begging.

Tali shifted her gaze back to Lycan at the request, debating with herself if she wanted to try the old Earth game. It sounded like a good experience, learning something new about the race she was trying to save the galaxy with and decided...why not.

"Well...if it isn't that much of a problem...sure...why not. Oh...but...I can only play this game for a little while. Is that ok?" she asked, nervously taking a step forward towards the seat next to Lycan.

"Sure, that's fine. Here...let me just transfer this over to you," she stared blankly at her borrowed Omni-Tool with her hand hovering over it's interface, "Um...how do I transfer this over to you?" she blushed, realizing she had no idea how to do that herself.

Tali smiled slightly under her mask as she leaned forward to access Lycan's Omni-Tool and was surprised to find that it was nearly empty. The only thing on it was the game she was playing, a little soft wear and some basic programs. That was about it. After the shock of seeing a nearly pristine and untouched Omni-Tool had passed, she easily showed Lycan how to transfer the program, which made her own Omni-Tool ping with the new program it just received.

After a few moments of Lycan showing Tali how the controller worked, Tali reprogrammed the device to better accommodate her three digit hands. She also changed the lettering to her own language so she could read it, finding that this game she was about to play, was far more complicated then it looked. While Tali familiarized herself with the controller, Lycan went to the main menu and made Tali a profile, deciding to stick with the default controls, due to the fact she had no idea which hand Tali wrote with, if she actually wrote anything at all. At first Tali seemed to have some problems. Hitting the wrong button, tossing a grenade in Lycan's directly which just so happened to get her blown up. They both laughed. Tali would get scared when the enemy aliens popped out at her and she would fire her weapons, shooting them down while peppering poor Lycan with the rest of the clip. Soon, Tali grew accustomed to the game's dynamic and was laughing and yelling right along with Lycan as they battled the evil alien invaders and fought to keep each other alive. They didn't stop playing until another walked over to see what was causing all their delighted amusement.

"You two having fun?" Kaidan chuckled as he crossed his arms over his chest and watched with a soft smile across his face.

Both girls tore their eyes away from the vid screen and both appeared to be blushing.

"Um...yes...well yeah...actually. Lycan was just showing me how to play this game," she glanced at her Omni-Tool and saw the time, "Oh keelah! Is that the time? I need to get back to Engineering! Thank you for showing me how to play. Maybe we can do it again some time?" Tali hurriedly shut down her Omni-Tool and stood to leave.

The hope in Tali's voice didn't go unnoticed by Kaidan as Lycan's smile widened and she nodded with some excitement to tell Tali she would love to play again. Tali returned the nod and hurried off towards the elevator, Kaidan standing with his mouth open slightly as he was about to tell her that she didn't have to return to her post.

"I was gonna say she could have kept playing," he stared at the elevator, amazed at just how fast Tali vanished, "Well...I know she had fun. What about you? You never answered my question Ly." he asked once more, taking a seat next to her.

Lycan's smile stayed right where it was, "Yeah, I had fun. Tali is actually really good. Hell, she might be better then me and she only has three fingers. She's a lot of fun to hang out with once you get her to relax."

"Did you two break the ice a little bit?" he asked.

"Oh yeah. She told me all about her father and her life aboard the Flotilla. It sounds like a hard life. Poor girl. I don't think she's ever just had fun. I hope she finds what she's looking for while she's with you. It'd be a nice way to repay her for all her help and such." Lycan glanced briefly at the paused game, which caused Kaidan to look as well.

"Mind if I take her place? That...hairy thing looks like it might hurt." Kaidan motioned towards the screen with his thumb.

Lycan chuckled, "The brutes hurt like Hell and they charge, so watch out."

Kaidan smiled and brought up his own program, surprising Lycan as he had already made up his own profile and prepared to take control of the other character on the screen. Upon Kaidan's nod, Lycan put the game back into play and both began to blast away the enemy. They laughed, they yelled, and they cursed as they pushed through the wave after wave of aliens that yelled back at them and made them laugh even harder. She started to forget about the stress, the urgency and severity of their mission as she killed the little pixel aliens and with her best friend sitting by her side, having just as much fun as she was, she finally started to feel like she wasn't alone. She felt like she was with people whom would always be there for her, no matter what got thrown their way. The people aboard this ship had started to become her adopted family, leaving her with a sense that she was somewhere she could be safe. It was then, she realized and understood, why the _Normandy_ was home to them all.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Geth Base on Casbin

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect!)_

Hidden within the misty, swirling colors of the Hong system, resided a small, dusty colored orb of immense potential. This small planet had been classified as a 'pre-garden' world, destined for great things as it's atmosphere and land formed and molded into a lush planet, capable of supporting life. She was named Casbin...and she harbored a deadly secret.

"Why can't you take me anywhere nice Commander?" Joker groaned as he brought the ship into land.

"I haven't bought you dinner yet," he laughed, "Bring her in away from where we think the base could be. I don't want the ship taking any fire. She's our only ticket off this rock." Shepard ordered, hunched over the navigation screen as he pointed to a flat clearing not far in front of them.

"Roger that Commander."

Joker fluidly maneuvered the _Normandy_ through the darkened skies, banking from side to side much like a shark glides through the water with ease. He located their landing zone, gently slowing the ship into a steady hover before touching down with barely a shutter. The viewports were briefly blanketed in a layer of dust as the ship churned up the fine particles, blocking the view outside which was no loss, as Casbin's surface was still barren.

"Keep her warm Joker." Shepard simply ordered.

"As always Commander."

Shepard sent Joker a curt nod as he spun and all but marched down the CIC, taking the stairs two by two and nearly skipping into the elevator. The Cargo Bay was buzzing with activity as the crew prepared the Mako. Stocking large ammunition blocks, slugs for the turret and insuring that the medical kit inside was full and ready for anything that got tossed at them. Shepard made a straight line for Ashley's workstation where she was hard at work prepping their weapons.

"The weapons ready Ash?" Shepard asked as he picked up his pistol that lay on the table beside her.

"Just about finished Skipper." she said as she snapped the last mod into place, glancing over towards him and trying to subtly admire the form hugging armor that accentuated his muscles.

The corner of Shepard's mouth curved up into his crooked grin, "Well done Chief. You never cease to amaze me," his grin spread just a hair wider as her cheeks began to shift into a soft blush, "What kinds of tasty mods have you provided me with today?" his deep voice had taken on a playful, flirtatious tone that made Ashley's blush deepen.

She lightly rubbed the back of her neck, "Well...I modded all of the weapons with armor piercing Tungsten rounds and everyone's is fitted with a bigger heat sink so you should have plenty of fun sending metal down range." she smiled at him, one eye deciding to wink in his direction which made her stomach tie itself into a knot.

Shepard huffed a brief laugh, feeling a quick flush of heat all over his body as he started to think it was getting awfully warm in the Cargo Bay, "You know just what I like Ash," he folded and placed his pistol into it's holster on his hip.

Ashley started to blush a little harder as the look in his eyes was void of any authority which by all accounts, should be there, "I should...probably go get changed out now...huh?" she said, her body going rigid with nerves.

"If you still wanna hit dirt...then yeah...might be a good idea." Shepard snickered, which earned him a nice slap to the chest.

"That's right...Pick on the person who takes care of your weapons...That's a brilliant idea Skipper." she antagonized with a devious grin across her face.

"And what, pray tell, is this person going to do if I don't stop?" he whispered with a husky tone, running his tongue lightly over his top lip so only Ashley could see.

_Oh...anything you want Skipper, _"I'm sure she could think of something that would suffice Skipper," her dark eyes slowly scanned his face as they screamed that the wheels were turning...coming up with a plan that would do just that, "Now...if you'll excuse me...I have a hardsuit to squeeze into." she stepped around Shepard with a quick wink and headed for her locker.

Shepard watched Ashley walk away, allowing a quick glance at her...backside and paying rather close attention to the sway of her hips. _Oh you minx...Putting a hard body into a hard suit...Lucky damn suit if you ask me. _He smirked to himself as he snapped his assault rifle onto his back, not like he planned on using it in the first place but he always had it with him just in case things got extra hairy, which was something that happened often when he was involved. He finished placing his weapons onto their proper places before he checked his Omni-Tool, finding that everything was is working order and ready for whatever lay in wait for them. Finally ready to slip into the Mako for it's final checks, he headed for the vehicle, seeing Kaidan as he finished checking the med kit, and Lycan sitting next to him checking off the list on a datapad.

"The med kit squared away?" Shepard asked, leaning against the side of the Mako as he waited for Tali and Ashley to finish getting ready.

"Just about. It'll cover everything you need it too, as long as you know what to do," he tucked in a handful of wrapped alcohol swabs into a small pouch, "Did you read through the info I gave you?" Kaidan asked as he accepted the next item from Lycan.

Shepard nodded, "I did."

"Good," Kaidan placed the last item into the kit and closed the top, sighing as the crooked grin that had adorned his lips faded, "Shepard...Are you sure you don't want me out there today? I respect your decision completely...but...lets face it, you are kinda prone to getting...well...shot." he glanced over at Lycan when she chuckled, covering her mouth in hopes of hiding it.

Shepard glared, "Thanks Alenko...You're a real pal...but this time, I need Tali for her Geth expertise, and Ash...well...I'm kinda scared that if she doesn't get out soon, she's gonna find something else to shoot at."

"Understood Commander. I'll be standing by on the comm with Ly just in case. Other then that..." he sighed and leaned back against the door jam, "You should be good to go. Be careful out there Commander." he added with the upmost sincerity.

"I always am Alenko...well...most of the time." he cringed.

"That's what I'm afraid of," he caught movement out of the corner of his eye as both Ashley and Tali headed for the Mako, upon which he motioned with his chin.

Shepard turned to see his chosen squad, "Load up. Ashley...you're in the turret. Tali...navigation." he quickly ordered as he climbed inside and took the driver seat.

Kaidan and Lycan retrieved the small cases that housed the left over medical supplies and moved out of the way of the other two so they could take up their posts inside. Before Kaidan lead the way to the bridge with Lycan in tow, he peered back inside the Mako with the medical case in one hand and pointed at the back of Shepard's head.

"You two make sure that that one, doesn't get shot...Alright?" his lips adorned themselves with a crooked grin.

"You're holding up progress Alenko. Move it or lose that finger in the Mako's door." Shepard turned his head to the side to send his Lieutenant a blank stare.

_Apparently, he's anxious to get going. _Kaidan gulped quietly, "Aye aye Sir. Be careful out there." he dropped the teasing tone.

"Always am."

Kaidan stepped back away from the Mako as the door slid shut, gently tugging Lycan back with him and giving the Mako plenty of room to close in on the Cargo Bay door as it too lowered. A mass effect field sealed away the breathable atmosphere within the _Normandy_, but still allowed the ground team to pass through it without so much as a flicker and disappeared out into the open and alien land.

"Shut the gate!" Kaidan ordered once the Mako was clear of the ramp and turned his attention to Lycan, "Come on. Let's get up to the bridge before they find anything that shoots back."

"I have a bad feeling about this Kaidan." she whispered, holding the datapad close to her chest as she followed Kaidan to the elevator.

Kaidan's brows pulled together slightly, "About what? The mission?" he sent her a soft gaze as he pressed the indicator for the Crew Deck.

"Yeah...I don't know...I just have this bad feeling that something is gonna go wrong." she said, still whispering as she was worried that someone would overhear, despite them being alone inside the car.

"There's aways the possibility of that Ly, but Shepard knows what he's doing and he's got the best with him. I can't say that I'm not worried that anyone won't get hurt though," the arrival chime sounded as the door opened, "I'm sure things will be fine Ly...I promise." he gently grasped Lycan's hand and squeezed it, hoping that she understood that she wasn't going to have to do this alone.

Lycan smiled softly as she squeezed back, "Come on...We're gonna be late."

She slipped her hand free of Kaidan's as they both turned and stopped at the Med Bay to drop off the medical case and datapad before heading up to the bridge, finding Joker had already prepped the co-pilot's chair for her by bringing up the vid screens and comms link. She quietly slipped down into the chair, keeping her eyes glued to the screen as she watched through Shepard's helmet cam, seeing the dusty terrain whisk by on his screen. She made herself comfortable by tucking her knees up to her chest, activating her comm and bringing up Ashley's helmet cam as well with the flick of a finger.

"I'm here Commander. Picture's coming in clear on my end. Can you hear me ok?" she spoke kindly with a quick glance to Kaidan, whom was now standing with his arms crossed behind her chair, watching over her shoulder.

_"Got you loud and clear here. We think we've located a possible location for the Geth base to the northeast. What are we looking at in terms of hostiles?" _Shepard asked flatly, clearly concentrating on trying not to flip the Mako on the jagged boulders and sudden drop offs.

Lycan thought a moment, raking her brain for the information she needed, "Um...snipers and rocket troopers I believe. Oh...and a dropship is gonna stop by to drop off some shock troopers once you're done with the initial wave, but it'll leave just after that." she reported, seeing the Mako bounce heavily against a rock and hearing Tali gripe at Shepard for nearly popping a tire.

_"Sounds like it's nothing we haven't faced before then." _Shepard said, the smile evident in his tone.

_Let's hope so. _Lycan thought briefly, her smile fading as she continued to watch with the upmost diligence. She watched as the faint outline of an object off in the distance began to break through the thick dust that hung in the air, taking on the rough form of something that appeared to be a guard tower of some sort. She noticed that the Mako began to slow to a crawl, creeping closer and closer to the structure, which was now joined by two others on either side of it.

"Those look like the guard towers Commander. Be careful up there. Those snipers have a Hell of a range." Lycan simply warned, wanting to give Shepard the most head's up as she could.

The Mako's shields brilliant flash of blue filled the screen as a muffled thud thunked through the speakers, _"She's right Commander. Shields down a full 10% with one shot." _Tali's accented voice fluttered through the comm, sounding just a little surprised.

_"What is it with everything and taking 10% off my God dammed shields! I...am getting seriously...pissed off!" _Shepard growled angrily, smashing a fist down and the dashboard before Ashley could even open fire herself and fired the Mako's main cannon.

Lycan and Kaidan both watched Shepard's screens as the faint smoke trail of the large slug streaked across it and smashed into the closest guard tower with a rather nicely shaded fireball that filled the small screen.

Ashley wasn't gonna let Shepard steel her thunder again as she let another slug fly, sending it straight for the other tower and coincidentally, the other Geth sniper. The projectile tracked true as it plowed straight into the tower, blowing off the entire top section and sending a couple arms, a couple legs and a disembodied flashlight head high into the air. Lycan and Kaidan both quietly chuckled.

"That base is ringed with those guard towers Commander." Lycan warned, still watching her screen intently and trying to ignore the ill feeling in the pit of her stomach. _Why do I feel like something bad is gonna happen? I always get that feeling where my friends are concerned. Everything will be fine...Quite worrying. _She thoughtwith a mild cringe.

Lycan watched her screen, nervously rubbing her fingers together as she saw more massive slugs scream across the viewing monitors on the other end. Watching a picture within a picture robbed everyone on the bridge the clarity to see if the slugs were claiming their targets, leaving them with the only option available. Listening for the whoops and yelps of 'Got one' and 'That's one less' as they came through the comms on their end. They watched as the Mako creeped through the gate, fully exposing her broadside to whatever came their way.

_ "Shields down to 10% Commander. We can't take another hit." _Tali warned, clearly nervous as Lycan and Kaidan both saw that one, last guard tower was still standing on Shepard's screen.

"Shepard! That last tower!" Kaidan yelped before he cupped a hand over his mouth.

Just as Kaidan had spoken, the last Geth sniper fired a round.

_ "Shepard! Shields are down! We're defenseless!" _Tali cried out as the alarm sounded inside.

"Commander! You have to get out of there before the..." Lycan was silenced by the loud whirring scream coming through the comm.

What appeared on Lycan's screen was unmistakably the profile of a Geth dropship as it came over a low ridge. She watched the ship slow and it's bay doors open as it delivered Geth shock troopers which immediately trained their fire onto the shieldless Mako.

"Commander!" Lycan yelped, leaning forward to try and get some better detail from her screen.

The soft thunking noise of bullets being caught by shields, was now the high pitched pinging sound of bullets being caught by metal. One sound after another filled the bridge, making all three wince as it was nearly too much for their ears to handle. Lycan's eyes went wide with worry, seeing the Mako try to outmaneuver the bullets but it couldn't dodge them all in the enclosed space. The troopers' bullets were joined by the shimmering blue balls of energy fired by the Geth dropship, as it had stayed, instead of flying off once it's payload had been delivered.

_Why hasn't it left yet? It should have left by now! Why is it staying! _She frantically thought, leaning forward further.

"Run them over Commander!" Lycan hollered.

Without saying a word, she saw Shepard acknowledge the idea as the Mako lurched forward, flattening a nice sized group of Geth beneath it's tires.

_"Front right tire is flat Commander!" _the three heard Tali report.

_"Keep firing Ash!" _Shepard's voice ordered.

The echoes of explosions close by accompanied the status reports from Tali, and Ashley's countdown of how many enemies were left. Lycan kept watching, her stomach knotted, her body stiff and her eyes wide, silently praying that her friends would make it out alive.

_"No more shock troopers Commander!" _Ashley reported, Lycan assuming that she then trained her sites on the Geth dropship that was persisting on firing at them.

She saw the Mako shake as each shot struck the ground close by, nearly causing it to flip with everyone inside as it made it's way towards the back of the compound. Lycan cupped both hands over her mouth as she saw exactly what Shepard was going to do...So did Kaidan for that matter. He was heading for the back wall that had been weakened by several slugs.

"Shepard! The wall!" Kaidan called out.

Before Kaidan could finished, all three froze and held their breath, seeing that Shepard's screen become covered by debris as the Mako broke through the weakened barrier with a loud crash. However, on the other side of the wall, the ground had given way to a steep drop off which quickly became apparent, as the Mako began to plummet.

_"Shit! Hold on!" _Shepard screamed as the Mako began to tumble down the slope.

Kaidan, Lycan and Joker all watched with horror as the view on their screen was turned into a swirling mess of anything that wasn't bolted down inside the Mako. The Mako continued to tumble without pause for what seemed like ages until it finally came to rest on the ground below with one last, slow roll and coming to sit on it's six wheels...before the cams went black.

"Shepard!" Kaidan called into the comms, leaning forward and resting his hand on the armrest, "Shepard! Can you read me!" he called again.

Kaidan glanced over at Lycan, seeing her eyes frozen and glassy as she refused to tear them away from the screen. He saw her slowly start to shake her head, refusing to believe that what just happened...happened.

"No...They can't be...The Mako is...it has to be here too...it has to be." she mumbled into her hands.

"What Ly?" Kaidan urged, glancing back in hopes that the helmet cams were once again working. They weren't.

"Damn near indestructible. It takes a lot to destroy it right?" she finally glanced at Kaidan for her answer, only seeing him look back with eyes that were just as worried as hers, "Right Kaidan?"

The comm crackled as the low groans of someone on the other side began to filter through, snapping everyone's attention back to the screen.

"Shepard?" Kaidan said into the comm once more.

Another pained groan, _"What?" _

All three sighed heavily in relief as Kaidan hung his head and Lycan swallowed a sob. She flopped her hands into her lap but not before she had wiped the tear from her cheek, hoping no one noticed as all waited for their Commander to speak more.

"Oh thank God Commander. Is everyone ok?" she asked, beating Kaidan to the punch and wishing that the helmet cams would come back online.

_"Um...I am...I think. At least I don't think anything's broken...Tali? Ash?" _

_ "I'm ok. No suit ruptures."_

…...

_"Ash?...Ashley?" _low rustling could be heard, _"Ash?...Oh no."_

"Shepard, what is it?" Kaidan asked, again worried and glancing over to Lycan once more as they both just listened as they guessed Shepard was moving towards her.

_"Ash!...Come on girl...wake up," _they heard some more rustling and a couple clanks, _"Ash? Can you hear me?" _

"Shepard, what's wrong? You're cam is out. We can't see anything." Kaidan's brows drew together.

_"Ash is out. I don't see any blood. Looks like her helmet took the brunt of it...I'll try and get the cam working." _

Kaidan and Lycan sat and waited some more as they heard Shepard slip his helmet from his head and start to fiddle with the cam. After a few short moments, the cam flickered back on, displaying a battered and bruised man with a darkening patch on one cheek.

"You got it Shepard. Let me see Ashley." Kaidan said, kneeling down beside Lycan's seat.

The picture slowly panned to the right as the limp figure of Ashley came into view. She had been gently laid down on the floor with her helmet removed. Lycan watched Kaidan's eyes flicker across the screen as he looked for any blatant signs that she was anything more then just knocked cold.

"Is there any contusion you can see Shepard? Any lumps or abrasions?" Kaidan listed, hoping that Shepard understood and could locate anything of the sort.

They saw as Shepard stepped in front of the cam and kneel down over Ashley, gently grasping her head so he could carefully maneuver it and get a good look.

"Shepard don't!" Kaidan barked, seeing Shepard stop what he was doing, "She might have a neck injury. Try and keep her head as still as possible."

_ "I've gotta look for the stuff Alenko...What you want me to do?"_

"Look for anything blatantly apparent. There's a neck brace in the med kit. Put it on her."

They watched as Shepard rummaged around the mess inside the Mako until he located the med kit, which had fallen under one of the passenger seats during the roller coaster and opened it up. He pulled it out and knelt once more in front of Ashley, carefully slipping the brace behind her neck and strapping it in the front as best he could.

_"That right Alenko?" _

Kaidan nodded, not like it mattered as Shepard couldn't see anyways, "Yeah. Make sure it isn't too tight to where she can't breath."

_"How do I know that?"_

"Can you slip a finger between the brace and her neck?"

They watched as Shepard brought up a hand to the top of the brace, _"Yeah, I can."_

"Good, then it's fine. Have Tali hold her head still."

_"Tali...come hold her head still. We gotta get her back to the ship. How bad is the Mako?" _Shepard asked as he waited for Tali to come take her new post.

_"In rough shape Commander. Both front tires are flat...wheel bearings for wheels three, four and five are out of alignment and axle three is bent. We can limp home but we can't go very fast." _Tali reported as she moved onto the screen and knelt down at Ashley's head, gently placing her hands on either side of her head to hold it still.

Shepard moved off screen, _"Jesus Christ...We're only gonna be able to go...what...15? 20 miles an hour?" _

_ "That's about right Commander." _Tali nodded.

Everyone grew silent as they heard Shepard mumbling to himself, but they were unable to make out what he was saying. They heard a couple bangs, and the mumbles grew louder and clearly became curses of anger as they guessed Shepard was banging on the console.

"What's wrong Shepard?" Kaidan asked, glancing over at Lycan who's worried look seemed to have softened a bit.

"_Fucking thing won't start. I guess they aren't as indestructible as we thought." _they could tell Shepard was angry by the growl in his voice.

"Do Mako's have fluids?" Lycan whispered, searching Kaidan's eyes which were thoroughly glued to the screen.

"Not like an internal combustion engine but yeah...the Eezo based fuel." Kaidan confirmed.

"Commander, give her a minute. Let the fuel settle. It probably drained from the lines during the rollover." Lycan suggested, tucking her knees back into her chest.

_"This isn't a 20__th__ century car Lycan! It's a fucking...multimillion credit..." _the roar of the Mako filled the bridge, _"Oh...would you look at that."_

"Told you." Lycan smiled...just a little satisfied that her suggestion worked.

_"Get that smile off your face birdie!" _Shepard sneered, still off screen as the picture began to gently rock, telling them that Shepard was crawling the Mako towards home base.

Lycan's small smile immediately vanished as she pressed back into her chair in an attempt to hide from what seemed to be an angry Shepard. Fortunately for her, her best friend came to her rescue.

"Shepard...calm down. It's not Ly's fault you drove off a cliff." Kaidan interjected simply, drawing his brows together and glancing to his right, giving her a reassuring smile.

_"Yeah I know...That didn't go exactly how I had planned it. We'll be back at the ship in about 20 minutes. I'll contact you if things get hairy again...Shepard out."_

The comm and vid link cut off, leaving the trio in a somewhat still stunned silence as they tried to make some sense of what just happened. Lycan seemed to be the one most troubled, as Kaidan noticed that she was gnawing on her thumb nail and staring blankly at the darkened screen. He sighed quietly as he gently grasped her hand, pulling it away from her mouth so he could see the full extent of her worried expression and it was very worried.

"Ly...You ok?" he whispered, searching her face for any tells that she might not tell him the truth...which she had never done anyways.

Lycan remained silent for a moment, looking down into her lap, "Just..." she sighed, "I don't know...I'm worried...Very worried." she whispered without looking at him.

Kaidan slipped his hand free of her's and placed it on her shoulder, "We're all worried about Ash..."

"It's not that...well...it is. I mean, I am worried about Ash and I pray to God that she'll be ok but there's more I'm worried about." Lycan interrupted in a harsh whisper, glancing over her shoulder like she was worried that someone would overhear her.

Kaidan glanced down the CIC, seeing no one was paying them any mind but he knew Lycan, and knew she didn't want anyone else to pick up on things.

"Joker...close off the bridge." Kaidan softly ordered, sending the pilot a thankful nod once the mass effect barrier quietly winked itself into existence, sealing the three off from the rest of the crew, "What else is there Ly? I can see it in your face." he added, gently urging her to continue.

"That wasn't supposed to happen." she still whispered.

"I don't think anyone really plans on driving off a cliff Ly." Kaidan retrieved his hand from her shoulder to rest it against the armrest.

Lycan rolled her eyes, "Duh...That's not what I mean though. I mean that that dropship wasn't supposed to stick around. I mean, one will eventually but not here. It was supposed to drop some Geth off, then leave." she said, her growing anger apparent in her eyes.

Kaidan's brows furrowed, "It makes sense for them to stick around Ly. Why would it drop off a small group of troopers, then leave for them to get killed? Any Alliance ship, if it had the chance would have done the same." he kindly protested.

Lycan shook her head, "It always left in the game Kaidan. It never stuck around. It was a stagnant thing...something you could count on to happen every time." she sighed, hanging her head once more and opting to staring into her lap and pick at her fingernails.

Kaidan remained silent for a few moments, glancing over his shoulder at Joker whom returned the blank expression that he was sure plastered all over his own face. What was Lycan trying to say? Was she worried that things weren't as she remembered them? Or was she just worried in general and had forgotten that the ship was going to stay? Either way, he knew he had to help alleviate her worry, if at all just to give her piece of mind.

"You've said yourself that this isn't a game, that's it real life this time. There's gotta be things that are different here, then from this game you played right?" Kaidan asked, taking her hand once again in his as he gently squeezed.

She nodded, "Yeah...There are some things."

"Like what?"

"Like Wrex having a daughter. I never knew that...Well, it was never in the game that is, so I guess it was always a possibility." she said, glancing over to him with still worried eyes.

"See? It's probably nothing to worry about Ly. Things are always different in the real world and this is just that. I'm sure everything will be fine." he gently took his other hand and placed it on the side of her neck, letting his thumb stroke along her jaw.

Joker cleared his throat, "Looks like our magic 8 ball isn't so magic anymore." he jabbed, glancing down at his navigation screen to check on the Mako's slow going progress.

Kaidan's lips set into a hard line and his brows drew down, setting his face into a sneer as he glanced over his shoulder, "Joker." he growled, clearly not enthused with the pilot's quip.

He ignored Kaidan and kept his eyes locked on Lycan, "What the Hell girl! Your crystal ball fog up on you!" Joker spat, his brows pulling together tightly.

Kaidan's anger grew, "I'm warning you Joker..." he hissed, standing and squaring his shoulders as he stared the pilot down.

Joker started to laugh, "Please Alenko! Like you would do anything," he kept staring at Lycan, "Should we call Ms. Cleo for a second opinion? Hell, we can swing by Earth and pick her up if you need the help!"

"Moreau!" Kaidan barked harshly.

Lycan, at this point, was fuming and glaring so angrily at Joker that she was sure she was about to set him on fire with her stare. She ripped her hand away from Kaidan's and stood in a huff, her hands balled into fists as she stopped just before the door, and turned to glare at the back of Joker's head.

"You're an arrogant asshole Joker! I know I get things wrong sometimes but I know that that ship wasn't supposed to stay! Break a leg you cock suck!" she screamed before she opened the bridge door, and stormed off.

Kaidan and Joker sat in silence, watching as she disappeared through the door at the back of the CIC. Kaidan stood up, placing his hands on his hips as he glared at Joker, having a difficult time keeping his Biotics under control as the constant dull hum grew into a sharp buzzing all throughout his body. Had Joker seriously just said those things like it hadn't mattered to anyone? Kaidan didn't wanna think about it as he knew it would set him off and having a Biotic episode on the bridge would be a bad idea all together. He was beyond pissed that Joker would say those things, knowing full well that up to this point, Lycan's information had stayed thought, his sneer growing into a fuming glare that was trained on Joker and the gun was about to fire.

"You..." Kaidan slowly shook his head, "You...are heartless." he hissed before he left the bridge, having to remove himself before he did anything he was going to regret.

* * *

Shepard sputtered the Mako along the flattest route he could find that wasn't going to jostle the still unconscious Ash, or the beaten, battered and bruised vehicle that was limping worse then Joker on his way to the bathroom. His head was racing with so many different thoughts, that he couldn't keep it all straight and in fact, they were all starting to give him a headache as he drove around a moderately sized rock, instead of driving over it. He didn't know whether to be angry at Lycan, or focus on Ashley and getting her back to the ship as quickly as the Mako would allow without falling apart. He allowed a quick glance over his shoulder, seeing Tali still knelt at the Chief's head with her hands keeping her head from moving too much as he drove along. _She looks ok...God I hope she's ok. _He quickly thought before turning back to his screens. With his worry about Ashley temporarily sated by her still breathing, he focused his brain on what had just transpired. Lycan's information hadn't been off per say, it just packed a lot more punch then anyone had realized. She had warned about the Geth dropship, albeit a little late to do anything about it, but by the sound of her voice, when the ship opened fire, it was a shock to her too. That's what disturbed him the most...that it bothered her too. _Someone working for Saren wouldn't be bothered like that...Not unless she's the galaxy's best actress which I highly doubt. She has no tells! _He thought briefly as his brows pinched together even harder.

Another thought was about to run through his head, but a low, pained groan broke through like the Mako had the weakened wall. He craned his head around instantly, seeing Ashley slowly raise an arm.

"Ashley!" he yelped, bringing the Mako to a stop and nearly leaping out of the driver's seat, only stopping his mad rush once he was knelt down by her size and softly grasping her gauntleted hand, "Ashley...Come on girl...say something." he urged.

Ashley started to groan some more before her eyes slowly began to flutter open, "S-Skipper? W-What h-happened?" her voice crackled and rumbled.

Shepard held a her hand close to his chest as his other softly stroked her hair, "Shh...stay still Ash. You must have hit your head pretty hard when we tumbled." he said quietly, turning his gaze to Tali, "Tali, go take over and get Alenko back on the horn."

Tali nodded and went to the front where her hands immediately flew into action across the dashboard. A small screen popped up next to her drive screens and flickered to life, showing Joker's face.

"Joker...Is Lieutenant Alenko there?" Tali asked as she began to slow crawl back to the _Normandy._

_ "Uh...No. I can get him though." _

"Please do. Chief Williams is awake"

Joker nodded and looked at something off screen, _"Bridge to Lieutenant Alenko. Your presence is requested." _he simply and emotionlessly said.

Everyone remained silent as they waited for Kaidan to return to the bridge, all seeing the angry sneer that was still on his face. Shepard saw the fuming glare that the Lieutenant sent Joker before taking the screen for himself and sitting in the co-pilot's chair.

_"I'm here Commander. Is everything alright?"_

"Ash is waking up."

_"Alright...This is what you need to do. You need to check to see if her spinal cord is intact. Can she move her fingers?" _Kaidan asked, loudly enough so that Shepard could easily hear from the back of the Mako.

"Yeah...She can." Shepard relayed with a soft smile, looking into Ashley's dark, tired eyes and still stroking her hair.

_"How about her toes? Can she move them?"_

"Ash? Can you move you toes?" he whispered, searching her face.

Ashley scoffed, "Please Skipper...In combat armor? You're dreaming." she lightly laughed, causing her to wince ever so slightly.

"One sec Alenko...I gotta remove her boots." Shepard relayed so that Kaidan wouldn't grow impatient.

_"Be careful when you do Shepard. Don't tug. Take them off as smoothly as possible." _

Shepard scooted down to Ashley's feet and began unsnapping the contact points that held her boots to the rest of her armor. He gently started to pull them off, just as his field medic had instructed and slipped the boots free of her rather petite feet. As her feet became freed, she sighed happily as the constricting pressure from her boots disappeared, leaving her far more comfortable then she was. He gently grasped her ankle and lifted her leg, gently holding it up and cradling it against his arm.

"Ok Ash...Can you try and wiggle your toes?" Shepard asked once more, watching her feet closely.

He watched intently as he saw her socks begin to twitch and flex, wiggling beneath the protective fabric that protected her skin from the abrasive underside of the armor plating. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw them wiggle stronger and stronger.

"She can move her toes Alenko." Shepard called over his shoulder, gently setting her foot back down to the deck.

_"Good. Keep her as still as possible. Navigation has you less them half a click away from us. Dr. Chakwas will be waiting in the Cargo Bay with a stretcher." _the comm screen went back as Kaidan cut the link on his end.

"Skipper...I...I don't need a stretcher. I'm fine...really." Ashley protested, weakly grasping at the neck brace.

Shepard scooted back up to her head and gently took her hands away from her neck, "Leave it Ash. I'm not taking any chances...not with you. Stay put until the doctor gives you a clean bill of health." he said quietly, keeping his voice from drifting up to the front of the Mako.

Ashley started to feel her cheeks burn, but it only aggravated her headache which was thumping happily between her eyes and making her wince. She felt Shepard restart his slow strokes to her hair, brushing aside the strands that had gotten pulled free of her tight bun from her helmet when he had carefully removed it. She found his eyes, bright blue even in the dimmed and flickering red of the Mako and saw they were worried, possibly even frightened that she might not be alright. She could feel and move her fingers, and the same went for her toes. She knew she could walk but the question was, would Shepard let her.

"Skipper...really...I'm ok. Just got my bell rung is all." she said, making no real attempt to retrieve her hand from his, despite not feeling any of his body's heat due to the two layers of armor.

"You're staying put...I'm not taking the chance, now stop arguing with me will ya?" Shepard huffed a light smile, still stroking her her and tucking a lock behind her ear.

"I don't have a choice in the matter do it?" she grinned and silently laughed, letting her other arm fall back to the deck.

Shepard just shook his head, still with a soft smile on his face, "No...you don't."

Ashley studied Shepard's face, seeing the worry still flicker across his eyes that she swore wasn't the professional kind. There was something more there, but she couldn't determine what it was, thanks to her headache. She had been been trying to figure him out from the moment she came on board the ship and she was making no headway by herself. He never got mad when he should have been. Especially when she had told him that she was the granddaughter of a man the Alliance had branded a disgrace.

"I haven't quite figured you out yet Skipper." she whispered, her eyes shifting all around the inside of the Mako and taking in the mess, as she didn't wanna see the look on his face.

Shepard's smile faded, "You probably never will Ash. There's a lot to go through and not all of it is good. In fact, very little of it is good."

Ashley tried to shake her head, but the brace was making it impossible, "I don't believe that. I haven't seen you do anything bad. You saved the colony back on Feros." she said quietly, feeling the spike of anxiety in her stomach from the memory of waking up on top of him.

His grip on her hand tightened slightly, "I have a lot of skeletons buried in my closet Ash. I've done some things that I'm not proud of and some that will haunt me for the rest of my life." _I can't tell her what I've done. She'll abandon me if she finds out the things I've done. I can't let that happen...I'll be alone. I've been alone for too long._

"We all have skeletons Skipper..."

Shepard shook his head, "Not like mine. People with my kind of skeletons end up in prison for the rest of their lives." his voice shook.

"I don't believe that," _he has to know that I know, _"Your sister forgave you Skipper."

Shepard froze, reeling at what she just said, "W-What?...H-How did you..." he stuttered, now his whole body started to shake.

Ashley just sent him a sweet, soft smile, "That night on Feros...When we were drunk. You told me then." she lightly squeezed his hand as she locked eyes, showing him that she wasn't afraid of his demons.

"I did? And you didn't completely shy away? I'm a murderer." he whispered, feeling an all to familiar sting in the back of his eyes as he plopped down on the deck.

"Skipper...You might have ended her life, but you saved her soul from torment. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you to make that decision but I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same if one of my sisters had begged for it." she whispered, taking her hand from his and softly placing it on his cheek, seeing the depression setting in on his face at the memory.

Shepard quietly swallowed, leaning into Ashley's gentle touch, "They...the slavers...they were cutting into her neck already," his throat started to tighten, "I should have fired at the Batarians instead."

"No Skipper...They would have killed...or even enslaved you too. I am a firm believer that the choices we make weave our future. If you would have made any other choice, then you wouldn't be here now...with me." she said, taking her hand away from his cheek which he immediately took in his hand once again and brought it to his chest.

"You don't hate me for the things I've done?"

Ashley's smile returned, "You did what anyone who loves their family would have done...even me." her eyes found his once more, where they locked.

Shepard stared deep into Ashley's eyes, seeing them flood with the sincerity of her words that he never thought he would ever hear...not from her at least. He had lived for years with the thoughts that he was a murderer, a demon sent from hell itself, but it was these last few quiet minutes, someone he had come to hold dear, told him that he had made the right choice. They were words that eased his pain from so many years ago and they brought him a brief sense of solace that he had been reaching for. _She didn't leave...She doesn't think I'm a killer, though how she doesn't I can only guess. Somehow...She see's the man that I want to be, and not the monster that I think I am. Only Kaidan was able to do that and that was only have years of knowing each other. How is it that she can see that after only a handful of weeks? _He thought, still holding Ashley's gaze as the Mako shuttered to a stop with a loud clunk as Shepard deduced a chunk had just fallen off.

"Commander, we're here." Tali announced as she hit the button to open the door, but sadly, nothing happened except an annoying mechanical whirring.

Shepard sighed, letting go of Ashley's hand and scooting to the door. He startled everyone inside when he began banging on the door in hopes that it would relent it's position and let him the fuck out.

"Open up you piece of junk...I swear to God...I'm going to space you into the nearest sun." Shepard growled at the inanimate object.

Luckily for him, someone on the outside managed to get the door open, letting a cool rush of ship air flood inside with a quiet whoosh and cause everyone, with the exception of Tali, to sigh in relief. The door groaned open, getting hung up a couple times on pieces of hull that had been bent out of line before it was fully pulled out of the way enough to get Ashley out. Once the door was opened, Dr. Chakwas and a couple crewmen entered the Mako, slipping passed Shepard and Tali as they gently pulled Ashley from the vehicle. The team eased her onto a stretcher, all the while her eyes never breaking from Shepard's as they rolled her off to the Med Bay. As Shepard watched Ashley be taken away, he climbed out of the Mako and took in the full extend of her damage, upon which he gasped.

The Mako's hull was not only pot marked by all the rounds it had taken, which was a lot, her outer skin had been beaten into submission. Deep scars had been carved into her armor, running along her lines from bow, to stern and making her look more like a junkyard heap then a military vehicle. The nose had been horribly misshapen and panels peeled away like the skin from a banana and half her wheels were either cockeyed or flat. He glanced at the deck and saw that the left front tire was not only flat, but had completely fallen off it's mount and was now laying haphazardly on it's side in a pool of gear fluid. But when Shepard laid his eyes onto the gunner's turret, he realized just how bad Ashley's bell had been rung.

The turret mount had been bash in to the point that it was frozen in place and would no longer turn. The cannon itself was now aimed upwards towards the ceiling and the barrel had been tweaked, rendering it useless to fire anything other then air, let alone a projectile. It was truly a blessing that Ashley had only gotten knocked out because as Shepard stared at the turret, the only thoughts that ran through his head of how close he had come to losing her. It was only the sudden bark that rang through the Cargo bay that was powerful enough to rip him free of those thoughts, and back onto the matter at hand.

"What the Hell happened to the Mako!" Garrus yelped as he strode up to Shepard's side with both taloned hands on his head.

"Not...one of my better decisions." Shepard cringed, expecting some flack from Garrus in the form of a backhand, or physical jab in the ribs.

"With all due respect...No shit." Garrus snarled, stepping up to the fallen wheel and picking it up.

"Thanks Garrus...That makes me feel oh so much fucking better." Shepard growled, staring at the back of the Turian's head as he inspected the damage.

"Glad I could help," Garrus growled as he picked at a piece of armor that had been torn open by a boulder, "This is gonna take a long time to get back up and running Commander." he slowly shook his head.

Shepard started at the damage which only began to fuel the fire of his temper, "Gather as much of the crew as you need. Alenko, Tali and I will be down in a little bit to help out and snag whatever Engineers you need." he ordered as he started across the Cargo Bay to a lone crewman, standing by a small desk with a singular terminal on it.

The crewman sprang to his feet and immediately saluted Shepard, "Welcome back Sir..." he began to say until he was silenced.

"I want you to get whatever Garrus needs to get that piece of shit fixed in time for our next stop. The heaviest armor, best cannon...hell...fuck the cannon and get that bitch a rocket launcher. I want her to have tracks! Screw tires! I'm sick of that damn thing having a flat fucking tire every time I land her wrong." Shepard hissed, angrily glaring between the battered Mako and the crewman who's arm was still at a full salute.

"But...Sir...I don't have the licenses for that..."

Shepard hissed through his teeth and grabbed the crewmen's collar with one hand, "Then get the fucking licenses...I don't care how much it costs...Just get them." he snarled through clenched teeth.

The crewman froze as he stared at Shepard's furious gaze, seeing that he was dead serious, "A-Aye S-Sir." he stuttered, breathing a sigh of relief once the Commander released his grip on his collar.

"Get it done."

Shepard stomped off towards Ashley's workstation, angrily ripping off his weapons and placing them onto her table before just as angrily stripping off his armor. He heard the bustling of the available crew as they aided Garrus is their preparations to repair the badly damaged, already beginning on removing the broken and marred armor plating and lifting the vehicle up onto jack stands to remove the wheels. The noise steadily grew louder and louder as he roughly put his equipment away until he was only standing in the under armor catsuit.

Once dressed back in his uniform, he strode to the elevator, steeling it from a couple of awaiting crewmen and as quickly as the car would allow, stepped out onto the Crew Deck and right into the Med Bay. Once inside, his steps finally slowed as he saw the doctor looming over Ashley, whom rested in a bed which had been inclined to allow her to sit up.

"How is she doc?" Shepard asked, stepping to Ashley's bedside and softly placing his hands on the blanket.

Dr. Chakwas lightly sighed, "She's got a mild concussion but that's all I can find. Looks like her helmet took most of the punishment Commander." she replied as a smile, graceful smile crossed her lips.

"Will she be cleared for duty by the time we reach the next base?" Shepard asked, glancing between both women.

"It's possible. I can reevaluate once we reach our destination," Dr. Chakwas turned her gaze to Ashley, "You get plenty of rest and don't over exert yourself for the next couple days." she kindly ordered before she grasped her datapad and headed for her terminal in the back of the Med Bay.

Shepard sighed quietly as he glanced down at her hand, seeing that the glove had been removed to expose her forearm and hand. He held his breath a moment as he slowly took her hand in his and held it, gently placing his other on top to fully wrap her hand in the warmth his provided.

"Ash..." he sighed, "How much did I tell you about what happened to my sister?" he asked in a whisper, finally finding the strength to look her in the eye once more.

"Enough." was all she answered as her lips took on a soft smile that made Shepard's body begin to heat up.

"It doesn't bother you that I murdered my sister?" his heart began to physically ache as the pang of guilt began to spike in his chest.

"Skipper..." she took her hand back just as his grip started to become too much and gently placed it on his neck, letting her thumb trail over his jaw, "You didn't murder her...those Batarian raiders did. You set her free. She's with God now." she whispered.

"I hope so Ash. I think about her every day...I miss her." he nearly whimpered, feeling the sting return in his eyes as they threatened to spill over with tears that had long been forgotten.

"I know you do Skipper. I miss my dad too, but that doesn't mean they're gone from our lives," she let her hand fall along his neck to come to rest on his chest, over his heart, "They'll always be with us...watching over us."

"You lost your dad?"

Ashley nodded, "He passed a few years back. I won't lie...I miss him and I think about him too. He was able to see me make Chief and he was real proud when I did. First thing he did was salute." she huffed a small, quiet laugh as she lifted her hand from his chest and placed it into her lap.

"I bet he was," he drew in a long breath to help steady him, "You never answered my question." he felt the corner of his lips begin to tug upwards."

Ashley tilted her head slightly, unsure of which question Shepard was referring to.

"You don't hate me for what I've done?" his stomach began to twist and churn as he waited for the answer he was unsure he wanted.

Ashley stared deep into his eyes, seeing the pain that he had tried for so long to keep buried and hidden away from others build up to near bursting. She could tell that he was hurting, that he was trying not to let his Commander's facade slip but it was becoming increasingly difficult with the pain. They way he had asked if she hated him sounded almost desperate. Like he needed to know or it would be the end of him. _How could I hate you Skipper? There isn't a bone in my body that could bring itself to hate you. _She thought as she placed her hand on the side of his neck once more.

"No..." she lightly smiled, "I could never hate you." she whispered with a tender stroke of her thumb along his jaw.

Shepard's eyes couldn't hold back the tears any longer as one fell free to slowly slick down his cheek. The answer he thought he would never hear had left her lips and for a brief second, he thought she had sounded like his sister. He raised his own hand and gently slipped it behind her head to rest on the nape of her neck, feeling her soft hair dance over the back of his hand. He slowly leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers, smiling as their breath mixed and danced over each other's skin like a warm breeze. Her words had helped him in ways that he could only imagine up until now. They had helped to ease his pain, his mind and his soul, if only a little bit but he had to wonder...why was it her he needed to hear them from? _Why am I feeling this way about her? Why now? Why when the galaxy is on the line do I fall..._


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: What's Old is New Again

_(Bioware owns all related to Mass Effect! Thank you Hewhoislost for reading through this and keeping me in line! :D)_

The repairs to the Mako had been kicked off with a bang...literally...Half the crew was banging on the broken and marred pieces of armor, trying to get them off so they could put on the new, heavier plates. The Alliance carrier that Captain Anderson and Admiral Hackett had sent had delivered the requested parts and left, all within the span of two standard Earth hours. Shepard had ordered all the available crew to aid in the Mako's repair in hopes of getting her back up and running before they reached the next Geth base on Antibaar, in the Tereshkova system, upon which they were taking their sweet time. Tali was hard at work with Garrus as both focused on disconnecting and removing the broken cannon turret, which was proving to be difficult as a good portion of the wires and connections had been crushed. Chief Engineer Adams and a small crew were busy removing all three sets of wheels and the disfigured axle, which was a little too easy as it came off in pieces. Shepard had become elbow deep in gear oil and schematics, after he had checked on Ashley in the Med Bay, as he worked on realigning the drive lines, which he had discovered were askew once the front wheels were removed.

Inside the Mako, Kaidan, with the help of Lycan, were busy trying to stabilize the Navigation screens that had become fuzzy and full of static from the tumble. They had been at it for just over an hour, sitting in silence as Kaidan wedged himself underneath the Navigation station, with Lycan handing him tools as he requested them. That was the only conversation they had had since the they started.

"Ly...Could you hand me that small driver please? The one right there." Kaidan pointed as he held his hand out for the requested tool.

Lycan sighed quietly as she scanned the layout, looking for the tool. Her mind had refused to let her concentrate the whole day but she had managed to keep it together for the most part. She held her breath for a moment as she chose a tool and gently set it into Kaidan's awaiting hand. She sat quietly, watching as his hand disappeared beneath the console to work it's magic in hopes of fixing the damage.

"Um...Ly?" Kaidan struggled a few moments to get out from under the console to finally sit up.

Lycan glanced over to look at him, seeing him staring at the tool in his hand when it clicked...she had handed him the wrong tool.

"Oh God...I'm sorry Kaidan," she whisked the tool from his hand and found the correct one, upon which she gave to him, "That was my fault...I'm sorry."

"It's alright Ly," he studied her face for a moment, watching as she went back to nibbling on her thumb nail, "Is everything ok?" he asked, opting to take a break from laying on his back, wedged into a small space.

"Hmm?...Oh...Yeah, I'm fine. I just picked up the wrong tool is all," she lightly shrugged, "I'm still working on memorizing them all." she glanced back to the rows of tools.

Kaidan's eyes narrowed as he studied her face for a few more moments, not believing in her words as her face told a different story, "Ly..."

"Kaidan...I'm fine...really." she sent him a soft smile, hoping he would believe her.

"Ok...Just let me know..."

"Kaidan!" Lycan snapped, "I'm fine..." her face set into an upset glare as she picked at her fingernails.

Kaidan lightly reeled at just how harshly and how quickly Lycan snapped at him. She had never snapped at him. Not in the months she had been aboard. She had never snapped when he had accidentally thrown up on her. She had never snapped even when she was stressed out. Something was off and he knew it.

"Ok...alright. I didn't mean to upset you." he apologized, running through his mind of what he could have possibly done wrong to cause her to snap like that.

Lycan sighed, "I...It wasn't you Kaidan. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." she lightly sighed, finding that it was starting to shake and it didn't help in trying to hide what was actually wrong.

"It's ok...It's just...you've never snapped at me like that before. What's wrong Ly? Please... tell me..." he set down his tool and shimmied over to sit next to her, searching her face some more as he saw her eyes shift away from him. _Something is wrong._

Lycan sighed heavily, glancing over to him and finding his expression soft and caring, like it always had been, "I guess I just took what Joker said to heart. Maybe things aren't what I think they'll be. I mean, it's not like I got sucked into the game, I got pulled through time into what our future is supposed to be. I'm no good to you guys if I keep getting things wrong." she said quietly, still picking at her fingernails and glancing over to Kaidan for comfort, which he thankfully provided.

Kaidan didn't say anything as he slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him, nearly into his lap but thankfully, she readjusted to sit in front of him with her back to his chest. She pressed her ear to his chest, just concentrating on listening to his heart as it brought some comfort to her frantically racing mind.

"Maybe Joker was right. You should just drop me off at the nearest station and be on your way." she said, hearing Kaidan's heart actually pick up it's pace. _Why did it do that?_

Kaidan shook his head, "What Joker said was rude and heartless and he shouldn't have said it and we aren't gonna drop you off anywhere. You're staying here." his hand came up to gently brush aside a lock of hair.

"But he was right you know..." she tried to protest until she was interrupted.

"Ly...before you arrived, I never once thought of my Biotics as a gift and I owe that all to you. You showed me that not everything is as it seems and you have to dig deeper to find out what's really there." Kaidan slowly slid his hands up to hold Lycan's head and turn it so that he could see her face and look into her eyes, "Ly...This is something that was bound to happen. It's like...throwing a stone into a pond. Ly...honey, you caused a hell of a splash and these are the ripples that you caused. Don't worry. I'll be here to keep you centered." he looked deep into her eyes, seeing them desperately search his for comfort and sanity.

Lycan gently placed her hand over his, finding the same sincerity that had always been there and acting as her foundation. She wanted to say something, anything to him to let him know that she held his words to the highest regard, as well as their friendship. She opened her mouth to speak, but Kaidan's Omni-Tool pinged with a message.

Kaidan sighed as he straightened up and opened the orange interface, "Alenko here."

_"Alenko...Commander Shepard is asking for you and creepy fortune teller to meet him and Liara in the briefing room."_ Joker's voice fluttered into the quiet space.

"Understood...Alenko out," he flatly acknowledged before glancing back at Lycan, "Come on...Don't wanna keep them waiting." he urged as he made for the door.

Lycan simply followed as both slipped from the Mako and headed for the elevator. The mood was still tense as Lycan's nerves began to kickstart from the last time Shepard wanted to see her in the Briefing Room. They both walked through the doors, finding Shepard and Liara sitting in their seats, both rigid and both with blank expressions on their face.

"Commander...Hope we didn't keep you waiting too long." Kaidan said as professionally as possible.

Shepard sighed, his eyes flicking passed Kaidan to set onto Lycan, "Lycan...I'm not upset but I'm...concerned. You said that dropship was supposed to leave, but it stayed and it nearly got us killed. Up to this point...you're information has been spot on so I'm not sure why things are so different."

"I...I wish I knew Commander," she opted to stared at her hands instead, "I just wish there was something I could do to make up for it. I...I don't wanna leave here...It's the only home I have left." her eyes glassed over as they filled with tears, barely being able to dam the flood.

"That's why Liara is here. I want her to meld with you again." Shepard said with a quiet sigh as he clasped his hands together.

"Shepard...You don't believe her anymore do you." Kaidan interjected, feeling his brows pull down as the quick flash of anger washed over him.

"I didn't say that Kaidan...I just..." he sighed, "I need to know that Lycan isn't hiding anything. If Liara sees what she saw the first time she melded with her, then we can go from there but right now, there is too much on the line to risk going into this blind." Shepard retorted, fighting to keep his temper under control.

Kaidan wanted to fight, but he knew Shepard had a point, "I understand Commander," he turned to at Lycan, nervously standing next to him, "I'm sorry Ly...I trust you...That's never changed." he whispered.

"I know Kaidan," she gently patted his arm as she stepped around him, "If it's what you want Commander...I'm ready." she willed herself to look Shepard in the eyes to show she was doing it willingly.

Shepard nodded as Lycan stepped into the middle of the Briefing Room where Liara had come to stand. She stood right in front of the Asari, drawing in a slow, deep breath to help steady her nerves. She easily remembered what it was like to have another presence burrowing into your head, but she couldn't say that it wasn't unnerving. She stared deep into Liara's eyes, seeing the beautiful azure color swirl and darken into blackened holes.

The moment Liara had spoken the words she had before, Lycan stiffened as she felt Liara's mind join with hers. Both women were immediately overwhelmed by images as they flashed by. Many were of Lycan's childhood as she grew up on Earth. Others were of what seemed to be present time as a ship crossed through the galaxy and it looked a lot like the _Normandy. _Liara saw the same images but they had soon come to a place that was lush and beautiful. The sun shone high into a crystal blue sky with soft wisps of white, puffy clouds and the sea was a rich, deep blue with splashes of emerald green close to the shoreline. The jagged cliffs rose high into the air, providing stunning vistas for those brave enough to climb to their peaks. The scene was amazing until it quickly panned to a bland compound in the middle of the beach and it seemed to be out of place. The image panned once more to a high catwalk where Liara saw Shepard standing, his head in his hands but the image was blurry in a sense, as it appeared that a woman was superimposed over him and she was mirroring his actions. The image then flashed to a water filled clearing with a large, flashing device in the center, where a figure sat propped up against it. As the image zoomed in, the figure took form to show Kaidan, a hand on his stomach as he lay against the device with a pained look on his face but he too, had a superimposed image over him, also of a woman except that she recognized her...She was Ashley, and she sat in the same position.

Liara's confusion grew as she delved further into Lycan's mind, traveling deeper into her memories of what seemed to be of the events that had not come to pass but they soon blurred. On one side of her vision, events transpired and they were clear, easy to follow, as if she was watching a vid. But the other side, the images were blurred, only appearing as messes of color and hardly distinguishable as anything useful. She soon became distracted, as she began to feel a strong sense of caring and affection but it was unlike any other she had ever felt. An immense pull began to tug her towards something as she saw the two sets of images fade into black to leave a long, thick band of swirling white energy. The black horizon lightened just enough to reveal two silhouettes, one male and one female. Liara's curiosity deepened as she stepped closer to the band, feeling the strong emotions build into something she had never thought existed. This band of swirling energy was a bond between two people but it was something she had only heard stories about when she was younger. The tales of a bond so strong that even the Goddess could not break but this...this was even stronger then that. Her gaze shifted to the two silhouettes as the center of their chests began to glimmer and shine as more energy blinked to life. She immediately felt a flood of affection, caring, the urge to protect and dare she say it...but love was the most powerful of all as she watched the stars grow in their intensity. _Whom can these two be? This is Lycan's mind so the female has to be her...but I did not expect to find this. This...bond...it can only lead to one place. I must follow. _She thought as the started towards the left, the side the male silhouette resided on. As she followed, the female grew darker as the male grew lighter, slowly revealing his features until Liara knew...the male silhouette belonged to the only man it could possibly be...Kaidan Alenko.

As soon as Liara had discovered whom the man was, she ended her meld, feeling too overwhelmed to continue as her heart hammered in her chest. Once the black had faded, the Briefing Room came into focus as she found Lycan had fallen to the deck to be caught by Kaidan.

"Is she...alright?" Liara asked, concerned that perhaps she had probed too far.

Lycan groaned as she placed her hand on her forehead, "Y-Yeah...I'll be ok. Just not something I'm used to." _What was that thing? That band...it was so...beautiful. _She thought as she looked up, seeing the others looking back.

"I am sorry if I caused you discomfort Lycan." Liara apologized, kneeling down next to Lycan and placing her hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright. If it helped to clear the confusion, then it was worth it." Lycan lightly smiled as she sat up on her own.

"Actually...I'm afraid it only caused more," Liara looked over at Shepard, "Commander...I don't know were to begin."

"Start with what you saw. Has she been tell the truth?" Shepard asked, taking his seat once more.

"From what I could tell...Yes...everything she has told us to this point is true. She truly believes that the things that have not gone as she has predicted, is not how things should be. That dropship was supposed to leave in her eyes Commander." Liara explained as best she could, finding that she not only believed Lycan, but she trusted her even more so now.

Shepard drew in a long breath and nodded, "So why did it stay?"

"I don't know Commander. That's not all I'm afraid. When I followed the timeline she believes is going to transpire, the most prominent event took place on a beautiful world but the strangest part, is that I saw you, the Lieutenant and Chief Williams there." Liara said, trying to make sense of things herself.

Shepard's brows drew together, "Probably a planet we eventually have to go to..."

"It was Virmire." Lycan interrupted, gnawing on her bottom lip and ringing her fingers together as she wasn't sure how to explain that situation.

"I remember you mentioning something about it. It's were I get the other half of the beacon thing right?" Shepard asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.

Lycan nodded, glancing at Kaidan when he started to rub his hand in circles on her back, "Yeah."

"What's odd Commander, is that I saw you standing on some sort of catwalk but a woman was superimposed over you and she was mirroring your actions. She even had the same armor on." Liara added.

"A woman? Another N7? Who is she?" Shepard asked, trying to hide his building confusion.

Liara shrugged, but Lycan answered, "Her name is Shepard...Commander Shepard."

Shepard's breath froze in his throat, _What? Another Shepard? _"What are you talking about Lycan?" his whole body stiffened.

"How do I explain this...Um...In the game I told you about," she held her breath, trying to find the right words, "Your sex wasn't a stagnant thing. The player could choose to play as a male, or a female."

Shepard glanced around, unsure of what to say to that, "Um...I'm pretty sure I'm a guy." he lightly cringed.

"I understand that Commander but in the game...you could have been a woman." Lycan lightly laughed, unsure of how else to react.

"Ok...so...it was a luck of the draw kinda thing that I ended up male?"

"Yeah...pretty much. 50/50 chance." Lycan huffed another sad laugh.

"That's...weird," Shepard glared for another moment before getting on with things, "So...What were Kaidan and Ashley doing Liara?"

"It's more like, they were doing the exact same thing. Kaidan was sitting next to a flashing device and Chief Williams was superimposed over him in the same position. Both had their hands pressed to their stomach as if they were injured." Liara explained.

"It's because they were." Lycan said, her voice quieting down as if she was about to describe a horrible dream.

Kaidan stopped rubbing her back as he watched her, not only seeing her start to shake, but feeling it, "Ly...What happens at Virmire?" he asked, letting his hand trail down her back to rest on her hip.

Lycan's eyes began to fill themselves once more as she looked up at him, unable to hold the sadness at bay any longer, "One of you have to die..." she whimpered.

"What!" Shepard yelped, standing from his chair with his hands on his head as he started to pace.

Lycan swallowed her sob, "Shepard has to choose...between Ashley or you. What Liara saw was...you two sitting at the nuclear bomb before it goes off." the tears she had tried to hold back spilled over to cascade down her cheeks.

Shepard started to shake his head, continuing his pacing, "Why? Why do I have to choose! Why does it have to come to that point!" he frantically asked, finding that his breath was starting to come faster and faster.

"Because Saren forces it...He makes you choose. That's why I didn't want you to go too soon. I don't wanna lose..." she halted her words, sucking in another shaky breath.

Shepard began to get angry, "That son of a bitch is gonna pay! We're avoiding Virmire till the very last minute! I don't care what the Council says...we aren't...fucking...going!" he fumed, clawing his hands and digging his nails into the top of his head.

"We'll have to sooner or later Commander...There's no way to avoid it." Lycan retorted, falling more and more into despair as she knew she could lose her best friend, which would tear her apart.

"I don't fucking care Lycan! You've said that things are changing! Maybe it won't..." Shepard's face went blank, as if he just had a sudden flashback or an epiphany to end all epiphanies.

Kaidan's brows pinched once more, "Shepard...What is it?" he urged, not liking the look on the Commander's face.

Lycan glanced at Kaidan before looking back to Shepard, wondering what could have possibly halted his train of thought so quickly. He stared straight at the deck, hands still on his head as it appeared he was thinking. _What is he thinking? I know things are changing but...Oh. My. God._

"You're right...things are changing." Lycan said, which managed to break through to Shepard as he looked at her.

"You know what I'm thinking don't you." Shepard said flatly.

Lycan nodded, "Things are changing...and for the worse. I say the dropship is supposed to leave, it stays. I say there's only a handful of pirates, there's a dozen. I say you're home free, another encounter appears." her tears immediately dried as her imagination and gut feeling joined forces to give her the answer.

"Ly?"

"Kaidan...Liara said she saw two timelines. One was clear, the other blurry. Don't you get it?" Lycan urged, lifting herself to her knees and placing her hands on his shoulders, her face nearly horrified.

"Ly...what are you saying?"

"It's as you said...I caused ripples in the pond...The timeline _is_ the pond! The timeline is shifting and it's shifting into Saren's favor!" Lycan shook as she nearly collapsed to the deck, scared now more then ever.

"My God...Ly...So what do we do? How do we stop it? Or even reverse it?" Kaidan sat shocked, finding that he had placed his hands on either side of her neck, holding her head still as he stared into her eyes.

"I...I don't know. I'm not a Quantum Mechanic. I don't know what to do. I've upset Fate...I either...forget...or..." the tears began to flow as she looked at Kaidan, finding that her foundation had begun to crack.

"Or what Ly?" Kaidan urged.

"Or...you...kill me."

Kaidan immediately sprang to his feet and began to frantically pace, raking his hands back over his hair as his chest and throat tightened to the point where he almost passed out.

"No! No! No!...Absolutely not! That is in no way, shape or form an option! How could you even suggest that Ly!" Kaidan ranted, finding that he was beginning to shake from the flood of emotion that he was fighting to hold at bay.

"What else can we do? Things are shifting into Saren's favor because of me telling you what's going to happen. I either keep my mouth shut and forget what I know, which is easier said then done, or you do away with me..I guess you could just leave me somewhere and go about your business and forget about me." Lycan said with a shrug, trying to remain calm as it wouldn't help the situation if she got any more upset then she already was.

Kaidan's Biotics began to lightly flare, "That's not an option either Ly..."

"It's not your call Kaidan." Shepard interrupted, "I don't wanna kill her...She's been right so many times...I just...I can't and I won't. There has to be another way to stop the timeline from shifting but I'll be damned if I know how." he shrugged.

"There might be another option Commander." Liara spoke up, crossing her arms lightly over her chest.

"By all means Liara. Tell us." Shepard urged.

"There is a type of meld an Asari is capable of performing that...gives us the ability to erase certain memories from someone's mind." Liara said with a heavy sigh.

Kaidan's flare vanished, "We have to do it...It's the only option that doesn't take Ly out of my life!" the second he finished speaking, he cupped a hand over his mouth and instantly regretted that he had said it out loud.

Now it was Lycan's turn to look shocked as she looked at Kaidan, not only seeing his cheeks burn bright red, but feeling her heart begin to hammer in her chest. She opened her mouth say something, but nothing came out. She was incapable of forming words as she glanced over towards Shepard, seeing him stare blankly at his Lieutenant with his hands on his hips.

"Unfortunately...It's not that simple," Liara broke the silence, drawing all eyes to her, "The only ones whom are allowed to perform such a melding, are the Matriarchs. They are the only ones with the experience to perform the meld successfully with out...undue damage." she said, her face saddening.

"What undue damage?" Kaidan asked before Lycan could have the chance.

"If a younger Asari were to perform the meld, then the possibility of erasing more then necessary is far greater. She could loose everything Lieutenant. Her childhood memories...her experiences...everything. She wouldn't even know her name. Or any of us for that matter." Liara said, watching Lycan's mask crack as she began to appear saddened and lost.

"Then we have to do it. It's the only option that doesn't harm Lycan, or cause animosity between any of us." Shepard sighed, nearly at a total loss of the which course of action to take.

"What! You can't ask her to take that risk Shepard! Her memories of her family is all she has left! We're all she has left!" Kaidan growled, placing his hands on his hips as he hung his head.

"What do you want me to do Kaidan? We have no..."

"You can stop talking about me like I'm not here," Lycan interrupted, standing up and placing her hands on her hips, "It's ultimately my decision to make."

With that, Lycan turned and left the Briefing Room, arms crossed over her chest as she used the cuff of her zip up to wipe her eyes. She walked straight into the Med Bay and hopped up onto her bed, tucking her knees into chest were she stayed and stared blindly at the deck to think. She never thought in a million years she would be living here...in the future but here she was, with the people whom had quickly become her friends and on a ship that she called home. It was an adventure most could only dream of but yet, it was falling apart around her and she had no where to go to escape the debris. _Do I risk loosing everything of who I was to give them the best chance? Do I vanish to be forgotten? Do I keep telling them and risk Saren's victory? Or do I...be rid of myself from this galaxy to leave them to live their lives without me? _She asked herself, finding that her tears had begun to fall more frequently at that last thought, as dying was the last thing she wanted to do. How does someone make this kind of decision? She didn't know but she was faced with it and she had to choose. The same pang of guilt and hate twisted in her stomach, much the same way it did when she was forced to choose between Ashley or Kaidan the first time she played. It was painful.

She decided to talk with the others individually, the ones whom had no idea that the timeline was shifting into Saren's favor and see what they thought. She wouldn't tell them what was going on, thinking it best for it to come from their Commander as she slid off her bed and headed for the bridge. She lightly smiled as she saw Joker sitting his in chair like always as he flew the ship and she was even more grateful, that the bridge was empty. She slid over to the co-pilot's chair and sunk down, trying to be as quiet as possible and trying not to throw up considering their last encounter.

"Um...Joker?" she asked quietly, hoping he had heard her.

"Hmm." he hummed flatly without even looking over to her.

"If it means anything...I'm sorry...for my outburst earlier." she said, picking at her fingernails inside the cuffs of the zip up.

Joker's hands froze for a brief moment over his console before he did one last thing and let them flop into his lap, "I guess it was kinda warranted...I accept your apology. I'm sorry too...I know I can be an ass but I think I just turned off my mouth filter on that one." he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked over at her.

Lycan breathed a sigh of relief, "I didn't know you had one. Can I...ask you something?"

"Um...sure...I guess, but why not talk to Alenko? You two seem pretty close."

"We are but...I need an unbiased ear and right now, he doesn't have that." she said, trying to be discrete.

"Ok...What's on your mind?" he turned his chair to look at her better.

"If you...had the chance to do something, to give people you held close the best chance of survival...would you do it? Even if it you knew the cost could be everything that makes you...you?" Lycan asked, hoping she had made sense.

Joker remained silent for several moments, rapping his fingers against the armrests of his chair as he glanced at his screens, making sure that the auto pilot was on and functioning.

"Wow...uh...That's a good one. Um...well...I guess I'd say...no because without my experiences, I'm just another cripple. I mean, lets face it, I'm a pilot, the best and without my skills...I'm nothing." Joker replied, interlocking his fingers together.

"Even if it was someone you truly cared about?"

Joker again remained silent for a few moments as he began affectionally patting the ship's console before looking back at her.

"The ship is what I care about and without my skills, she goes down. She's never judged me and she'll never leave me. If I were to give up my knowledge and experiences, she wouldn't dance. So to answer you question...no, I wouldn't." he replied as he looked around the bridge with a smile across his face.

"Thanks Joker. I'll talk to you later."

Lycan stood and left the bridge before Joker could even reply to her as she made her way down to the Cargo Bay in hopes of finding another to ask. She dodged a couple crewman as she found Wrex in his usual spot, leaning against some crates with his hulking arms crossed and the same sneer on his scared face. She walked up to him, rubbing her upper arms in nerves and looked up into his ruby eyes.

"Do you have a minute?" she asked, feeling nervous all over again and small standing next to such a large being.

Wrex shrugged, "Sure...What do you need small one?"

"Um...I wanted to ask you something."

Wrex just grunted as he waited for said question.

"If you had the choice to give people you cared for the best chance of survival, but you also knew that it could cost you everything you know about your family...Would you do it?" she stepped passed him and leaned against the same crates, somewhat mirroring his posture.

"Where'd this come from?" he looked down at her.

"It's a hypothetical question." she lied.

"Alright...Uh...Probably not...I like a challenge. It would be an honor to die in battle for a noble cause but we don't get that choice. I'd be lucky to die in bar fight, let alone an actual battle field." he grumbled with a slight shrug.

Lycan popped an eye brow...well...as best she could anyways as she lightly laughed, "You know who you remind me of Wrex?"

"No idea."

"Have you ever heard of a Klingon?" she searched his scaled face for somewhat of a reaction.

Wrex shook his head, "What's a Klingon?"

She chuckled again, "It's an alien race from a franchise called Star Trek. It's an Earth thing."

"That would be why I don't know who they are."

"Fare enough. Well, in short, they're a race of warriors who fight for honor and glory. They're short tempered, vulgar and duty bound which isn't necessarily a bad thing." she quickly explained.

"That...I can understand. I like 'em already." Wrex chuckled, but it sounded more like rolling thunder then anything else.

"I figured you would," she sighed, "There was a saying in a movie once that I think you might like. It was called Star Trek: Undiscovered Country. Old Earth vid if you care to watch it. Anyways...one of the lines was 'I would rather die on my feet...then to live on my knees.'" she smiled as she remembered just how many times she had watched all of those movies when she was growing up.

Wrex stayed silent for a moment as he looked down at her, a small smile creeping across his face as he let the words sink in, "That's a wise proverb small one. I do like it. Grexa would like you I think."

"I hope that maybe someday I would get the honor of meeting her." Lycan lightly smiled.

"I hope that as well...but, that still doesn't change my answer. In fact, it only solidified it."

"That's ok. Thanks anyways Wrex." Lycan pushed off the crates and headed to the next closest person to talk to.

Ashley was standing at her work station, working on a few weapons as Lycan walked up and plopped down on a stool that sat next to the table.

"Can I ask you something?" Lycan asked, finding that she had begun to idle a leg against the stool.

"Fire away."

"If you had the chance to give people you deeply cared about, the best chance of survival, but at the risk of loosing everything you know about your family...Would you do it?" she found it easier to word her question each time she asked a new person.

Ashley stopped working with the weapon she held in her delicate looking hands, "Depends on who the people were I guess. Family is extremely important and I would do anything for them. I do this job because of them actually, so...if me not remembering anything about them meant they could live on...Yeah...I would."

"You've thought about that before haven't you." Lycan huffed a quiet laugh.

"Yeah I have. I know I only have one life to give, but if that one life is given for a good reason, then I'm at peace with it...Why do you ask?" Ashley looked up at her, setting down the weapons to give Lycan her undivided attention.

"It's not your life though, it's your memories, your experiences and everything else that makes you, you. I mean, we're talking about everything that defines you suddenly gone and leaving you as not the person someone grew to deeply care for." Lycan retorted passionately.

Ashley leans back and crosses her arms, rapping a finger against her chin as she thought, "I don't believe that loosing those will change us that drastically because whom we truly are is in the soul, not the mind. Plus, whomever came to feel that deeply for us, they're soul mates and it's the choices we've made that drew them to us...So my answer remains the same. Yes...I would."

"That's a good point Ash. Thanks...Oh, are you feeling better?"

"Yes I am...Thank you." Ashley smiled.

"You're welcome."

Lycan hopped off the stool and headed for the Mako where she found Garrus and Tali still working on removing the last bits of the turret that had been fighting them the whole time.

"Can I ask you two something?" Lycan asked as she slipped inside and hugged the back end, making sure she was out of the way.

"Sure." they both said in unison.

"If you guys had the chance to give people you deeply cared for, the best chance of survival, but at the cost of loosing everything you remember about your family...Would you do it?"

One of Garrus's brow plates shifted upwards, "Me...probably not." was all he said before he went right back to work.

Lycan just stared at Garrus for a moment, wondering why he even bothered to answer, "And?" she pushed.

Garrus put down the tool in his hand, "What? I wouldn't." he said with a shrug.

Tali joined Lycan in her staring as both girls glared at him, "But why? Why wouldn't you?" Lycan urged.

"What? I'm a Turian. Our culture is based on honoring our ancestors and the spirits. Without my memories and experiences, my clan markings...are just blue paint."

Then Tali took her turn, "I would. Sacrifice one, to save many. Look at the bigger picture..." she asked of Lycan, glancing quickly over her shoulder as she spoke.

Garrus looked at Tali with the same brow plate popped, "You really would? You would give up everything you are for others?"

"Of course I would. It's for the betterment of the Flotilla," Tali simply answered with a light shrug before turning her attention back to Lycan, "Like I said, look at the bigger picture...can you put someone else's life ahead of yours?"

"Uh...yeah...Look at what we're doing right now." Garrus interrupted from stuffed up into the gunner's turret.

"I don't have an answer for that...I'll let you know if I figure it out." Lycan relented, slipping free of the Mako before either could say anything else and leaving them to wonder what that had been about.

With all the squad asked, Lycan made her way back to the Med Bay, finding Dr. Chakwas seated at her terminal and typing away on a report of some kind. Lycan decided to ask her as well, hoping that the kind doctor's age and wisdom could help her decide. She walked over to the doctor's desk and sat down next to her, making it a point not to look at the terminal in case it was something of a sensitive nature.

"Something I can help you with Lycan?" Dr. Chakwas asked quietly.

"I...just wanted to ask you something is all."

"Please do. It's why I'm here."

"If you had the chance to give people whom you deeply cared for the best chance of survival, but at the risk of loosing everything you remember about your family...Would you do it?"

Dr. Chakwas stopped her work to look at Lycan with a kind and motherly stare, "I can't answer that for you. What I can say...is don't focus on people, focus on one person. Is there one person in there that you would do anything for? Even give up fond memories of your family?"

_Yes...There is. _She thought as a somewhat relieved smile crossed her face, "That's a good point doctor...Thank you. That's the best answer I've gotten all day."

Lycan hopped up, feeling lighter in a way as she slowly walked out of the Med Bay. The doctor was right. There was one person whom she would do anything for. The one person whom has always been there, always shown her kindness and caring no matter what. This one person had already risked their life for her's and now it was her turn to repay them. This was her chance to repay them for all they've done for her. This was her chance to repay her debt.

* * *

Liara sat in her chair in the back room of the Med Bay, staring blankly at her terminal. Lycan had left the Briefing Room in huff and the Lieutenant and the Commander had nothing else to say. They had all left her standing there to work out the confusion but she could understand why. She left the Briefing Room shortly after Alenko and Shepard and, finding that Shepard had vanished inside his cabin, and Alenko went to the gym to blow off some steam. The images of the timelines fascinated her to know end but it was the swirling white bond she had found that fascinated her more for some reason. She remembered old fairy tales that her mother used to tell her when she was just a little one, but they were just that...fairy tales. She had to ask someone and preferably a Matriarch but all of them were usually so busy, they had little time to talk to such a young Asari...all but one that is.

She opened up the extranet and her FTL comm browser, quickly scanning through the list of contacts until she found the one she was looking for. She quickly dialed it in and prayed to the Goddess that she was home and would answer the call.

After a few short moments, the screen winked from black to a nicely kept apartment with the lush sky of deep, rich purples and blues in the background and an Asari seated in front of it.

_"Liara...It's been some time since I've seen you. How are you doing?" _

"Matriarch Aethyta...I'm glad you're home. I'm doing fine. Do you have a few moments to speak with me?" Liara asked kinda, slightly bowing her head to the Matriarch.

_"I do. I just got off work. Is there something you need?" _Aethyta asked with her rather rough, gravelly voice, probably from inhaling Goddess only knows how much second hand smoke from that bar she works at.

"Well...It's really hard to explain, as there is a certain amount of confidentiality that I have to abide by."

_"Just spit it out girl."_

"Alright...I did a meld on a young Human woman today..."

_"How young?" _Aethyta interrupted flatly.

"25 years. It's considered an adult." Liara quickly answered.

_"Go on."_

"Well...I did the meld and I found something that I'm not sure of...It appeared to be a bond but...It was different. It was so strong that it pulled me to it. I saw two silhouettes standing behind it. They were big, almost like they were giants looking down on me and in the center of their chests where glowing...stars I guess." Liara explained, almost as if she was telling someone a dream.

_"Interesting...What color was the bond?" _Aethyta asked, sounding as if she was almost annoyed and not mystified like Liara was.

"It was a swirling bright, glowing white. It was beautiful." Liara started to feel excited.

Aethyta's brow creased, _"White? Now that's interesting. A white bond hasn't been seen in ages. You said a Human woman had it? Who was the other person?" _the Asari sounded about as excited as if Liara told her she was going to get something to eat.

"A Human male."

_"What you found is called a Soul Bond. One hasn't been seen in thousands of years. The oldest Matriarchs haven't even seen one."_

"You figured that out just by it's color?" Liara asked, slightly more confused.

_"There are different colors of bonds. Red is the Love Bond. Blue is the Friendship Bond. Black is the Hatred Bond blah blah blah, you get the idea. Matriarchs learn this when they enter the Matriarch stage. However, no one ever knew that a Soul Bond could be in Humans. We always thought they were too brash, hot headed to form a lasting bond with someone, but I guess it can. The two stars you saw, were their souls. It would seem...you found a pair of Human's that share a soul. Congratulations. Can I go to bed now?" _Aethyta explained like she was annoyed with Liara.

"Oh...I assume that it's dawn then for you?"

_"Yeah." _

"Then I shall let you go. Thank you for your time Matriarch Aethyta." Liara said with a noble's nod once more.

_"Yeah yeah. Talk to you later. Don't be such a stranger this time."_

"I won't."

Before Liara could say anything more, the screen went black, leaving Liara alone to ponder her discovery. _A Soul Bond? Between Lycan and the Lieutenant? This is quite interesting. I wonder what kind of bond the Commander has with the Chief...I'll have to see if I ever get the chance to meld with him again._ She thought with a quiet smirk across her blue lips. She opened up her notes program and began to type, not wanting to forget what she had seen just in case she needed the information later, when a knock at her door slightly startled her.

"Come in!." Liara called over her shoulder.

The doors hissed open to reveal Shepard, leaning against the door's frame with his arms crossed, "Come with me."

* * *

Kaidan sat in a chair inside the Briefing Room, looking at Lycan as she stood in front of him.

"Ly...But the risk...You could loose everything. You won't even know your own name if things go badly." Kaidan pushed, standing from his seat to slowly pace back and forth, his hands raking back over his hair once more. _You won't even know who I am._

"I have to take the risk Kaidan. It's either this, or you kill me and to be honest, I don't wanna die." Lycan said, trying to hold back her emotions.

"I don't want you to die either Ly but it'll be close to the same damn thing if you lose everything you are..." he felt his heart starting to pick up it's pace once more, but was immediately distracted when he felt two warm hands on either side of his neck.

"Kaidan...Please...Trust me on this. It's the best option. I have to do this." she said quietly, grazing her thumbs over his skin, just below his saddened eyes.

"Ly...I do trust you. To the end of this galaxy I'll trust you, but your memories is all you have of them. It's all you have left." he whispered, trying not to whimper as he gently grasped her hands.

Lycan searched Kaidan's eyes, seeing them scream with his sincerity and concern for her. It made her heart beat faster, falling deep into those whiskey colored orbs where she found what she was looking. She found the real reason he didn't want her to do through with it.

"What's the other reason you don't want me to do this Kaidan? Why are you fighting so hard?" she asked, forcing him to look at her and into her eyes.

Kaidan let go of her hands and placed them on the side of her neck, brushing his thumbs over her temples to feel her soft hair. His eyes glassed over, seeking comfort in hers as he tried to find the words to tell her why he really didn't want her to risk everything.

"Because," he whimpered, trying not to let his emotions take over, "you won't know who I am anymore." his voice shook and his body trembled as he spoke.

Lycan didn't speak as she brought his head to her shoulder, wrapping her arms around him in a comforting embrace. His body shook as his arms snaked themselves around her waist, pulling her ever closer to him to feel her warmth.

"Please Ly...Don't do this...Don't risk it all just to protect us." he whispered into her neck, sliding a hand up her back to grip her shoulder.

Lycan sighed quietly as she turned her head just enough to place a gentle kiss to his temple, softly stroking the nape of his neck, "I have to Kaidan. It's the only way."

"Promise me you won't forget me...Please?" he nearly begged, tightening his grip on her.

"I promise."

The hiss of the door opening forced them to pull apart as Shepard and Liara entered and walked to the center of the room. Shepard stopped in front of his seat but just stood with his hands on his hips.

"You said you made your decision Lycan?" Shepard said, his face blank and his eyes shifting to everyone in the room.

"I did...I know it seems quick Commander but...I just needed a reminder as to what's really on the line." Lycan said, nervously ringing her fingers together as she tried to keep herself from throwing up.

"It does seem quick...Are you sure you don't need more time?" Shepard asked, wanting to make absolutely sure that she was making the right decision.

Lycan sucked in a long breath and nodded, "I'm sure Commander. I've made my decision and I'm not going to change it. I have my reasons."

Shepard glanced at Liara, before looking at Kaidan, seeing him shake ever so slightly as he struggled to keep himself in control. He knew that Kaidan was struggling to maintain ground. He knew that Kaidan didn't want to see Lycan go through this and risk it all. He knew why and he knew that Kaidan was gonna fight for her for as long as his heart beat in his chest.

"Alright." he nodded, taking a step back away from the center of the room.

Lycan looked back at Kaidan, her eyes telling him that she would keep her promise and not forget him if things were to go wrong. She saw his fill with worry and fear for what she was about to do but she knew, it was her only choice. _I won't forget you Kaidan. I promise. _She thought as she turned to look at Liara.

"I'm ready." she said, the palms of her hands growing clammy and her stomach flipping end over end. _Just relax...Whatever happens...happens. You'll wake up and Kaidan will be there._

Her eyes flooded with tears as she forced herself to remember her family. Her mom, her dad, her brother, even her dog. All the memories came flooding to the front of her mind. She remembered her senior trip in high school, how the whole family piled in the car and drove to Denver. She remembered the holidays as the whole family would meet and enjoy an evening full of laughter and cheer. She remembered everything she could as Liara stepped up in front of her. Lycan's eyes spilled over with the tears they harbored as Liara placed her hands on either side of Lycan's face and stared deep into her eyes.

_I love you mom and dad._ Lycan sobbed, watching Liara's eyes as close as possible as they began to go black.

"Embrace Eternity."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Forgotten But Not Lost

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

Shepard stared at his terminal as he blankly attempted to write up the financial report regarding the tab for the Mako repairs and upgrades. He had gotten as far as putting his name on the top of the report before his mind raced along a far different track that had nothing to do with the Mako...well...it kinda did but it had nothing to do with fighting the Geth. He was relieved to hear that Ashley was given a clean bill of health, more so then a commanding officer should feel about their subordinate. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, flicking off the news as it rattled on about the same current events it had been all day and raked a hand back over his hair. He forced himself to think about what happened in the Briefing Room, hoping that Lycan was alright after she had collapsed and ended up having a seizure which clearly rattled Kaidan to the core. Kaidan's Biotics had flared to life when Lycan had gone rigid on the deck after a strange and nearly invisible flash of light had erupted from both her and Liara, but the moment she went limp, he had scooped her up into his arms and held her close. He knew that Kaidan was hurting as Lycan lay unconscious in the Med Bay and he hurt too, but it was more for worry that a friend would be alright.

The quiet door chime sounded throughout the room, breaking Shepard free from his reverie and back to the present and the task at hand, which was to have his conversation with Kaidan.

"Come in!" Shepard called as he stood from his desk.

The door slid open as Kaidan walked in, his face tired and blank, almost as if he was numb. He stopped just shy of the small table that rested inside Shepard's quarters and clasped his hands behind his back, opting to stick with being professional and Shepard's subordinate, instead of his friend.

"You wanted to see me Commander?" Kaidan asked, making it a point to stand up straight at more of a parade rest.

"You can drop the Commander nonsense Kaidan...I called you in here as your friend." Shepard said flatly, placing his hands on his hips.

Kaidan simply nodded as he allowed his shoulders to relax ever so slightly, "Alright...What did you wanna to see me for?" he repeated.

"Kaidan...I know you're worried about Lycan..."

"I'm more then worried about her Shepard...I'm terrified," Kaidan interrupted, feeling his heart begin to thump harder in his chest, "I'm scared to death that she's gonna wake up and she isn't gonna know who she is...who we are for that matter." his pent up anger began to wiggle it's way free.

"Kaidan...I know you are. You don't have to defend yourself against me but I've got concerns. Are you ready to go down that road with her? Are you ready to cross that line?" Shepard sucked in a long breath, hoping to keep his temper under control.

Kaidan's eyes narrowed slightly, "Oh I get it...I know what this is about...I should be asking you the same question." he started to sneer.

"This isn't about me right now Kaidan..."

"It isn't? We're in the same damn situation right now Gabriel!"

"Don't you think I fucking know that! I know exactly why you ended up in the Med Bay that one night! That migraine was a hell of an excuse but I know the real reason. You can't get her off your mind...Am I right!" Shepard's voice began to rise in volume.

"No shit! I've been dreaming about her for weeks! I'm willing to bet my next paycheck that you've been having the same problem!" Kaidan's hands began to ball into fists at his sides.

"Yes I've been having the same problem! I can't close my Goddamned eyes without being thrust into something out of one of those Asari extranet vids Joker likes to watch!" Shepard fumed, rocking forward a bit as he got angrier.

"Then why the hell are we having this conversation!" Kaidan growled.

"Because I wanna make sure you're prepared for the consequences that's why!" Shepard's body began to glow with a bluish hue.

"Are you! Are you ready to cross that line _again_ with Ashley!" Kaidan hissed as his eyes began to radiate with Biotic energy.

"Don't go there Alenko." Shepard snarled through clenched teeth.

"I'm going there," Kaidan threatened, "You've crossed it once already..."

"I'm warning you...Don't. Go. There." Shepard shook with anger as it raged inside him.

"Try and stop me. You and that sergeant in your unit on Akuze must have had a great time, beneath your CO's nose no less!" Kaidan's face contorted into a near snarl as his temper grew, his body beginning to join in with his eyes.

"I told you to stop Lieutenant!..."

"Don't Lieutenant me Gabriel! You already said you called me in here as a friend so this is what you get! You fell for that sergeant and you took that risk because you loved her! You thought you had a life with her but little did you know she had gotten pregnant by some other guy and it tore you up! Then she got ripped apart by those damn Thresher's and you lost it!"

"I didn't love her like I love Ashley! I love Ashley!" Shepard spat as he began to pace, raking his hands back over his buzzed hair.

Kaidan's Biotics died down as he brought them under his control once more, "At least you can finally admit it to yourself. I didn't think you'd ever love again after that." his voice was far quieter as he stared, watching Shepard fume and try to calm himself down.

"I got my heart broken Kaidan," he said quietly, feeling his anger refuel, "You know what! That wasn't fair Alenko...That was a low blow! I told you that in confidence, and you drudged it up like it was your fucking skeleton!" he quickly strode up and shoved a finger into Kaidan's face.

"It's good to hear you finally admit it Gabriel." Kaidan spat angrily.

"Admit what!"

"That you fell in love with Ashley that's what!"

Shepard took a step back from Kaidan as his anger drained from his face. He hadn't realized he had said it, let alone out loud and to someone else. He ran his hands slowly down his face as he realized that he had been lying to himself for weeks, trying to deny his true feelings that had steadily built themselves over the course of time. He fell down into a chair, having to sit before he fell over from the sudden realization that he had actually gone on a mission of galactic importance and ended up falling in love. He started to feel his anger begin to boil once more as he stared at Kaidan, realizing that he wasn't the only one who's love life was getting jump started. He jumped up from the chair and stared Kaidan down, ready to resume battle.

"Well what about you 'Casanova'?" he decided to go on a mocking spree, "Oh my head hurts...I have a migraine...I'm going to the Med Bay...How many fucking times have you actually had a migraine Kaidan!" he hissed, pointing his finger at the Lieutenant once more.

Kaidan's eyes narrowed, "Very mature Gabriel! You know damn well that when those migraines hit, they hit with a vengeance!"

"I don't believe you! They're just an excuse for you to see her!" Shepard growled.

"I would go see her even if I didn't get debilitating migraines! Is that what you wanna hear!" Kaidan yelled, still trying to keep his voice in check but was having an increasingly difficult time doing so.

Shepard decided to go for broke, all cards out on the table, "Say it Alenko! Everyone knows how you feel about her but you still refuse to see it for yourself! Or is she just something for you to chase and get your dick wet!"

"That's going too far Gabriel! You know I wouldn't do that! I don't take this kind of thing lightly!" Kaidan defended, having to swallow down his rage as it boiled in his throat.

"Not from where I'm standing! From here, it just looks like you're fucking scared..."

"I love her! Ok! I want to be with her! I want to spend every second of every day with her! I want to wake up every morning and see her face! I...I want to hold her! I want to kiss her and I want to grow old and fucking die with her!" Kaidan snarled angrily as he grabbed a handful of his hair and wheeled around to stare at the door.

"Was that so hard?" Shepard spat, keep his angry sneer set on Kaidan's back.

"At least the one you love knows who you are."

"You don't know that Kaidan. You won't know until she wakes up."

"You don't get it! I pray to whomever will listen to me that she'll wake up and know who I am! It'll tear me apart if..." Kaidan fumed, unable to finished his thought as it caused his heart to physically pang.

"I know it will Kaidan and believe me...I get it. I really do," Shepard's anger finally began to subside as he sat on the edge of his bed, "So what do we do now?"

Kaidan took a moment to center himself, forcing back his Biotic power as well as his temper, but he left his concern for Lycan alone, "I know what I'm gonna do...I'm gonna go sit in the Med Bay until she wakes up."

"Just think about what I said Kaidan. Make damn sure you're ready to go down that road." Shepard sighed quietly.

"Make sure it's what you wanna do as well Gabriel. Not many second chances are given in life...Don't waste it."

With that, Kaidan left, leaving Shepard behind to ponder what had been said not only to each other, but to themselves. He strode across the Crew Deck without saying so much as a word to anyone else as he walked into the Med Bay that had been darkened by the doctor. He laid his eyes upon the sleeping woman in the closest bed, grateful that nothing had changed as far as her vitals were concerned. He picked up a chair that rested in the corner of the Med Bay and as quietly as possible, set it down next to her bed and sat down. He gently brushed aside a lock of hair, the same lock of hair that had persisted in hanging loose and tucked it back behind her ear. He let his hand slowly trail down her skin, fluttering over her shoulder and down her arm where he gently covered her hand. He watched her eyes flutter slightly under her eyelids, telling him that she was dreaming. _I hope that's a good sign. Please Ly...wake up girl. Come back to me. _Kaidan thought, carefully wrapping his fingers around her hand.

This is where he sat in silence for the longest time, just watching over her until he had fallen asleep, laying his head on her stomach where he could watch her chest rise and fall with each breath. He dreamt of her, as he often did, waking up and knowing who he was which would make his heart flutter with joy, and happiness if it were to happen. He began to feel gentle strokes to the back of his neck, almost as if a soft breeze was blowing through his hair until he realized that it wasn't in his dream, it was something from the real world. He slowly began to wake, opening his eyes to see that Lycan had awoken while he slept and she had begun to stroke the nape of his neck.

"Ly?" he whispered, sitting up as a little hint of embarrassment began to burn in his cheeks.

A gentle, tired smile began to spread across her lips, "I knew you'd be here when I woke up Kaidan." she whispered, beginning another stroke.

Kaidan's heart was sent on a race through his body when she said his name, "You...remember me?" he tried to not let his voice shake as the joy grew in his chest.

"I promised you I wouldn't forget." she smiled a little wider, but her eyes were still exhausted.

Kaidan fully sat up, taking his hand off her's as he placed it on the side of her neck, "Ly...Do you know where you are?" he quietly asked.

Lycan nodded, "The _Normandy._"

Kaidan felt the worry leave as relief took it's place, sitting there staring into her eyes as they recognized him. He took his hand back and picked up a datapad that sat at the end of the bed, finding that it wasn't the chart he had thought, but a datapad with a file of various photos on it._ Huh...wonder who set this up? I should probably show her these. If she knows me...let's hope she knows them too. _He thought as he thumbed through the pictures before finding one he decided to show her.

"Here...Look at this." he said quietly, handing her the datapad as he went back to watching her face.

Lycan took the datapad and looked at the picture displayed on it's screen, seeing a happy family of three. Each was smiling back at the person whom took the picture and she couldn't help but smile at it. She looked up at Kaidan, seeing his face lighten as he returned the smile but she sensed something was off. She knew that Kaidan was raised by his biological parents but these couldn't be them, for their skin was far to light to be any relation. Her brow creased as she looked back at him, confused as to why he had showed her the picture.

She lightly shrugged, "Who are they? Friends of yours?"

Kaidan's smile vanished, "You don't know who they are?" his stomach began to knot itself with not only fear, but confusion. _Why does she know me, but not her own family?_

Lycan's own smile faded away, "No...Should I?" she handed him back the datapad.

Kaidan just looked into her eyes, seeing the building confusion rise the longer he didn't reply. He took the datapad from her and set it down, gently covering her hand once more in hopes that she found it as comforting as she once did. Her smile hinted that it wanted to return when she felt the warmth of his hand as the door to the Med Bay opened, allowing Shepard to walk in with a blank expression.

Kaidan didn't bother taking his hand away from hers as he glanced over his shoulder with a worried look, "Shepard..."

"Come with me Kaidan. Liara needs to speak with us." Shepard said quietly, looking at Lycan and seeing that she was awake, "Lycan...It's good to see you awake."

"Thank you Commander. I can't say that I'm not tired though." Lycan said with a light laugh as she smiled over at Kaidan.

Shepard's brow arced slightly, "You remember me then..."

"Of course...I know Kaidan, the doctor, you, Ashley...everybody." she said as her smile came back.

Kaidan stood from his chair and gently placed his hand on Lycan's cheek once more, "I'll be back in a little bit Ly...Get some rest." he whispered, grazing his thumb over her temple.

Lycan nodded, which made Kaidan smile a bit more before he turned and followed Shepard up the stairs and into the Briefing Room where Liara had been waiting for them to arrive.

"Commander, Lieutenant...Thank you for meeting with me so quickly." Liara said as she stood from her seat.

"Can't say your timing wasn't off...Ly's awake." Kaidan said, trying not to sound rude.

"That's good. How is she doing?" Liara asked, concerned for her friend.

"She remembers us but what's odd, is that she doesn't know who her family is." Kaidan explained, his heart beginning to pick up it's pace as his worry grew even more.

"She doesn't recognize them?" Shepard asked, slightly stunned.

"I didn't say that Commander, I said she doesn't know them. I showed her a picture and it didn't click. She thought they were friends of mine." Kaidan said flatly, finding that his worry had become joined with a hint of anger but he couldn't be sure what he was angry at.

"Actually...That's why I called you in here." Liara interjected, crossing her own arms over her chest.

"What's wrong?" Kaidan urged, trying to not grab Liara by the collar and shake her to spit it out faster, so he crossed his arms over his chest.

Liara's nerves began to erupt in the pit of her stomach as she started to ring her fingers together, trying to find the courage to tell them both that something went wrong. She found she was having a difficult time finding the words to say it, as she didn't want to sound incredulous or that she didn't care for Lycan's well being. She drew in a long, shaky breath and held it for a moment, hoping that it would help, but sadly, it only made her nerves scream louder.

"I'm sorry Lieutenant...I truly am. I tried the best I could but I am only a maiden and I didn't have the knowledge to do it right." Liara rattle off quickly, swallowing down the building tears in her azure eyes.

"What do you mean? What happened? What happened to Ly?" Kaidan pushed, his grip on his biceps tightening rapidly.

Liara swallowed, "I'm not sure I understand it completely myself, but from what I saw during the meld...she lost it all." her eyes glassed over with a thick, light reflecting sheen.

Kaidan's breath hitched in his throat, "W-What? B-But she knows my name...She knows who Shepard is! She knows everyone on the boat! How is it she lost it all if she said my name!" his voice began to rise in volume once more.

"That's because there was something there to protect it." Liara said, holding back her body from shaking worse then it already was.

Kaidan held his breath, "Something protected it? What could have possibly done that?" he asked, finding that perhaps not all was lost for some reason.

Liara took a steadying breath, "During the meld where we discovered that the timeline was changing, I saw something else besides what I told you..."

"You didn't tell us everything?" Shepard interrupted, feeling that sharp pang of anger, spike in his chest.

Liara shook her head, "I was unsure of it myself Commander. I had to research what I saw to make it clearer...so I contacted an old friend on Illium by the name of Matriarch Aethyta."

"What else did you see? What did this Matriarch say?" Shepard tried not to sound angry.

"What I saw was something that hasn't been seen in thousands of years. It's what we Asari call a Bond. It's a spiritual connection between two people that we believe is a blessing from the Goddess herself." Liara briefly explained.

"What does an Asari fairy tale have to do with Lycan's memories?" Shepard asked blandly.

"It has everything to do with it Commander. It's the reason she still knows who we are and especially the Lieutenant."

"What kind of bond is this?" Kaidan asked as a flicker of hope began to shine in the darkness.

"It's the oldest and rarest of the Asari bonds. It's called a Soul Bond and it appears as a swirling white band of energy during a meld. There are many colors of bonds but the white Soul Bond is almost never seen." Liara began to feel more confident.

"But what does this bond have to do with me?" Kaidan asked, his brows creasing slightly.

"Lieutenant...It's the bond between you and Lycan. It's so strong that I doubt the Goddess could break. It protected who she is as a person. Protected her choices, her morals, everything that you came to love and it even protected her memories of you. That's why she knows who you are Lieutenant...You are the only one she fully remembers." Liara explained, still mystified that she, a 106 year old Asari child, was able to find such a treasure.

Kaidan's heart hammered in his chest and his anger completely faded away, "You mean...that our friendship has actually manifested itself into something almost tangible?" his brow creased slightly.

"No...You will never be able to touch it unless you have the aid of a skilled Asari but it's not your friendship the bond represents...The Soul Bond means that you and Lycan share a soul. You are each other's other half. You fit together like the pieces of a puzzle or two halves to form a whole. You will never find another that completes you like she does. Lycan...Lieutenant...Lycan is your perfect soulmate."

Kaidan couldn't breath as Liara said the words. He couldn't hear anything else but his heart smashing against his sternum like the hammers on the Mako's ruined armor plates. His breath came shaky and fast as he panted, trying to deliver enough oxygen to his brain, so that his brain could contemplate what the hell Liara had just said. _Perfect soulmate? Lycan is...She's...my soulmate? _His mind stuttered to even say the words to himself, as he never thought he would ever find such a person and to find out that she was from 172 years in the past, was something his brain was having issues with.

"Ly...is my soulmate? H-How can that be? She's from the past...She wasn't born in this time." Kaidan stuttered, having to force his tongue to cooperate and form the words.

"If I had that answer for you Lieutenant, I would be more then happy to tell you." Liara said with a slow shake of her head.

"So if this bond thing protected who she is, then how come you said she lost it all?" Shepard interjected, deciding to give Kaidan a few moments to come down from whatever high he was riding at that particular moment.

Liara took another breath, "That's because of my inexperience Commander. Once I was melded, I tried pulling a small memory from her past to test things out...Something small and what I thought was insignificant but when I pulled the memory, it was as if I pulled the pin holding everything together. Once I had the memory, everything unraveled in a cascading effect that went all the way back, taking every memory of her family and her life growing up. I tried to stop it but once I got as far back as when she first arrived on the ship, I couldn't go any further. It was like I ran into an invisible wall and all I could do was watch as her life disappeared." she explained.

"So if that's the case, then how did you know that this Soul Bond between Lycan and Kaidan was what protected who she is?" Shepard asked, trying to make sense of the situation himself.

"As her memories vanished, the bond became clear and easy to see amongst the chaos. The band...branched out like the roots of a tree and held fast onto what it thought needed to be saved to insure she remained the Lycan that the Lieutenant has come to love." she said, finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, as she thought that the Commander and the Lieutenant would have been furious with her.

Shepard honestly didn't know what to say. He was at a complete loss for words but his curiosity sure was peaked. He wanted to know what kind of bond he and Ashley shared, but he didn't want to come right out and say it. It would have to wait for a later time. He looked over at Kaidan, finding that he had sat down in his shock of hearing that he had actually found his true soulmate and to be honest, he couldn't blame him for it.

"So she remembers nothing from her past? Nothing at all?" Shepard asked with a quiet sigh.

Again, Liara shook her head, "I'm afraid not Commander. She's more vulnerable now then she was when she first arrived."

"And she's forgotten everything we've taught her since she's been here? How to clean a weapon, drive the Mako all that too?" Shepard asked.

That caught Kaidan's attention, "Shepard...We can't just drop her off somewhere now that she knows nothing about what's going to happen." he started to feel worried that Shepard was going to dump her off to fend for herself.

Shepard pinched the bridge of his nose, as he knew the outburst was coming, "What is she supposed to do then? She can't tell us anything useful now and she isn't Alliance."

"She can help us out doing work around the ship. We can teach her again. I can teach her again. She can help Ashley with the weapons, help Garrus with the Mako...Hell, she can help me with that damn monitor on the Crew Deck. Make her the cook or something but you can't just leave her somewhere." Kaidan quickly rattled off, hoping to get through to the Commander before it was too late.

Shepard sighed as he stared at Kaidan, taking in the almost terrified look on his face that Lycan would be ripped away from him. But he had to relent, as Kaidan had a good point. If she learned it once, she could learned it again and that's only if she had actually forgotten what she had learned. Either way, he couldn't make a decision until they knew for sure.

"Before I make my decision, we need to determine if she actually lost all that too," Shepard said, hoping that Kaidan would agree to it, upon which he nodded in agreement, "Then we need to talk Lycan and find out. Maybe this bond between you two saved everything you taught her." he glanced at Kaidan and motioned with his head towards the door.

"I hope so Shepard."

The three left the Briefing Room, trotting down the stairs as they made their way to the Med Bay. Lycan had inclined the bed slightly while Kaidan was gone, still laying down with her blanket pulled up to her chest. She smiled when she saw Kaidan come out from behind Shepard and walk up to her side, her eyes following him the entire time as if he was the only one in the room. Kaidan softly placed his hand back on the side of her neck, looking at her in a whole knew light and he wondered if she knew just what she meant, and was to him.

"Ly...Can I ask you a few things?" he quietly asked, brushing his thump over her cheek.

"Of course...You can ask me anything Kaidan." she nodded slowly, finding that she had started to lean into his touch.

Kaidan nodded as he gently lifted her right wrist, which had healed but left behind small pink scars, "Do you know where you got these?" he asked, his thumb performing the same caress over the small marks.

Lycan's smiled faded, "I wanna say Wrex." she lightly cringed.

"That's right. You don't remember it clearly?" he kept his voice low as he set her wrist down.

"It's fuzzy. It's not something I try to remember anyways because Wrex is my friend and I don't wanna remember him doing that." Lycan replied, gently rubbing her hand down his forearm.

"I can understand that," Kaidan huffed, "Do you remember what I told you about my family?"

Lycan's smile returned, "Of course I do. You were exposed to Eezo in Singapore and your mom as some small abilities because you were born a Biotic...Oh! And your dad got Cancer but he beat it." she said quite cheerfully.

"And my implant?"

"L2."

"My side effects?"

"Migraines. You're one of the lucky ones." she lightly squeezed his bicep.

"Perfect...What do you know about Shepard?" Kaidan asked, flattered and joyful that she easily and without trouble remembered everything she knew about him.

Her smiled faded again, "Oh...um...He's a Commander...and...um...Give me a hint?" she winced hard.

Kaidan nodded, "Sure...His first name starts with a G."

"Gabriel! Commander Gabriel Shepard...born..." she raked her brain for the information that was eluding her.

"April..."

"11th 2154...Um...Oh! And he is the sole survivor of Akuze...I think. Am I right?" Lycan asked, looking hopeful and with joy in her eyes.

Kaidan nodded once more, "Yes you are...What do you know about Liara?" _She easily remembered things about me, but needed hints to remember things about Shepard? _He thought with a minute brow crease.

"Um...She's...106?" she didn't sound confident that that was the right answer.

"I am...You're right Lycan." Liara said softly and with a smile.

"Oh good...Um...You're an...expert on..."

"Starts with a P Ly." Kaidan gave her sweetly.

"Protheans!" She's an expert on the Protheans." she was rather proud of herself, as she indicated with a cute smile that made Kaidan have to smile back.

"Yes. That's right," Liara sighed quietly, "It would seem Commander, that the bond protected most of what she knows about the crew, after it insured that her memories of Kaidan were completely safe. We truly are all she has left, and knows in this galaxy." Liara whispered to Shepard, not wanting Lycan to hear...not just yet.

"It looks like it's safe to say that she remembers what she's learned here." Shepard whispered back.

"I would agree."

Shepard took a deep breath, "She needs us...We can't leave her anywhere. She'll stay here," he nodded at Liara before stepping up to Kaidan's side, "Do you know why we're asking you these questions Lycan?"

She nodded, "Yeah...The timeline was changing for some reason because of me so I agreed to have Liara erase my memories. I know I should have a family but to me, they simply just don't exist. You guys are my friends and family anyways." Lycan said, trailing her hand down Kaidan's arm, taking time to enjoy the feel of his soft arm hair beneath her palm.

Kaidan clicked his tongue as he clutched Lycan's hand and looked at Shepard, "I'm prepared Commander...Can I have a moment alone with her?" Kaidan asked in a husky, low voice that was just above a whisper.

Shepard nodded and clapped Kaidan's shoulder before he turned, motioning for Liara to follow as both left the Med Bay, leaving Kaidan and Lycan alone as he had requested. Kaidan slightly tightened his hold on Lycan's hand, softly looking into her dark eyes that made him smile. He had no idea how to tell her that she was his perfect soulmate, that she was only meant for him and born to be with him despite being separated by time itself. He couldn't begin to fathom how she ended up being dragged through time but however it happened, it brought her to him and for that...he was eternally grateful.

"Is everything alright Kaidan?" Lycan asked, seeing the torrent of emotions flash across his eyes.

Kaidan huffed a baffled laugh and nodded, "Yeah...Everything's fine. I'm just...overjoyed that you still remember who I am." he admitted.

Lycan raised her hand and ran her fingers through his hair which made him close his eyes with a smile on his face, "I promised I wouldn't forget you. I kept my promise."

"I don't even know where to begin to try and tell you..."

Lycan hushed him by placing her fingers over his lips, "I know...I saw it too. I don't understand it, but I saw it. I saw that white...energy ribbon when Liara first found it and when I saw that the other person was you...I...I knew that you would keep what mattered safe. I had to do it Kaidan."

Kaidan lightly pressed his lips harder to her fingers, kissing their pads before he lifted them off so he could speak, "Why? Why did you do it?"

"I finally found my reason...I didn't do it for trillions of lives. I didn't even do it for a dozen lives...I did it for one person. The one person that has done nothing but shown me kindness and even saved my life. I told you I would repay that debt someday and I just did." she said in a whisper, lacing her fingers between his on the hand that removed her fingers from his lips.

Kaidan's heart began to hammer in his chest as a quick wave of anger washed over him, "I told you you didn't need to Ly...I told you not to worry about it...I told you that I did it all because I considered you a friend...I never once demanded or thought that you needed to repay me for anything!" he sucked in a long breath, finding that his voice had begun to rise and he didn't want to be angry at her, for there was no reason to be.

Lycan's eyes saddened, "I know Kaidan...but I had to do it. I did it for you because you have a special place in my heart. You're my best friend, my confidant and my safe harbor Kaidan..." she would have continued if a yawn hadn't halted her words.

"I'm sorry I kinda got upset with you. I'm not upset...I just don't know what to say is all. I've never had anyone make that kind of sacrifice for me before." he started to feel the heat burning in his cheeks.

"I know."

Kaidan took note of her yawn and smiled lightly, "Get some sleep ok? You need it." he said, grateful that the anger and quickly gone.

"Ok," she sighed as she got comfortable in her bed, "Where are we headed? I can hear the drive core humming." she asked, resting her head against her pillow.

"You're good...We're headed towards Maji in the Vamshi system. I guess there's a Geth base there that we need to take care off. Probably more of the same like we found on Antibaar while you were asleep." Kaidan answered without even thinking about it.

"Geth base?" her brow creased.

Kaidan's brows slightly pinched, "You don't know what a Geth is do you..."

"Something to do with the Quarians right?" Lycan shrugged as she slipped her hand free from Kaidan's

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah."

"Well...be careful down there. You never know what you're gonna run into." she said with the upmost sincerity.

Kaidan smiled as he softly stroked her hair, "We will Ly...Get some rest. Just ping my Omni-Tool if you need me."

Lycan's eyes began to slowly lid themselves, "I will...Thank you...for being my friend Kaidan..." her voice trailed off as she drifted off to sleep.

_I hope to be more then that someday Ly...Sleep tight. _He thought as he gently tugged the blanket up higher on her chest before he left her to rest. He walked into the Crew Deck and headed for the Mess, finding that his mouth had become awfully dry during the conversation he had had with Lycan. He drew himself a glass of water and sat at one of the tables, his mind replaying over and over what she had said. Had she really justified loosing everything from her past life for him? No one had ever done anything like that before for him, he had always been the one to make a sacrifice...Case and point, he jeopardized his own safety and well being to protect Rahna when Vyrnnus broke her arm. He had never expected that someone would do it for him. The more he thought about it, the more he felt his lips beginning to curl up into a smile that he hadn't smiled in so many years, he couldn't remember that last time one had adorned his lips. Every time he thought of her, his heart hammered. Every time he smelled the scent of her shampoo, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Every time he felt the warmth of her skin as he grasped her hand or brushed aside a lock of her hair, his whole body flushed with heat. He had finally said the word he had been so afraid to say for so long that he was surprised he said it at all and out loud for that matter but once it had left his mouth, his mind and heart had synced and he finally realized, that he had fallen, madly in love with his best friend. He had fallen, madly in love with Lycan.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: The Final Geth Base

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

The _Normandy_ had jumped from planet to planet since Casbin. Stopping at Antibaar in the Tereshkova system, Maji in the Vamshi system and Rayingri in the Gagarin system. Each stop had been the same as the last, having to locate the outposts, destroy the initial Geth, avoid the dropship until it stuck around again and subsequently got blown up because Shepard had had enough of it, before they got the pleasure of doing away with what was left. The upgrades to the Mako had paid for themselves twice over as the heavier armor deflected the smaller Geth shots, the new missile turret sent extremely accurate projectiles slamming into each guard tower and the tracks had clawed their way up the steepest grades each planet had to offer. Once they had eradicated the last outpost on Rayingri, Shepard and his squad had discovered that there was one more primary base somewhere within the Armstrong Nebula itself, and they had tracked the signal to a small moon in orbit around the planet of Notanban in the Grissom system by the name of Solcrum.

Shepard had briefed his ground team about Lycan's condition and each had a different reaction to the news. Ashley and Tali seemed the most willing to be supportive towards her, while Garrus seemed to have no reaction at all, but it was Wrex, however, that seemed to be the most upset about it. After Shepard had told them that Lycan had lost her past and knowledge of things to come, Wrex had said nothing before he left the Briefing Room in a huff. Garrus had at least nodded his understanding before he left to return to work, but a few other crew members had mentioned that he had punched the Mako later on in what seemed to be harbored anger or frustration. Ashley and Tali had immediately gone to see her to ask how she was doing and were relieved to hear that she at least remembered their names. Now, Shepard was left to choose whom to take with him on his ground team to take care of this last incursion before they could focus back onto the real reason they were out and about.

"Garrus! Get ready to hit dirt. You're coming with me!" Shepard called over his shoulder as he collected his weapons from Ashley.

Ashley watched as the Turian began to set down his tools and begin to ready the equipment he needed, "You think he's the best choice Skipper? He hasn't said much since you told us about what happened to Lycan." she whispered, sliding an extra ammo block in Shepard's direction.

Shepard picked up the ammo block and slipped it into his pouch, "I know he hasn't said much but I need a trained sniper. We don't know what's gonna happen out there...Not this time." he said, also in a whisper as he placed his pistol onto his hip.

Ashley nodded, "I know Skipper. How is she doing?"

"She's doing ok. Been spending a lot of time with Kaidan since she's been up and around." he sighed as he placed his assault rifle onto his right shoulder blade.

"I bet. He's all she has left. Can't say I blame her for not wanting to leave his side." the corner of Ashley's lips curled into a soft, sympathetic smile.

"I am glad she still knows who we are and not just him. She gave up a lot for us." he sighed once more, this time placing his sniper rifle onto his left shoulder and his shotgun onto the small of his back.

"I think she did it more for the LT then us Skipper." Ashley's smile grew just a little more.

Shepard lightly nodded, "I know she did. It's not hard to figure out that those two are a lot closer then they lead on." he huffed a silent laugh and slowly shook his head.

Ashley let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, "Oh thank God Skipper. I thought I was the only one who saw it."

Shepard smiled at her, "Trust me...You aren't the only one. I just hope he keeps his head in the game." he tried to hide his cringe from her by looking over his shoulder for nothing in particular.

Ashley's brow lightly creased, "What do you mean Skipper? If it's ok to ask that is." she started to feel her cheeks burn as she thought that maybe she should have just kept her mouth shut.

"Relationships are fine and all, but unfortunately, this mission takes precedence and a distraction in the field can get someone killed. It's not easy putting something like that on a shelf to be dealt with later, but you make it look easy." he said, leaning in slightly with his crooked grin in place.

Ashley drew in a long breath, holding it for a moment while she glanced at her workstation, placing one hand on her hip and the other on the tables top. She found it increasingly hard to look at him but she heard her mind screaming to smack him across the face which was something she had no desire to do...if at all for her career's sake.

"Well...If that's all Commander...I have some more work to get to." she said flatly, turning back to her workstation as she slide his grenade belt across the table to him.

Shepard's crooked grin faded as he put his hand on top of the belt to keep the grenades from falling to the floor. He regarded her for a moment while she began her work once more, paying him no mind as she seemed to be ignoring him completely. He picked up his belt and put it on, slowly turning to leave as he thought about their short conversation. _Since when did she call me Commander? Did I say something wrong? I don't think I did...Did I? _He thought has he made his way to the elevator to grab a couple high energy bars for the trip. Once the elevator doors opened, he saw Kaidan already in the mess, doing the same thing as he packed his med belt with the bars they both needed. He walked up to the cupboard Kaidan was rummaging through and began gathering his own bars with a thoughtful sigh.

"What's wrong with you?" Kaidan asked, glancing over Shepard's shoulder to see Lycan still sitting by the monitor and happily watching the vid they had been watching.

"I think I might have said something stupid." Shepard said, pulling a few energy bars from the cupboard.

"What did you say exactly?" Kaidan asked simply.

"Well...I was just thinking out loud."

"About?" Kaidan urged for Shepard to continue.

"Oh...well...um...how a relationship can be a distraction while on a mission...Why are you laughing?" Shepard deadpanned, glaring as Kaidan silently began to laugh, cupping a hand over his mouth so he would stay quiet.

Kaidan sucked in a long breath to allow him to speak, "Who were you talking to?"

"Ashley." Shepard answered flatly, packing his belt.

Kaidan took a few moments to get his laughter under control as it sunk in that Shepard did, in fact, say something stupid.

"So...Let me get this straight...You told the woman that wants to have a relationship with you, that relationships during combat missions cause distractions and can get people killed." Kaidan summarized, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah." Shepard drawled, obviously missing the point as he stared at Kaidan whom was glaring right back and not laughing anymore, "What?" he shrugged.

Kaidan didn't say anything as he just arced an eyebrow, continuing his blank stare until the realization crossed Shepard's face.

"There you go." Kaidan mumbled with an eye roll.

"Goddammit!" Shepard growled as he finished with his belt, pursing his lips together.

"Nice going Shepard. Good job having the pot calling the kettle black...Apparently you haven't figured out yet that Williams has a bit of a _thing_ for you." Kaidan whispered, crossing his arms over his armored chest.

Shepard swore he felt his ears perk, "She does?"

"Really Shepard?" Kaidan punched Shepard's shoulders, "Of course she does." he snarled, still in a whisper as they bickered.

"Oh..." Shepard shrugged, "So sue me...I'm a guy...I don't read woman like you do." he rolled his eyes.

Kaidan's brow arced alone once more, "What do you mean by that?"

"Only someone in touch with their feminine side would use that much hair product." Shepard started to laugh as he pointed to Kaidan's hair.

Kaidan's brows drew together hard, "FYI Shepard...I don't use that much." he defended quickly.

"You are so full of shit. How much do you use?" Shepard folded his own arms as he glared unbelieving at his close friend.

"Just enough to make it look like I don't have the worse case of bedhead you've ever seen." Kaidan huffed an irritated blow of air.

"See! Right there! That right there is something I would never say" Shepard quietly and playfully hissed.

"You have no hair!" Kaidan retorted before they were interrupted, "Oh...Hi Tali. Something you need?" he quickly changed his tone as he acknowledged the Quarian, hoping that she hadn't overheard.

"Just came to find you and let you know that everything is ready to go when you two are. Garrus is already waiting in the Mako." she said, trying not to ring her fingers together.

"Oh...uh...Thanks...You ok with staying here?" Shepard asked quietly.

Tali nodded," I am Commander. Chief Engineer Adams needs my help trimming up a few things."

"Alright. I'll comm you if we need some help with anything."

Tali nodded once more as she turned and left, leaving the two men alone once more in the mess to continue their brotherly bickering.

Shepard groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose as he leaned up against the counter, "I should make it up to Ashley huh...Let her know somehow that I didn't mean anything by it?"

"Yeah...Might be a good idea unless you really want her to blow something up while you're gone." Kaidan glared just a little more.

Shepard sighed, "You mind if she comes out to play on this one?"

"Sure...I'd rather stay here anyways and keep an eye on Ly...Make sure she doesn't have another seizure." Kaidan said, all playfulness gone from his voice as concern replaced it.

"That's probably a good idea. Go get changed out and I'll go tell the her." Shepard motioned with his head that Kaidan could go.

Kaidan nodded and pushed off the counter, heading down into the Cargo Bay and stripped out of his armor. He quickly put on his uniform and headed back up to the Crew Deck where he found Lycan intently watching their movie like she had been. He slipped down into his seat and got comfortable, quickly picking up where he left off when Lycan leaned over and pressed her shoulder into his.

"So...What did I miss?" Kaidan asked quietly, picking up his datapad that he had been reading and plugged it into his Omni-Tool so it could access the extranet.

Lycan's lips were adorned with a soft smile, "Oh...um...that Korben guy just kissed the orange haired girl and she now has a gun to his head." she answered with a hint of enthusiasm.

"Oh I like this part...I have good timing." Kaidan smiled, glancing down at his datapad to find where he had left off.

"That you do," she stopped to listen to the orange haired woman rattle off her entire name...all of it, "This vid is great Kaidan...How did you know I'd like it?" she never tore her eyes away from the screen.

Kaidan's smile broadened as he lightly shrugged, "A hunch I guess." he said, regarding her for a moment longer as she watched the vid.

He looked back to his datapad, finding his spot and began to read some more, glancing at the newspaper date just underneath the headline which read May 31st, 2021. It was not a happy article, as it was regarding Lycan's disappearance 172 years ago...but it was 10 years after she had initially disappeared from her own time.

_-Lycan Dareden, born September 14__th__, 1985 was declared dead today after ten years since she had gone missing during a surprise lightning storm at the Rainer Federal Reserve Reservoir. The none profit organization we have all come to know called The Lycan Dareden Fund as put together a candlelight vigil for her birthday this year in honor of the organization's founder Kristy Disellen's close friend. Mrs. Disellen has offered this statement._

_ "Lycan was so fun to be around, despite our different majors. She always found time to help me out and no matter how ugly the job may have been, she always did the best she could and put as much pride into it as possible. I miss her...I won't lie but I know she lives on in our hearts. I hope...I pray that she is in a better place where she is loved and I vow...as Lycan as my witness, that I will do my best to find any other missing person and bring them home where they belong."_

Kaidan lightly sighed as he skimmed through the rest of the news clipping as he searched for something a little more personable to Lycan until he came across a link to a biography about his best friend. He clicked the link and smiled at the pages upon pages of information, quickly reading about Lycan's family that he could tell her later...if she wished it. He read that her father worked for a large company that dealt with airplanes, but those haven't been seen in ages and her mother worked as a secretary for a company that produced the equipment to spray fiberglass, also hadn't been seen in ages. He smiled a little more when he read about her brother, a young man whom had gone to college for fashion design and ended up as one of the most prestigious designers of his time until his death in 2086 at the age of 98. He had married, had children, saw his grandchildren and great grandchildren...all those things that Kaidan himself hoped to do someday...minus the fashion designer part. _He even named one of his children after Ly...I wish I could have met him. _Kaidan thought until his Omni-Tool buzzed twice, telling him that someone was pinging for him.

He stood from his seat and paused their vid, bringing up the in house communications program that was patiently awaiting his attention.

"Alenko here." he spoke clearly, glancing back at Lycan whom was quietly awaiting for the movie to continue.

_"Commander just called in...He's leaving Pressly in charge while he's dirt side." _Joker's voice fluttered through the speakers.

"Understood...How long till they reach the base?" Kaidan asked simply.

_"By my screens...looks about 25...maybe 30 minutes." _Joker reported.

"Understood Joker. Keep me posted."

Kaidan cut the link and sat back down, resuming the movie as he picked up the datapad to continue reading but couldn't help but look at his shoulder when Lycan leaned her head against it.

"You getting tired?" he asked, setting the datapad on his lap to brush aside that lock of persistent hair that refused to stay tied back in her hair tie.

Lycan tilted her head to look up at him, "No...Just getting comfy is all." she smiled.

Kaidan smiled back as he turned his head, putting his lips against her hairline as he lightly kissed, letting his lips linger against her warm skin for a brief moment before pulling them away. He went back to his datapad while they both quietly watched the vid, Kaidan having just as much fun watching Lycan's reactions to the old vid that she had seen before, but no longer remembered. They sat quietly for a short while until Kaidan glanced at his Omni-Tool, seeing that it was getting close to the time Shepard would be arriving at the Geth base. He made to stand, setting down his datapad once more as he stood, feeling his hand wrapped with warmth that he had nearly completely forgotten about as he dived into the biography on the love of his life so someday...he could tell her about her family.

"Is it that time already?" Lycan asked softly, still clutching his hand lightly that he made no real attempt at retrieving.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah...Shepard should be just about there." he replied, staring into her dark eyes that beamed with happiness and content as they no longer possessed the confusion and worry they once had.

"I was having such a good time watching the vid with you too." she smiled, letting her fingers unwrap themselves from his.

"I was having a good time too Ly. You can keep watching if you want." he let his arm flop to his side, his lips still wearing the soft smile he just couldn't seem to get rid of.

"Are you sure? I can pause it and we can start later if you want." she glanced down at her Omni-Tool and slightly readjusted it so that it wasn't rubbing her new scars raw.

"It's ok Ly. It's not like we can't watch it again." he nonchalantly pointed at the screen.

Lycan's smile widened just a bit as she sat cross legged in her chair, "Well I'll be here then. I hope everything goes alright." she said, turning her attention back to the vid.

"I'm sure things are fine Ly. I'll be on the bridge if you need me."

Kaidan sighed lightly as he headed for the bridge, weaving around a couple of crewman as he traversed through the CIC. He entered the bridge and slinked down into the co-pilot's chair as his hands began to dance across the console to bring up the screen that linked him to the cam on Shepard's helmet. He saw the red lighting of the Mako's interior as Shepard pushed forward across the terrain, easily traversing the hills and rocks that normally would have jarred the vehicle when it had tires.

"This is Alenko Commander. Hope I didn't miss anything." Kaidan said into the comm's headset which he had placed on his head.

_"Nope...It's been a long, boring ride. Navigation says we're less then a click from the origin of the signal." _

"Understood Commander. Play it safe."

* * *

Shepard slowed the Mako down as they drew closer to the coordinates displayed on the navigation screen in front of Garrus. The planet's surface was bathed in lustrous blue hues, casting long, unbroken shadows over the small, sharp hills and striping the landscape like a painter does a fresh canvas. He glanced over towards the screen once more, seeing that their destination sat within the indent of a crater and appeared to be surrounded by smaller indicators until their screens went dark with static.

"It would appear our radar is jammed Commander." Garrus reported as he tried to readjust a few settings in hopes of getting it back up and running.

"What was the last thing you saw before the radar went dark?" Shepard asked, pulling the Mako to a complete stop.

"All I saw was that there is a possibility of some tangos...That's only if they are actually Geth." Garrus answered, lightly growling at the jammed radar that refused to work.

"Then we play it safe...Consider all unknowns as hostile until irrefutable confirmation can be made to the contrary." Shepard ordered as he began to crawl the Mako forward.

The Mako rumbled over the rocks as it approached the crater, gently sloping downwards as the shadowed silhouette of what looked to be a prefabbed building filled Shepard's drive screens. He slowly crawled down the slope until two more shadowed figures came into view quickly becoming recognizable as the largest of the Geth units...The Geth Colossus.

Without even waiting for Shepard's command, Ashley had zeroed her sights down on one of the Colossi and fired a missile, sending it screaming through the air on it's guided trajectory to slam into the Geth's chest, instantly eating away at it's shields with a blazing fireball that was a stark contrast to the blue tinged environment. The Geth stuttered in it's movements a moment as it tried to ready itself for the charging cycle it required to prime a shot. Again, without waiting for a command, Ashley readied and fired another missile faster then the Geth could prime itself, taking out some of her pent up frustration and anger by bringing home said missile into the same spot the last one had landed to melt a hole into it's armor. Shepard went to open his mouth, but the prominent whoosh of another missile as it left the barrel kept him from saying anything as the drive screens erupted into another bright fireball and the shields sparked blue as they easily absorbed a shot from the other Colossus. The first Geth shuttered as it's chest began to glow for a brief moment before it exploded in a blue blaze of glory, raining down pieces of itself onto the ground and collapsing into a heap.

"Um...Chief?" Shepard looked over his shoulder, not worried about the shields as they had been vamped up to handle a lot more abuse.

Ashley ignored Shepard as she immediately trained her crosshairs on the last Geth Colossus and fired, claiming the shields for herself.

"Williams?...Uh..." the interior was filled once more with the whoosh of the second missile as it claimed the Geth's armor, "Ashley!" Shepard barked, hoping to get her attention.

Ashley fired the last missile needed to bring down the Colossus, adorning her lips with a morbid smirk that made Shepard's brows draw close together. The ground shook as the last Colossus blew sky high, not even turning Shepard's head back to his drive screens as he stood up, stepped under the missile turret and grabbed Ashley's booted ankle. Without thinking, he reached up and pulled the emergency egress pins, which caused her seat to pivot downwards and thus, resulting in her sitting upside down and staring straight at his hips. Shepard reached out and unclipped her harness, immediately grabbing her chest plate and lifted her from the seat, righting her and bodily slammed her into the bulkhead, keeping her pinned.

"What the hell Williams!" Shepard snapped, pressing her harder into the bulkhead.

Slightly dazed and confused, Ashley began to fight back, grabbing his wrists in hopes of yanking them free from her chest plate. Shepard, not willing to let her free herself so soon, swiftly crossed his arms, grabbing her wrists before she could react and pulled them over her head, opting to use his own body to keep her from starting to kick her way free.

"Garrus we're close enough. Go check the door on that facility and get inside. The Chief and I need to talk." Shepard ordered.

Garrus looked up and simply nodded as he shut the Mako down, popped the hatch and slipped out to leave Shepard and Ashley alone inside. Shepard kicked the button to close the door, giving the Mako a second to pressurize itself to a breathable atmosphere as he stared through her helmet and for the first time, saw the anger and hurt in her eyes. He grasped both of her wrists in one hand, unsealing his helmet to remove it before doing the same to Ashley's, carefully pulling it off her head to reveal her moderately confuse expression.

"Ash...Talk to me...What's the problem?" Shepard asked, his voice low but still stern.

"Oh it's Ash now! Not Chief? Not Williams?" Ashley snapped, glaring at him.

"Ok...I get it, you're pissed. I fucked up." he acquiesced, loosening his tight grip on her wrists as he took half a step back.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" she asked simply and flatly.

"Oh...I don't know...The lack of use of my rank. The ignoring simple military discipline and the total disregard of the rules of engagement." he spat, slightly retightening his grip on her wrists.

"I don't know what you're talking about..._Commander._" she quipped, her hands balling into fists above his hands.

"You fired before I declared weapons free and you refused to respond to me even after you fired!"

At this point, Ashley's wrists began to feel uncomfortable as Shepard's grip was digging the gauntlet into her flesh, causing her to wince. Shepard, seeing the discomfort, completely released his hold, taking another half step back and fully releasing her to do as she wished.

Ashley gently messaged her wrists, "What? You wanted me to wait for them to fire first?"

"Actually...Yeah. Are radar was jammed and we had no way of knowing if there were more then just those two Colossi. You compromised our position." Shepard said sternly.

"They already saw us! If I would have waited, then they would have landed a lot more shots then they did!"

"We rebuilt the fucking Mako to take the beating Goddammit! You of all people should know that! Hell, I had it rebuilt this way to keep you safe!" he snapped quickly, getting frustrated that she wasn't seeing reason but not realizing what he had said.

Ashley froze, his last words echoing through her mind as they sucked the anger and hurt right out of her, "W-What? What did you say?" she asked softly.

"I said you of all people should know that I had it rebuilt to take the punishment." he repeated...sort of.

Ashley shook her head, "That's not what you said. You said you had it rebuilt to keep me safe."

Shepard's blue eyes slightly narrowed as he started to realize that his mouth had gotten away from him again. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck, looking towards the front of the Mako in hopes of hiding the small blush but it wouldn't have mattered anyways, as the interior was red.

"W-Well...Y-Yeah...I did. You got hurt back on Casbin and I didn't want it to happen again." he admitted quietly, hanging his head as the anger completely vanished.

Ashley drew in a quiet breath as she took a tentative step forward, gently placing her hand on his lightly armored shoulder in hopes of getting him to look at her.

Shepard kept his head hung, "I can't keep you safe if you break the rules." he said so quietly that Ashley had almost missed it.

Ashley's hand that rested against his shoulder slowly slide to the back of his neck as her other cupped his chin, slowly lifting his head which he made no attempt at refusing. She saw his eyes were closed as he seemed to be fighting something within himself, but she couldn't be sure what it was...not with any certainty that is. She saw his shoulders were slumped, not at all squared like they had been when he was upset with her and it all clearly told her that the fight had left him. She glanced around the Mako, no longer seeing it as a utility all-terrain vehicle but something that Shepard wanted to make sure she was safe in. She slowly leaned closer to him, ignoring the butterflies fluttering in her stomach as she softly placed her lips against his, sucking in a stuttering breath when he didn't pull away from her.

Shepard's body stiffened once he felt the warmth of Ashley lips, unsure if he had passed out and the whole thing was just a teasing dream like so many he had had. His breath hitched hard in his throat, each short gasp making his chest hop in his armor and slightly shaking him as he forced his lips perfectly still. After a moment, the shock passed as he started to realize that it wasn't a dream, his body finally warming up and allowing him to react. He started to melt into the kiss, rather shyly lifting his arms and placing them onto her hips to pull her closer to him.

After a moment, Ashley pulled away, letting go of his neck as she lightly licked her lips, the look of confidence setting onto her pretty features as she watched him, his lips slightly parted in a soft gasp as he seemed to be blindly trying to find her lips again by following her.

Shepard finally opened his eyes to see her softly looking back, the corner of her bottom lip subtly grasped between her teeth, "That's breaking the rules Ash." he breathed, his voice no more then a whisper as he rested his forehead against her's.

"I'm willing to break them this time Skipper." she said in a seductive rasp before she picked up her's and Shepard's helmets, holding his out for him, "Let's get this base shut down Commander." she said in a normal voice.

Shepard stared, still stunned, as he took his helmet and slipped it over his head, sealing it back up and waiting for Ashley to do the same before he popped the hatch once more so they could slip out. They hurriedly ran to the large structure, their hardsuits beeping that the heat advisory reduced the amount of time they could be outside. They reached the door, thankful as it opened before they stopped running and blasted into a foyer where Garrus had been waiting for them.

"Hope everything is ok Commander." Garrus said, readying his sniper rifle.

Shepard sucked in a breath, placing what had happened in the Mako on the back burner to think about later, "Fine. Just a misunderstanding...Radar still jammed?" he pulled his pistol from his hips.

Garrus checked his Omni-Tool, "Yes Commander."

Shepard nodded, "Go in low and sweep the room."

Both nodded as they moved to the door on the opposite side of the foyer. Shepard pressed up against the wall next to Ashley and gave Garrus the go ahead to open the door, upon which he opened his Omni-Tool and did so.

Once the door was opened, all three were pinned down as round after round from whatever was on the other side came flying through, punching holes into the adjacent wall.

"Well, that didn't take long. Can you see anything Garrus?" Shepard asked, peaking out from behind Ashley.

Garrus kept pressed up against the wall and peered across and through the door, "Just a couple crates from what I can see Commander." he reported over the barking for weapons fire.

"Williams?"

"Same here Skipper. Not much room to maneuver in there." she quickly answered.

Shepard quietly cursed under his breath, racking his brain for the best course of action until he figured that he needed to scope the room out first. He switched places with Ashley and drew in a long breath, wrapping himself in a Biotic Barrier for added protection and then, poked his head out. He got a few short seconds of uninterrupted scanning until the Geth started firing again, most rounds going wide and punching the wall instead of hitting Shepard's shields and barrier. The room was large, much like any others they had seen but there was little inside. There were no fuel tanks, only a couple adequate places that could be used as cover and a large contingent of Geth for them to deal with. He wheeled back around and let his barrier fall, letting the Geth tire themselves from firing before he talked.

"Not much in there at all. We'll have to pick them off from here. Concentrate on the smaller troops and work your way up. Understand?" Shepard said, bring his pistol up as he knelt down, giving Ashley the ability to fire over his head.

Garrus and Ashley both nodded as they readied their weapons, waiting for Shepard's signal to send their own rounds down range. When Shepard nodded, all three poked their heads out and opened fire, sweeping their weapons in a wide arc that took out several of the smaller Geth units with little trouble. The small amount of cover that actually existed in front of the door was only a couple waist high crates, so they would have to crouch if they decided to move through the door...which they did.

All three crouched down behind the cover and picked off the Geth as they tried to get in close, whittling down their numbers until only the largest Geth units remained. A Geth Juggernaut and two Geth Destroyers. Shepard snatched a grenade from his belt and primed it to blow with an disabling pulse, rendering whatever got caught in it's blast radius useless for a short amount of time. He popped up in time to see one of the Destroyers walking up on them and tossed it, landing it on the Geth's right arm which guaranteed the grenade's efficiency. He ducked back down and opened his Omni-Tool, quickly bringing up the manuel detonator and hit the flashing indicator which trigger the device. With a sparking explosion, the grenade rendered the Destroyer useless as it stood rigid and motionless with it's weapon still in it's hand. The three risked a few caught shots in their shields as they all popped up, bracing their own weapons against their small cover and concentrated their fire on the disabled Destroyer, quickly bringing it down and out of the picture. One down, two to go.

Garrus stayed up a few moments longer as he trained his sights onto the second Destroyer, bringing it's shields down and leaving it defenseless for the other two to take it out with bullets and Biotics alike. With the two Destroyers taken care of, it left the Juggernaut as their only obstacle to overcome but what Shepard hadn't realized, is that the Juggernaut had sent a disabling pulse of it's own.

As Shepard hopped up to open fire, his pistol began to scream as it overheated, rendering it useless to him and causing him to curse loudly. He stood, his body wrapped in a Biotic Barrier as it took a shot from the pulse rifle in the Juggernaut's hands.

"Shit!" he cursed angrily, smashing the heel of his hand into the pistol in hopes of getting it to work.

He tried to fix his pistol before the Juggernaut had a chance to react but noticed the Geth taking aim at the center of his almost unprotected chest, as his Biotic Barrier was winking out. He held his breath but before he could duck, something grabbed the collar of his armor and forced him over, banging the side of his face against the top of the crate. He cringed with a strong grunt until he heard the report of an assault rifle barking over his head and it forced him to stay down, out of it's line of fire. He couldn't see anything for a few moments until the firing stopped, allowing him to hear as the distinctive sound of a Geth falling to the deck echoed through the large, almost empty room.

Once the silence took hold once more, Shepard finally craned his head around to see what in the world had forced him down but before he could see, he realized he wasn't laying on the deck, he was bent over the crate. He noticed a figure standing behind him that caught his attention, causing him to turn his head just a little further as he notice that Ashley had just bent him over and was standing behind him with her hand on his back, still holding him down. His breath hitched again as he noticed the precarious position that she had put them and he was pretty sure that she had no idea she had done it until a subtle cough met his ears. He looked over and saw Garrus, glaring at them both with what he was sure was an awkward look.

"Is that a normal Human shooting position?" Garrus asked, pointing a talon at them.

Shepard shifted his eyes up to see Ashley as he made to straighten up, thankful that his helmet was hiding the furious blush that exploded onto his cheeks.

Ashley quickly removed her hand from his back and backed up, her own blush burning molten hot in her cheeks, "Oh God...uh...I'm so sorry...I...I didn't mean...to uh...that..." she stuttered frantically.

Shepard gulped as he figured the best route out the situation was to be the Commander, "You kinda saved my ass on that one...Little unconventional but it still worked." he avoiding looking at Garrus.

Ashley blew out a huff of breath, "I just...didn't think...I just...um...reacted."

"I know...Thank you..." Shepard replied until his ears finally picked up on the soft sound of what seemed to singing coming from somewhere in the room.

They all looked around, wondering where the sounds could be coming from, the soft notes being sung of a different language but neither Shepard nor Ashley could tell which it was. It was Garrus whom recognized the language.

"That sounds like Quarian Commander." Garrus said, folding his sniper and placing it back onto his back.

"Quarian? Why in the hell is there a Quarian singing?" Shepard asked, picking up his pistol and checking it to make sure it had cooled down.

"I don't know Commander. Our best bet is to investigate. It's probably up top." Garrus said, starting to make his way towards the ramp to the second story balcony.

Shepard nodded as he placed the awkward situation behind him and motioned for Ashley to follow, all making their way up the steep ramp to the balcony where they saw a door on the far end. They quickly walked up to the door and cautiously walked through, unsure if there were anymore hostiles on the other side but thankfully, there weren't. All that awaited in side, were a few, strange looking Geth consoles like they had seen back on Feros, the singing the loudest it had been and coming from the console at the head of the room.

"There...That one." Garrus pointed, making his way to the console.

"Why do the Geth have a Quarian song playing on one of their consoles?" Ashley asked, keeping an eye on the door.

"Hack it Garrus. Let's find out."

Garrus nodded as he brought up his Omni-Tool, Shepard following suit as both began to access the data. It took them both a moment to acclimate themselves to the data, however, there were several large chunks that were alien to them, thus resulting in a hardy amount of confusion.

"Have you seen coding like this before Garrus?" Shepard asked, his brow furrowing.

"Not like this Commander. It seems like they really wanted to keep this stuff save." Garrus said, bringing up a listing of different hacking programs he had stashed away.

"Alenko? You still on the comm?"

_"Aye Commander...Have been this whole time." _Kaidan's voice acknowledged.

"Get Tali. We need her help with this. There's too many holes in the data lines." Shepard simply ordered.

The comm remained silent for several moments as they waited for Tali to arrive as Shepard listened to the mumblings of conversation on the other side. He waited in silence until the soft foot falls as someone approached the bridge caught his attention.

_ "I'm here Commander. Is there something you need help with?" _Tali's accented voice sounded on the other side of the comm.

Shepard's hand flew across his Omni-Tool's interface, "Tali, I'm setting up a bridge to my Omni-Tool...See if you can hack this terminal."

_"I'll try Commander." _

The comm stayed silent for quite some time as Shepard intently listened to anything that might help him crack the code. He heard several beeping noises on the other end, as well as a couple curses...or what he thought were curses as they were in another language.

"Everything alright?" Shepard asked, sighing as his patiences was beginning to dwindle.

_"Yes Commander...I just figured out why you had large portions of data missing...You're Omni-Tool doesn't recognize it." _

"What? I have one of the best on the market...How can it not see it?" his brows pinched together harder.

_"That's because it's Quarian..." _she was interrupted.

"It can read Quarian." Shepard retorted.

_"Not like this it can't. It's written in a much older form, one that hasn't been used in 300 years." _

"Can you still crack it?" Shepard was starting to get worried that all this had been for nothing.

_"Mmhmm...It'll take a few moments longer though so just be patient with me Commander." _she said, not at all intimidated by the strong encryption.

Shepard didn't say anything as he watched his Omni-Tool work without him touching it. Tali had complete control of her's as well as his as she worked them simultaneously to crack the coding. A few more beeps and chime later, Shepard saw his Omni-Tool begin it's download of the data he had come down here for.

_"There you go Commander...Um..." _her voice sounded proud, as well as if she hadn't finished her statement.

"What is it Tali?" he urged, shutting down his Omni-Tool once it had finished.

_"It's just...I was wondering if I could get a copy of that data Commander." _she asked pensively, the cringe clear in her voice.

Shepard held his breath for a moment as he thought about it, his mind drawing a complete blank, "We'll talk about it when I get back to the ship."

_"Understood Commander."_

Shepard cut the comm as he stood up and turned to his squad, "Come on. Let's get out of here."

* * *

Once Shepard and his squad were on their way back in the Mako, Kaidan had made his way back down to the Crew Deck where he found Lycan still happily watching the vid. He felt yet another soft smile cross his lips as he sunk down into his seat next to her, forgoing the datapad to just sit and watch with her.

"Everything go alright?" Lycan asked quietly, leaning over to press her shoulder to his like she always did when he say next to her.

"Yeah...They're on their way back. Now hopefully we can get to Noveria." Kaidan pulled his arm out from between them and wrapped it around her shoulders, letting her get a little closer.

Lycan nuzzled a little further into his chest, "I wonder what Noveria's like." he looked up to see his face.

"I hear it's cold." he lightly shrugged.

Lycan mildly groaned, "Lovely." she giggled, glancing over at the screen briefly before looking back at Kaidan.

Kaidan couldn't help but be caught in her eyes as she looked at him, her lips dressed with a soft smile as they had been most of the day. That same lock of hair that always made him smile, as it always gave him an excuse to softly brush his knuckles against her skin and tuck it back behind her ear. He did just that, but turned his hand so that he was gently holding the side of her neck and his thumb traced soft lines along her jaw.

Lycan reached up and placed her hand over his, "What?" she nervously asked, lightly biting her lip as his eyes seemed to twinkle.

Kaidan huffed, just as nervously, "I'm just...so happy you know who I am. I don't know what I would've done if you didn't." he admitted, still stroking her jawline with his thumb.

"I am too Kaidan." she made it a point to say his name, seeing his eyes light up as it left her lips.

Kaidan felt his heart beat harder at the sound of his name, "S-Say it again." he whispered, finding that each second that passed when he was in her company, he fell a little more in love with her.

Lycan's smile broadened, "Kaidan," she let him see her tongue as it worked in her mouth, adding a rather seductive flare to the word.

The way she had said his name, set him on overdrive as his mind erupted into a torrent of erotic and sensual things he wanted, really wanted to do to her. His heart hummed, each breath shuttered and his body was washing over by a blistering heat that boiled molten hot in his gut. He tore his eyes away from hers, finding it increasingly difficult to look at her eyes as they only fueled his growing desire for her. His arms began to feel incredibly heavy as he let them fall, his hand drifting down her neck and following the line of her shoulder to travel down her arm where he grasped her hand.

"Are you ok?" she whispered, wondering if she had done something wrong that upset him.

He sporadically nodded, "Y-Yeah...I'm f-fine," he took a deep breath in hopes that it would steady his raging nerves and thankfully, it did, "Ly...I have something I need to tell you." he whispered ever so quietly, bowing his head so that his forehead was resting against hers.

"You can tell me anything...You know that." she whispered to him, raising her hand and placing it against his cheek which he leaned into.

Kaidan swallowed, readying himself for what might be a disaster. _She has to know that I love her. I have to tell her, _"Ly...I...I..." his mouth quick working.

Lycan softly placed a couple fingers over his lips, silencing his rather adorable stuttering and curious as to why they were so warm.

"Shh...It's ok. You can tell me whatever it is when you're good and ready." she said, slowly leaning his closer to him.

Kaidan held his breath as he realized how close she was and that she was getting closer. His body froze, unwilling to let him move from that very spot and leaving him completely under her control. He refused to close his eyes, wanting to see what she was going to do as she began so close, he could swear he could feel the hear radiating off her skin. He saw her head slightly shift to the right, her fingers still pressed against his as she softly placed her lips on his cheek, desperately close to the corner of his mouth. If her fingers hadn't been placed on his lips, he would have placed his own kiss on her cheek, but since they were, his lips kissed her fingertips. He leaned into her, closing his eyes and hoping to keep her there for as long as possible, finding that his arms and tightened around her to bring as close as the armrest would allow.

After a few moments, Lycan pulled away, her soft smile still in place as she took her hands back, allowing him to speak if he wished to.

"What was that for?" he asked in a shocked whisper, unwrapping his arms from around her.

Lycan reached up and ran her fingers through his thick, soft hair, "Because I'm pretty sure I know what you were gonna say."

Kaidan stiffened again, "Y-You do? W-What?" he felt his cheeks begin to burn with the heat of a sun.

"I'll tell you once I get the courage to tell you the same thing." she stroked the side of his neck once before she stood and headed into the mess, leaving him to sit...stunned. _I can't believe I just did that. How am I supposed to tell him? How do I tell my best friend that I love him?_

* * *

Joker sat in his chair, hand cupped over his mouth as he tried to keep his laughing under control. He had seen the entire thing...both of them! He had to swallow down the blistering laughter when he and Kaidan had heard that whole thing between Shepard and Ashley in the Mako, and now, Joker was trying not to announce to the whole ship that Kaidan was as high as a kite as it were. _Oh this is gonna be so worth it...What time is it on Noveria?...Sweet! _Joker thought as he brought up a long distance comm and waited for someone to pick up.

_"Joker? By the Spirits! Haven't heard from you in a long time! How are you?" _a unique doubled toned voice came through.

"Li! I'm doing good...Look, I need a favor."

_"Anything you need. What you got?"_

"I need to set something up for a couple friends...well, four actually."

_"What you planning?"_

"I need two hotel rooms."

_"Spirits...Those are really hard to get those. You know you need to have a corporate account."_

"Come on man...It's not for me...It's for my friends. They really need to relax."

_"I'll see what I can do. It's gonna take me some time though." _

"That's fine. I'll call you when we're a day out."

_"That works. I'll let you know what I come up with then."_

"Understood. Talk to you later

The comm cut and was left Joker alone, smirking from ear to ear, on the bridge, lightly rubbing his hands together as his devious scheme was finally set into motion. _Oh I can't wait to get to Noveria. This is gonna be the king of all pranks and maybe...just maybe, those guys will finally work out some tension. _He laughed as he began the system checks to prepare for dust off.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Interim V

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

Lycan sat at a table in the Mess, eating her lunch quietly and playing a game of Solitaire on a datapad. The hum of the drive core softly playing in the background as the _Normandy_ flew through space towards Noveria. She had eaten most of her lunch with Kaidan, but with his superior metabolism and voracious appetite, he plowed through his meal far quicker then she ever could, even with the metabolism booster he had given her. So now, as Kaidan resumed the tedious task of trying to get the monitor fixed, she sat alone, content to just sit and periodically glance over her shoulder at him. She glanced up when the chair next to her's pulled out and someone sat down, gently setting down their tray with several different sizes of cups in front of them to begin their meal.

"Hey Tali...How's your day been so far?" Lycan asked sweetly as she paused her game and looked at her.

Tali removed a small cover from her face mask and attached what looked to be a long straw that strongly resembled the tongue of a butterfly, "It's been good. How have you been feeling?" she asked, sticking the long straw type thing into the larger cup.

"I've been feeling better each day. I don't feel so confused anymore now that I've settled back into things." Lycan smiled, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"That's good. Have your memories cleared up some?" she asked, drawing on the straw.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah...Things are still kinda fuzzy, but it's getting better."

Tali nodded, "That's good...I'm glad."

The two fell into a silence as they ate, though Lycan was taking her sweet time as she continued playing her game. She noticed Tali's leg had begun to bounce up and down, something she herself often did when she was anxious or had something on her mind that was consuming her attention which had been a lot as of late. She paused her game once more and finished the last bit of her sandwich before regarding the Quarian once more.

"Is everything alright Tali?" she asked, wishing that she could see the Quarian's face to judge her expression.

"Oh...um...Sure, I guess." Tali shrugged.

"That sounds like something's on your mind. Care to share? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to...I'll understand." Lycan assured, lightly nudging away her tray to give her elbows room to rest on the table top.

Tali set down her emptied cup and removed the straw, picking up the next cup of her meal, "Well...It's just...I asked the Commander if I could get a copy of some information and he said we would talk about it when he got back but...We still haven't talked about it."

"Is it information he got from that last mission?" Lycan asked quietly, resting her chin in her hand as she listened to Tali.

"Yes...It's information about the Geth and from what I saw, it could be a wonderful gift for my Pilgrimage...You still know what that is right?" Tali's head slightly sunk down into her shoulders.

"Um...A right of passage?"

"The right of passage into adulthood...Yes. Anyways, I'm just not sure if asking the Commander again would be the right thing to do." she lightly sighed.

"Well...What's the worst that could happen? He says no? If it would help end your Pilgrimage, then what's the harm? It's worth a shot isn't it?" Lycan asked, gently patting Tali's shoulder, hoping to encourage her.

"I suppose you're right. I guess I'm just nervous that he _would_ say no." Tali's head dipped slightly as she stared at her tray.

"I can understand that...I'd be nervous about it too if I were in your shoes." Lycan gently squeezed Tali's shoulder.

Tali sighed and glanced over to Lycan, her head lifting back up with a fresh wave of confidence, "You're right Lycan...The worst he could say is no. It wouldn't hurt to try," she picked up her tray and stood, "Thank you for listening to me."

"You're welcome Tali."

Lycan nodded and smiled as Tali left, leaving her to continue with her game which she had lost interest in. She picked up her tray and took it into the Mess to be cleaned before she meandered over to the monitor Kaidan was still working on and it was clear by the look on his face, that he had long since been frustrated with it. She walked up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders where she began to lightly kneed the tensed muscles.

"Inanimate objects causing you problems?" she asked, smiling down at him as he set his tools down and sat on his heels with a heavy sigh.

Kaidan reached up and softly grasped her hands, "I've just about had it with this thing Ly. I've stuffed myself in there over and over to replace and recheck everything there is with it multiple times and it still refuses to stop flickering. I just don't understand why." he sighed, leaning his head back to rest on her stomach.

"Maybe you should be done with it for a bit and come back to it later. You're gonna give yourself a migraine if you don't pace yourself." she whispered, slowly moving her hands higher up on his shoulders to massage the base of his neck.

"I know...I know." he relented, "I just wanted to get this thing working. It's the last thing from when you got here and I just don't want the reminder of when you nearly died." she huffed an exhausted laugh, leaning back a little further on his heels to lightly lean his back against her.

Lycan smiled down at him as she bent over to softly kiss his forehead, tasting a hint of the salty, thin layer of sweat that had formed there and smelling his cologne mixed with the musk.

"There was no way you were gonna let that happen Kaidan." she whispered into his ear, dragging her hands up his neck to lace her fingers in the hair on the back of his head.

Kaidan groaned delightedly, "You're right, I wouldn't have...Ok...I'll quit for awhile." he finally regained control of his body as he bet down to gather his tools but he was stopped when Lycan placed her hands on his.

"No you don't," she gently brushed her sleeve over his brow to remove a drop of sweat, "You go take a long, hot shower and relax. I'll take your tools down to your locker." she smiled as she began to put away his tools.

Lycan smiled as she placed her hands on his neck and hooked her fingers on his chain. She slowly lifted it, pulling the chain up and over his head and slipped it over her own to let the tags dangle against her chest.

Kaidan sighed and nodded, "Alright...I'll go take a shower. I get those back though when I'm done." he flicked a finger over his tags, making them clank together.

"Of course. Now go on...I'll talk to you later." she urged, rolling up his tools in their cloth case and making her way to the elevator.

She smiled lightly the entire trip down into the Cargo Bay, just enjoying the feeling of being in a good mood. She honestly couldn't think of a single thing that could soil her mood and knowing that fact only made her smile grow. She lifted the tags to look at them, as always, feeling her heart sputter just a little more in her chest when she read his name. The doors opened and allowed her to meander into the relatively quiet Cargo Bay, seeing Garrus doing his usual by the Mako, Ashley working on their stash of weapons and Wrex...well...Wrex was doing something different. He sat, actually sat on the deck, staring at something in his hand that she couldn't see. His face seemed to be blank as he twirled whatever it was between his large, thick fingers, seemingly in deep thought or was remembering something long forgotten. She held Kaidan's tool bundle close to her chest as she walked up, coming to stand in front of him. Even sitting down, Wrex was almost able to look her in the eyes.

"Wrex? Is everything ok?" she asked, looking at the top of the thick, leather plate that crested his head.

Wrex shrugged, "As good as they can be." he answered flatly, without looking up from his hand.

Lycan's brows furrowed slightly, "You don't look ok."

"Why do you care?" Wrex snapped.

Lycan took a deep breath to keep from snapping back, figuring the best thing to do was to keep calm. She knelt down in front of him, allowing her to see his blazing red eyes and saw that he was, deep in thought. She followed his gaze to his hand to the object he held, seeing it glimmer under the soft lighting of the Cargo Bay as it appeared to be a bracelet.

"What's that?" Lycan asked, pointing to the jeweled band.

Wrex shrugged, "I guess you wouldn't know about this. I never told you."

"I'd like to know. It looks beautiful." she sat down on the deck, sitting cross legged as she hoped to hear the tale.

Wrex sucked in a long, baretone breath, laced with a low groan that Lycan could almost feel im the deck, "Well...I have a daughter..."

"Grexa right?" Lycan softly interrupted, hoping that saying his daughter's name would help open him up a bit.

"Yes...You remember?" he dropped his hand into his lap and finally looked at Lycan.

Lycan nodded, "Mmhmm. I had to think for a sec but I remember you mentioned her."

Wrex nodded, "This was Grexa's when she was little," he huffed a laugh, "Well...she was never really little. She is a Krogan after all."

Lycan chuckled, "Big girl huh?"

"Yeah...Took after me on that one...Anyways, this was her's. It was her birth gift. Given to her by her mother after she was born." Wrex held out the bracelet for Lycan to see.

Lycan set the tool bundle down in her lap as she carefully took the piece to get a closer look at it. Saying it was beautiful was an understatement. It was very large compared to her own wrist, but it appeared to be made of something other then metal. The strange material peaked her curiosity as it didn't shine like it was polished metal, it had a soft gleam to it like it had a matte finish.

"What's this made out of? It doesn't look like metal." she asked, still scanning the piece of jewelry.

Wrex leaned back and smiled, more to himself then to her, "It's made of the bone from a beast I killed during my right. I carved it myself." he briefly explained, looking across the Cargo Bay.

Lycan smiled back as she continued to study the bracelet, taking in the shifting hues of blue of the stones, and the lustrous red stone that was slightly larger then all the others, seemingly glowing with a soft light. The pieces of carved bone that served as the bracelet's band, were carved with what looked to be hieroglyphics, as a small bi-pedal figure seemed to be fighting an immense, snake like creature. On the opposite side, the same bi-pedal figure was standing with arms raised above it's head on the corpse of the giant snake, holding what appeared to be a large jewel carved from the beast's head.

"Wow...This is gorgeous Wrex. Why did you make it?" she asked as she carefully handed it back to him.

"It was meant to show the females at the female camp that I was worthy to mate with once they invited me. I gave it to a high ranking fertile female by the name of Uta." he took back the bracelet and began to fiddle with it once more.

"So how did you get it back then?"

"Once Uta was with child and our daughter was born, Uta gave it to her because she was born alive. Just before I left Tuchanka, Grexa gave it to me and told me to never forget her." Wrex said, slowly spinning it in his large hand.

"You don't seem like the family man type." he lips took on a crooked smile.

"Don't tell anyone." he glared.

"You're secret is safe with me." she snickered.

"It better be."

"I promise...So what's she like? You're daughter I mean." Lycan scooted over to sit next to him and lean against the same crates.

"A lot like you. Stubborn...Thick headed...Eager to please...You get the idea. You remind me a lot of her actually." Wrex admitted, sending Lycan a sidelong glance.

"I'll take that as a compliment." she quietly laughed.

"I meant it as one. Grexa is a little more aggressive then you though," his chest started to rumble with a low laugh, "She picked a fight once with a Varren in one of the fight pits and nearly got her head bitten off. She ended up with a nice looking scar on her neck." he started to laugh out loud.

Lycan reeled, "Oh no! You must've been terrified."

"Hardly. She won. I was proud as Hell." his laughter started to ebb.

"Must be a Krogan thing then." Lycan shrugged.

Wrex barked another rumbling laugh, "So...When you asked me that question, it wasn't hypothetically was it." he turned to look at her.

"No...It wasn't. But I haven't forgotten you guys. You guys are my family." she gently patted his broad shoulder.

"You know nothing of your past?"

"I don't need to. You can't miss what you don't remember. This ship is my home now, and you guys are my family and that includes you." she reassured, looking into his deep red eyes.

Wrex didn't say anything as he just looked at the small Human sitting next to him, seeing the dog tags hanging around her neck and the bundle of tools in her lap. The hiss of the elevator drew their attention for a moment as they saw Kaidan walk out with his shower bag and head for the showers, sending Lycan a small smile before disappearing through the door.

"You two seem to have gotten closer since you had your brain bleached." Wrex rumbled, turning back to look at Lycan and noticing the beginnings of a blush painting her cheeks.

"Kaidan is special to me. I remember everything he's done for me and I guess I thought that having my memory wiped clean was my way of repaying him." she whispered, not wanting anyone else to hear for some reason.

Wrex huffed a breath through his nose, "I doubt that was the only reason. Do Humans always have this much trouble admitting that they want to mate with another?"

Lycan's blush grew hotter, "It's not that I have trouble admitting it, it's that I'm having trouble figuring out how to tell him that I love him." she subconsciously grasped the tags on her neck.

"Ah...So you do love him."

"Yes...I do. I love him a lot actually but don't tell anyone." she glanced around, hoping that no one was listening in.

Wrex started to laugh again, "I think everyone might already know but your secret is safe with me."

Lycan smiled, "I'm sorry if you're upset with me for having my mind cleared. I didn't forget about you if that's what you're worried about." she placed her hand on his shoulder again.

"I'm not upset...not anymore at least. It just reminded me so much of what Grexa would do for me that I guess I just couldn't separate the two. I've come to grips with it small one." Wrex said.

"May I ask you a question?" Lycan asked, looking up at him because she was just that small compared to him.

"Besides the one you just asked? Sure."

"How come you call me small one?"

It appeared that Wrex began to smile once more, "It's what I used to call Grexa when she was younger...and you are small."

Lycan huffed a small laugh, "That I am...Well, I'm honored that you call me that then."

Wrex gently clapped Lycan on the shoulder, "As I've said before...You're alright small one."

Lycan smiled as she pushed herself to her feet, placing her hand on the top of Wrex's thick armor head plate, "No matter what any else says Wrex...I think you're great." she quietly laughed.

"Yup...Just like Grexa." Wrex rumbled, slowly shaking his head.

Lycan laughed just a little louder as she patted his head plate and headed for the row of lockers by Ashley's workstation. She removed the chain around her neck and slid the barcoded dog tag into it's slot, opening Kaidan's locker to place the tool bundle inside. She closed the locker and started to make her way to the elevator until she remembered that Kaidan wanted his tags back, which was logical considering, so she spun around and headed for the showers instead without a second thought.

She slowly opened the door to the showers and let a billow of steam spill out into the Cargo Bay to flutter across the deck. She quietly walked in, the humidity immediately clinging to her skin as she closed the door. She tried not to look over towards the stalls, knowing Kaidan was in one of them and devout of any clothing what so ever which only started to make her heart sputter in her chest. _I have got to stop thinking about that...It's not helping me in the least bit. _She thought as she found his shower bag and went to put his tags inside.

When she took the chain off her neck, the tags jingled together, sending their distinctive sound through the showers and catching Kaidan's attention over the sound of spraying water.

"Ly? Is that you?" Kaidan called through the noise of the falling water.

"Huh? Oh...um...Yeah...I was just putting your dog tags in your bag." she nervously answered, still trying very hard not to turn around.

"Oh...You can just bring 'em here." he said, holding his hand out over the top of the closed stall door.

"W-What?" her cheeks started to burn again.

Kaidan started to laugh, "It's not like I'm not in the stall Ly."

Lycan gulped as she slowly turned around, seeing a very wet Kaidan looking back at her. His raven hair was draped over his face, fully covering his forehead and halfway covering his ears. She could see his shoulders, the olive skin glistening under the constant spray of water and making her gulp again. His whiskey colored eyes looked at her, somewhat amused that she seemed to freeze in place, unable to move but after a moment, Kaidan's soft smile began to fade the longer she stood motionless.

"Ly? You ok?" he asked, turning off the water and running his hands through his hair a couple times to ring out most of the water.

The sound of his voice seemed to snap her out of her frozen state, "Huh? Y-Yeah...I'm fine. Why?" she said, coming back under control of her own body again, but still unable to ignore the fact that he was naked behind that door.

Kaidan's brows lightly furrowed as he pulled the towel off the top of the stall door and wrapped it around his hips. He stepped out of the stall and padded up to her, catching the slightest widening of her eyes as she seemed to freeze again.

_God almighty! Heaven above! Look at that body! _Lycan's brain screamed as he emerged from the stall. She couldn't stop her eyes from scanning over his figure, drinking in every curve of muscle that she could see and imagining the ones she couldn't. His abs were perfectly defined into a soft six pack and his pecks were strong, accenting and defining his collarbone and spreading wide into his equally strong shoulders. His biceps were thick, easily able to handle her weight, if not more. _Breath Lycan! Breath! _She gulped as she watched him slip a plain blue t-shirt over his head to cover up his masterpiece of a torso before he walked up to her and placed his warm hands on the sides of her neck.

"Are you sure you're ok? You don't think you're gonna have another seizure do you?" he asked, placing two fingertips at her pulse point to check her heart beat.

"I don't think so...Why?" she said, shifting her eyes away from his as she became aware that he was still wearing his towel.

"You stiffened up." he cupped her chin and forced her to look at him, "Follow my finger," he said, holding one finger up and moving it from side to side for her eyes to follow.

"Oh...I'm pretty sure that was for a different reason." she swallowed again, still unable to look him in the eyes.

Kaidan popped an eyebrow, "Really...Well, whatever the reason, I still wanna have Dr. Chakwas take a look at you." he released her chin and took his dog tags from her hands to slip the chain back over his head.

"There's no way for me to argue is there." she groaned, her shoulders slouching.

"Not in the slightest. Wait outside, I'll just be a minute." Kaidan urged her towards the door.

"What? Why?"

"I can't very well get my pants on with you standing right there. I'll be out in a minute ok?" he laughed, reaching into his bag for his underwear.

Lycan nodded as she caught a glimpse of his under garments in his hand, noticing that he was a boxer man. It made her smile and blush as she turned to leave, leaning against the bulkhead outside the showers as she waited for Kaidan to finish getting dressed. Her mind raced and replayed the images of his bare chest emerging from the shower stall and each image that flashed in view of her mind's eye, it made her body flush with heat.

After a moment, the door flew open and Kaidan walked out, his hair damp but not dripping wet and fully dressed. He smiled at her as he placed a hand on her shoulder, leading them towards the elevator where they took it to the Crew Deck, and headed into the Med Bay.

"Dr. Chakwas...Do you have some free time?" Kaidan asked as they entered and set his shower bag back down next to Lycan's bed.

"I do as a matter of fact. What do you need?" Dr. Chakwas answered as she stood from her chair.

"I was wondering if you could take a look at Ly and make sure she isn't gonna have another seizure." Kaidan said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I can...Are you concerned she might be susceptible?" the doctor asked, pulling out a long arm with a module on it's end.

Kaidan shrugged, "I'm not sure but she stiffened up down in the showers a minute ago and I just wanna make sure she isn't gonna have another one. I'm hoping the one she did have was a one time thing." he explained, helping Lycan up onto the bed the doctor indicated and began attaching small nodes to her forehead.

"Well...It wouldn't hurt to check."

Dr. Chakwas brought the module to hover over Lycan's head as Kaidan clipped on the sensor to allow the nearby monitor to display her heart's activity, but silenced it before it start makingthe rhythmic beeping. The doctor turned the machine on and waited patiently as the machine buzzed, taking it's images of her brain and sending it's information to Dr. Chakwas's datapad as it became available. She looked the series of images over and stepped up next to Kaidan to show him the results.

Kaidan stared at the images, looking at the various images of Lycan's brain, "It looks normal to me doctor." he said, glancing at her for a moment before turning back to look at Lycan.

"That's because it is. There is no abnormalities that would suggest that she has, or had a history of seizures. Neurologically Kaidan, she's fine." the doctor reassured.

Kaidan seems to breath a sigh of relief, "So...her stiffening up down in the showers was nothing then?"

"Who was the one taking the shower?"

"I was." Kaidan quickly answered, his brows furrowing again.

"I'm pretty sure it was for a different reason then Kaidan. Trust me...She's fine." Dr. Chakwas smiled as she flicked off the machine and put away the module.

Kaidan began to remove the small nodes from Lycan's forehead as Dr. Chakwas headed back to her desk, "I guess it's just my paranoia this time Ly. I apologize." he said, helping her sit up.

"You're just looking out for your friend. There's no need to apologize for that." she smiled at him as she brushed back a piece of her hair.

Kaidan nervously rubbed the back of his neck. _Yeah...friend, _"Tell you what...If you wanna go pick out another vid to watch, I'll be there in a minute."

"Ok!" Lycan beamed as she hopped off the bed, "Anything in particular you want to watch?"

"Doesn't matter to me. Surprise me." he smiled as she nodded and left, leaving him alone with the doctor.

Dr. Chakwas watched from behind her terminal as Lycan left, leaving Kaidan standing where he had been and watching her. His eyes seemed to be distant as the doors closed, almost as if he was trying to figure something out before he followed her to watch their vid.

"Is something on your mind Kaidan?" she asked, picking up on the thoughtful stare in his eyes.

Kaidan sighed, "Just worried about Ly is all doctor." he stared down at the deck.

"That's understandable considering your feelings for her."

Kaidan quietly groaned, "Is nothing secret on this frigate?"

"Kaidan, I know you better then you think. I've been your doctor for years and I know when one of my patients is having feelings of the heart." she said, her lips curving into a soft smile.

Kaidan pulled up a chair to site across from the kind doctor and sat with a heavy sigh, "Didn't know you had that kind of degree."

"I don't. I'm just that observant. How long have you been in love with her?" she rested her elbows on her desktop.

"A while. I just wish I had the guts to tell her." he raked a hand back through his hair.

"It's not easy telling someone how you feel, especially when it's something like that," she lightly sighed, "Have you thought about how she may feel about you?"

Kaidan shrugged, "I'm pretty sure I'm just a friend. I'll get over this crush, but it'll take time."

"Kaidan...The reason I said I thought her stiffening was because of a different reason, I meant, that it was most likely because she saw you in the shower. You stepped out of the stall didn't you." she simply stated.

Kaidan just locked eyes with her and nodded, "Yeah. I saw her stiffen so I wrapped the towel around my waist and stepped out to check on her."

"Well there you go. She got a glimpse of the object of her affection."

Kaidan rolled his eyes and started to blush, "Shit...I didn't even think about that...Wait, you said 'the object of _her_ affection'?" his eyes narrowed slightly.

"You haven't seen it by now? She cares greatly for you Kaidan and to give you the best chance at making it through all this, she sacrificed everything she knew for you. That should speak volumes of how she really feels about you. You don't do that for someone you don't love." she clasped her hands together on top of her desk.

Kaidan's breath hitched in his throat at the rather simple explanation. His eyes closed as he let the doctor's words sink in, bringing home the fact that he had fallen in love with her some time ago. He had never once stopped to think about how she may feel about him, as he was afraid that they weren't reciprocated and that alone, made a knot begin to build in his stomach.

"I guess I didn't think about that because I was afraid she didn't feel the same way about me." he glanced down at his hands as he started to pick at his fingernails.

"You've been hurt in the past...Both physically and emotionally. When that young woman in BAaT rejected you after you protected her, I can understand fully why you were frightened that Lycan may not feel the same way but in this case Kaidan...I believe that she does."

Kaidan huffed another quietly laugh, "You're starting to sound like my mother." he smiled.

"Well...I'm sure she would say the same thing to you if she were in my shoes," she reached out and softly placed her hand on Kaidan's shoulder, "Look...You'll know when it's the right time to tell her how you feel in words but for right now, show her in your actions."

"Yup...Definitely my mother." Kaidan laughed lowly.

Dr. Chakwas joined in with his low chuckle, "Comes with the territory my dear. Now...If I remember right, you said you were going to watch a vid with her. You shouldn't keep her waiting."

Kaidan's smile grew, "Yes...Thanks Dr. Chakwas."

"Of course dear. Go on...Have a good time."

* * *

What was Shepard to do? He sat at his terminal, fidgeting with an OSD in his hands. It contained the information about the Geth that he had made a copy of before sending it off to Alliance intel. He was still mulling over whether or not to give Tali a copy, but he hadn't found out her reasoning behind it yet. He made to stand when the soft chime on his door announced that someone was awaiting outside and so, he went to see whom it was. He strode up to the door and unlocked it, allowing the doors to open and reveal his guest.

"Tali...Something I can do for you?" he said, stepping aside to allow Tali to enter.

Tali stepped inside and stopped next to the small round table that sat in the room's center," Well Commander...I came regarding the information about the Geth." she started to ring her fingers together as she always did when she was nervous.

"I was wondering when you were gonna come talk with me." he said blandly, setting the OSD down in the center of the table and crossing his arms.

Tali tried not to look at the OSD, "Have you decided yet...Commander?" she added as an afterthought.

"I wanna hear your reasoning first Tali. The Alliance tagged this stuff as highly classified but if you give me a good enough reason...I'll consider it."

Tali sighed, "That information shouldn't exist Commander," she began, "When my people created the Geth, they were meant to provide the Quarian people with labor. Their intelligence is artificial."

"They're machines..."

"Not just machines Commander...They're AI's. From what I saw of the information, the Geth have evolved passed that. Despite them being self aware of their existence which is what defines an AI, an AI shouldn't be interested in forms of self expression like music or art." she interrupted as kindly as possible.

Shepard's brows furrowed, "That's how we found the terminal with the information. We followed a song."

"That right there raises suspicion Commander. This information could provide my people with a way of understanding the Geth in hopes of returning someday to our home world." she sighed, flexing her fingers as she started to feel tense.

Shepard sighed as he glanced around his quarters, gnawing on the inside of his lip as he thought. He knew he didn't know enough about artificial intelligence to even begin to fathom what the information could hold, but he did know that the Alliance was going to be hard pressed to decipher it within his life time.

"The Quarians would be able to decipher this well before anyone in the Alliance ever could," he sighed, "If I give you this Tali...Your Pilgrimage would be over correct?"

"Yes...It would."

"Then you'll leave and head back to your people right?"

Tali shook her head, "Not until I see this through Commander. I would stay until the end. I promise." she assured.

Shepard remained silent while he thought it over, rapping a finger against his biceps as the consequences of handing over classified material passed through his head. He knew, that if he was caught and wanted to, they could throw his ass into the brig for rest of eternity and throw away the key where he would be forgotten. There were far greater things to worry about at the moment then some information no one was going to able to understand for a long, long time.

"Fuck it...What the Alliance doesn't know, won't kill 'em," he slid the OSD towards her, "Take it. You could put it to better use then any of us ever could."

Tali picked up the OSD and slid it into a pocket on her belt, "Thank you Commander! You won't regret this!" she spun and all but bounced through the door where she almost ran Shepard's next guest over as she made her way to elevator.

Ashley stood out just on the other side of the door, looking in at Shepard as she quietly awaited an invitation to enter the private space.

Shepard stood up straighter, "Chief...Come on in." he waved her in, opting to call her by her rank until the doors were closed.

Ashley stepped in and stood next to the table, much in the same place Tali had, "Skipper...I wanted to talk to you...about what happened in the Mako..."

Shepard raised a hand to halt her, "Ash..."

"Skipper..." she interrupted before Shepard could continue, "I wanted to apologize if I seemed too forward and the fact that I did that in the Mako...I...I honestly didn't know what I was thinking." she held her breath for a moment before she blew it out in a shaky sigh.

Shepard's stomach began to flutter at the reminder of their kiss, "Ash...I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it but I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't scared out of my wits." he confessed, crossing his arms again.

"Am I that scary?" she cracked a small grin.

That brought Shepard's eyes to meet her's, "Hardly...You don't frighten me Ash...the relationship does. I don't have a good track record with things like this." he sighed.

"Does anyone?...Sounds like there's a story there Skipper." she clasped her hands in front of her, trying not appear nervous.

Shepard glanced around the room once more before he sat, resting his elbows on the table as his head rested in his hands, "Yeah...I've broken the frat regs before...It didn't end well." he let his hands plop to the table top.

"She left you?"

"You could call it that...We were in the same unit on Akuze and we were...like rabbits to put it mildly. A few days before the attack, I found out she was two-timing me with one of my other friends in the unit and we both found out she was pregnant but she didn't know whom the father was. Then the attack happened and...everyone was killed. I'll never know if it was mine or not." Shepard explained, looking at his hands the entire time.

Ashley honestly didn't know what to say, opting to sit down in the chair across the table from him. She hesitated a moment, wondering if what she was about to do was a good idea or not and decided it couldn't be any worse then kissing her Commanding Officer in the Mako. She reached across the table and softly grasped his hand, brushing her thumb over his knuckles as she lightly smiled.

"I'm sorry to hear that Skipper...Did any of the brass find out?"

Shepard's hand lightly tightened around her's, "No...They never did. She didn't tell our CO she was pregnant because she didn't wanna get my friend in trouble. She couldn't have cared less about me," he scoffed, "She actually said that she was hoping that the baby was my friend's and not mine because she didn't wanna be the reason that a fuck up like me procreated."

Ashley's brows pinched, "That's an awful thing to say Skipper. Why did she think you were a fuck up?" she lightly cringed after she had asked.

Shepard sighed, "Because I was. After my family was killed, I went off the deep end. There was a priest back on Mindoir who took me in but the things I got myself into when I was running with that gang, I wouldn't have been surprised if he tossed me out on my ass." he stared at their joined hands.

"There was a gang on Mindoir? I didn't know a colony could have gangs."

"Mindoir did for awhile. It was a group of kids who lost their families in the raid. We called ourselves the Lost of Mindoir and the shit we did...was as bad as anything you'd find back on Earth. Looking back on it now...I never should have run with them." he closed his eyes, remembering the ill memories of when he was just a child.

"Skipper..."

"I'm not a good man Ash. Between killing my sister, the nonsense I pulled when I was with L.O.M and the crap I did when I first joined the Alliance...I should be in jail." he softly placed his hand over both of their's, fully encompassing her hand.

Ashley drew in a long, silent breath, "Skipper...If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to scare me away."

Shepard finally racked his eyes up to look at her, "You aren't scared? Scared of the things I might do?" his eyes barely narrowed.

"No...I'm not scared. This wouldn't be the first time I've had to fight for what I want."

Shepard's lips started to smile, "I'll...need some time to think about all this Ash." he slipped his hand free from her's, actually feeling a pang of disappointment as he had wish to continue keeping their hands joined together if at all, to enjoy her hand's warmth.

"Take as much time as you need Skipper. You know where to find me." she said with her own soft smile as she stood to leave.

Shepard stood from his seat as she made for the door, finding that he was watching the sway of her hips, the shape of her rear and the length of her legs as she walked. He gulped quietly and forced his eyes up to meet her face when she stopped just before the door and turned back to look at him with that subtle smile still in place.

"If it'll give me some points Skipper...I'm a wildcat off the field too." she winked, then left Shepard standing with a stunned look on his face.

_Fuck...I need a cold shower. _He thought as he made for his small shower, needing a distraction from the sudden thoughts now running rampant through his head.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Port Hanshan

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

The _Normandy_ drew close to the frozen planet of Noveria, her pale blue glow shining so brightly against the darkness of space that it nearly hurt their eyes to look at it. Joker worked his special brand of magic as they came within comm range of the port their reports said that Matriarch Benezia might reside. They just hoped, that she was still there.

"Approach control...This is the SSV _Normandy_ requesting a vector and a berth." Joker officially said into the comm as he readied the ship to enter Noveria's atmosphere.

The comm crackled, _"Normandy...This is Approach Control...You're arrival was not scheduled. Our defense grid is currently armed and tracking you. State you business." _a flat, seemingly irritated voice ordered from the other side.

One of Joker's brow's arced as he rolled his eyes, "Citadel business...We have a Council Spectre aboard." he glanced over his shoulder at Shepard.

The comm remained silent for a moment, clearly telling Joker that they were running their request by their bosses, _"Landing access granted Normandy...Be advised, we are confirming your identification upon your arrival. If confirmation cannot be established, your vessel will...be...impounded." _the irritated voice warned.

Joker slowed the _Normandy_ as she approached the only open berth, crawling her into place where the docking clamps came down to take hold of the frigate.

Joker glanced at Shepard once more with a grimace on his face, "Wow...What a lovely bunch. You're track record stands Commander." he huffed a laughed as he turned back to his consoles to secure the _Normandy's_ systems.

It was one of Shepard's brow's turn to arc, "And what track record might that be Joker?"

"You never take me anywhere nice." Joker laughed.

Shepard laughed himself as he turned and left the bridge, heading down onto the Crew Deck to decide whom he was going to take with him once they left the ship. Just as he expected, he found Kaidan and Lycan in each other's company, sitting at a table and playing an good old fashion card game where they each put a card down and whomever's was higher, won the two cards.

"Kaidan...Get changed out. You're coming with me." Shepard blandly interrupted.

Kaidan lightly smiled at Lycan as he slid his hand of cards over to her, "Time to work Ly. We'll continue this when I get back ok?" he said as he stood from his chair.

"Ok...Be safe out there."

Kaidan smiled once more as he turned to looked a Shepard, seeing him enter the Med Bay doors with purpose in his steps. He headed for the elevator and took it down to the Cargo Bay, striding up to his locker and proceeded to get changed out into his armor. He had kinda zoned out while he wrestled himself into the rather form fitting under suit, so much so, that he hadn't noticed when Shepard, accompanied by Liara had joined him in getting ready to head out.

Kaidan looked over at Shepard when the man heavily sighed, much like he was nervous or anxious to get on with the mission.

"You ok Shepard?" Kaidan asked, breaking the silence between the three.

"Just anxious about what kind of reception we're gonna get." Shepard answered, clicking his grenade belt around his hips.

"Do you think that perhaps they will not aid us or even try to hinder our progress?" Liara asked, somehow having a far easier time slipping into her armor.

"I don't know but it's sure looking that way. Just be on your toes and be ready for anything," he clipped his pistol onto it's holster, "Get your weapons and meet at the airlock." Shepard simply ordered before he spun and immediately headed towards the elevator..

It didn't take long for everyone to finish getting ready and meet at the airlock as Shepard had ordered, all three standing inside as it pressurized itself to the atmosphere outside and let them out into the cold. Once the doors opened to let them out, the blast of cold air hit them in full force, making all three shiver until their bodies somewhat adjusted to the sudden temperature change and their suits regulated the temperature inside. They made their way down the gangway and headed towards customs, much like they had to with every major port...even one as small and...corporate as Port Hanshan.

As the sliding glass doors came into view, so did two armed women, a Turian and two hovering turrets that were looking right at them and giving Shepard that uneasy feeling.

"That's far enough." the woman in the middle said harshly as she held a hand up to halt the three coming their way.

Shepard slowed to a halt as his brows pulled together hard, "Something wrong here officer?" he stared her straight in the eyes, trying to decipher her intentions.

The blond woman to the woman's left spoke up, "You better hope there isn't." she sneered angrily.

That...ignited Shepard's fuse as the woman in the middle did nothing to chide the other for her behavior.

"This is an unscheduled arrival. I'll need your credentials." the darker woman ordered once more, keeping her face blank as she did so.

_Play it nice? Or cause a scene? Choices...Choices, _"I'm a Council Spectre...My name is Commander Shepard..." he would have continued if the blond didn't interrupt.

"Load of horseshit Ma'am." she growled.

Three...Two...One...Blast off, "What the fuck is your problem blondie? Don't trust the Alliance? Or is it your own personal agenda to try and appear bigger then you really are?" Shepard snapped, placing the heel of his hand on his pistol which in hindsight, might have been the wrong thing to do.

The women and Turian drew their weapons and aimed at Shepard and his squad, only added fuel to his fire as they immediately followed suit and pulled theirs as a reaction to the sudden display of intended hostility.

"We'll need time to verify that but until then, you're going to need to hand over your weapons." the woman in charge said, her body tensing with the rising situation.

"Over my dead body...Try and take them and you'll quickly regret it." Shepard threatened with a straight face, which actually started to set Kaidan's alarms off.

"Shepard..." Kaidan whispered.

"Shut it Lieutenant. I've had enough of running into road block after road block," he turned his eyes back to the guards, "Put you weapons down." he ordered.

"Give us your weapons and we'll think about it." the blond glared.

"If you don't put your weapons down, I'll be forced to declare you hostile and I will take the appropriate action..."

_"Captain Matsuo! Stand down! Spectre's are authorized to carry weapons!" _another woman's voice came over a comm just before things really started to get hairy.

Everyone hesitated a moment, none wanting to be the first to lower their weapons in case the other meant to take a shot. The woman known as Captain Matsuo nodded her head, tell her guards to lower their weapons and she didn't seem worried about the blond woman's angry sneer. Once Shepard saw the guards lowering their weapons, he lowered his, watching out of the corner of his eyes as Kaidan and Liara did the same.

"Watch yourself in there. We don't like trouble around here." the blond woman snipped, patting her shotgun like she was trying to make a point.

Shepard set his gaze onto the woman as he walked by, stopping at her shoulder as he turned his head to glare and whisper.

"And I don't like little rent-a-cops with something to prove." he hissed, grinning as he walked through the set of sliding glass doors.

On the other side of the glass doors, they were finally able to reach customs. The walls were bland gray as the entire place was made of stone and reinforced concrete. There wasn't a single curved line in the place. Everything was straight, blocky and boring. There were no plants, no pictures or anything personable anywhere to be seen and it definitely didn't make the three feel welcome. Towards the top of the stairs and in the back of the room, sat an alcove with a counter on the left side with two more hovering turrets at each corner and they appeared to be scanning for something as long angled beams swept from side to side.

"Jesus...This place just oozes with corporate bullshit." Shepard groaned as he ran a hand down his face.

"What would Benezia be doing in a corporate feeding ground like this?" Kaidan asked, scanning the room as an uneasy feeling began to build in the back of his mind.

"I'm not sure Lieutenant. My mother wouldn't normally come to a place like this unless she had a good reason to." Liara added.

Shepard groaned as he headed up the short flight of stairs to the counter in the alcove. The second he stepped through the scanner beams, alarms all around them blared to life with a deafening whir. Shepard immediately cringed as Liara ducked her head down into her shoulders in hopes of quieting some of the noise but Kaidan was the one whom physically reacted. He stuck a gloved finger into each ear, immediately bringing the noise down to something that wouldn't send his brain into purgatory.

"Sorry! Sorry! Stand down! Nothing to worry about here! It's just the weapon detectors!" a woman screamed over the whir of the alarms.

After a few moments, the alarms turned off, casting the foyer back into silence and relieving everyone of the tremendous noise, even allowing Kaidan to take his fingers out of his ears.

"I'm sorry about that," a woman in a pink dress said, "Welcome to Port Hanshan. I'm Gianna Parasini. How can I help you?" the dark skinned woman beamed with a wide smile.

_Oh God...She likes her job way too much. _Shepard groaned, "Am I gonna have problems like that the entire time we're here?" he asked, not at all amused with his first impression of the place.

"No...You shouldn't receive any more resistance as long as you don't step on any of our client's toes." Gianna Parasini said a little too kindly.

"I need to conduct my investigation Mrs. Parasini. I can't have it hindered by bureaucratic BS." Shepard retorted, trying not to place his hands on his hips.

"We will do what we can to accommodate you and your crew Commander." she smiled.

Shepard sighed and pinch the bridge of his nose, "Look...We're looking for an Asari by the name of Matriarch Benezia. Is she still here?"

"Yes she is. She headed up to the Peak 15 research facility some time ago." Gianna reported, that rather irritating smile still in place.

"Wonderful...We need to get there and speak with her immediately." Shepard started to feel like he had finally caught a break.

"I'm sorry Commander, but with the storm outside, transit to Peak 15 is shut down until it passes. However, you may speak to Administrator Anoleis. Perhaps he can help you.." Gianna offered, clasping her hands together in front of her.

Shepard sighed, "Fine...Where can I find him?" he asked blandly.

"You can find him in his office. Head down the stairs and turn left. You'll see the two guards." she happily answered.

"Thanks."

Shepard motioned for his two squad mates to follow as they headed down the indicated stairs. When they emerged out into the main of the port, all three had to stop and take the place in. The ceilings were squared and high above their heads liked they were in an open arena and the entire, multi tiered floor was decorated with fountains and a minuscule amount of plants sat to actually add some color to the place. The same, square lines stretched all over the large, open room as they formed a nice line of stores and cafe's and several spaces were dedicated to small round tables. On the far end of the port, a softly glowing sign shown over a glass elevator with the name of the corporate hotel that resided for the highest paying customers. On the far left wall, the entire thing was made of immensely large panes of glass, allowing what would be a stunning view if it wasn't erased by the white out blizzard outside. _I hate snow...I hate bureaucrats...I'm gonna hate this place. _Shepard groaned.

Shepard looked to his left and saw the two guards that Mrs. Parasini had indicated and thus, made their way over. The guards nodded as they let them pass through the sliding glass doors into a largely bland and equally corporate office entryway. On the far end of the reception foyer, a large desk sat with...a woman wearing a pink dress?

"You again? I thought you were at the customs counter?" Shepard's shoulders slouched as he stared at the same woman with the irritating smile.

"I am also Administrator Anoleis's secretary. What can I do for you?" she asked, smoothing down the front of her dress.

"How the Hell did you get from there...to here?" Shepard asked, furrowing his brows.

"I'm sorry Commander, but that's classified information...Do you wish to see the Administrator?" she asked, taking a seat in her chair as she brought up something on her terminal.

"Yes..."

"Again Commander, I apologize, but it seems that the administrator is unable to see you until tomorrow morning. Shall I put you down for 9am?"

Shepard's body tensed tightly as he fought the urge to reach out and smash something, "Please tell me you're kidding?" he groaned.

"I'm sorry Commander. 9am is the earliest he can see you. Please, feel free to browse the shops and the hotel bar is open late. I'll put you down. Please, enjoy your stay at Port Hanshan." Gianna beamed as she finished with her terminal and stood to shake his hand.

Shepard just glared at the woman for a moment with pursed lips before he spun and left, leaving his two companions sunned. Liara silently nodded at the woman before she followed Shepard and Kaidan pursed his lips together, shook the woman's awaiting hand and hurried after Shepard.

"I hate corporate bullshit. We're stuck here till tomorrow morning...Tomorrow! Morning!" Shepard grumbled, throwing his hands up in the air as he paced, trying to think of what their next plan of action will be.

"We heard Shepard. Relax...You're gonna give _me_ a migraine." Kaidan glared, resting his hands on his hips.

"Sorry...I just _really_ hate crap like this..." Shepard tilted his head and looked over his shoulder, his attention being caught by the neon sign of the hotel, "She said there was a hotel right?"

"Yeah...Why?" Kaidan asked, wondering what was running through Shepard's head.

"Wanna see if we can get some rooms?" his mouth started to curl into a grin.

"Sure...Why not." Kaidan shrugged.

They followed Shepard across the floor towards the elevator, dodging a few businessmen as they went. They rode it up, hearing the steady thumping of the music that was apparently coming closer and the subtle change of light as the bar came into view. They walked out and quickly took in the scene, seeing a few patrons dancing to the music and plenty others guzzling down their drinks. The walls phased in color as the notes changed, going from blue, to green, to and just about every other color you could think of. Shepard looked over across the bar and saw a lanky Salarian standing behind a counter up on the second level. He made for the stairs and quickly ascended them, not caring about the odd looks he was getting as he nearly ran up them. He saw the Salarian look up from his terminal as they approached and it appeared that he actually frowned at seeing the armored people coming his way.

"Hello...Welcome to the Port Hanshan Corporate Hotel. How can I help you?" the Salarian rattle off quickly.

"Yes hi...I'm looking to snag a couple rooms for the night." Shepard said blandly, placing his hands on the counter.

"Do you have a corporate account with us?"

Shepard froze for a moment, "No?"

"I'm afraid you can't get any rooms then Sir. Our hotel is only for our corporate clientele."

"You're kidding." Shepard slouched.

"Kidding? What does that mean?"

Shepard hung his head and turned around, not wanting to actually explain the meaning of the word to the alien so instead, he just turned and headed back the way he came. They took the elevator back down to the main floor, away from the thumping noise that was not helping Kaidan's head at all and stopped before the small hallway that lead back into customs. Shepard sighed and leaned his back against the wall, crossing his arms as he blankly stared at the various groups of business people. He glared at Kaidan, seeing the marring scars all over his armor and the repaired bullet hole it received from Fist.

"Jesus Alenko...You're armor looks like shit. Don't you take care of it?" he groaned again.

Kaidan rolled his eyes and glanced down at himself, "Does it look like there's Bond-O readily available on the ship?" he pointed at Shepard's armor, "Yours doesn't look any better you know."

Shepard glanced down at his own armor, finding that he had to agree with his close friend, "I know...I know...Did that Gianna woman say there were shops around here?"

"Yes Commander. There's quiet a few. I saw one ran by a Hanar. Perhaps they have something suitable for a replacement." Liara offered.

Shepard sighed and hung his head, his hands now resting on his hips, "This is gonna cost me a fortune...Alright...The team could use some new stuff and now is probably as good a time as any to get it. Let's head back to the Normandy." he sighed.

Kaidan and Liara nodded as they followed Shepard back the way they came, ducking back through customs and the long walkway that lead back to the ship. They waited, a little impatiently as the decontamination beam cycled through and finally allowed them back onto the ship.

"Hey Commander! Back so soon?" Joker yelped with a little too much enthusiasm which caught all three people's attention.

"Why are you in such a good fucking mood?" Shepard growled, not really in the mood to deal with Joker's antics.

Joker threw his hands up in mock defeat, "Down boy...I guess you don't want those rooms I scored for you..."

"What? You got a room? At the hotel?" Shepard felt his ears perk again.

Joker lightly shrugged, "What can I say...I've got friends and this particular friend hooked me right up. He's an over achiever actually. Oh...and I said rooms...as in plural." Joker smirked.

"How many you get?" Kaidan asked, his eyes widening with the thought that he just might get to sleep in a real bed that night.

"Five regular rooms and..." he let the 'and' hang in the air, enjoying the expecting looks on their faces, "Two suites..."

"Dibs on a suite." Kaidan nearly yelped with glee.

Shepard started to laugh, "I'm not even gonna ask how you managed that...Me and Kaidan get the suites and the rest of the crew have access to the other five rooms. I assume they have multiple beds?"

Joker nodded.

"Then pipe shore leave till 8am tomorrow." Shepard simply ordered as he started to make his way down the CIC.

"Understood Commander...The rooms are under the name Scuttlebutt Inc!"

Shepard just shook his head and laughed as he and his team headed down into the Cargo Bay, the announcement for shore leave going throughout the ship as they entered the elevator. Each headed straight for their lockers and changed out, Shepard and Kaidan leaving their marred and worn armor in a pile on the deck while Liara intricately put hers away. Before Shepard and Kaidan were finished, Liara donned her normal attire and headed back towards the elevator, leaving the two men to pile their scarred armor together so they could get it off the deck.

"What's the spending limit?" Kaidan asked as he laid his hardsuit over an extra table to prepare it to be decommissioned.

Shepard shrugged, doing the same, "I don't know. It's Council credits so to be honest, I really don't give a flying fuck. Get something that is gonna make your life easier." he groaned, placing the armor plates on top of the hardsuit.

"Are you sure Shepard?" Kaidan asked, finishing getting his uniform on.

"I don't care. Have fun." Shepard said flatly as he turned and scoffed off, clearly frustrated by the days events.

Kaidan sighed quietly as he watched Shepard walk off with his shoulders slumped. He slowly shook his head as he turned his attention back to his armor, groaning at the long scars and the bullet hole that Ashley had managed to repair. He started to feel a warm feeling on the back of his neck which drew his attention, causing him to look up and see Lycan walking towards him with a soft smile on her face.

"Hey Kaidan...Did you hear Joker pipe shore leave for the day?" she asked, softly placing a hand on his arm.

"I did...I'm going shopping for some new armor...Did you wanna go?" he asked, his own lips curling into a soft smile in response to hers.

Lycan's smile widened a bit, "I'd love to. It'd be nice to get some fresh air anyways."

"I bet. You've been cooped up in here for awhile. You need to get out and stretch your legs some." he said, gently placing his hand over her's.

"That sounds great...I'll go get my sweater." she smiled before she turned for the elevator.

Kaidan had a far better time watching Lycan walk away then he did Shepard, finding that he was intently looking at her backside and how it moved when her feet hit the deck. _I just wanna...God! I just wanna grab it and...spank it...Why am I even thinking that? That is not something I should be __thinking right now! Especially since I'm getting ready to go out in public! _He thought, subtly clearing his throat as he forgot all about his armor and headed for the elevator himself. He stepped out onto the Crew Deck just as Lycan stepped out of the Med Bay with her favorite zip up...well, it was still his but there was little chance he was going to get it back.

"Ready to go?" he asked, still smiling as he softly placed his hand on the small of her back and lead her towards the stairs.

"You bet."

Lycan beamed at him as they headed up the CIC and through the airlock, spending the few moments inside the airlock in silence until the doors opened to allow them out.

"Oh my God it's freezing!" Lycan yelped, huddling her arms around herself in hopes of stemming the flow of heat that was drifting away from her.

Kaidan lightly laughed as he stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, "That better?" he started to feel the building shiver that he was sure was gonna grow a thick layer of gooseflesh along his exposed skin.

"I'm always warm when you're around Kaidan," she said quietly, leaning back into him, "Come on...Let's get inside before we both freeze."

Lycan stepped forward and slipped free of Kaidan's hold, opting to jog down the walkway with Kaidan close behind as they both quickly made their way to customs. The cold air immediately gave way to the heated and comfortable warmth inside the port, instantly warming them both so they weren't shivering. Kaidan smiled down at her as he grasped her hand, intertwining their fingers as they walked side by side through customs and into the main floor of the port.

"Wow...Look at that storm outside. You can't see a thing out there." Lycan said, amazed and staring out of the giant wall of windows at the infinite blanket of white.

"Makes me glad I'm in here. I'm not a fan of being cold." Kaidan laughed, leaning just a little closer to her.

"Me neither." she smiled, "So where are we gonna find you new armor around here?" she asked, looking around at the line of shops as she set her eyes on something tall...very tall and very pink, "What...In sam Hell is that?" she tried not to scream...or point.

Kaidan looked at her and saw her eyes widen at whatever she saw, following her gaze to the closest store and it's clerk...which happened to be a large, pink Hanar.

"That's a Hanar. They're...big floating jellyfish." he answered with a soft smile as he leaned down just a bit so he could lower his voice.

Lycan looked for a moment longer at the strange alien, "I don't see a mouth...How does it talk?" her shocked expression turned to bewilderment.

Kaidan huffed another low laugh, "You'll see."

They started to walk towards the shop, still hand in hand as they dodged a couple businessmen that were arguing about numbers, thus weren't paying attention to where they were going. Once they entered the store, the soft noise of a news report was the first to greet them.

_"Scientists are still baffled today as they continue to try and understand the strange phenomena that involved every known relay. They are still trying to determine what caused the relays to simultaneously spool and discharge an unbeknownst amount of energy without causing any undue damage to the relays or surrounding areas..."_

Kaidan stopped while he listened to the short blurb before he glanced down at Lycan, seeing her eyes bounce from him, to the Hanar and back again.

"I wonder what happened?" Lycan shrugged, slightly tightening her grasp on Kaidan's hand.

Kaidan returned the shrug, "Don't know, but apparently it was important..." he glanced up when he saw something tall and pink heading towards them.

"Can this one help you?" the tall pink being hummed as it's whole body glowed with each word.

"Oh...Um...What was that news report talking about?" Kaidan asked, feeling a little short as the Hanar stood nearly two heads taller.

"This one is unsure of the details on this peculiar incident. It is just as confused as the hardworking scientists." the Hanar answered, it's pink body pulsing with light as it spoke.

"It said all the relays spooled up. Did it mean every one of them?" Lycan asked, a little memorized by the softly glowing light the Hanar's body emitted.

"Yes. This one believes they were referring to every mass relay, though this one was unable to witness such an occurrence." the Hanar confirmed, lifting one long tentacle in some sort of shrug.

"Do you know how long ago that was?" Kaidan asked, glancing over at Lycan whom mirrored his expression of curiosity.

"If this one remembers right, this occurred only a few days ago. It hopes this one was able to answer your inquiries."

_A few days ago? Why haven't we heard anything from the brass about this? _Kaidan thought briefly with another glance at Lycan, whom just shrugged as she lightly squeezed his hand some more.

"This one hopes you have come for not just the informative news broadcast, but to perhaps browse it's wares?" the Hanar asked with more happy glows.

"Yes actually...Um...I'm looking for some light armor hardsuits for a Human male." Kaidan said, straightening his posture just a bit.

"This one might have something that interests you. Please, follow this one. May this one ask what corporation you reside with?" the glowing Hanar asked.

Kaidan drew in a long breath, "Systems Alliance." he simply answered, trying not to cringe.

"This one understands...Please follow." the glowing Hanar floated towards the back of the shop.

Kaidan glanced over at Lycan once he heard her silently giggling to herself at the Hanar's movements. He found himself joining in as one of creatures tentacles lifted to open a sliding door into a back room as he saw the three tiny finger type extensions try and grip the doors handle.

"This one carries a variety of Human designed armors. Please feel free to browse this one's wares." the Hanar motioned with the same long appendage to some crates.

"Wow...Lots to chose from. How are you gonna pick?" Lycan gasped, letting Kaidan's hand slip from her's as he walked up to a crate.

Kaidan began to thumb through one of the crate's manifest, "I've got particular tastes." he smiled.

Lycan stepped up next to him, watching as he scrolled through the list of what hardsuits the crate contained. She saw Kaidan's brows draw together as he flicked a finger across the screen and eventually closed it with a groan.

"What's wrong?" Lycan asked, gently placing her hand on his arm.

"These are all heavy suits. I'm looking for light." his expression softened as he looked at her.

"How come you don't wear a heavy hardsuit? You can handle the weight can't you?" Lycan asked, stepping up to the next crate with Kaidan next to her.

"They aren't called heavy because of how much they weight, they're heavy because of what they can handle. They're more for Soldiers...not Biotics." he briefly explained, starting to scroll through the crates contents.

"Oh...So a light hardsuit is more for maneuverability then?"

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. Exactly..." his thought trailed off as his eyes scanned over something he didn't expect to see, "I'd like to take a look at this Light Predator L armor please." he called over to the patiently awaiting Hanar.

The Hanar floated over and began to unlock the crate, "This one is pleased that you have found something to your liking."

The crate made a series of clicking sounds before a quiet hiss sounded and a drawer slowly slid open to reveal the armor neatly packed inside. The armor looked remarkably close to the light hardsuit Kaidan had been wearing except it had a green camouflage pattern all over the armored plates with the same black underlay. Kaidan lightly smiled as he knelt down and began to examine the suit.

"Wow...That looks much better then your old one." Lycan said quietly as she knelt down next to him to get a closer look at the new hardsuit.

"I hope so. My other one is torn up pretty good," he looked over his shoulder at the Hanar, "How much is this one?"

"This one apologizes, as that piece is one million credits."

Kaidan tried not to cough out loud as he glanced at Lycan, seeing her eyes reel at the ludicrous price of the armor, "One million credits? There's no way you're willing to come down on that are you?"

"Again, this one apologizes, for it can not bring the price down." the Hanar glowed.

Kaidan sighed as he stood and stared at the expensive hardsuit with his hands on his hips. He looked over at Lycan once more, his eyes seemingly asking her permission to spend such a high amount on the much needed armor.

"One million is an awful lot Kaidan. Where are you gonna get that much money?" she whispered, her eyes softening as she thought he was gonna have to walk away empty handed.

Kaidan's lips began to curl into a smile, "The Council," he looked over her head to the awaiting Hanar, "I'll take it."

* * *

Shepard was aggravated to say the least. He hated having to deal with corporate nonsense and he was not in the right mind set to try and fight his way through all the red tape. He sat at a table just outside one of the shops with a glass of water in front of him, just...people watching as all the different races conducted their business. He hardly noticed the other chair pull out as someone sat down across the table from him.

"You look like you're waiting for someone." Ashley said softly, reaching across the table and taking the glass of water to take a sip.

Shepard blew a breath out of his nose, "Something like that...Keeping my eyes peeled for a wildcat I heard was roaming around here." he smirked, glancing around the area to see if anyone from the crew was within earshot.

"Really now...What's this wildcat look like?" she asked, sliding the glass back to Shepard.

Shepard's eyes set themselves hard onto her's, his crooked grin in place, "Stunningly dark eyes...Full lips...Dark hair...Smooth skin...Rock hard body..." he let his eyes flutter slowly down her neck, wishing that her uniform didn't cover up what was underneath.

Ashley started to nod slightly as she folded her arms on the table, "Sounds like this wildcat is something to see. Hope you get to see it." she smirked.

"Oh...I'm pretty sure I just spotted her." Shepard all but purred, intently staring into Ashley's eyes.

"You have? Well...I..." Ashley immediately ended her train of thought when she spotted Kaidan and Lycan walking out of a shop hand in hand, "Looks like the LT and Lycan have finally started to come out of their own little worlds."

Shepard's crooked grin faded as his brows lightly furrowed at the sudden change of subject. He followed Ashley's line of sight as he spotted the pair, walking slowly away from them as they browsed the various other shops.

"Would you look at that...About time if you ask me." he laughed, blowing a slow breath out his mouth to bring his imagination under control.

Ashley nodded, "Yeah no kidding Skipper."

"Have you gone and found some new armor for yourself?" Shepard asked, deciding to not let them fall into silence, or revert back to their previous conversation.

That caught Ashley's attention, "Pardon Skipper? What new armor?" she asked puzzled, tearing her eyes away from Kaidan and Lycan to look back at Shepard.

"I'm thinking we're due for some new stuff. I think that store our two love birds came out of has some. Why don't you go take a look." he said with a sigh.

"What about you? Aren't you gonna look for something new?" she asked, standing from her chair to stand next to him.

"I will in a little bit...Just clearing my head." he sighed, staring at his half empty glass.

Ashley reached down to grasp Shepard's wrist, "Come on Skipper...You need a little retail therapy." she tugged on his arm, attempting to get him to move from his seat.

"Retail therapy?" his mouth quirked into another grin.

"Help take your mind off things...You know, by distracting you with bright shiny new stuff." she tugged with both hands now, "Come on Skipper." she urged.

Shepard groaned as he gave up resisting, standing from his seat as he was pulled behind her. They walked into the same store they had seen Kaidan and Lycan exit from and spotted the bright pink Hanar as it emerged from the back room.

"That must be the clerk." Ashley whispered, tugging Shepard up so that he was standing in front of her.

The Hanar turned at the soft sounds of whispers, "This one is pleased to see more patrons enter it's store. How can this one assist you?" it glowed.

Shepard looked over his shoulder at Ashley, hoping she would take the lead, but she just shoved him forward a little more, "Um...We're looking to perhaps buy some Human armors. Do you have any?"

"This one has several you might be interested in. Please follow this one into it's back room." the Hanar turned back to the door and opened it once more to allow it's new customers inside.

Shepard looked over at Ashley and shrugged before both headed for the room, seeing the Hanar standing next to a few crates with their manifests already awaiting to be browsed. Shepard walked up to the nearest crate and opened it's manifest, seeing immediately that it housed strictly heavy armors of all brands and makes.

"Hey Ash...This one might have something you'd be interested in. Come check it out." he called over his shoulder as he finished scanning the manifest, seeing nothing to his particular tastes.

Ashley came and stood next to him and browsed the manifest, "Good lord...I don't think there's a single suit in here that doesn't cost six figures...Oh wait...here's a seven figure one...Hello...What's this? I can't believe it! I've only ever seen these on the extranet." she began to smile at her discovery.

Shepard's brows began to draw together as he looked back down at the manifest to see what peaked her interests...and he wished he hadn't.

"That's 1.5 million credits!" Shepard yelped, staring wide eyed at the price tag.

"But Skipper...It's Colossus...Look at it...It's the best armor for a solider. Nothing can get through the ceramic plates and kinetic barriers." she started to get excited.

Shepard groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Ash...You can't even rearrange the numbers to make it look better. Look at all those zeros. Can't you find something...oh...I don't know...cheaper?"

Ashley's bottom lip began to slowly pout as her eyes became nice and doe like, just pounding on Shepard's heart strings and rapidly eating away at his wallet. She softly placed her hand on his bicep, softening her gaze even more as she started to lean into him.

"Please Skipper? You don't want me to get hurt do you?" she purred, drawing in closer to him and softly snickering as she lightly brushed a finger over his adam's apple after he had gulped.

Shepard's body stiffened so hard, that he could pass off as a statue if it wasn't for the fact that he was starting to shake. His eyes shifted over to look at her, seeing the playfully pleading stare that was quickly melting him into a puddle of goo. He finally willed his body to cooperate with him as he placed his hands on her shoulders and carefully pushed her away, just to get her at an arms length instead of making him heat up like a hotdog over a fire.

"Ash...That suit..." he sighed, seeing her pout just a little more, "It's..." another sigh, "Perfect." he let his arms drop to his sides as he hung his head in defeat.

Ashley's grin turned in to a genuine smile and her eye's lit up as she sprang forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Thank you Skipper! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she prayed, trying not to jump up and down with excitement.

Shepard went rigid once more as Ashley's body was firmly pressed to his, "Ok...Ok," he coughed, reaching around to the back of his neck and attempt to pry her off of him, "You gotta let go Ash. I gotta find something now and I can't do it with you hanging on my neck." he was trying not to be too forceful.

Ashley nodded as she let Shepard go and turned her attention to the crate, opening it up to inspect the heavy hardsuit with the biggest smile on her face. Shepard slowly shook his head as he stepped up to the next crate and browsed it's manifest, seeing that one such suit had already been purchased. He squinted just a little as he read over the faded wording, reading the brand and make of the suit that look awfully enticing to him.

"Do you happen to have anymore of these Light Predator L hardsuits?" Shepard asked the Hanar without tearing his eyes away from the manifest.

"This one will have to check it's stocks. This one will only be a moment." the Hanar glowed as it floated out of the room.

Shepard nodded as he glanced back at the manifest, "How much you wanna bet it was Alenko that bought this one." he groaned.

"I don't make sucker bets." Ashley snickered, trying on one of the gauntlets.

"Smart ass," he glared just as the Hanar returned, "Any luck?"

"This one is fortunate to have one more in it's stock. The armor that you are looking for is in the third crate." the Hanar pointed a tentacle to the crate that sat behind the one that Shepard was looking at.

Shepard nodded as he went to the indicated crate and quickly skimmed through it's manifest, seeing that it carried a variety of different armors ranging from light, to heavy. He found the suit he was looking for and opened the drawer it was packed away in, lightly smiling at what he saw.

"God...This is gonna be expensive...I'll take this and that Colossus armor for her." Shepard lightly laughed at himself that he had so quickly gotten suckered into spending 1.5 million credits on her alone. _Damn she's good._

"This one will be happy to assist you. Please, give it a moment to prepare your items. Do you wish this one to have them brought to your vessel?" the Hanar asked, floating up to the crates as it started to collect the purchased items.

"Yes please. Thank you." Shepard nodded.

"This one must confess. It is pleased with it's customer traffic this day. A Human accompanied by his mate were in shortly before you arrived and purchased that hardsuit." the Hanar seemed to glow a little brighter.

"I saw that...Did this Human happen to be darker skinned then me? With black hair and a Biotic amp jack on the back of his head?" Shepard groaned, having a feeling that he already knew the answer.

"Yes. This one believes he said he was with the Systems Alliance. Is this perhaps the same fine organization you hale with?" the Hanar asked.

"Yes...It is."

"This one is grateful for your patronage. This one wishes you a pleasant day." the Hanar finished with their new hardsuits and lead them from the back room.

"I bet you are. You just made 3.5 million credits," Shepard groaned as he looked back to Ashley, "Come on...Let's go get those rooms."

* * *

The day progressed slowly as each crew member went about their business. Some stayed on the ship and relaxed, others spent the day exploring the small port to take in what little sights it had. New armor had been purchased for everyone and the happiest being in all of Port Hanshan...was a very pink Hanar. Now...as the evening was in full swing, Kaidan and Lycan sat in a quieter corner of the hotel bar with a couple of light drinks and enjoying each other's company. They sat at each other's side, Kaidan having his arm draped across the back of her chair while Lycan's hand was stealthily placed on his knee underneath the table.

"You said this was an Asari drink right?" Lycan asked as she examined the lightly glowing blue liquid.

"I didn't say it, the bartender did." he said into her ear, ignoring the mild thumping in the back of his neck from the music.

Lycan nodded as she took an experimental sip, finding that she enjoyed the new, yet fruity taste, "Hmm...Interesting. It's not bad." she said back into his ear.

"That's about as heavy a drink I get into. I like remembering what I did during the night." Kaidan lightly laughed, rubbing the back of his neck in hopes of quelling the steady thump.

Lycan's brows lightly pinched together as she replaced his hand with her's, "Is everything ok?" she asked, gently rubbing his neck.

"Yeah...Just a thumping around my amp jack." he replied, hanging his head to give her the best access to all of his neck.

"Is the music getting to you?" she asked, resting her forehead to his temple.

Kaidan just simply nodded.

"Come on...Let's get you up to your room before you get a migraine." Lycan urged as she stood, tugging Kaidan up from his seat and starting towards the nearby stairs, abandoning their drinks.

Kaidan wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "What about some dinner?" he suggested, feeling his stomach contract in preparation for a strong growl that would go unheard of because of the music.

"How about this...Let's get you up to your room and I'll go get something to eat ok?" Lycan said as they topped the stairs, finding that climbing that flight, brought the music down several notches.

"By yourself? This is a corporate hotel, why don't we just order room service?" he took his arm back to hit the call button for the elevator.

Lycan felt her cheeks start to heat up, "Oh...um...Are you sure? You don't think...it'll be...awkward?" she lightly cringed as she nervously bit her bottom lip.

"I don't think so. You're my best friend...It's just a couple of friends having dinner." he felt his stomach tie itself into a knot at referring to them as just friends but he wasn't about to chide himself for it because it worked.

"I suppose that's true." Lycan smiled, just as the elevator arrived.

Kaidan returned the soft smile as he grasped her hand once more to hold it, feeling a building excitement growing that she had agreed to have dinner with him at all, even if it was just as friends. By now, he was 100% aware that he wanted them to be more but he just didn't think that the time was right to refer to them as anything more then that. They spent the ride up just enjoying the companionable silence between them as Lycan clung to his arm, holding his hand just as tightly with that smile still in place. The doors opened with a soft chime to let them out on the 40th floor. They headed down the long, straight hallway that resembled the rest of the port as they drew closer to Kaidan's room.

"Here it is." Kaidan mumbled as he swiped his Omni-Tool over the doors red interface to open them.

Lycan smiled up at him as the doors opened into the suite, both standing for a moment as they took the room in. In all honesty, it was bland. Just like the rest of the port. There were no plants, no colors, not personalization of any kind. The walls were gray, the bedding on the rather large bed was gray and white, the holoscreen across from the bed on the wall was a lighter shade of gray and the kitchen towards the back was gray with black trim. It was a whole lot of gray.

"Kinda reminds me of an insane asylum." Kaidan shrugged as he took the first steps into the room.

Lycan's brows furrowed, "And you know what one looks like?" she asked, following him inside and standing right in the middle of the floor as she looked around.

Kaidan froze for a moment by the kitchenette as he rested a hand on the countertop, "Yeah...After BAaT was shut down. I spent a few months in one. The corporate psychiatrist said that my implant was failing and had me committed. Took my parents months to get me out." he briefly explain.

"Oh God Kaidan...I'm sorry to hear that. How old were you?" Lycan asked, walking up next to him and placing her hands on his back.

"I was 17." he sighed, leaning back slightly to feel her close by.

"Why did that psychiatrist think you'd gone insane?" Lycan asked, hoping up to sit on a stool to bring her nearly to Kaidan's eye level.

"She didn't like Biotics...Specifically L2 Biotics. A lot of us got committed because she thought 'Why not send them where they belong before they cause trouble'." Kaidan mocked with a slow shake of his head.

Lycan sighed as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her chest into his back as she rested her chin on his shoulder, "I'm sorry that happened to you." she whispered as she lightly kissed the base of his neck.

"There's absolutely nothing for you to be sorry for Ly," he was interrupted when his stomach decided that that time was a good time to add it's two cents, "And I guess that means that my stomach heard me talk about food." he started to laugh.

Lycan giggled into his shoulder, "I'll go get us something to eat." she said, gently patting his shoulder as she slipped off the stool and headed for the door.

Kaidan lightly furrowed his brows, "What? I...I thought we were gonna have room service?" he mentally kicked himself for sounding like he was whining.

"I saw a nice little place down by the shop where you got your armor. I'll be right back...Don't worry." she smiled until she heard Kaidan say her name.

"Ly wait." he called as he walked up to her.

"Really...I'll be right back. I won't let your stomach eat you." she gently patted his arm.

"Alright. Just have them charge it to the Council's tab. I'll just...get comfortable. Be careful." he smiled and watched as she walked down the hallway.

Kaidan sighed to himself as the door slid closed, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He turned and walked deeper into the room, deciding to get changed into something far more comfortable then his BDU uniform. He walked up to the large bed where he had set his bag down earlier in the day and opened it up, pulling out a plain blue t-shirt and a pair of black athletic shorts. He quickly changed and tried out the bed, finding that it wasn't too bad, but it wasn't the best either. _At least it's a bed and not a sleeper pod...It's too bad Ly won't be staying. _He thought as he laid there...just thinking about her. He knew he wanted her, more then anything in the galaxy and he just didn't know how he was going to tell her. He agreed with Dr. Chakwas when she had told him to show Lycan how he feels, he just didn't know how to show her without feeling like he had ruined their friendship. If he couldn't have her, he at the very least wanted to remain her friend.

The knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts, causing him to stand and head in that direction. He waved his Omni-Tool over the interface to open it, finding that he liked what was on the other side. Lycan with a mountain of take out.

"That didn't take too long." he said as he took a portion of her load and walked into the kitchen with it.

"They seemed pretty used to dealing with Biotics." she happily followed and set her items down on the small counter and retook her seat on the same stool.

"Wonderful...Let's see what you..." the sudden click at the door drew both their attention, "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah...What was that?" Lycan asked, watching as Kaidan headed for the door, "Did the door just lock?"

Kaidan cautiously walked up to the door, wondering if it was just his paranoia, or something did in fact click. He examined the door, seeing that the interface was no longer being projected over the door's opening mechanism, but had completely disappeared all together.

"It didn't just lock Ly...It's got no power," he answered, turning to look back at her with a worried, and extremely nervous look across his face, "We're stuck."

* * *

Shepard laid in the bed in his hotel suite, alone and thinking about how he had gotten into this mess. He had admitted that he had fallen in love with his Gunnery Chief and he had no problem with that fact, but how in the Hell was he going to be able to keep his head in the game until the end of his mission. He would be the first to tell you that he really wanted to claim her for himself and take her to bed every night from here on out, but he just didn't want things to get complicated for her. That's all he wanted. He didn't want things to get complicated for her.

The soft chime announced that he had a visitor and his heart began to hammer at the thought that it might be Ashley and it jumped out of his chest when it was actually her.

"Hey Skipper...I hope I didn't wake you." she said quietly as she looked around, hoping no one else was around.

"No you didn't...I was just thinking. Come on in." Shepard said as he stepped aside to let her in.

Ashley nervously smiled as she walked inside, looking around the room and trying not to laugh at just how drab it looked for being a suite.

"Nice place." she smiled at him.

"It's better then a sleeper pod and it's better then my cabin. Is there something I can help you with?" Shepard asked, trying not to sound like he was in any hurry to get rid of her.

"I was...just curious if you managed to keep that wildcat you were looking for earlier in your sights." she lightly licked her bottom lip.

Shepard started to smirk as his stomach started it's gymnastics routine, "I lost her for a bit but uh...I seem to have caught her scent again." he let his eyes scan from her neck, to her feet and back again.

"Oh really? That's good...How do you plan on catching this wildcat?" her dark eyes filled with seduction that was starting to make the temperature in the room rise.

Shepard gulped, "I was planning on wrestling her to the..." an audible click caught his attention, "What was that?" their little game got pushed aside for the second time as the tactical portion took over of Shepard's brain took over.

"What was what Skipper?"

"I heard a sound...It sounded like..." he turned and looked at the door, "The door locked." he growled as he strode up to the door and started trying to pry it open.

"What?" Ashley tried not to yelp, "Can't you just unlock it?" she walked up next to him and saw...that the interface was dark, "Skipper...It's got not power."

"What!" he followed her finger and saw that she was right, "Fuck!"

* * *

A hysterical man sat in his chair aboard a ship, trying not to let the rolls of laughter filter down the combat deck like a wave crashes on the sand. He sat, happily watching his pair of screens with two different scenes playing out on them for his amusement. He looked up at the only other person whom was watching the scenes unfold before their eyes and decided, it was time to let the bets roll.

"I told you I could get them together." Joker yelped in victory.

"You haven't gotten them together yet Jeff. They haven't done anything yet." Dr. Chakwas defended her credits.

"You wait and see. I bet 100 credits they do something tonight." Joker pushed, looking back at the screen.

"I don't make sucker bets Jeff. I will bet however, that Ashley takes control of the situation and Kaidan and Lycan finally show each other their feelings." she bet.

"You don't think they'll actually have crazy, tension releasing sex?"

"Hardly Jeff. Kaidan isn't like that. I think they're just gonna find out a little more about each other." she gently patted his shoulder and smiled as she left him to watch his homemade movie.

"You're on Doc! Another 100 credits says Kaidan is too chicken to touch her!" he called down the CIC just before she disappeared and looked back at his screen, "I am so good at what I do. You all with thank me later."


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Old Scars and New Experiences

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

What was Shepard to do? Here he was, in a hotel room with the woman he had fallen in love with and the door...had no power. He paced the room with Ashley sitting stiff on the bed, both wondering what they were going to do and both knowing exactly how it was going to look if they walked out of the same hotel room in the morning.

"Shit...Shit...Shit!" Shepard repeated over and over with his hands on the top of his head.

The more Shepard paced, the more angry Ashley got, "Is it such a bad thing to be stuck in here with me?" she asked, sounding irritated that he wasn't in the least bit happy about it.

Shepard stopped pacing and glared at her, "Don't try and start a fight right now Ash. We have far worse things to worry about then my reaction to the fucking door locking us in here!" he growled, returning to his pacing in hopes of thinking of a way out of there.

Ashley's brows furrowed hard as she stood up, "I'm not starting anything Skipper! Don't blame me for this! I didn't rig the door!" she snapped back.

"I never said you rigged the door! When did I say you rigged the door!" Shepard angrily shrugged, stopping his pacing once more and staring at her.

Ashley just huffed and folded her arms over her chest, "You're acting like it's the end of the world." she snarled, plopping back down onto the edge of the bed.

Shepard sighed and raked a hand back over his hair, "Ash...You're right...There are far worse things then getting trapped in a room with you." he admitted.

"Then how come you're acting like it's the worst thing that's ever happened to you?"

Shepard hung his head and sighed again, "I'm sorry. I just...I don't know if I should take this as a blessing, or be worried that something bad is gonna happen."

Ashley stood and walked over to him, lightly placing her hand on his shoulder, "There's two of us in here Skipper. They'd need quite a few people to take us out. Especially with you being a Biotic. Try sending out a message to the ship to let Joker know. He'll know what to do." she suggested.

Shepard glanced at her for a brief moment, then nodded as he brought up his Omni-Tool to send a message to the ship...but was only greeted by static and a pinging error sound.

"Shit...Transmissions are blocked." he groaned as he shut down his Omni-Tool.

Ashley cringed, "You know...I didn't think about that. This is a corporate hotel after all." she started to laugh at their situation.

"This is true," he sucked in a long breath to help steady his slightly shaking hands, "So...What do we do while we've got some free time?" he asked, striding over to the bed and sitting down.

Ashley followed and sat back down next to him, "I can think of a few things but...I don't feel like sharing." she poked, jabbing a finger into his side and earning a jump.

"Hey! Don't go doing that. You won't like what happens." he laughed, wrapping an arm around his stomach to stop her from poking him again.

Ashley's curiosity was peaked, "Oh my...Have I perhaps discovered that the great Commander Shepard is ticklish?" she teased, jabbing another finger into his ribs to earn her second jump of the evening.

"Don't test me Ash. I'll take my turn if you keep this up." he mock threatened.

"Oh is that so Skipper?"

"Poke me one more time and find..." she poked him, "Ok...That's it!"

Shepard whipped around and grabbed Ashley's shoulders, easily lifting her off the bed for a moment as he pushed her higher up onto it and flopped her down on her back. He quickly forced her arms to her sides and straddled her stomach, trapping her arms between his thighs and keeping her legs from gaining any leverage to help her get free.

"How's that feel!" Shepard laughed as he tickled her sides behind him.

Ashley couldn't help but laugh and struggle beneath him, trying to get her arms free so she could get fight back, "Stop it Skipper! Oh my God!" she laughed, hardly able to breath.

Shepard continued his tickle assault, making her wiggle even more beneath him. Her struggling wasn't helping his imagination in the least bit. He felt his abdomen start to contract as the building heat was quickly turn his motives from payback, to something far more lustful. He lifted his weight, giving her enough room to pull her arms free and start to push on his belly, trying to get him off.

"Get off Skipper! You're heavy!" she laughed some more, taking in a faux deep breath as he plopped down next to her.

"I'm not fat!" he defended with a soft jab to her upper arm.

Ashley propped herself up on her side, "I didn't say fat Skipper...I said heavy. There's a difference."

"Really now...And what might that be?" he mirrored her posture and laid on his side to face her.

"Fat is out of shape and round...Heavy can be that, but it can also be because said heavy person...is stacked with muscle." she said, her eyes softening and filling with mirth.

"I'll have to remember that."

He saw a long dark lock of hair slip from her neatly kept bun and fall in front of her pretty face. He hesitated a moment before slowly reaching up, gently brushing back the obscuring lock to allow him to look at all her face which made the tiniest of smiles grow across his lips. At the warm touch of her skin, he was abruptly reminded of the growing problem that hid below his belt line and he quickly retrieved his hand, look away from her as he sat up and took several deep, slow breaths.

"Everything ok?" Ashley asked softly, sitting up behind him as she gently rubbed his arms, feeling the bottom of his scar from Akuze on the inside of his left bicep.

"Just uh...I'm still scared about this whole thing Ash." he confessed.

Ashley rested her lips against his shoulder as her hands continued to rub, "What can I do to make you not so scared?"

Shepard slowly shook his head, "Not be afraid of what's behind this uniform." he sighed, closing his eyes and hanging his head.

Ashley's hands stopped rubbing his arms as she lifted her head, curious as to why he had said such a thing. She looked at his clothed back, seeing an imaginary array of scars and marks and positive that each one held a story. She knew he didn't completely mean literally of course, that he also meant that he didn't want her to be afraid of the man behind the uniform. She scooted off the bed and stood, coming to stand in front of him as she softly cupped his chin and lifted his head, making him look at her. No one said a thing as they stared into each others eyes, Ashley's asking permission but for what, Shepard had no idea until he ever so softly nodded his head. She carefully maneuvered to straddle his lap, more sitting on his knees as she slowly trialed her hands down his chest, her fingers fluttering over his defined muscles as they made their way down to his belt.

"W-What are you doing?" Shepard stuttered, his muscles slightly starting to shake as he felt her fingers hook underneath his shirt.

Ashley leaned closer, bringing her lips to his ear as she lightly kissed, "Showing you I'm not afraid of what's underneath." she kissed again, feeling is body stiffen each time.

She slowly began to drag her hands back up his torso, this time, her palms against his tank top as she lifted the BDU shirt up and pulled it over his head reveal his arms.

Ashley looked at his left shoulder, seeing that the scar from Akuze didn't just end on the inside of his bicep, but clawed it's way all the way up his arm, over his left pectoral and around the top of his shoulder to finally stop at his shoulder blade where the scar had started. She looked at Shepard's face, seeing that he had hung his head again and closed his eyes in anticipation for the curse or scream of having such a jagged, horrible whipping scar cut across his skin. She remained silent however as she gently ran her fingers along the mark, starting at the bottom on the inside of his bicep and following it like a road to where it stopped on his beck. Her other hand trailed back down his chest and tugged his white tank free of his belt and started to lift until Shepard's hand stopped her from continuing.

"I'm not gonna scream...and a few scars aren't gonna scare me away Skipper." she whispered, hunching down to lightly lay a trail of kisses along the massive scar.

Shepard's body stiffened and grew hotter with each kiss, his heart beginning to hammer in his chest and his breath was having trouble getting to and from his lungs. He felt her start to pull his tank up once more, this time, letting her wrist slip free of his grasp as she slowly pulled it up to expose his abs. She reach behind him to grab the fabric and tugged, freeing his upper body from any coverings and allowing her to see the full extent of his scars. Her gaze softened even more as she drank every mark in, the most prominent being the mark he received from Akuze but his chest, abs and back were covered in scars of all shapes and sizes. She leaned down to whisper into his ear once more.

"Lay down Skipper." she softly ordered, placing another series of kisses along his jaw and down his neck.

Shepard, managing to keep Ashley sitting where she was, scooted up on the bed and slowly leaned back, his eyes now locked with her's as he watched intently for any hint that she might be scared of what she was seeing. He watched her shift in his lap to lay on his legs and abdomen, letting her hands dance over the whole of his torso to explore each curve of muscle before she focused on each, small mark.

"What's this one from?" she whispered, lightly kissing a smooth and tiny mark that rested on the left side of his collarbone.

Shepard swallowed down his gasp as he felt her breath flutter over his bare skin, "Sentinel training...The result of Kaidan's eruption." he simply answered, finding it harder to form words as she kissed and nipped at the mark.

Ashley laid her trail of kisses down his pectoral, taking a second to flick his nipple with her tongue and earn herself a squeak from his throat as she found another mark just below that, over a rib. She began to leave kisses and slowly dragged her tongue along the mark's length.

"And this one?" she nipped the scared flesh.

Shepard couldn't help but quietly gasp, "Knife fight when I was...in L.O.M...The other guy...lost." he breathed.

She lowly laughed as she migrated her ministrations across his abs to his right side, finding a round mark that was vastly different then all the others. This time, she didn't need to repeat her question.

He felt his muscles jerk as her lips tickled his skin, his hands softly resting against her shoulders and slowly caressing her neck and threading into her hair, "Bullet wound...first mission after...I graduated from N7 training."

Shepard's body was on fire as he willed himself to stay as calm as possible, forcing his member into submission as he didn't want whatever this was...to end. He lifted his head from the pillow, finding that he was lightly panting and stared into her eyes, searching them for his own permission to earn stories from her. He sat up, gently nudging her aside and untied his boots, kicking them off and spun around to face her. His eyes scanned her, seeing she had leaned back on her elbows and was watching him expectingly. He slowly crawled up her body, forcing her to lean further and further back as one of his hands trailed up her thigh, over her hips to her belt where his fingers slipped behind it. He tugged her shirt up, freeing it of her belt and slipped his hand underneath, slowly fluttering his hand up her skin with delight and taking the shirt with him.

Ashley lifted her arms and arced her back, allowing Shepard to easily remove her top to reveal her seamless skin with it's only blemish being the black fabric of her bra.

"Well this isn't fair." Shepard breathed as he scanned her figure, seeing no scars or even the slightest discoloration on her lightly tanned skin for him to discover.

"There's a couple Skipper...You just have to find them." she teased, placing her hands on his chest once more as she forced him back onto his back so she could continue her exploring.

His hands slowly roamed over her tight stomach and around to her back as she straddled him, "How am I supposed to find them if you're on top?"

"You'll just have to wait your turn. There is so much more for me to discover." she mulled, scooting down once more to lay next to him, her leg hopped up across his lap as she leaned down to begin kissing and nipping at his heated flesh.

Shepard began to gasp as he felt her lips graze over his right nipple and down over his abs, following their curvature as she found an enticing mark that rested next to his navel.

"Tell me Skipper," she licked, "Why is this here?" she nipped, making him jump.

Shepard gasped and bit his lip, "Uh...From...uh...I got that...God..." he stuttered, having some severe issues forming words.

"Come on Skipper," she kissed his navel, "You can tell me." she slowly stuck her tongue out and down the small crevice.

Shepard moaned at the warm wetness of her tongue as it twitched in his belly button, "God...uh...It's from...um...my ex-girlfriend from Akuze." he swallowed, followed by another gasp as she pressed her tongue further into his navel.

Ashley's tongue slowly withdrew back into her mouth as she looked up at him with lightly furrowed brows, "What? She stabbed you?" her anger for the woman grew exponentially.

"She didn't stab me...She cut me. A phase she was in." he admitted, taking in a long, deep breath to help steady his mind.

Ashley slowly crawled up his body, running her tongue along the centerline of his abs, between his pectorals and through the hollow of his neck until she was face to face with him.

"I'll...never...cut...you..." she slowly whispered as she gently placed her lips to his for the second time.

Shepard stiffened for a brief moment before he melted into the kiss, slowly wrapping his arms around her to pull her closer. He sucked in a breath, amplified by her closeness as he relished in the feel of her smooth, warm skin against his. A hot flush of heat washed over him, causing him to shiver as the far cooler air of the room caused his skin to pimple with gooseflesh.

After a few moments, he broke their kiss and looked into her dark eyes, "So where is that scar?" he whispered, brushing aside another lock of her hair, eager to take his turn at their little game.

"On my back...Beneath my bra." she smiled as she slipped off him and laid down on her stomach with her head resting on her arms.

Shepard smiled as he propped up onto his elbow, literally walking his fingers up her back and earning a low chuckle from her as she watched with mirth. Once his fingers reached her bra strap, he carefully and methodically pinched the two sides together, unhooking the two clasps and slowly, letting his fingers drift over her skin, brushed aside the two sides to fulled expose the skin of her back. Sitting right over the soft indent of her spine, was a small mark roughly an inch in left. It was smooth and lightly raised but it still maintained the her skins complexion which made it slightly difficult to see. He rolled forward, lightly brushing his lips against her scar as he placed his hand on the small of her back, slipping his fingertips slightly under her belt.

"So tell me...How did you get this?" Shepard asked, his deep voice vibrating against her skin and making her softly chuckle.

"During combat training." she simply whispered, drawing a long, relax breath as she felt his hot breath blanket her skin on his way down her spine.

"What happened?" Shepard asked, lick a lightly shaded freckle he had found on the left side of the small of her back.

Ashley sucked in a low breath to try and quell the shiver of heat that was slowly beginning to build all over, "Sparring match...took a bad fall off the mat and...fell onto the sharp gravel." she sighed, arcing her back and hopping her ample rump up into his hip.

Shepard gulped hard as he froze, taking a moment to regain control of his body as his Biotics began to buzz all over. His grip on her side slightly began to tighten as he fought his internal battle, not realizing that his muscles started to shake once more. He sucked in another breath as he leaned his weight on his elbow, allowing his hand that rest on her back to travel down, over the fabric of her pants and over a pert cheek of her rump.

Ashley glanced over her shoulder as she watched him, his blue eyes exploring the curves of her body as her gripped her butt, "Curious Skipper?" she asked, drawing his attention away from her ample flesh.

"More then you know." he confessed, lightly smiling as he turned his attention back to her bare back.

"You don't have to be modest with me Skipper." she chuckled, lightly biting her bottom lip as she popped her hips up once more.

Shepard sucked his lips into his mouth as he maneuvered himself on top of her, grabbing both sides of her hips as he brought them up just a little higher, pressing them into his own hips. He bent over, keeping his hips pressed into her rump as his hands slid up her sides, causing her to quietly gasp as the feel of his calloused hands. He brought his lips to the back of her neck, softly grazing his tongue over her skin to taste the subtle salty taste, making her gasp shift into a hum of pleasure which only made him lose his internal battle. He immediately felt the pressure build up in his abdomen the more he became aware of her ass pressed to the front of his hips and the sounds she had begun to make from his ministrations. He felt his pants begin to get tighter as he knew just what was happening as he began to nip and lick his way up her neck to gently take her ear between his teeth.

Ashley kept her back arced to keep her rump up for his hips, which was also giving him a place to place a good portion of his weight as he leaned over her. She felt something start to lightly poke into her backside and she grinned as she tried to gauge it's size. The two layers on clothes made it difficult for her to determine just how much Shepard was packing but that would have to wait as she felt hot dripping against her bare shoulder.

"Skipper? Is everything ok?" she whispered, craning her head around to look at him but realized then, just what those hot drips were...Shepard's eyes had spilled over with tears.

Ashley watched as Shepard remained as still as he could with his shaking muscles, not looking at her as he stared at her bare back for a moment before he slipped off her and sat on the bed. She reached behind her to hook her bra back together before she sat up, finding Shepard had scooted to the edge of the bed with his head resting in his hands. She crawled up behind him, gently placing her warms hands on his scarred back which she clearly felt was making him shake even more.

"What's wrong?" she whispered, slowly wrapping her arms around his stomach.

Shepard just simply shook his head.

Ashley just rested her lips against the back of his neck where it turn into his strong shoulders, holding him as his shaking slowly began to ebb away. After a long silence, she figured he needed some time to think, deciding to leave him alone as best she could whilst still stuck in his hotel room. She gently began to unwrap her arms from around his stomach, letting her hands blaze the same trail over his skin but when she made to get off the med, Shepard grasped her wrist.

"D-Don't go...Please...Stay." he said quietly, gently tugging her back onto the bed.

"Tell me whats wrong...Please." she lightly pleaded, placing her hand on his cheek to make him look at her.

Shepard just looked into her dark eyes for a moment, finding the courage to finally speak as his growing lust left him, "I'm scared Ash. I'm scared of this whole thing and..." he stuttered, having a hard time trying to say what was running through his mind.

Ashley gently pulled him to her, his head coming to rest on her chest, just above her modest bust. His arms wrapped themselves around her waist, pulling her into his lap as he held her close, weeping into her chest.

"It's ok Skipper. You don't have to be scared...Not of me." she whispered, resting her cheek against the top of his head as she softly stroked his neck.

"I'm scared you'll leave...I...I don't want this to just be about sex like it was for her. She drew me in with those subtle looks...Those playful glances that promised more and it turned out she just wanted my friend! All she wanted was a fuck buddy and I fell for it!" he silently wept, his tears leaving hot trails down his cheeks and dripping onto her soft skin.

Ashley cradled him a little closer to her, "This isn't about sex for me Skipper. I...It's something more for me." she whispered, feeling his grip on her waist tighten.

"She said that to me too...right before she had sex with me, then went over to my friend and boned him six ways from Sunday." he whimpered with a subtle angry growl.

Ashley placed her hands on his either side of his neck and picked it up off her chest, forcing to look at her. She didn't say anything as she just looked back, her eyes soft and comforting as his searched hers, hoping to find whatever it was he was looking for. After a moment, his eyes softened, shedding a few more tears as he seemed to finally catch a glimpse of the very thing he had been searching for since his heart had been shattered. _I have never seen a man look so hard to find love. _She thought as she softly and tenderly, placed her lips to his.

The sweet, slow kiss was soon broken as she looked into his eyes once more, using her thumbs to wipe away the last remnants of his tears.

"Skipper...I won't break your heart. I...only have eyes for one man." she whispered against his skin.

"Tell me...Tell me who it is." he softly demanded, not at all forceful but pleading as he stared deep into her eyes.

"You Skipper."

Finally, Shepard's lips curled into a soft, relieved smile as he pulled her closer, trailing a hand up her back to grasp her shoulder while his other stayed around her waist. He laid his head back down onto her chest, finding more comfort as her heart thumped against his ear. In her own way, she had told him what he needed to hear without laying all her cards out on the table and he appreciated that. She had told him that she loved him without actually saying it. _Damn...She's good._

* * *

Both Kaidan and Lycan sat in silence on the floor, staring at the door as they ate their dinner and hoped that the power to said door, would come back on. Kaidan had tried to rig some power to the door from the holoscreen, but that plan had quickly been squashed once he had discovered that it was bolted to the wall and poor Lycan couldn't do anything but watch his frustration grow.

"Do you think Shepard knows what's going on?" Lycan asked, taking a bite of her meal and having minor issues with her chopsticks.

Kaidan finished chewing his bite of noodles and swallowed, "I don't know. I just hope the door gets power before we have to get back to the ship." he wrapped another bite around his chopsticks that he was far better at using then her.

"We can only hope," she picked up her carton of rice, "At least we have dinner right?" she smiled, stuffing a modest bite into her mouth.

Kaidan couldn't help the smile, "Always looking at the bright side aren't you." he laughed, looking over his field of empty cartons for the last remnants of his meal.

Lycan smiled a smug little grin, "I try," she finished with her meal and began to gather up the few empty cartons she had, to throw them away.

Kaidan quickly finished with the last of his far larger meal, "Hold up...I'll help yeah get rid of all this." he said, gathering up his trash quickly as Lycan waited for him, still with her smile.

They walked into the small kitchenette and found the trash can hiding in a cupboard under the small sink, Lycan tossed hers in and held her hands out for Kaidan's so she could also toss them in as well.

"I got some dessert. You have enough room still?" she said with a slight chuckle as she went to the small refrigerator.

"Ly...I'm a Biotic...I always have room." he smirked, following her and trying not to stare at her rump as she bent over and pulled out a good sized container.

"What you get?" he asked, peering over her shoulder like a kid at Christmas.

Lycan just smiled as she opened the top, revealed a multitude of colorful berries from not just Earth, but from the Asari home world as well. There were blueberries, strawberries, black and raspberries, as well as some interesting looking, but sweet smelling berries that added the colors of orange, yellow and even white to the rainbow mixture.

"Wow Ly...How much did that set you back?" Kaidan gapped, reaching over her shoulder to try and snag a morsel, but got his hand smacked away.

"Nothing. You said charge it to the Council's tab...So I did." she smirked, snagging her own berry and popping it into her mouth.

"Hey! You get to eat one but I don't? Not fair!" Kaidan griped as he Lifted the container from her arms with the simple raising of his arm.

Lycan watched in mock irritation as the container raised over her head and out of her reach, "Hey! Talk about not fair!" she retorted, weakly jumping up to try and get ahold of the container.

"If you want some, you're gonna have to come watch a vid with me." Kaidan teased as he headed for the bed, the bowl hovering just above his head as it followed him like a puppy on an invisible leash.

Lycan laughed and slowly shook her head as she made her way to the bed, kicking off her shoes on her way and unzipping her zip up to place it on the back of a chair before she jumped onto the bed and plopped down next to him.

"Ok...So what you wanna watch?" she asked, reaching into the container that was now sitting in his lap.

Kaidan shrugged, "I don't know yet. What you have in mind?" he asked with a quick glance over at her.

Lycan thought for a moment, playing it up as she placed a finger on her chin and looked up at the ceiling, "Hmm...Maybe something with some action in it, maybe a little romance." she provided, snatching a white Asari berry from the container to give it a try and found, that she liked the tangy, yet sweet flavor.

"You're getting at The Fifth Element again aren't you." Kaidan playfully glared, popping a blueberry into his mouth.

"I'm sorry! I love that diva part!" she laughed, reaching for another berry but pouted when Kaidan whisked away the bowl, "Oh hey now...Don't hog 'em."

Kaidan tormented her by popping another morsel into his mouth, keeping his eyes locked with with her's as he hummed at just how good the berry was. He started to laugh a little bit when she crossed her arms over her chest, making another show of it as she stuck her tongue out at him for being such a hog with the dessert.

"Ok...I know you're a Biotic but that's just not fair and you know it." she grouched, trying hard not to laugh, or tackle him for that matter as that would render the bowl of fruit on the floor...and that would be bad.

"Oh fine...I'll share." he cooed, placing the bowl between them.

Lycan smiled with glee as she quickly pinched a berry between her fingers and went to put it in her mouth when a larger hand, stopped her. She glared at him as he locked eyes with her, slowly leaning in closer as his tongue lapped up the morsel for himself.

"Oh that's how you wanna play it huh?" she mumbled, sliding the bowl away from him and placing it on the bed's nightstand.

Her playful smile faded into a much softer one when she felt Kaidan move up the bed to sit next to her. A new thought traipsed through her mind as she pinch another berry between her fingers and glanced over her shoulder to look at him. She lightly bit her lip as she spun to face him, offering him her fingers with the berry sweetly nestled in place. Kaidan's lips quirked in one corner as he locked eyes with her once more, again, slowly leaning to take the berry but this time, he tested the waters, as it were, by not only taking the berry into his mouth, but her two fingertips as well.

Lycan bit her lip once more as she felt his tongue flutter around her fingers, it's warmth comforting as he drew back, lightly sucking as he did so. The look in his eyes caused her body to instantly warm, making her happy that she had removed her zip up because right now, she would be doing just that.

"Um...That was...I'm sorry...I shouldn't have done that." Kaidan apologized with a cringe, regretting that he had done such a sensual act.

"It's uh...It's ok...I kinda...um...liked it." she whispered with a heavy blush, debating whether or not to grab another berry to experiment with but Kaidan...Kaidan made the next move.

He reached around her, bringing his face within inches of her's as he plucked a berry from the bowl, holding her gaze the entire time as he brought it to her mouth. He slowly ran the berry over her soft, rosy lips, leaving it's sweetness behind for her tongue to taste, which it did by slowly following the berry's path. When the berry reached the center of her lips, he applied the slightest amount of pressure, causing them to part just enough to consume the sweet gem. She drew in just enough breath to bring his fingers along with it, wrapping her tongue around the berry to claim it for herself before it changed it's target to his fingers. She grasped his wrist to keep him from taking his hand back, enjoying the sweet flavor of the berry mixed with the light salty tang of his skin as she lightly sucked on his index finger. She was the one whom slowly withdrew his finger from her mouth, keeping her lips wrapped around it to make a soft popping sound once it was free.

Kaidan lightly gulped at the feeling of her tongue and lips against his finger and he wondered if it felt that good all over. He cautiously reached out and grasped her waist, gently coaxing her to scoot closer to him as he hopped up onto his knees to bring himself in position to be over her if he chose to.

"Come here." he breathed, scooting her down just enough so that he now knelt between her thighs.

"What you have in mind?" Lycan whispered, tilting her head slightly and leaning back to rest on her elbows while still holding his gaze.

Kaidan slowly started to crawl towards her, "Something I hope you'll enjoy." he said, his raspy voice ultra low and sultry as he leaned closer to her.

"Is that so?" she smiled, her eyes tracing over his face.

Kaidan smiled as his eyes flicked to her lips for a brief moment before looking back into her dark eyes, "Yeah." he whispered only half an inch from her face.

Kaidan could feel the heat radiating off her skin as he slowly raised a hand to gently place it on the side of her neck, grazing a thumb over her soft jaw as he closed the distance to her lips. The warmth of her lips against his sent his body into a whirlwind of heat and pleasure as he got to taste them for the first time. He felt a soft moan escape his throat as they both held the kiss, even though their lips stayed still, neither dared to take it any further then that out of sheer fear. His hand that still rested against her neck slowly began it's decent downwards, over her shoulder and down her side to her hip where the hem of her t-shirt resided. He gently slipped his fingers beneath the soft fabric, nervously and agonizingly slowly, lifted it up enough to let his hand rest on the bare skin of her back.

Lycan's heart slammed against her sternum at his gentle touch, slowly leaning back against the bed and wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer and feel his warmth. Her fingers tangled themselves in his raven hair, keeping him exactly where he was as she felt his other hand flutter over her hips and down to her thigh. She pulled away just enough to give her lips enough room to speak and her eyes to look into his whiskey glowing orbs.

"Take it off." she whispered, trailing her hands down his strong back to the bottom of his shirt.

Kaidan lifted himself off her, propping himself up on his hands as she pulled his shirt up and over his head, revealing his magnificent torso to her once more. She drifted her hands over the curves of his muscles, digging her fingertips in just a little bit to feel the power those muscle possessed. She just looked into his eyes, seeing him fight to keep things in control as he brushed his knuckles over her cheek. He seemed to freeze in place as her hands came around front, admiring his physique all the way down to his abs. She felt his muscles tense as her fingers mixed with the light dusting of hair that decorated his navel and went south. She saw him close his eyes as he quietly gasped at her touch, making her think that she was doing something wrong, or perhaps something he didn't like.

"You don't like this?" she asked in a whisper, lightening her touch as she tried to take her hands away, but one of his came to stop them.

He looked at her with half lidded eyes, "No...I...I do...A lot actually." he breathed, trying not to shake.

She smiled, taking a quick glance at his strong chest, "It's ok you know...To take mine off." she said softly, one of her legs slowly coming up his side to rest her thigh against his clothed hip.

"A-Are you sure?" he asked, release her hands to continue their slow roaming.

Lycan just nodded, seeing the slight smile grow across his lips as he sat up enough so his knees supported his weight. His eyes stayed glued to hers as his hands lowered back to the hem of her shirt and slowly started to lift it up, revealing her soft, flat stomach. She arced her back to give him an easier time pulling her shirt up, feeling him slip one arm behind her back to lift her up enough to pull the shirt over her head.

Kaidan's breath caught hard in his throat as he drank in her figure, seeing her full chest only held at bay by her bra, rise and fall as she breathed. He forced himself to breath as his fingers delicately traced over her skin, raising goosebumps along their path up the center of her toned belly, between her breasts where they explored the length of her collarbone. He glanced to the nightstand, seeing the forgotten bowl of fruit which gave him an idea, causing him to reach over for a blueberry and gently placed it into the hollow of her neck. He took a moment to admire how the small divot gently cradled the morsel before he leaned down, bringing his lips to her skin as he slowly lapped up the berry with his tongue, letting it slick over her skin and then left a soft kiss where the berry had rested. The delighted hum from her throat sent a wave of heat coursing threw him to crash in his core, making the muscles that wrapped his hip to contract. A hand gripped her hip as he reached for another berry, this time placing it in her navel. He slowly and softly trailed the tip of his nose down her centerline, gently breathing out so his hot breath washed over her skin to raise a soft layer of more gooseflesh on his path between her beasts and down her stomach to find the treasure at the end of his trial. Again, he lapped up to small berry, delving his tongue down into her bellybutton which made her squeak and writhe slightly which only added to the building heat but this time, it made him moan as he tried to hold back.

Lycan noticed his hesitation, "Are you ok Kaidan?" she asked, gently placing her hands on the side of his neck.

Kaidan silently drew in a shaky breath, "Yeah." he exhaled, propping himself up on his hands as if he was scared to continue touching her.

"Is...this too much?" Lycan softly asked, taking her hands away from him to let them rest against the pillow her head laid upon.

At that, Kaidan looked up at her, the look of desire filling his eyes, "No...This is...It's just right. It's perfect." he answered, reaching over and grasping the whole bowl to bring it to his side.

He raised his hand and gently placed a finger on her lips to keep her from speaking as he began to lay a trail of morsels for him to follow, starting at her navel and ending at the hollow of her neck. He alternated between blueberries and raspberries, placing them at even intervals along her centerline until he reached her neck, placing a deliciously red strawberry into the small nook. He slid his finger down her lips where it joined the others as they all fluttered down her neck to rest on her shoulder as his hand was scared to touch her round breast. His hand went to the outside of her arm on it's course to her hand where he gently took it in his and held it just above her head. Bracing himself on his free hand, he bent down, exhaling another slow, hot breath over her skin before he grasped the plump blueberry in her navel between his teeth, sucking it into his mouth and laid a kiss. He grazed the tip of his nose along her skin for the short distance to the raspberry that awaited him, licking it up and again...placed another kiss.

This was his method for all the other berries, licking and leaving a soft kiss in it's place, causing her to hum her delight and arc her back which pressed her bust into his face once he arrived. That gave him a small amount of courage as he methodically dropped his weight to rest his stomach on her's and slid his hand down her other arm to lightly and nervously cup the side of her breast as he made his way to the jewel cradled in her neck. Once he arrived at where the strawberry should be, he found that it was missing, the only evidence being that of a couple drops of red happily sitting in the tiny bowl. He lightly tilted his head as he glanced up at her, seeing that she had plucked the strawberry from her neck and it now rested gently between her teeth with an inviting look in her deeply brown eyes.

Kaidan's lips quirked into a crooked grin as he dropped his head, licking up the evidence of the strawberry's previous location before he drifted the tip of his nose once more up her neck until his mouth was even with her's. He slowly parted his lips, just enough so that the strawberry could slip into his mouth but once his lips gently grazed her's, he slowly closed his mouth, biting the morsel in half as she did the same, ending the treat in a slow, passionate kiss.

Kaidan was in Heaven. Laying on top of the woman he had fallen in love with, kissing her, licking her, touching her and even getting dessert out of the deal but the fruit was just the icing on the cake. His real dessert, was getting to explore her curves, her soft skin, kissing those ripe and rosy lips that he had been wanting to desperately claim for himself for quite some time. The only thing that could ruin this perfect moment...was the harsh twitch and grind of his member in his shorts as it knocked on his will power. He froze as he felt her hands slowly trailing down his abs to come to the waistband of his shorts where her fingers started to slip behind it, causing his nerves to erupt into a blazing fire that overshadowed his desire to have her.

"Wait...S-Stop." he whimpered, dropping his weight to an elbow as he grabbed her hand to stop it from playing with his waistband any further.

"What's wrong?" she asked, bringing a hand to the back of his neck to tenderly stroke it.

"I...I'm not ready for that...Not yet." he admitted, taking her hand in his as he brought it up to chest, over his heart so she could feel just how hard it was beating.

Lycan stayed silent for a moment, looking into his eyes as the desire that had been there, was now accompanied by a small amount of fear. She immediately knew he was scared to take their friendship beyond just that, as she was scared too but they had both given into their wants for a short while. She knew her feelings for him were strong and she owed him a lot, including her life but her love was far more then appreciation for the things he had done for her and she knew that too.

She slowly nodded, "Ok...We don't have to Kaidan." she reassured, lightly tugging him back to her in a comforting embrace.

After a brief moment, Kaidan pulled away, seemingly hunched as he went to scoot off the bed, "I'm...gonna go take a cold shower. You ok picking a vid?" he asked, trying to hid not only his blush, but the tent that had gotten pitched when he wasn't looking.

"Yeah...I'll find something." she smiled, scooting to the bed herself as she started to unbuckle her jeans to get changed.

Kaidan nodded as his blush heated up, seeing her start to unbuckle her pants which only made his member twitch with anticipation that he wasn't going to sate. He quickly grabbed his shower bag and headed for the bathroom, taking long strides to get him there as quickly as possible without running or making her think that he was in a hurry to be out of her company. Inside the bathroom, he cranked on the cold water to full blast and took off his shorts, taking a moment to make sure that the fabric missed his throbbing erection before he stepped into frigid water. The cold blast made him stiffen once more as his flesh pimpled hard all over his body and his aching member retreat into his abdomen in hopes of retaining some heat. He placed both hands on the wall to help him stand was the cold did it's job and took his mind off of how far he had wished he could have gone but he was happy he hadn't, as he didn't feel it was the right time. He wanted to wait.

Ten minutes later, his body was fully back under his control but he was down right freezing and wanted to be warm. He turned off the water, his teeth chattering lightly as he stepped out and towel dried. He quickly pulled his shorts back on and headed back into the room, finding Lycan patiently awaiting his return on the bed and wearing no pants, just laying in her underwear and wearing his t-shirt as her pajamas...which made him smile.

"I see you've gotten comfortable. What did you pick to watch?" Kaidan asked as he walked up to the bed and slipped in to get warm.

"I found another old one from back in the 20th. Have you seen The Core?" she asked, seeing him hunker down into the blanket.

"I've seen it yes." he nodded, getting a little more comfortable as he pilled a couple pillows together to prop himself up.

"It looked interesting so I hope you don't mind," she kept smiling as she set the bowl of fruit back into the refrigerator and returned to the bed, finally taking notice of his shivering, "You look cold."

"I am. I'll be ok though in a few minutes." he sent her a smile in hopes that it would reassure her.

Lycan quietly chuckled as she slipped under the blanket and shimmied up to his side, gently resting her head against his chest and ignoring the chill of his skin as she got as close as possible.

"I'll warm you up." she smiled, lightly placing a kiss to his shoulder.

Kaidan pulled his arm out from between them and wrapped it around her, pulling her in, "I'd like that." he smiled, placing a soft kiss to her forehead.

They turned their attention to the holoscreen as their movie started, both getting comfortable as Kaidan turned down the lights. He glanced down at her as the credits rolled by, seeing the happiness and joy in her eyes as she laid against him, trying to warm him but that was only her excuse so that she could lay next to him where she felt safest. Where she was loved and wanted. He knew now...that his deep love for her...was returned. She loved him.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Escape from Port Hanshan

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! Thank you to my beta who is always there for me! LOVE YOU!)_

Kaidan slowly awoke from his deep sleep to a dark room, the wind and snow of the blizzard still billowing against the window outside with the same force it had been since they arrived. He still laid on his back from when he had fallen asleep and his arm was still draped around her shoulders, just like he liked it. He finally opened his eyes, looking to his left as he drank in Lycan's figure still pressed against him with her leg across his lap. He could feel her steady breathing against his skin from not only her nose, but her chest as it slowly rose and fell with each breath. He carefully raised his free hand to brush aside a lock of hair so that he could see all of her face, as well as lean down to place a soft, lingering kiss to her forehead.

He looked at her sleep for a few moments longer before he glanced to the nearby clock, seeing that it was nearly time to get up and get back to the ship which reminded him, that when he had gone to sleep, the door still had no power. He looked back towards the door, breathing a sigh of relief as the soft red interface happily glowed over the door's locking mechanism which made him smile. _Huh...Must have been the blizzard. _He thought as he turned his attention back to the warm woman at his side.

"Hey..." he whispered softly, brushing his knuckles over her cheek, "Ly...Honey, it's time to wake up." he gently kissed her forehead once more.

At the low sound of his voice, Lycan began to stir from her sleep, opening her eyes to take in his shadowed figure which brought a smile to her lips as she placed her own soft kiss on his chest.

"Morning you. How'd you sleep?" she quietly hummed in delight, pulling herself up to him where she softly kissed his lips.

"Couldn't have asked for better. You?" he asked with another tender, slow kiss to her smiling lips.

"Best night I've had since I can remember." she lowly chuckled as she sat up, keeping her hand on his strong chest.

"That's good," he placed his hand on her back, "Door's got power again. We should probably get ready and head back to the ship." he said with a sigh, wanting very much to stay in bed with her.

"That's probably a good idea. I'll get dressed and meet you back at the ship so people don't get the wrong idea." she smiled, tossing the comforter aside to sit on the edge of the bed.

Kaidan's brows lightly furrowed, "What 'wrong idea' might that be?" he didn't want to come across as angry, but he was curious as to why she would say something like that after the night they had spent together.

Lycan froze for a moment, holding her jeans in her hand as his words sunk in. She turned to face him, seeing that his eyes tore away from her and it sent a pang through her stomach at the saddened look on his face. She dropped her pants back onto the floor and crawled over to his side, swinging a leg over his lap to straddle him while she wrapped her arms around his neck and forcefully claimed his mouth. She lightly sucked on his bottom lip, smiling against him as his arms snaked themselves around her waist to hold her as close as possible.

She broke the kiss, her forehead pressed to his and her fingers entangled in his lightly mussed hair, "You're right, I'm sorry...I don't care what the others think anymore. All I care about is you and I for one, hope we get to spend a lot more nights together." she placed another soft kiss to his now smiling lips.

Kaidan tenderly placed his hand on her cheek and smiled, "I care about you too Ly...So much. I should be the one apologizing. I know you're trying to protect me and my career and I shouldn't have said that. When this is over...I'd be honored if you'd take some shore leave with me Ly."

"I'd love to Kaidan." she quickly pecked his lips once more before she slid off his lap and free of his thick arms.

Kaidan laid back down a moment with his arms behind his head to watch her, smiling as she pulled her pants up and grabbed her t-shirt from the floor before heading for the bathroom to finish getting dressed. He finally pried himself from the bed and found his overnight bag, pulling a clean pair of boxers and a white tank before he gathered his uniform and waited for Lycan to get out of the bathroom.

After a minute or two, she came out, wearing the same clothes as yesterday but he couldn't have cared less. He smiled at her as she walked by, his t-shirt still in hand as she did something he didn't quite expect. As she walked passed him, she smacked the palm of her hand onto his ass and giggled as he jumped in surprise.

"Aren't I the one who's supposed to do that to you?" he gapped, leaning against the doorframe as he looked at her.

Lycan shrugged, "Oh you still can...I just got to yours...first." she grinned as she sat back down on the bed like she had just won a battle.

Kaidan laughed and nodded, "You just wait Ly...You just wait." he winked at her.

"Ooooo...I'm so scared." she teased, sending him a faux cringe, just to antagonize him.

Kaidan barked a low laugh as he pushed off the doorframe and drew his arm back which triggered his Biotic Pull. He laughed a little bit more as Lycan yelped in surprise, the blue field wrapping around her body and bringing her to him. He held his arms out and plucked her out of the air, slinging her over his shoulder and thwacking his hand squarely on her rump.

"Hey!" Lycan laughed as she went limp, staring at the floor as he walked away from the bathroom.

After a few short steps, Kaidan plopped her down on the bed with a low chuckle of victory as he leaned over her, trapping her between his arms so she couldn't get away.

"Here's a hint...Never pick spanking fights with someone who can move you around with his brain." he whispered, dropping to his elbows to bring his face closer to hers.

"I'll have to keep that in mind. That was fun." she giggled, snaking her arms around his neck and burying her fingers in his hair.

"You think that was fun? Wait and see what else I can do with my Biotics." he rasped with that low, sultry voice that no one has ever heard...except for her.

The low rumble of his voice sent a shiver through Lycan's entire body, raising yet another layer of gooseflesh all over, "Tease..." she laughed before she was rendered speechless.

Kaidan silenced her by stoping her lips with his, finding that ever since their first kiss, he couldn't get enough. If he could have things his way, that's all he would do for the day...Lay in bed and kiss her from sunrise to sunset. He wasn't even close about how good kissing her would feel, as it was far better then anything he could have ever imagined. Every kiss sent an electric shock through his system that only ignited his desire to have her, to feel her naked body writhe against his as he pleased her and the sheer want of hearing his name being called when she found her release. But he knew he wanted to wait, as he wanted the time to be right and he didn't want to force it on her. He broke their slow kiss after a few moments and propped himself up with a soft smile across his face.

"I better...take my shower." he sighed with disappointment that he couldn't continue and finally stood to make his way back to the bathroom to shower.

"Good idea."

Kaidan laughed again as he vanished inside the bathroom, cranking on the water and warming it to his preferred temperature. He stripped off his shorts and grabbed his shower kit before stepping under the streaming water to get clean.

Years of service in the Alliance has rendered him unable to appreciate a good shower so the process of washing his body and shampooing his hair took him less then ten minutes. He ran his fingers through his hair to get rid of any extra water before reaching for a towel and wrapping it around his waist. He quickly dried and dressed, spending an extra minute to make sure his hair wasn't disheveled and combed his fingers back through to somewhat style it before he emerged from the bathroom to find Lycan happily awaiting his return with his overnight bag already packed for him.

"Thanks Ly," he smiled as he walked up to her and took the bag from her hand, "Come on. Let's get back to the ship." he gently grasped her hand and kissed her knuckles, letting his lips linger for a second before leading them from the room to get back to business.

When Kaidan and Lycan returned to the ship, they found Shepard and Liara getting into their armor in the Cargo Bay but it appeared that they had just started the process, as they only had the underlay halfway on.

"Hey Shepard...Where's the new armor at?" Kaidan asked as he let Lycan take his overnight bag to his locker.

"Over by the bay door. In the crate." Shepard simply called over his shoulder as he started to snap on the armor plating.

Kaidan looked over to the bay door and saw the crate, seeing that it was wide open and ready to have it's contents removed. He walked up to it and saw his armor laying on the bottom, as it was the last of the armors to be claimed. He hoisted the suit from the crate and lugged it back to his locker where he proceeded to remove his boots, BDU shirt and BDU cargo pants to leave him standing in his boxers and white tank before he pulled on the thick underlay. Once he had gotten comfortable in the new underlay, he started to strap on the plating, with Lycan's help to get the back plates seated and aligned correctly.

"I love getting new armor...I hate breaking it in." Kaidan groaned as he readjusted a few things to make his new hardsuit move where he wanted it to.

"I hear that. It always pinches in the wrong spots." Shepard agreed with a deep squat to see if he needed to readjust anything.

"Thanks for that visual Commander." Lycan laughed as she started handing Kaidan his weapons.

"You're welcome," he grinned, turning away from Ashley as she attached his weapons to his back, "Ok...We just about ready?" he groaned.

"Ready here Commander." Liara nodded with a quick check to her shields.

"Ready Shepard." Kaidan acknowledged, sending Lycan a small smile as it would be the last until he got back from their mission.

"Be careful out there guys. The weather is really bad still." Lycan said with a small sigh.

"We will Ly." Kaidan said as he gently patted to her shoulder.

Shepard, Kaidan and Liara headed for the elevator, taking the short ride up to the Crew Deck where they took the stairs and headed straight to the airlock. The air was still frigid as they exited the ship, all three taking a couple deep breathes while their suits readjusted to the far cooler temperatures. No one stood outside the custom's door to greet them which all three were greatly thankful for. The weapon scanner beams left them alone, another thing they were grateful for as they made their way to the administrator's office. Once they entered the office, the same woman whom greeted them the day before was happily sitting at her desk, awaiting their arrival.

"Ah...You're here Commander. If you could just take a seat, I'll go inform Administrator Anoleis that his 9am is here. I'll just be a moment." Gianna Parasini beamed as she walked through another glass door on the opposite side of the one they had arrived through.

"I'll stand...Thanks." Shepard sighed, waving her off and not really caring if she had heard him or not.

After a few minutes, Mrs. Parasini returned, still with that beaming smile across her face, "Mr. Anoleis will see you now." she said, inviting them to proceed into their appointment.

Shepard nodded as he started for the office, motioning for Liara and Kaidan to follow as they walked around the overly enthusiastic woman and headed into the back office.

The administrator's office was huge to put it lightly and it reflected the exact same décor as the rest of the port. In the middle of the large, square room, a large desk sat and sitting behind it...was a very well dressed...Salarian.

"You'll pardon me if I don't stand up. I don't have time to entertain colonial rubes." the Salarian snidely remarked without even bothering to even shake his guest's hand.

Shepard's brows furrowed so hard, they almost touched, "So that's why you didn't wanna meet with us yesterday. You wanted time to look up my file." he crossed his arms tightly over his chest.

"Only a fool does proceedings without doing their research on whom they're dealing with. What is it you need? I'm a very busy man." Anoleis glared, leaving his hands flat on his desk.

"I need to get to Peak 15." Shepard simply said, arms still crossed heavily.

"The tram to Peak 15 is shut down and road access is restricted." Anoleis quickly answered.

"So we'll drive there. I have a Mako ready, willing and able to make the trip." Shepard retorted, taking in a long breath to keep himself from getting upset.

"As I just said...The tram is shut down and the road is restricted to those whom have a garage pass. I don't know how I can make myself any clearer." Anoleis rattled quickly, his voice still snide and condescending.

"Then give me a garage pass. I need to speak with Matriarch Benezia..."

Anoleis leaned back in his chair with a smug grin on his face, "Garage passes are only for department heads and managers...You...I'm afraid are neither. Her, her escort and her cargo have already gone up to the research facility so you are out of luck. You will have to wait."

Shepard's train of thought shifted when the administrator mentioned cargo and an escort, "What kind of escort?"

"If you must know, Asari Commandos if memory serves correctly."

"And her cargo?"

Anoleis shrugged, "Large...Heavy and sealed. We here at Port Hanshan pride ourselves in the ability to maintain our clients anonymity. Besides, her cargo cleared customs so I wasn't in a position to ask." he glanced at his terminal as it beeped with the arrival of a new message.

Shepard pinched the bridge of his nose, "Jesus...Listen, this is a matter of galactic importance. We need to get to Peak 15..."

"I said no...Commander. Either abandon your plight, or wait till the blizzard is over." Anoleis interrupted.

"How long till that happens?" Shepard asked blandly.

"Blizzards around here are known to last for days at a time Commander," he turned his attention fully to his terminal and began to work, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got much to do. I received a dozen messages while you were yammering on about nothing that concerns me." he waved Shepard off and all but shooed him away without even looking up from his terminal.

Shepard stood rigid in front of the administrator's desk, hands balled into fists as he stared angrily at the Salarian, debating whether it would be a good idea to see how resilient the alien's face would be to a solid right hook.

Kaidan saw the growing anger on Shepard's face and placed his hand on his shoulder, "Shepard...Come on. We'll find another way." he urged, pushing Shepard back away from the desk.

Shepard resisted for a moment before spinning around and marching out of the office with Kaidan and Liara close at his heels. The trio sped passed Mrs. Parasini, ignoring her the best they could until the airy hiss reached their ears.

"Psst...Commander...I might have a way to help you." Gianna Parasini whispered, waving the trio over.

Shepard halted and craned his head around to stare at the perky woman, "What?" he asked, arcing an eyebrow as he turned and walked up to her desk.

"I might have a way to help you. The hotel bar. A Turian named Lorik Qui'in. Can't say more. Not within earshot of Anoleis." she whispered, looking over her shoulder nervously.

Shepard's brows furrowed once more, "Why the sudden willingness to help us now?" he asked, keeping his voice low but just above a whisper.

Mrs. Parasini just shook her head and plastered her irritating smile back onto her face, "I do hope your meeting went well Commander. Please...Have a drink at the hotel bar...On us." she beamed, extending a hand towards Shepard.

Shepard hesitated a moment before accepting her hand and giving it a quick shake before he spun and headed out of the office. He walked a few more paces away from the two guards standing at their posts to get them out of earshot before he stopped and looked at his two companions whom had followed.

"Anyone else find that a little strange?" Shepard asked lowly, folding his arms and leaning in slightly for Kaidan and Liara to hear better.

"I do find it odd that that woman was so willing to help us after our meeting with the administrator." Liara whispered with a small shrug.

"Do you think we should go find this guy?" Kaidan asked, scanning the area for anyone trying to listen in.

"It's the only lead we have. We need to get to Peak 15 and I would like it to be sooner, rather then later." Shepard answered with a heavy sigh.

"Hotel bar right?" Kaidan confirmed quickly.

Shepard nodded as he turned around and headed for the hotel elevator, eager to get on with his mission instead of dancing around all the red tape he seemed to be running into.

For being so early in the morning, the bar was awfully...festive. People were already drinking and dancing and a good portion were conducting various business transactions. Shepard ignored the Asari whom tried to get his attention and quickly scanned the bar, seeing mostly Human and Asari patrons until his eyes came to rest on a Turian, sitting alone at a table towards the back.

"Are you Lorik Qui'in?" Shepard asked as they approached the table.

The Turian looked up from his drink with a quick mandible flare, "Ah...And whom do I owe the pleasure?" he politely asked.

"I'm Commander Shepard and this is Staff Lieutenant Alenko and Liara T'Soni." he answered, pointing at his two companions as he said their names.

"Tis a pleasure to meet you all. As you said...I am Lorik Qui'in. Please, have a seat. How can I help you?" he asked with a subtle nod as he picked up his drink and took a sip.

"Someone told me you could help me get to Peak 15." Shepard said, pulling the other chair out and taking a seat.

"Ah...Well, it just so happens that I have a garage pass as it were but...I am in need of some assistance." Lorik leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table with his hands clasped together.

"Of course you are...So what is it?" Shepard mirrored the Turian's posture and rested his elbows on the table as well.

"I am the manager for the local Synthetic Insights office and Anoleis has his thugs tearing it apart looking for some information that I acquired that would prove detrimental to the administrator's position. He's paying the Captain's guards under the table to do his dirty work." Lorik explained, getting right to the point.

"So what does this have to do with me?"

"Well...I need you to go into my office and get the information off my terminal and bring it to me. Once you bring me what I need, I will give you my garage pass." Lorik said with a happy flare laced into his two toned voice.

"Are the administrator's thugs gonna be a problem?"

"It is entirely possible Commander but a man such as yourself shouldn't have too much of a problem."

Shepard's brows slightly furrowed, "What do you mean by that?" he asked blandly.

"I am more astute then you think. All three of you are Biotics. The Asari is of course and Biotic, but your Human companion here is an L2. Impressive." Lorik seemed to smile.

"How did you know that?" Kaidan asked, his own brows drawing together.

"I work for Synthetic Insights Lieutenant, thus I know my tech and that includes Biotic implants."

"But Synthetic Insights deals with AI...not with Biotics." Shepard said with a slight tilt of his head.

"Very good Commander. It's a hobby mainly and it has proven useful in the past with my dealings. Things here on Noveria are a bit more cutthroat then they are in other places." Lorik said, leaning back into his chair.

"Understandable. So back to the matter at hand...All I have to do is get into your office, get your information and bring it back to you. Right?" Shepard clarified, preparing to stand from the chair.

"That's exactly right Commander. Here is my keycard to get into the office. It'll activate the elevator and here's the OSD that will automatically withdraw the information. Just plug it in and it will auto execute. My office is located just before the garage. Take the elevator down and turn right. You'll see the passage." Lorik simply explained as he slid the materials across the table to Shepard.

Shepard picked up the pass and OSD and put into an available pouch on his belt, "Thanks. We'll be back."

"Looking forward to it."

Shepard sent a curt nod before he headed back to the elevator with another glance over his shoulder as they entered the glass car and stayed silent until the doors closed.

"Shepard...Do you think it's a good idea to be breaking into that guy's office?" Kaidan asked, crossing his arms.

"You scared of a little breaking and entering Alenko?" Shepard teased with a crooked grin over his face.

Kaidan started to feel his cheeks getting hotter, "No...Just thinking that maybe there could be some other option that has a less chance of hostile action." he rubbed the back of his neck.

"It'll be fine Kaidan. It's just a little smash and grab without the smashing." Shepard grinned as the doors opened to let them out onto the main floor.

"I'm not even gonna ask how you know that Shepard." Kaidan grinned himself as the three turned right and say a small sign pointing to the garage.

Shepard laughed, "Oh the wilds of an ill-spent youth."

They walked through the small hallway that spit them out into an equally small foyer where they saw an elevator with it's call button red and another hallway that must have lead to the garage. Shepard pulled the keycard from his pouch and walked up to the elevator, seeing the slider card reader and quickly dragged the card through it, unlocking the elevator. After a short moment, the elevator arrived and opened it's doors to take them up.

The Synthetic Insights office was rather large and sprawling, much like the main floor of the port but with a few more decorations. Shepard and his squad cautiously walked out, seeing a large barrier wall that stretched from the elevator all the way to a set of stairs far to their right. He took a moment to scan the area but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary until they stepped out of the elevator and saw a singular guard, standing her post.

"This area is off limits by order of the administrator. I'll have to ask you to leave." the guard said, visibly gripping her weapon a little tighter.

"You must be one of Anoleis's thugs. If you don't want me to blow the whistle that you're getting paid under the table, I'd recommend letting us in." Shepard said blandly, placing his hands on his hips.

The guard stiffened, "Uh...well...How about this. You pretend you didn't see me, and I'll pretend I didn't see you." she suggested, loosening her grip on the weapon.

"Sounds like a wise idea. Now if you don't mind." Shepard glared, watching the guard walk around them and disappear into the elevator.

As Shepard turned around to head for the stairs, several other guards came into view from their various hiding spots and with weapons drawn. All three immediately pulled their weapons and opened fire, wrapping themselves in their Biotic Barriers for added protection as the area lacked cover other then the large wall. The guards fell quickly, as they had no chance against an Asari and two highly trained Biotic Marines.

"Wow was surprisingly easy Commander." Liara said as she holstered her weapon.

"That it was but let's face it...A rent-a-cop doesn't really have a chance against us. This is a corporate port, getting into a gun fight I don't think is real high on their priorities." Shepard chuckled as he lead the squad up the stairs and around to a long catwalk that lead to a large, glass walled office that over looked the rest of the office area.

They scanned the area as they crossed, keeping their eyes pealed for any more trouble until they entered the office, seeing their intended terminal sitting dark on the desk. Shepard pulled the chair out and sat, slipping the OSD from the pouch and set it on the desk while the terminal booted up. Once the terminal was ready, he plugged the OSD into the port and waited while it did it's job, opening up several windows on it's own accord and began to download the files.

After a few moments, the terminal pinged, indicating that it was done and had completed it's task.

"Got it. Let's get this back to Qui'in before anyone knows we're here." Shepard said quietly as he slipped the OSD back into his belt and turned off the terminal.

"Someone already does Shepard." Kaidan reminded simply.

Shepard stood silent for a moment before rubbing the back of his neck, "Fuck...That rent-a-cop we let go. You think she squealed?" he pulled his pistol from his hips and checked it, readying it for anything else that might lay in wait.

"It's possible Commander. I wouldn't be too surprised if she went to her superior." Kaidan said with a slight shrug.

Shepard nodded as he put his pistol back onto his hip, "Keep your weapons holstered. If we don't appear as too much of a threat, then we might have a chance of getting out of here without another brawl."

"And the bodies from the last brawl?" Kaidan asked with a popped eyebrow.

"Um...Act like we didn't do it."

Both Kaidan and Liara nodded with a slow shake of their heads as they followed Shepard out of the office and back onto the catwalk to head back to the stairs. As they crossed the walkway, Shepard glanced over the edge and saw that they did, in fact, have some more armed guards waiting downstairs waiting with their weapons already pulled. He made for the stairs and casually descended them which only caused Kaidan to arc another eyebrow as the three rounded the short retaining wall and into the guards view. That when the woman in the middle spoke up...and she had blond hair.

"You shouldn't be in here." the blond growled, tightening her grip on her shotgun.

"Neither should you from what I hear." Shepard quipped, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Show some respect..."

"I should be telling you the same thing blondie! Who the Hell are you anyways?" Shepard snarled, not feeling the mood to deal with the woman's condescending attitude.

"Oh now you wanna know who I am? I'm Kiera Sterling with Elanus Risk Control Services." she answered flatly, rapping her fingers against her shotgun in hopes it would intimidate the two Marines and their Asari companion.

"Mrs. Sterling...You're gonna let us walk out of here with no problems. You're interfering with a Council assignment and they don't take too kindly to little nobodies like you standing in their agent's way." Shepard placed his hands on his hips, locking his cocky gaze with the blond's sneer and provided a crooked grin as her face contorted even further.

"You wanna know what we do to cop killers on my planet?"

Shepard shrugged and quietly laughed, "Rent-a-cops...Not real cops and I can guarantee that it's nothing I haven't seen before."

"Well let me tell you a little something...My guards here are gonna tear you to pieces...and me...Well I don't need a gun to tear you limb from limb." she smirked.

Shepard laughed out loud as his body slowly began to radiate with his blue corona, "Neither do we."

As Keira and her guards saw all three begin to glow, she flared her own Biotics and gave the order for her companions to open fire. The small office space erupted into a blaze of rounds and echoing noise that didn't get very far as Liara erected a shimmering blue wall in front of her, Shepard and Kaidan. Shepard and Kaidan didn't bother pulling their weapons as both lifted a couple guards to the ceiling where they hovered, screaming, before falling to the floor with a heavy smack on their heads. Liara's wall caught everything as Shepard and Kaidan turned their sights on the blond, smirking at her angry, frustrated sneer as she began to charge at them. Shepard Lifted her into the air and glanced at Kaidan, giving him the go ahead to finish her off.

Kaidan's body exploded into a bright, waving aura of Biotic energy as he tapped into the power he no longer saw as a curse thanks to Lycan. He raised his hand into a claw, collecting more and more dark energy into a ball that slowly grew until it was the size of his own head before he launched it at the screaming, hovering woman. The Push sphere slammed into her and sent her flying through the air until she collided with hurricane force against the wall of glass that held firm against the blow. Her angry sneer softened into a blank stare as she slide down the smooth service, unmoving as the back of her head left a long trail of crimson that led to her now lifeless body.

Liara dropped her Biotic wall as the room fell back into silence before she looked at Shepard and Kaidan, "Do a lot of Humans work behind their superior's backs like she was?" she asked.

"It happens more often then I'd like to admit," Shepard said with a shake of his head, "Come on...Let's get this back to Qui'in." he turned and headed for the elevator.

They nearly jumped out of their skin as they stepped out of the elevator, seeing a darker skinned woman standing in front of them with a pink dress and no beaming smile.

"I've been getting reports of noise coming from the Synthetic Insights office. You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that do you Commander?" Mrs. Parasini asked, clasping her hands together in front of her.

"Me? Naw...That's probably Anoleis's thugs tearing the place apart." he grinned innocently.

Gianna's brows furrowed, "Smartass huh...Ok...I can work with that. Meet me in the hotel bar before you talk to Qui'in. I'll be waiting." she simply said before she spun and left, somewhat in a hurry.

Shepard arced an eyebrow as he watched her leave, "Is it just me, or did she just go from beaming secretary to someone who sounds like she has a security clearance?" he asked, glancing at Kaidan and Liara.

"I have a feeling this is gonna get a lot more complicated." Kaidan sighed as he followed Shepard back to the hotel bar.

As the three stepped into the bar once more, they saw Lorik Qui'in still happily sitting at his table with his drink, as well as seeing Gianna standing over by the bar itself. Shepard growled to himself, raking a hand down his face as he turned right, and headed for the woman in the pink dress.

"Ok...Fine...I'm here. What it is you want?" Shepard asked, not really in the mood to hear the woman out.

"Commander Shepard...Allow me to reintroduce myself...Gianna Parasini...Noveria Internal Affairs." she officially said, holding her hand out in greeting.

Shepard just stared at her, crossing his arms over his chest, "Figures," he groaned, "So what is IA doing here?"

Gianna retracted her hand, "The executive board knows full well about Anoleis's corruption and I've been undercover for six months trying to dig up evidence on him."

"So how's this concern me?" Shepard asked, shifting his weight onto his other leg.

"I need that evidence. With that evidence that you gathered on that OSD, this planet could run profitable again." she huffed a sad laugh.

"I thought corruption was the norm around here?" Shepard groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"The rule is 'Don't rock the boat.' Self interest is tolerated as long as it doesn't interfere with big business. Anoleis is driving customers away." she quickly explained.

"We've got one problem...I need his garage pass so we can get to Peak 15. I doubt he'll still hand it over if I just give it to you." Shepard retorted with a long, drawn out sigh.

"Help me with my investigation and I'll get you whatever you need."

Shepard groaned once more as he glanced to his left, seeing Lorik Qui'in patiently awaiting the return of his OSD. _Going back on my word was something I would do if I was younger. Not now...I'm trying not to be like that...But I need that pass...I need to get to Peak 15 to confront Benezia...Fuck... _He thought, rapping his fingers against his bicep.

"What if I convinced Qui'in to testify against Anoleis instead?" Shepard asked, hoping that she would agree.

"That'll work too. Convince him, and I'll get you a pass. Come see me in my office when it's done." she halfway ordered as she stepped around Shepard and headed for the elevator.

Shepard stood stiff for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose once more before he stared at the ceiling, using both hands to rub the back of his neck with the strong spike of irritation. He sighed and started for Lorik's table, pulling the available chair out and sitting down without even saying a word.

"Ah...Always a pleasure Spectre. Any news on that matter I asked you to check on for me?" Lorik asked kindly, sending Kaidan and Liara a greeting nod.

Shepard blew a frustrated breath out of his mouth, "Ok...Here's the thing. I got the information you wanted but I got t-boned by an IA agent. She wants you to testify against Anoleis."

The Turian's kind, business-like demeanor immediately vanished, "Now that you have my property, you want to dictate how I use it?" he growled, his mandibles angrily clanking against the side of his face.

"You of all people know Anoleis is corrupt..."

"I have no interest in a public spectacle." Lorik interrupted.

Shepard smacked a hand down on the table, "Come on...Everyone here is chaffing under Anoleis's extortion. It's entirely possible that you'd...end up a hero."

Lorik sighed, "My employers rely on the board's good will to work here...How would it make me look if I started making waves?"

Shepard was about to respond until someone else did, "The board is after Anoleis. They'll be infinitely more upset with him, then at you." Kaidan said, crossing his arms.

A low growl began to emit from Lorik's throat as he tapped a talon on his glass, "Alright...Alright...I will testify. It is becoming blatantly obvious that I cannot dissuade you. I'll wait here while you make arrangements with your contact. You would have been a good businessman Commander." he took a sip of his drink.

"No I wouldn't. Every time someone irritated me, I'd end up shooting them." Shepard laughed.

"Perhaps not then. Despite this turn of events, it was a pleasure Commander." Lorik said with another nod, extending his hand towards Shepard.

Shepard lightly smiled as he shook the Turian's hand before he stood from the table, "You too. Take care."

Shepard, Kaidan and Liara stood long enough to see Lorik nod once more before they headed to the elevator and crossed the main floor of the port as they headed for the administrator's office. The two guards let them enter without even a second thought, giving Shepard and his squad a straight line to Gianna Parasini whom was sitting at her desk with her standard beaming mask in place until she saw them coming, which erased the grin.

"Good...You're here. Have you decided what you're going to do with that evidence?" she asked, standing from her seat.

"Qui'in agreed to testify." Shepard simply said.

Gianna let loose a long, heavy sigh, "Oh thank God. That is a world of stress off my back," she stuck her hand out, palm up, "I'll take the evidence for safe transport."

Shepard hesitated a moment, his eyes bouncing from her hand to her face and back again before he decided she was telling the truth. He reached into his pouch and pulled out the OSD to hand it to her.

"There," he let the OSD drop into her palm, "So what about that garage pass you promised?" Shepard asked, mirroring Kaidan's posture by crossing arms.

She pocketed the OSD and reached into a drawer that sat underneath her desk, "As I promised Commander." she pulled the pass from the drawer and handed it to Shepard.

"Thank you. Good luck with your trial." Shepard said with a curt nod as he took the pass.

"Just head to the garage and show the guard your pass. There should be a Mako inside." Gianna added as she turned and headed into Anoleis's office.

After a few moments and some muffled yells, Gianna came back out with a very angry, very much resisting Anoleis handcuffed and trying to make threats that she would never work on Noveria again which he really wasn't in a position to make such a threat. Shepard and his squad laughed, not caring in the least bit whether Anoleis heard them or not as Gianna wrestled him passed them and through the door to a few awaiting guards that took over and lead the squirming Salarian away.

As the yells and threats faded away, Shepard and his squad started back across the main floor towards the garage. They passed by the elevator to the Synthetic Insights office and a Turian whom was standing in the corner. Shepard politely nodded at the Turian as they passed by, hearing the quiet snickers behind him as they ascended the stairs to find a lone, rather small woman standing guard.

"Excuse me Sir...Access to the garage is restricted." she quietly said, almost nervously as she looked at them.

Shepard held out his newly acquired garage pass, "We've got access." he simply stated.

The small guard looked at the pass without even taking it from Shepard's gloved hand, "Y-Yes...That's genuine. Be careful out on the pass. The storm's gotten stronger." she said without looking into Shepard's eyes as she stepped aside to let them pass.

All three nodded as they walked through the door and into the large, cavernous garage, seeing the lone Mako that Gianna had mentioned. Shepard quietly cursed under his breath, as this particular Mako wasn't upgraded and beefed up like his was, it still rolled on six wheels and had the standard main cannon. Scattered around the whole of the garage, several crates laid about, seemingly abandoned as a few, quiet skittering echoes reached their ears.

"What was that?" Kaidan asked as he looked around the garage, trying to find the noise's source.

"I am unsure Lieutenant. It would be wise for us to be prepared." Liara said quietly, pulling her pistol from her hip.

"I agree...Ready weapons." Shepard ordered, pulling his own weapon and scanning the garage.

Kaidan was the last to pull his pistol from his hip as he stared down the garage's length just in time to see a streak of movement.

"Shepard...I got movement down range." he whispered, taking a few steps to bring himself close to some waist high cover and pointed to where he saw the movement.

Shepard looked where Kaidan had pointed, just as two large Destroyers stepped out from behind a large cargo container with their shotguns at the ready. Moments after the Destroyers appeared, the garage erupted in a blaze of jumping Geth as they streaked across the garage and fired their precision shots with deadly accuracy.

Shepard, Kaidan and Liara immediately ducked behind the waist high cover as their shields caught a couple rounds. Without even giving the order, Liara erected another Biotic wall to give Shepard and Kaidan a few protected moments while they fired at the hoppers. During their several second firing spree, the duel Sentinels managed to take out a couple Geth hoppers before ducking back down below their cover and Liara dropped her wall.

"Commander, I'll concentrate on the more agile Geth. Are you and the Lieutenant able to deal with the Destroyers?" Liara asked over the hail of weapons fire.

"Do it...Take out those fucking hoppers." he harshly ordered as he brought up his Omni-Tool, seeing Kaidan's follow suit out of the corner of his eye.

Liara darted across the aisle to another collection of crates where she ducked down and sent a large Singularity sailing towards a hopper. The Geth jumper was quickly caught in the Singularity's field, rendering it useless to float aimlessly in the air around it until it was hit with a strong Push which smashed it into a wall.

Shepard and Kaidan both readied disabling pulses before they popped up, targeted the Geth Destroyers which were closing in quickly and let them fly to prevent them from firing their weapons. The two Destroyers froze and looked at their weapons for a moment before their attention was drawn by the clunking sound of something attaching to their person. Their flashlight heads turned to see the source of the clank, identifying it as a grenade on each as they quickly counted down. Before the Destroyers could react, the grenades went off, eating their shields away immediately and leaving them completely vulnerable to whatever Shepard and Kaidan had to offer.

Shepard and Kaidan popped up once more and opened fire, rapidly riddling the Destroyers with more holes then they needed and splattering scores of white fluid all over the floor and anything else that was nearby. With the two large Geth taken care of, they turned to see Liara as she darted up to another set of cover and Lifted the last jumper into the air. Before she was able to get off her Push, Kaidan's Pull came sailing through the air to yank the jumper towards the far wall where it smashed into it to rain parts down on the crates below.

"I guess we know what was in those crates Benezia brought." Kaidan said flatly, taking in a long, deep breath to steady his heart and put away his pistol.

"That can't be all. That was only..." Shepard took a moment to count the corpses, "six Geth. You don't think that was the escort do you?" he put is own pistol away.

"It couldn't be Commander. If any of those corporate clients saw them, they would have run for their lives. The Geth are not welcome." Liara answered.

"Makes sense. Let's get over to Peak 15 before we meet anymore hostility." Shepard ordered as they all headed to the Mako.

Shepard immediately slipped into the driver's seat with Liara in the Navigator's chair and Kaidan climbed up into the Gunner's position. While Shepard began the power up procedure, Kaidan brought up his Omni-Tool and opened in instant messenger program, happy to see that Lycan was available.

_-Kai: Ly? You there?_

_ -Ly: Hey Kaidan. Is everything ok?_

_ -Kai: Fine so far. We're getting ready to head on up to Peak 15. I might not be able to contact you once we're there._

_ -Ly: I understand. Just be careful. That storm makes me nervous and don't overtax your Biotics. Shepard needs you._

_ -Kai: I need you more...I'll be careful. We all will. _

_ -Ly: Ok...I trust you. Hey Kaidan?_

_ -Kai: Yeah?_

_ -Ly: I...I...Come back to me ok?_

_ -Kai: I will. I gotta go. Shepard's about to drive out of the garage._

_ -Ly: Ok...Be safe._

_ -Kai: Always._

With that, Kaidan exited his messenger and quickly readied his post, ready to carry on with the mission.

* * *

Joker grumbled as he stared at his screen, looking at the face of Lilihierax as he awaited his answer.

"That much huh?"

_"Wish I had better news for ya man. I had to spend some of my own credits to book the rooms."_

"Tell you what. I'll reimburse you for the credits you spent and then you can charge the rest to the Council's tab. They won't know the difference." Joker laughed.

_"That's a pretty good idea. I'll charge it as ship expenses. They shouldn't question that." _

"Sounds good. I'm transferring the credits to you now." Joker said quietly with a quick flick of his hand.

_"Got 'em. Thanks Jeff. I appreciate it. Did you get what you needed?" _the Turian snickered.

"Oh man you have no idea. I am good at what I do. Thanks for rigging those doors."

_"No problem. Hey...You're boss is coming I gotta go."_

Before Joker could say goodbye, Li cut the link and cast the bridge back into silence until he felt a soft hand on his shoulder which made him jump.

"Ah! Oh...Hey doc...What can I do ya for?" Joker asked, trying to hide the fact that her surprise visit made his heart double it's pace.

"Just came up to collect my 100 credits. I do believe you lost part of the bet." she said quietly, leaning down so she could whisper.

Joker gulped, "Which part?"

"That part where you said you didn't think Kaidan would have the guts to touch her...You lost." she snickered herself.

"You heard me?" Joker cringed.

Dr. Chakwas nodded.

"And you saw the vids I recorded?"

Another nod.

Joker groaned as he brought up his credit screen and transferred the amount to Dr. Chakwas, whom smirked victoriously before she headed back to the Med Bay...100 credits richer.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Family Reunions...

_(BioWare owns all related to Mass Effect!)_

The storm outside was worse then any of them had originally thought. The wind blew without mercy as it whipped and swirled the snow in all directions, fading out most of the lands definition and making it hard for Shepard, Liara and Kaidan to see much of anything, let alone the light silhouettes of the Geth they had encountered on their trip. The path that connected Port Hanshan to Peak 15 had several postings of Geth along it's length, none of which posted any real threat as Shepard just drove the Mako straight over them, but it was the small handful of rocket turrets that proved to be a little more dangerous. The path was far too narrow for Shepard to maneuver around the fired rockets from the turrets so he was forced to use the jump thrusters to hop over them as they flew underneath. As the Mako lifted off the snow covered ground, the wind would nearly take them over the edge, down a deep embankment and into a canyon upon which they couldn't see the bottom.

It took Shepard and his squad some time to reach the facility, as the Geth encounters and blizzard had slowed them considerably and it all made Shepard wish that they had brought their far stronger and far sturdier Mako along for the trip. They had all held their breath when the burning light from a transport vehicle at the facilities entrance came into view and they knew it was time for the real work to begin.

"That drive was far too long." Shepard groaned as he slowed and pulled the Mako in next to the burning transport.

"Do your eyes hurt too?" Kaidan asked as he slid down from the gunner's turret to plop down into a passenger's chair and rub his eyes.

"God yes...This blizzard is something else." Shepard sighed, following Kaidan's lead and rubbing his eyes as well.

"It was an exhausting trip Commander. Perhaps we should take a moment to rest before we proceed into the facility." Liara suggested as she powered down the navigation systems.

Shepard started to nod, "I could go for a full on nap after that drive but yeah...We can take a couple minutes." he leaned back into his chair with a heavy sigh.

Kaidan pressed his fingertips a little harder into his lidded eyes, causing the sting to grow in strength and his eyes to tear up from their strain, "Should we try and contact the _Normandy_?" he asked with a tired sigh.

Shepard huffed a silent laugh, "Why? You need your Lycan fix?" he teased, glancing over his shoulder at Kaidan who's face had quickly taken on an annoyed glare.

"Shut up Shepard...Just thought it would be a good idea considering what we've run into so far." Kaidan said flatly as he rolled his neck, producing a couple audible pops.

"Relax man...I was just giving you a hard time but yeah...It probably wouldn't hurt." Shepard nodded as he leaned forward and brought up the comms

He took a brief moment to compose himself before turning the comm on and locating the _Normandy's_ signature which had proved slightly more difficult then usual due to the blizzard.

"Shepard to _Normandy._...Come in _Normandy."_ Shepard said a little louder then normal, hoping that his ship would respond to the hail.

Everyone remained silent as they listened to the endless broadcasting of static with the occasional blip of something that could have maybe passed as someone on the other end.

"Shepard to _Normandy._...Come in _Normandy._" Shepard repeated, again, louder then needed as he hoped it would combat the static.

After several attempts, Shepard groaned and flicked off the comm, leaning back in his seat once more with a heavy sigh and furrowed brows.

"Either the Mako can't tie into this place's comm grid because it's out, or the storm is that bad." Shepard said, slowly shaking his head as he retrieved his helmet from the deck.

"Well...Judging by the burning transport outside, I'd say comms are out here." Kaidan said, doing the same as he retrieved his helmet as well.

"Which usually means something is either going down, or went down. We better get moving." Shepard said as he stood from his seat and unlatched the door.

Kaidan and Liara both nodded as they fitted their helmets and followed Shepard out into the freezing cold, all three beginning to shiver until their suits adjusted for the intense temperature change which thankfully, was only a couple of seconds. They pushed through the growing berms of snow and braced themselves against the wind until they reached the door, seeing that it wasn't locked and that in itself, raised three eyebrows.

Liara and Kaidan each pulled their pistols as Shepard opened the door, taking a second to peer inside into the nearly empty foyer before stepping in and out of the cold. Once all three were inside, the door slammed shut, locking out the blizzard for the most part but the inside was still rather chilled. They unsealed their helmets and opened the visor, giving them a far better range of view and allowing them some use of their peripheral vision. None said a word as they carefully headed for the opposite door, finding that it lead into a small garage which really was only big enough for a singular vehicle, perhaps even a transport.

"You think that that transport outside is what was usually in here?" Kaidan asked, scanning the space for any evidence of a fight but saw none.

Shepard shrugged as he walked towards the inside garage door, "Could be. I don't see any signs of a fight to warrant it being on fire thought. There's no bullet holes, blood or bodies. There's nothing." he pointed out, taking another step towards the garage door.

"Was the transport destroyed while it was trying to leave? Or was it destroyed when it got here?" Kaidan asked, stepping to the side so he could be in a covered position once the door opened.

"Don't know. Keep your heads on a swivel. I don't want any surprises." Shepard said flatly as he stepped to the other side of the door and triggered it's proximity sensor.

As the door slid open, it revealed that their initial assumption that Peak 15's garage was only big enough for one vehicle was way off, as it was large enough to house at least a dozen with room to spare. The bay was far longer then it was wide and the ceiling rose high above their heads, which was lined with oddly colored lights that cast a subtle orange glow over the floor. Crates of various sizes were scattered about, some even obscuring a better view until Shepard caught sight of two, tall spikes that showed over the top of the closest crate.

Shepard watched the spikes as they begun to move closer to the center of the garage, raising his internal alarms as the two spikes finally registered in his brain. They belonged to a very tall Geth. Just as he raised his pistol, seeing Kaidan and Liara do the same, the Geth Juggernaut finally came into view with it's weapon ready to fire. Before the Juggernaut could however, it was suddenly wrapped in a shimmering blue Stasis Field that froze it in place. Shepard wasted no time firing his pistol at the Geth's glowing head, the rounds from his weapon easily passing through the Biotic field but they were stopped by the Geth's shields. The sounds from Shepard's pistol were quickly joined by the reports from Kaidan's and Liara's as they helped to whittle down the kinetic barriers that protected the Geth.

Shepard glanced to his right, seeing that Kaidan's body was aglow with dark energy as he kept the Stasis Field up. Soon, the shields had been brought down to nothing, leaving the Juggernaut exposed to whatever decided to come it's way.

"Alenko...Drop your field! I'll take over!" Shepard ordered, his body erupting in it's own blue glow as he readied to throw up his own Stasis Field.

"All yours Shepard!" Kaidan announced, reigning back his power as he kept firing his pistol, also keeping aware of the weapon's building heat.

Shepard's body flared even brighter as he wrapped the Geth in his own Stasis Field while his two companions finished it off, watching with satisfaction as it collapsed to the floor in a pool of white liquid that had spurt from it's wounds. He dropped the field, seeing as a singular drone came hovering over their heads but it was quick rendered useless as Liara crushed it in a field of her own conjuring.

"That works too," Shepard smirked as he looked down the length of the garage, "Do you see anything else down there Alenko?" he asked, pressing his back into the wall.

Kaidan, still posted at the opposite side of Shepard, quickly peered down the garage and caught sight of a squad of well armed Krogan scattered all around the back of the garage and along the raised ledge that lead to the rest of the facility. Fighting Geth were easy compared to tangoing with a Krogan. Krogan had a tendency of healing their wounds extremely quickly and with multiple sets of organs, the Krogan was a formidable opponent.

"Three...maybe four Krogan down range Shepard." Kaidan said quietly, keeping ducked behind the wall as said Krogan began to fire.

Shepard looked to the right side of the garage, seeing a couple of wide supports that provided a protected way to get to the back of the garage.

"Move fast to get to those supports. They'll give us the best line of sight to that platform." Shepard motioned with his head in the direction he wanted to move.

Kaidan and Liara nodded as Shepard made the first move, darting out from the wall in a mad rush to his intended cover. As they came into full view of the Krogan stationed at the top of the raised platform, their shields sparked to life as they caught round after round until they reached the tall slats. Shepard and Kaidan pressed themselves against their cover while Liara stood in front of them, spotting another small grouping of Krogan that was trying to flank them.

"Commander!" Liara yelped as her body flared high, sending a strong ball of dark energy to take one of the Krogan and slam him against the back wall with incredible force.

Shepard and Kaidan turned their attention to the far left and opened fire, taking a couple rounds in their shields until both Sentinels wrapped themselves in their Biotic Barriers. The shimmering wrap sparked bright as it caught the Krogan's fire, buying them time to concentrate their efforts on the singular Krogan to bring it down faster and before it's immense healing prowess could kick in.

As the Krogan hit the floor in a pool of it's own, strangely colored blood, Shepard pressed himself once more into his cover as he began to formulate their plan to handle the last Krogan who's weapon was barking loudly in the cavernous garage. Shepard readied himself to wheel around and open fire, but was stopped short when the brilliant flare from Kaidan's body blatantly caught his attention. Kaidan placed his pistol onto his hip and stepped out from behind their cover, easily Lifting the Krogan into the air as he also Pushed him into the far wall, over and over again. The loud smashing of Krogan hitting wall echoed through the garage as Kaidan continued to slam it into the wall until it's body started to leave behind their orange blood. He slammed the Krogan a couple more times for good measure before dropping his hold, letting the motionless body flop to the floor where it thankfully stayed.

"That was an impressive display Lieutenant. Not many Humans can perform such complicated maneuvers." Liara said with a short nod, replacing her pistol onto her hip.

"Not many Humans are stabile L2's either." Kaidan smirked as they began to climb the stairs.

"You speak the truth Lieutenant. I would be interested in seeing what you evaluate at." Liara said as they topped the stairs and headed for the alcove far to their left.

As they reached the alcove, a recessed door came into view with it's access panel glowing a bright green, indicating that it was unlocked.

"I'm due for one here pretty soon anyways. I'll let you see the results," Kaidan said before his brows furrowed and again, pulled his pistol from his hip, "Would a research facility like this usually leave it's doors unlocked?" he smoothly changed the subject.

"And there shouldn't be Geth here either. I doubt we'll see much standard procedure here." Shepard said, slowly shaking his head as he pulled his pistol and opened the door.

As the door slid open, all three of them halted and aimed their weapons at the poised turrets that sat on either side of the short passageway but what struck them odd, was that they were facing the wrong direction. Towards the opposite door.

"Why are they facing the wrong way Commander?" Liara asked, quickly glancing at Shepard and Kaidan and seeing that they were just as confused as she was.

"Malfunction?" Shepard shrugged, carefully taking a step into the passageway.

Kaidan slowly started to shake his head, "My guess...They wanna keep their people in...as much as they wanna keep people out. Plus, their proxy sensors would have already picked us up and they haven't. They aren't programmed to open fire on us."

"So what are they programmed to fire on?" Shepard asked, not liking at all what he was hearing.

"Not Human or Asari, we know that much." Kaidan sighed as they stepped passed the turrets, halfway expecting them to open fire but when they didn't, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Shepard nodded as the opposite door hissed open into another, tube like passageway that had a door immediately to it's left, but it curved to the right into what looked to be a control room of some kind. They looked through the windows of the short passageway with the turrets and saw no one inside, so they turned left, finding that the door was actually an elevator. Once inside, Shepard hit the button, expecting the car to take them down but it went the opposite direction and headed up instead.

Kaidan noticed that Shepard's foot was tapping on the floor, showing that he was obviously nervous about something.

"Something on your mind Shepard?" Kaidan asked, leaning back against the wall of the car.

"Those turrets bother me. If they aren't programmed to fire on Human or Asari...What in the Hell are they supposed to be fire on? What are those turrets trying so hard to keep inside the facility?" Shepard said with furrowed brows and crossed arms.

"I am sure we will find out soon enough Commander. We can only hope that it doesn't add to our problems." Liara said, noticing that the elevator car was beginning to slow down.

Shepard started to lightly laugh, "Don't jinx it...Things are going so well." he sang as the car came to a halt and the doors opened into yet another short passageway, but this one...was different.

This new passageway was roughly the same length as the one with the turrets but it's tubular structure was comprised of snow covered rock, instead of metal. The air was chilled, enough so to send a short lived shiver down all of their spines as they cautiously stepped into tunnel. A soft blue light filtered in from the windows that made up an entire side of the passageway but when they looked through them, they saw that they were entirely covered by ice.

Kaidan looked down, seeing his boots with a slight covering of snow from when he had put his foot down in the passageway. He knelt down and brushed off the snow before he turned his attention to the actual ground, brushing aside the snow there as well to discover that the passageway wasn't rock.

"Shepard...This isn't rock." he said, his brows furrowing as he saw the bluish hue of the solid matter upon which they stood.

Shepard glanced down and looked at what Kaidan was looking at, "This place isn't built on the glacier...It's built _into_ the glacier." he mused, looking at the crystalline designs that were seemingly painted into the ice.

"Why would a corporation risk building their facility into a glacier?" Liara asked, inspecting the cold, white flakes that decorated the entire floor.

"Security measure. There is any number of ways a corporation could use the glacier to help destroy the facility before their competitors can get ahold of something important." Kaidan answered, standing up straight.

Shepard nodded at his squad as he turned and headed for the closed door, triggering it's sensor and opening it up into a wide open space with the same ice floor that was covered in snow. Once the door was fully opened, Shepard caught sight of a Geth standing in the middle of the room. Shepard and Kaidan, whom were standing next to each other and in front of Liara, immediately opened fire, quickly taking down the Geth trooper's shields and blowing holes through it's body to spray scores of the white liquid all over the ground which was nearly completely invisible against the snow.

They fully entered the large room, seeing the tall ceiling above their heads and the far wall to their left was made of glass, allowing another frozen still of the inside of the massive glacier. Shepard spotted another Geth trooper by the wall of windows and opened fire, catching the Geth off it's guard and quickly taking out it's shields before Liara Lifted it into the air to smash it's head into that area's far lower ceiling. The three wheeled around and caught sight of three more Geth standing on top of a set of stairs and poised to open fire if Shepard and his team didn't immediately take cover along the large retaining wall that seemed to be more for decoration then anything else.

"Anything larger then a trooper?" Shepard asked, looking at Kaidan whom was pressed against the edge of the wall and had the best line of sight to take them out.

Kaidan shook his head, "No...They all look like troopers." he reported, stepping out from behind the wall to pop off a few shots at the closest Geth.

"Roger that. Make quick work of them." Shepard ordered, seeing Kaidan and Liara both duck out into the open to take out two more Geth with ease.

As Shepard kept watch, the quick glint of something white caught his eye to his right. His head snapped over to look, seeing that a Geth had come around in hopes of coming in behind them but Shepard was far too quick for the Geth to even get a shot off. His body flared to life with his Biotics as he immobilized the trooper in a Stasis Field which bought him time to slam enough rounds through the machine until his pistol protested as it had overheated.

Kaidan was about to speak when a low, resonating groan sounded through the entire area. The sound lasted for several long moments, taking on a metallic groaning that caused each of them to cringe from the applying pressure to their ears.

"What the Hell is that?" Kaidan snapped, looking all around as he came back to back with Shepard and Liara.

"I am unsure Lieutenant but it sounds as if something is crawling through a ventilation shaft." Liara said, doing the same as the other two as she looked around, trying to find the sounds source.

All three looked over towards the top of the stairs at the glassed pathway but they were unable to get a decent look inside as the brightness from the snow glared off of the glass surface. The sound finally faded away as the nearly silent skittering sound replaced it, keeping their attention on the stairs as a small swarm quickly came into view.

"What...in the fuck?" Shepard gapped as he brought his pistol to the front and aimed at the large, green bug type creatures.

The bugs were fast to say the least as they tore across the snow towards Shepard and his squad. The closest bug skidded to a halt, holding their attention as it seemed to puff up real big, causing Shepard, Kaidan and Liara to dive out of it's way as it popped with a wet explosion, sending a spray of green sludge all over the immediate area. Once they had hit the deck, all three rolled over and opened fire without waiting for the order from Shepard to do so. Each shot they fired caused at least one of the bugs to explode prematurely before the green sludge could cover them from head to toe.

After several frantic moments, the small swarm was taken care of, leaving Shepard, Kaidan and Liara panting heavily on the snow covered ice floor and frozen in place.

"What that fuck were those?" Shepard finally said after a few silent seconds.

"I...have no clue." Kaidan panted, sitting up and hopping up onto his feet, still with his pistol aimed and ready for anything else that might come their way.

"I've never seen anything like those before." Liara commented as she stood herself.

"What in the world is Benezia doing with Geth, Asari Commandos, Krogan and exploding bugs?" Shepard asked, feeling the anger beginning to boil in the pit of his stomach as he stood and began to head towards the stairs.

"Nothing beneficial Commander." Liara added, taking up the rear as they climbed the snow covered stairs.

They each walked slowly and carefully as they drew closer to the top of the stairs, finding that behind the glassed tunnel were a couple of abandoned offices with overturned chairs but there still were no bodies, bullet holes or any other evidence that there had been a firefight prior to their arrival. The snow was still a gleaming white, not a flake stained by red, blue or any other colored blood of any kind which raised Shepard's suspicions.

"Where are the all the workers?" Shepard asked, taking one more step which brought him three steps from the top.

"I don't know Shepard. There's nothing here that even suggests people were working here. This place looks completely abandoned to me." Kaidan said as they topped the stairs where they froze at what they saw.

All Shepard, Kaidan and Liara could do was stare at the creatures further down the glassed catwalk. They were large with ferocious looking eyes and mandibles, multiple sets of both actually and there were long, whip like tentacles that jutted out from their hard carapace. It had small, insect like arms and thick, powerful legs that almost looked as if it could jump if it wasn't so incredibly large.

"Whoa..." Shepard gulped, spreading his arms out to halt Kaidan and Liara's progress down the catwalk.

Just as Shepard opened his mouth, the creatures trained their sights on them. The closest creature's jaws opened wide as it let a harsh and vicious scream rip through the air that hurt their ears before it and it's partner began to charge.

Shepard didn't even bother to give the order to open fire as him, Kaidan's and Liara's weapons barked to life. The creatures were unshielded, something they were thankful for as every round that left the barrels of their weapons found their mark and slammed into the closest creature's carapace. The creature continued to scream as it's whips snapped from side to side, trying to catch at least one of them with the incredibly sharp spike on their ends. Before the first creature could reach them, it dropped to the floor where it laid motionless, however, the second one behind it lunged.

Kaidan and Liara dove to either side before the creature reached them but Shepard had pumped a couple more rounds into the dead one to make sure it was dead and hadn't seen the lunge. Just as Shepard looked up, the creature crashed into him, sending him back into the glass wall of an office and severely spider webbed the glass. He reached up and tightly gripped the creature's jaws, preventing it from getting ahold of him and taking a vital chunk. Shepard gritted his teeth as he poured all his strength into holding the creature off, only barely managing to keep it an inch away from his face as he felt the claws on it's short arms start to claw at his chest plate.

"Alenko! Liara!" Shepard yelped as he kept the beast off as best he could, unable to use his Biotics as his arms were preoccupied with keeping him alive.

Kaidan sprang to his feet and flared his Biotics, lifting his arm into the air as he Lifted the creature off of Shepard which freed his hands. Shepard reached behind him and pulled his shotgun from the small of his back, shoving it's muzzle into the beast's mouth where he pulled the trigger.

With an immense bang, the shotgun rocketed a strong round down the beast's throat, blowing a large hole out the back of it's long, slender head to splatter bits and more green liquid all over the ceiling. The creature's body went limp as it's insides were blown out, Kaidan letting go of his Lift to let it flop back onto the floor, halfway laying over Shepard and keeping him pinned against the broken glass.

"God! What the fuck is this thing! Get it off me!" Shepard snarl as he shoved at the creature to get it off.

Kaidan and Liara ran up to his side as they rolled the body off of Shepard and helped him up, cringing at just how much of the green goop had covered his armor when it seeped from the creature's ravaged mouth.

"You ok Shepard?" Kaidan asked as he brought up his Omni-Tool and began to scan Shepard, looking for any injuries.

"Yeah...I'm fine," he nodded before looked at the creature, "Please tell me that's not a giant cockroach."

Liara knelt down and began to inspect the creature, "What's a cockroach Commander?" she asked, lifting one of the long whips to get a better look at the claw type end.

"It's a nasty bug from Earth that lives even if you cut it's head off." Shepard simply explained as he scrapped off the green sludge.

Liara seemed to freeze for a moment as she looked over the dead creature, "Should we be concerned then Commander?"

"With that hole in it's head? Naw...nothing's getting up from that." Shepard huffed as he shook his hands off.

Liara nodded as she resumed her study of the creature, bringing up her Omni-Tool to begin taking readings of the beast but when it pinged loudly and it's interface turned stark red, everyone froze and stared like just saw a ghost.

"Uh...Commander? There seems to be an issue." Liara said as she dropped the whip, her whole body seemingly beginning to shake.

"What's the problem?" Shepard asked, glaring at the still seeping bug corpse.

"Well...my Omni-Tool is telling me that this is...a Rachni." she gasped, slowly standing and taking a step back from the beast.

"A Rachni? As in from the Rachni Wars?" Kaidan asked as he too, took a step back.

"Yes Lieutenant...Something's wrong. This creature shouldn't exist. The Krogan wiped them out a thousand years ago. The Rachni are supposed to be extinct." Liara said, trying to keep her shock under control.

"You're telling me that this...bug...is from a thousand years ago?" Shepard's voice started to rise as he wasn't having much success in keeping himself from being completely startled from their discovery.

"Not this particular specimen Commander..."

Shepard started to shake a finger, "Uh uh...No...You better not be telling me that that thing is younger then a thousand years." he hissed.

"It's looking that it might be that way Commander." Liara said, shutting down her Omni-Tool.

Shepard groaned and started to pace, his hands clawed on the top of his head, "Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! This isn't happening...First the Geth, now the fucking Goddamned Rachni!" he snarled, angrily kicking the other Rachni corpse.

"Shepard...Calm down." Kaidan said, placing his hand on Shepard's shoulder in hopes of calming his friend.

"Calm down! Are you fucking kidding me!" Shepard snapped with a fuming glare, "That's what those turrets are trying to keep in Kaidan. If the Rachni are in cahoots with Saren then we are a lot more fucked then we thought." he snarled, drawing in several, long and unbroken breathes to help bring in his temper.

"Then we stop it here Shepard. Liara might have a chance at getting through to her mother to stop this but we have to find her. We'll get to the bottom of this." Kaidan reassured, taking his hand back as he checked his pistol, very much ready to get away from the creatures.

Shepard closed his eyes for a moment, shutting out the world around him to help concentrate on just breathing. He knew that the Council was going to be upset and more then a little skeptical about hearing that he had found Rachni on Noveria and he wasn't looking forward to that debriefing. It was gonna be yet another thing that the Council would refuse to believe him on unless he had some kind of evidence to support the claim. That's when he glanced back at the corpses of the presumed Rachni and saw all the evidence he needed.

"Liara...Collect some samples and get a few more scans. The Council's gonna believe us whether they like it or not." Shepard flatly ordered as he placed his shotgun back onto his back and picked up his pistol from the ground.

Liara nodded as she immediately began collecting small samples of the green goo and bits of tissue in vials that Kaidan handed her from his med belt before she scanned the beast, taking detailed and in depth readings of the creature's structure and exoskeleton. After a few minutes, she closed her Omni-Tool and handed Kaidan the filled vials for him to carry, satisfied that she had collected enough to convince the hard headed Council.

"That should be enough Commander." she said, standing up and taking her pistol from her hip.

"Good. Stay to the left as we go passed those offices. I'm not getting a warm and fuzzy from those grates in the floor." Shepard ordered, taking point as he started down the catwalk towards a door that rested on the other side.

They quickly covered the distance to the door, seeing that it lead into another short tunnel with another door for them to walk through. On the other side of the door, they found another elevator that they thought was going to take them down this time, however, it did the opposite and took them further up. They all stayed silent until the car slowed to a gentle stop and opened it's doors, letting them out into a passageway that banked to the left to another door which opened up into a large junction.

"This must be part of the main systems hub Shepard." Kaidan said quietly, not only looking for any more enemies, but listening for them as well as he saw ventilation grating on the floor.

"I think you're right. Looks like there's a tram through there," he pointed to the left, "That's to the reactor core," he pointed to the right, "and that's to the VI mainframe and access to the roof." Shepard said, catching sight of a small collection of small green bugs sitting on the stair on the other end.

Shepard poked Kaidan and pointed at the seemingly unaware bugs that were just sitting, paying them no mind next to a fire extinguisher. He started to smirk at that as he raised his pistol and took aim at the canister, pulling the trigger to send a round down range to slam into it with a loud ping. The canister shook for a split second before it erupted into a white, puffy cloud that caused the bugs to explode where they sat. He started to chuckle until a small swarm came rushing around the corner but they didn't get very far as rounds and the white cloud caused them to explode with wet pops.

After they were certain that there were no more small 'Poppers,' as they had started to called them, the three walked into the room and looked at a singular tower that sat just to the left of the door they had entered through.

"Kaidan...Does this look like a backup power supply to you too?" Shepard asked as he quickly looked over the control panel.

"Yeah...It does. It could be the backup for the VI mainframe," Kaidan answered, looking at the doors to the right and left and saw that they had no power. _Huh...Deja Vu, _"We might wanna turn it on. Looks like the place has no power." he added.

Shepard nodded in agreement as he pushed the button on the tower, hearing a low whine and a feminine voice come down from above.

_"Critical startup error. Virtual Intelligence user interface...offline. Manual boot required." _the emotionless female voice said over their heads.

"Well that's lovely. Time to find the core I guess." Shepard groaned, looking around as he didn't want one of those giant cockroaches to sneak up on him.

Kaidan motioned with his head towards the stair they saw the 'Poppers' sitting on, "The VI core is straight ahead."

Shepard motioned for them to follow as he lead them to the back of the junction room where they saw the whole of the VI core. It was circular and huge, reaching all the way from ceiling to floor and consuming most of the space in the adjacent room. They walked around the large core to the back of the room, finding another powerless door and an alcove into the center of the core. Shepard stepped into the nook and quickly absorbed the structure, seeing a small, green button that was winking on and off. He hesitated a moment before he reached out and touched the button, immediately widening his stance as the platform he was standing on began to lower him down into the core's mainframe.

"Shepard! You ok!" Kaidan called down the shaft, seeing that it went down roughly twenty feet which was quite a distance to jump.

"Yeah! Just took me down to the mainframe! Looks like it's been locked out! Might take me a minute!" Shepard called back up.

Shepard brought up his Omni-Tool and tapped into the mainframe, seeing that it, in fact, had been locked out with a very complex algorithm that he would have been hard pressed to figure out on his own.

"Uh...Kaidan! I might need your help on this one!" Shepard called over his shoulder, arcing an eyebrow at the long lines of red code on his Omni-Tool.

"Ok! One sec!"

Shepard's brows furrowed as he looked over his shoulder, expecting Kaidan to take the emergency egress ladder behind him but damn near had a heart attack when he just stepped over the side.

"What the!" Shepard yelped as he flattened himself against the mainframe, seeing that Kaidan's body flared brightly inside the low lighting of the shaft.

Kaidan's decent seemed to slow to a point that when he landed, he only had to bend his knees slightly to absorb the impact that was reduced to the equivalent of jumping out of a first story window.

"What the fuck was that Alenko!" Shepard yelped, still not believing what he just saw.

Kaidan smirked with a crooked grin and shrugged, "Just knew I could do it. It's hard to explain." he said as he brought up his own Omni-Tool to take a look at the code.

"Try me." Shepard glared.

"I just...thought about Ly and I just knew I could it. I don't hate my Biotics anymore because of her and I'm not holding back anymore. Not against anyone." Kaidan said as he flicked a finger on his interface.

"And that somehow let you fly?" Shepard squeaked as he began to skim the coding.

"I didn't fly...I just...fell controllably."

"Smartass," Shepard rolled his eyes as he turned his attention fully to the task at hand, "This looks like an attempt at a permanent lock out on the system but there's lines that aren't right." he said, all amazement gone from his voice.

Kaidan quickly scrolled through the lines of data, "No...This is internal. The VI must have launched an emergency shut down protocol when those Rachni showed up but it got cut short...See?" he showed Shepard where the data cut off.

"Makes sense. The VI's programmed to flash itself so competitors can't get vital information." Shepard said, seeing that several of the lines of coding had abruptly ended.

"Exactly. We just have to do a system restart. It should bring it back online because the memory flash didn't take." Kaidan smiled, preparing to do just that.

"Let's hope it works."

Kaidan rummaged through the system until he found the rebooting program and launched it, hearing the low hum from the mainframe dull for a brief moment before it returned. After a few moments, the elevator platform began to rise up, lifting them out of the mainframe core as the dull lighting shifted to a bright white. As they reached the top, a holographic figure popped up in front of them, somewhat startling them as the figure flickered for a few moments before it came into focus to take the shape of a woman.

_"It would appear that you are trying to restore this facility. Would you like help?" _the VI asked flatly.

"Yeah...A little help would be nice. Who are you?" Shepard asked, taking a couple steps back away from the interface so he wasn't standing in the hologram.

_"This system is monitored to respond to the name Mira... May I ask your name?" _

"I'm Commander Shepard. I work for the Council's Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch."

_"One moment please." _the VI stayed silent, the hologram just standing motionless in front of them, _"Council authority confirmed. You are entitled to secure access of all systems. Please note that queries relating to corporate secrets_ _require privileged access which is only available to Binary Helix executives. This system is ready to process queries. You may access this system at any holographic interface within Peak 15." _

"Understood. I need to find Matriarch Benezia. Do you know where she is?" Shepard asked, eager to get straight to the point.

_"Lady Benezia departed on the passenger tram to the Rift Station subsidiary labs...User alert...The tramway system is currently inoperable."_

"What's going on here?" Shepard asked.

_"One moment please...Diagnostics in progress...Critical failure. Main reactor shut down in accordance with emergency containment procedures. Manuel restart require...Critical failure. Landline connections are disabled. Passenger tram systems are offline. Report complete. Do you have an additional system status query?"_

"No...That's all I need right now." Shepard said with a sigh and a quick glance to Kaidan and Liara.

_"Very well Commander...Logging you out." _

With that, the holographic woman winked out of existence, leaving Shepard and his squad to restore the facilities systems. Shepard looked up behind him, seeing a holographic indicator over the door that now had power that read that the landlines were up on the roof and figured that that would be a good place to start since they were right there. He turned and walked through the door into a long corridor with a set of stairs for them to climb. They quickly ascended the stairs, finding yet another door on the far end of the passageway that turned out to be yet another elevator that took them up yet again.

Once the car stopped and let them out into a short connection tunnel, Shepard opened the door that opened up to where the landlines were located. The roof of the facility was nearly entirely exposed to the blizzard, as it was built into a large alcove right into the glacier so one side allowed the strong wind and snow to swirl about in the nook. They pulled their pistols and extremely carefully stepped through, all three sets of eyes bouncing from side to side as they scanned for anything they didn't want to meet face to face.

As they took relative cover behind one of the communication arrays, they caught site of another large Rachni to the far left. Kaidan wasted no time in Lifting the beast before it could raise the alert and Threw it over the side of the roof to plummet an unknown distance to the glacier below. Just as the Rachni went over, it screamed that ear splitting shriek that was deafened by the howling wind but it was still loud enough to alert it's partners. Shepard looked through their cover and saw a swarm of the skittering green bugs coming their way, causing to ready his pistol and found that Liara had wrapped them in a protective bubble of Biotic energy. The green bugs smashed into the field, causing them to pop and splatter their guts all over the bubble and anything else that was nearby. Shepard and Kaidan squinted through the wind and snow to see two more of the large Rachni towards of the back of the roof, snapping their long whips from side to side as they angrily screamed at them. One of the Rachni's maw began to bubble with green fluid, almost as if it was about to throw up but instead of spilling it out on the floor, it spit the large ball at them.

"Hit the deck!" Shepard ordered as he dove for the floor, out of the path of the green phlegm ball so it splattered into the wall behind them.

They all turned to see that the phlegm ball wasn't just green spit, it was in fact a giant, regurgitated ball of acid as it began to eat away a hole through the structure.

"Acid? These things spit acid?" Shepard growled as he sprang to his feet and aimed his pistol at the Rachni that had spit at him.

"Yes...Yes they do." Liara groaned as her body flared again to restore the protective bubble.

Kaidan scrambled to take cover behind another comm array, "Great...We're fighting against a stereotypical alien race that was supposedly extinct."

"What are you talking about?" Shepard asked, leaning out to fire a few rounds at the spitting Rachni, thankful that it's aim wasn't very good.

"Didn't you ever see any of the Alien vids?" Kaidan laughed as he sent a few of his own rounds down range to finish off the spitting Rachni.

"Is that one of your old ass vids you and Lycan like to watch?" Shepard poked, shifting his efforts to the last remaining Rachni which was starting to move closer to them.

"Yeah...The aliens in the vid have acid for blood. Burns right through anything it touches." Kaidan said, flaring his Biotics brightly as he Lifted the creature into the air to keep it from reaching them.

Shepard shook his head as he flared his own Biotics, wrapping the squirming Rachni in a dark energy field as he knelt, quickly bringing the creature with him to smash into the floor and sent splashes of green all over the Biotic bubble Liara had over them but thankfully, it was capable of stopping the splatters from hitting them.

"Remind me to learn that trick." Kaidan huffed as he scanned the area, looking for more Poppers or Rachni that they would have to deal with.

"That bubble thing? That is pretty handy. Good thinking Liara." Shepard nodded as he started to step further into the array.

Shepard stared through the blowing snow and caught sight of a control panel towards the middle of the array. He cautiously walked towards it, not wanting to be surprised by anything with a pair of whips and found the panel to reactivate the system. He quickly hit it, hearing a low hum that slowly grew into a high pitched whine that none could hear over the howl of the wind. Once the landlines were repaired, they immediately turned and quickly darted back through the door and ducked into the elevator, not wanting to stick around in case anything came up to check on things.

Once back on the main floor, they jogged down the long corridor and back into the mainframe room where they headed for the junction. All three skidded to a halt once another heavy metallic groan echoed all around them, making them pull their pistols in preparation for anything they might have to face. Just as Shepard took a step, a grating flew up into the air as another large Rachni crawled out, screaming just like all the others as it's whips flailed about. None wasted any time as they opening fire, riddling the creature with holes before it even had a chance to cough up an acid ball. It slumped to the floor, leaving behind a spreading pool of green as it slipped back into the ventilation shaft it had come through.

"Jesus...These things are everywhere." Shepard said, taking in a deep breath to steady his nerves and calm his heart from the surprise.

"There's too many of them for these things to have been brought here." Kaidan pointed out, stepping around Shepard to start towards the main reactor.

"Which would indicate that they were bred here." Liara added, following the two men as all three stepped through the door that was now to their left.

"Saren's trying to breed a Rachni army...If that happens...then he's gonna be a lot harder to stop." Shepard shook his head as he closely followed behind Kaidan whom had taken point in the next long corridor.

The corridor they had stepped into was much longer then all the others they had seen but just like all the others, one wall was made of glass and provided a magnificent view of rock and ice outside. They quickly moved through it, finding that it banked left through another door, which had yet another elevator for them to take. To their surprise, this new elevator took them down to an entry passageway that banked right and took them into a dimly lit control room. They stood silent for a few moments, listening for any indicator that more of the large Rachni were laying in wait for them but when they heard nothing, they dared to fully enter the control room with two doors on either side of a large control panel.

Kaidan walked up to the control panel and looked it over, "Shepard...This control panel has no power. We'll have to go to the aux systems on the reactor itself." he said, looking over his shoulder as Shepard looked through the glass wall at the massive, towering reactor.

"On the back of the reactor right?" Shepard asked, seeing nothing inside the reactor room that would give them any problems.

"Yeah." Kaidan simply said, stepping away from the control panel.

Shepard headed for the door to their right and opened it, immediately seeing a figure standing at the far end of the long catwalk and realized...that it was a Geth Destroyer.

"Shit! Open Fire!" Shepard harshly ordered, everyone flattening against the wall just as a rocket from the Destroyer's weapon flew by them to crash into the wall, shaking everything around them.

All three let their pistol's bark to life, chipping away at the Geth's shield until the long awaited white fluid began to seep from the impacts their rounds were making. With three weapons all firing at it, the Destroyer quickly fell and fizzled out right in the middle of the catwalk so they would have to walk around it.

As they reach the Geth's remains, a sudden motion caught their attention as something white streaked across the wall. Kaidan's shields sparked blue and caused an alarm to beep loudly, indicating that his shield's had been taken down to dangerous levels. Just as he started to worry, Liara's protective Biotic bubble encompassed itself around them, preventing anymore shots from hitting their shields and giving Kaidan's a moment to recharge.

Shepard caught sight of a Geth hopper as it landed on the catwalk, starting to crawl towards them on all fours like a giant, creepy spider. Shepard and Kaidan trained their sights on the hopper and fired relentlessly, plugging round after round into the Geth and slowing it down. A round from Shepard's pistol sailed through the air, finding it's target in the form of the Geth's glowing eye which stopped it in it's tracks.

A loud explosion sounded over their heads, drawing their attention up to see the scorch mark on the wall in front of them. Liara stayed put as she kept them protected while Shepard and Kaidan wheeled around, finding that the room had a second level and standing on the balcony was a large Juggernaut. They immediately took aim and fired for several moments before both erupted with their Biotic energy, simultaneously Lifting the Geth over the railing and letting it fall to the very bottom of the reactor which was quite a ways down.

Liara's bubble sparked as it caught rounds from a couple more hoppers, giving Shepard and Kaidan time to spin and sight down on their new targets. Shepard took a hopper that had landed on the wall with the scorch mark while Kaidan quickly took care of the other that had landed on the catwalk's railing. Both hoppers were quickly dispatched by the two Marines, leaving them to finish their business with the main reactor before they could take the tram to find Matriarch Benezia.

"Anybody else!" Shepard screamed, stuffing a finger underneath the brim of his helmet to prevent a bead of sweat from dripping into his eyes.

"Is that wise Commander? You could alert others to our presence." Liara said, dropping the bubble and taking a moment to breath to calm her heart which was thumping away from using her Biotics so frequently.

"I don't think it really matters at this point Liara." Kaidan lightly cringed as he started down the catwalk towards the reactor's auxiliary control.

"Just keep that bubble of yours ready in case we run into anything else that wants us dead." Shepard rolled his eyes as he too headed for the panel.

"Understood Commander." Liara simply nodded.

She easily caught up to them just as they reactivated the main reactor, all looking around cautiously as the many turbines of the reactor began to spool up. They wasted no time in quickly heading back to the control room, jogging down the catwalk and leaping over the Destroyer's corpse before they ducked through the door. They retraced their steps until they arrived back at the junction where another Rachni erupted from another ventilation shaft that was kitty corner to the previous one.

By this time, Shepard, Kaidan and Liara weren't surprised by the Rachni's presence as they each pulled their shotguns and blasted several, large seeping holes through it's head and body before it even had a chance to scream at them. They barely hesitated before they quickly made for the door with the holographic indicator of a tram over it which lead them into a long, straight and cold corridor. They quickly traveled down the corridor until it curved right, straight into a door that took them into an elevator that...of course...went up. They weren't surprised.

Shepard stood still with his arms crossed as they waited for the car to reach the top of it's shaft but once it did, it deposited them into another passageway. As soon as they stepped out of the elevator car, they saw a door halfway down the walkway that lead into another control room. The second the door opened, they saw the large windows that made up an entire wall. They looked through the windows and saw that the chamber they looked into had two large Rachni sitting in the middle of it, waiting patiently for someone to come through the door. Their eyes shifted to scan the control room, seeing the body of a dead Salarian laying next to a computer terminal with a flashing indicator.

"You two make sure those Rachni don't get in here. I'm gonna go check out that terminal." Shepard said as he stepped fully through the door and headed for the Salarian.

He quickly looked over the body, having to look away from the Salarian's face as his eyes were wide open and cloudy which caused him to remember things he wished he could forget. He carefully stepped over the body to reach for the terminal, tapping his finger on the flashing indicator that activated a heavily distorted recording.

_"Control group loose in the...Their inf...Can't escape...the tunnels now...We're sorry. The leads couldn't get to the...Get out while you can..." _

Shepard cut the recording after it turned into nothing but static, "This sounds...like a suicide message. It sounds like he killed himself because he was apart of what happened here." his brows drew together.

"So they were experimenting on these Rachni? What for?" Kaidan asked, turning to look at the large creatures in the chamber beyond the glass wall.

"I don't know but we'll find out," Shepard said as he stepped up next to Kaidan to stare at the Rachni in the chamber, "You know...This could be a decontamination chamber." he mused, tapping his fingers on his Omni-Tool.

"Are you sure Commander?" Liara asked.

"Fairly...It has to be some sort of checkpoint. Otherwise, why would they need a control room for it?" Shepard smirked as he stepped up to the dark console that sat up against the glass.

"If you're right Shepard...Then it should have an emergency decom protocol." Kaidan added as he watched Shepard work his Omni-Tool.

Shepard began to grin as he stared at the Rachni, "Plasma jets to be exact." he smirked as he activated the system.

With a sudden rush of light and fire, billowing streams of white hot plasma spewed out of the ceiling of the decontamination chamber and filled it completely. The muffled screams of the Rachni could be heard as they were vaporized in the plumes of superheated plasma, leaving nothing behind for Shepard and his squad to even take as a sample.

After a few moments, the jets turned off and a green indictor on the control panel began to flash, telling Shepard that the chamber was now free of contaminants and available for transit.

"See...Decontamination chamber. The scientists coming from Rift Station go through it so they can't transfer anything from the labs into the environment. The Rachni must had been forced to use the ventilation shafts to get around it once this was sealed from those two." Shepard explained, shutting down his Omni-Tool as he headed out of the control room.

"You think any made it out of the facility?" Kaidan asked as they waited the brief moment for the chamber to complete it's cooling cycle before allowing them to enter.

Shepard shrugged, "I don't know. If any did, we can only hope the cold takes care of them before they get to the port." he stepped into the chamber once the door opened and pulled his pistol as he headed to the other side.

As soon as the door opened to let them out on the other side of the chamber, they saw another swarm of green poppers skittering across the grated walkway towards them. Without hesitation, Shepard and Kaidan opened fire on the bugs to quickly dispatch them before they got too close to do any damage.

Once the last popper was destroyed, they looked down the long corridor for a moment to see if there was anything else that may be waiting for them. Seeing nothing, they started down the corridor, looking around for anything until they reached the other side where the corridor turned left to bring them into a large tram platform. The tram platform was desolate and cold. A faint fog had begun to form in the air and it had started to turn stale, clearly telling Shepard and his squad that the power had been out for some time. They slowly walked passed the empty chairs that normally would be filled with scientists coming and going from the labs until they reached the tram, breathing a sigh of relief as they peered through the windows to see that it was empty.

"Get in. We'll take a breather while in transit," Shepard ordered, letting Kaidan and Liara enter before he stepped in and pressed the button to get the tram moving, "Alright Liara...Give us a run down on these Rachni." he said, taking a seat as the tram began to move, taking to them Rift Station.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33: …...Are Bittersweet

_(BioWare owns all related to Mass Effect!)_

Rift Station looked much like the rest of the Peak 15 facility. The air was still chilled and the subtle haze that had mixed with it hindered Shepard's, Kaidan's and Liara's ability to see what was waiting for them on the incoming platform. The lights were just as harsh, much like the lights in a medical exam room and they too, added to the light haze, making it appear thicker then it was. All three cringed as they tried to quell a shiver that threatened to skip down their spine, the tram slowing on it's approach to the landing platform and the soft, emotionless voice of Mira came over the speakers inside the car just as Liara finished filling Shepard and Kaidan in on what she knew of the Rachni.

_"Now arriving at Rift Station. A Binary Helix research facility." _

Shepard's brows furrowed at the mention of the company, "Binary Helix? They're the ones who're fucking around with these bugs?" he groaned as he stood from his seat to prepare to depart the tram.

"Saren is also responsible Commander. He must be a share holder in the company for them to allow him to utilize their facility." Liara said, also standing from her seat and doing a light stretch to work out some mild stiffness that had set in.

"Wonderful...Why can't a corporation just keep their noses out of shit it doesn't belong in?" Shepard growled, pulling his pistol from his hip as the tram docked with the platform.

"Because that would make our jobs easier Shepard." Kaidan scoffed, stepping up to the door as it slid open.

The three stepped out onto a nearly identical platform that was also abandoned, only the persistent chill still hung in the air as they started towards a couple doors on the other end of the platform. Shepard studied the holographic indicators that hung over the doors which showed that the facility had some sort of sleeping quarters along with labs close by.

"Shepard...People were living here." Kaidan said quietly as a sudden feeling of dread began to build in the pit of his stomach.

"Fuck," Shepard breathed, sucking his lips into his mouth before he sighed, "We'll look for survivors. If we're lucky, we'll find someone who can tell us what happened."

Shepard headed for the door to their left, heading for the facilities living quarters. The door opened up into a decent sized room with dark lighting and two more doors on the far end. There were large windows near the doors that showed the carved rock and ice of the glacier as they passed, walking towards the door with the same indicator over it to find that it was an elevator. It took them up to another junction type room and the second the door opened, Shepard saw a man in armor standing behind a makeshift guard post with two more guards ducked behind the barricades with their weapons trained at them.

"Stand down!" the man ordered, lowering his weapon as he saw the three bipeds step out of the elevator car, "Sorry about that. We couldn't be sure what was on that tram." he said with a sigh of relief.

"I'd only be upset if they fired. I take it you've encountered those bugs." Shepard said, silently telling Kaidan and Liara to lower their weapons as they had reacted to the guards aiming at them.

The man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yeah...Look, you're Human and that's enough that I won't shoot but I'd like to know who and your team are." his voice seemed to shake from not just fatigue, but fear.

"The name's Shepard. I'm a Spectre with the Alliance and this is Lieutenant Alenko and Liara T'Soni." Shepard said, pointing to his companions as he spoke.

"I didn't know the Alliance allowed aliens into their ranks." the man said, his eyes trailing down Liara's armored form and back up again.

"She isn't Alliance. She's part of an elite team under my command and she's a very capable Biotic." Shepard said, hiding the fact that the guard seemed to be undressing the female.

"Well, I won't look a heavily armed horse in the mouth," he shrugged, "The aliens overran the Hot Labs last week. Only Han Olar made it out and he ain't all there anymore. It was the first we knew that the bastards were clawing their way into my command post," he hung his head, "We had a lot more staff then."

"I'm packing fire and steel. If they wanna fight with claws and teeth, then it's their funeral." Shepard smirked as he patted his pistol.

"You have my support. The board sent an Asari to clean up the mess. She went to the Hot Labs and we haven't heard from her since."

"Benezia...Is she still over there?" Shepard asked, feeling like he was actually starting to close in on her.

"I don't know."

"Why are they called the Hot Labs?" Kaidan asked, wondering if maybe that could shed some light on their situation.

"They're designed to melt the snow and ice outside to sink the facility into the glacier if there's a containment failure." the man simply explained.

Shepard's brows furrowed, "Is that system automatic, or does it need to be activated?" he started to think that as they were talking, the facility was quietly being devoured with them in it.

"It has to be activated. Don't worry, the system isn't online," the man said, reaching for something on his belt, "There's an emergency elevator out by the trams. This card will let you activate it. That'll take you down to the Hot Labs." he added with a short nod.

Shepard took the card and clipped it to his own belt, "Thanks...Keep holding your post here. We'll head down and see what we can do."

"Will do..." the man started to say until low, echoing screams began to filter in from all around them.

Shepard and his squad looked around as the sounds grew louder, all of them readying their weapons as they turned and backed into the guard post. The screams began to separate into multiple, distinctive screams of more then one Rachni and it was confirmed...when the large ventilation grate blew off the floor and two large Rachni crawled out.

"Ah Hell!" the man yelped as he drew his weapon from his back and ducked down behind a barricade.

Shepard's, Kaidan's and Liara's bodies all erupted into a bright Biotic aura as they all Warped the first Rachni into a mangled pile of twisted mush that the second had to clamber over in order to get to them. They wasted no time in pumping the second full of Tungsten, slowing it down as it's steps stuttered from each impact and it even stopped as more and more rounds found their target. Shepard flared his Biotics once more as he tossed a large ball of dark energy towards the incoming Rachni and Threw it into the back wall with such force that the ensuing smear spread nearly from end to end.

"Jesus Christ! You're _all_ Biotics?" the man screeched as he stood from his post behind the barricade.

Shepard swallowed down the bark of anger that knocked in the back of his throat, "We could have just left them alone if that's what you wanted."

"No! No...I appreciate the help. Thank you. I didn't mean for that to sound so...critical." the man said, putting his weapon away.

"Just don't be so surprised about Human Biotics. You never know when you're gonna be in the company of one...or three, in this case." Shepard said flatly as he just stared at the man with no emotion on his face.

"Of course...Again...Thank you. Every few hours, a group of them come up the tram tunnel. It's actually been better since we locked down the elevator." the man said nervously, looking around from his paranoia that more of the Rachni might show up.

"Do they always attack here?" Kaidan asked as he checked a small wound on one of the other guards.

"Their only other option is to climb over the mountain and go down through the ducts but they freeze like everyone else." the man said with a thankful nod as the Lieutenant helped his men.

"So why do they keep attacking here? It's an obvious kill zone." Shepard asked simply.

"I don't know why they keep throwing themselves at our defenses. Even animals should know not to stick their noses where it hurts." the man huffed an exhausted laugh as he slowly shook his head.

Shepard nodded his head, "Are there any more survivors?"

"Yeah...They're in the med bay." the man said with a quick point towards a door.

"You have injured?" Kaidan asked as he finished up with the last of the mildly injured guards.

"Not exactly. That's where most of them are hiding out but there's some sick in one of the labs." the man shrugged.

Kaidan stood and stepped up next to Shepard, "Shepard, there might be something we can do to help. I doubt these people had any idea what they were dealing with." he whispered.

"We can go check it out," he answered before turning back to the guard, "Who do we talk to about the sick?" he asked the man.

"Dr. Cohen. He's a bit off but he's the one trying to care for them."

"Roger that." Shepard nodded as he started for the door with Kaidan and Liara in tow.

The door took them through a series of short passageways until it spit them out into a large room with various stacks of crates scattered about. The room was mostly quiet as they walked by, the small amount of survivors deciding to keep to themselves as they rested and ate what little they had. They walked by an Asari whom was standing with her eyes closed and she seemed to be trying not to move, not even bothering to acknowledge that someone was there.

"What's she doing?" Shepard asked in a whisper as they passed by.

"She's meditating Commander. It helps to keep calm during difficult times." Liara simply explained.

"Oh..." Shepard started to say until he caught sight of a door towards the back with an indictor that told them that the med lab was through there.

Without saying a thing, all three headed through the door and wound their way through the series of short stairways until they reached another door. They stepped through into a relatively small lab with cots scattered around, each one containing a sick patient whom was coughing and fitful with pained looks on their faces. Shepard peered passed the array of cots and saw a singular man standing by a piece of medical equipment and he appeared to be trying to find a way to help the sick.

"Are you Dr. Cohen?" Shepard asked, trying not to raise his voice and disturb the sick.

"What? What do you want?" the man rattled off, nervously looking up from his work at the three people coming his way.

Shepard's brows drew together at the man's rather harsh tone, "Not the best tone to be taking with me. I've had a long ass day and I'm cold, hungary and in no mood to be pissed off." he growled.

The man quietly swallowed as he realized how he sounded to his heavily armed guests, "I apologize. It's been...trying here. I haven't had much sleep lately since these people took ill." he pointed out to his small collection of sick.

"What's wrong with them? What do they have?" Kaidan asked, figuring that Shepard would be hard pressed to understand any of the medical jargon.

"There...was an accident, but I'm under a non-disclosure agreement not to discuss anything with anyone outside of the company." Dr. Cohen said with a slight hanging of his head.

Shepard glanced over at Kaidan, "This is your field. Have at it." he whispered, folding his arms over his chest.

"You might wanna reconsider that if you want our help. These people look like they're on their deathbeds." Kaidan said, taking a step up to stand next to Shepard.

"They are..." the doctor sighed as he started to ring his hands together nervously, "I'd like to think that the company values our lives more so then their secrets but sometimes...I'm not so sure." he hung his head once more.

"So tell us...What happened?" Kaidan gently pushed.

Dr. Chen sighed, "You know Mira? The VI for Peak 15?" he asked, still ringing his fingers together.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah, we know her."

"Well...She handles the safety protocols for our experiments here. We lost our connection with Mira right in the middle of an experiment and the quarantine failed. These people were exposed to a toxin we were working on." he somewhat vaguely explained.

Kaidan's brows pinched together hard, "No toxin I've ever seen does that to people," he hissed, pointing to the closest patient as they had begun to violently cough which produced a handful of blood, "We need the truth if you want to save these people." he added.

"Alright...I'll tell you," he drew in a deep breath to prepare himself, "They're sick from a bio-weapon we developed. It's based on an exotic life form we discovered out on the frontier. The company wanted something that could kill the creature but they believed there was no profit in something that only affected one species so we kept working and adapting it until..." he explained until someone finished his sentence for him.

"Until it affected a whole bunch of species." Kaidan finished.

"Exactly. Unfortunately...What we developed is highly infectious..." he was interrupted once more.

"Whoa whoa whoa...Are you saying that we could get sick just by being in this room?" Shepard barked, realizing that he had risen his voice and winced.

"No...You're fine. The bio-weapon can not transfer from person to person. We get the bio-weapon affect without the pandemic spread." he defended.

"No matter how you dress it up, bio-weapons are illegal." Shepard snarled in a low whisper, trying not to blow his top.

"Militaries and governments will get these kinds of weapons one way or another. We were just trying to limit the damage by making sure that no one else would be affected other then those that were initially exposed." Dr. Cohen defended himself again.

"So what do we do to help them? Where's the treatment?" Kaidan asked, eager to get the patients help before anymore damage was done to them.

"There isn't one. It was in development before we lost connection with Mira and our notes and equipment are locked in the quarantined lab. I'd go get it but Captain Ventralis doesn't want to risk more contamination even though there is no risk." Dr. Cohen knelt down next to the coughing patient and injected something to help them rest.

"Who's that?" Shepard asked blandly.

"The guard Captain out by the guard post." he simply answered before standing.

"We'll talk to him. Maybe we can convince him one way or another to let us try." Shepard said, sympathetically wincing as the coughing patient hacked up another large amount of blood and weakly spit it into a container at their bedside.

"I can't ask you to do this officially but it would be a great help if you could. They need the antidote we were working on. It's the only thing that will help them. Right now, all I'm doing is easing their death." Dr. Cohen sighed, sadly glancing around the lab at the sick, wishing he could help them further.

"We'll see what we can do. Just...try to make them as comfortable as possible." Kaidan said as he stepped back to give Shepard room to head back towards the door.

Kaidan returned the nod that Dr. Cohen sent him before he turned and followed Shepard and Liara out of the lab, heading back up the flights of stairs back into the main med bay. They quickly traversed the room and darted through the series of short passageways until they returned to the guard post where they had told the man to hold his position.

"Captain Ventralis?" Shepard asked as he tapped the man on the shoulder.

"Yes? Oh...You're back. Is everything alright?" the Captain said as he turned to face them.

"I need to speak with you regarding the quarantined lab."

The Captain placed his hands on his hips and hung his head, "I really wish we could help those people but I just can't risk the other survivors by opening up that lab." he said evenly.

Shepard made to speak until Kaidan placed his hand on his shoulder, "If we survive, then your employers are gonna want a report from us. I'm curious how much insurance they have on those scientists." he said, locking his eyes with the Captain's to see him squirm.

Captain Ventralis's eyes widened a bit, "You know politics by the sounds of it."

"I know the politics behind BS like this. Are you gonna let us try and help them or not?" Kaidan boldly exclaimed, his brows pulling together tighter with each second that the Captain stayed silent.

"Alright...You wanna gamble with your lives, you're not under my command. I'll radio ahead and have the guard let you in but he'll lock the door behind you. He'll have to run a full scan before he let's you out and it's not quick. If there is any...and I mean any anomalies, you're staying in there." the Captain warned a little too flatly.

"Wonderful...We'll be stuck in there until he decides we're healthy." Shepard grumbled under his breath.

"Afraid so. I wish you the best of luck." Captain Ventralis said as he extended his hand to shake Shepard's.

Shepard quickly shook the Captain's hand before he headed back through the same door, through the series of short passageways, that he was quickly becoming sick with, on their way back to the med bay. Once they emerged back into the room, they turned and headed through the door that indicated that it lead to the quarantined lab. The door opened up into a long, straight passageway that eventually took the three to an elevator that took them down to more short passageways.

Through a few more doors, Shepard and his squad emerged out into a room with plenty of canisters and equipment lining the walls. Standing in the middle of the room, was a short, stout little biped with an environmental suit on. The being was round and even that was being kind as Shepard deduced that the alien looked like an old bowling ball with a pair of legs glued to the bottom.

"That must be Han Olar." Shepard whispered as he stared at the rotund alien.

All three stopped walking when the alien turned to look at them...because it had heard the whisper, "You came to find out about them didn't you." he said, his voice broken by the hissing intake of his breath through the breathing apparatus of his suit.

One of Shepard's brows arced, "Find out about who? The big bugs?"

The short, stout little alien nodded his just as round head.

"Are you trying to be cryptic? Or are you just nuts?" Shepard tried not to laugh out loud.

"To be honest...I wish I was crazy," he took a deep, hissing breath, "It would be easier."

"We know a little about those giant bugs...What do you know about them?" Shepard asked as he rested his hands on his hips.

"You mean the Rachni?" Han Olar wheezed.

"So you know what they are then?" Liara chimed in, her own brows furrowing that the company knew what they were dealing with and went along with their plans anyways.

"Yes...We do."

"So if the Krogan wiped them out in the Rachni Wars, how did you manage to find these?" Shepard asked, trying not to sound angry that yet another company was meddling in something they shouldn't.

Another wheeze, "Some scientists found it in a derelict ship...An egg...in waiting since the last battles...They brought it here." the Volus said, still with a hint of vagueness in his wheezing voice.

"These things are everywhere. If you were in the Hot Labs, then how did you survive?" Shepard asked, expecting the same kind of cryptic answers which he dully received.

"I killed her." Han Olar simply said, his voice void of any emotion.

Kaidan's brows furrowed a little harder, "Killed who? Who's her?"

"A female colleague of mine before they escaped...We were out to lunch when the alarms went off...I ran into the tram...and closed the doors...She banged on the window once...then they sliced her to pieces...Her head came apart like a melon...I closed the door...I killed her." Han Olar said, still void of any emotion that would suggest he felt any remorse.

Shepard folded his arms over his chest, "I guess that if you hadn't, you'd be dead too." he relented, acknowledging that in such a dire situation, anyone would most likely do the same thing.

Han Olar nodded, "That is very true." he admitted.

Kaidan's quiet gasp drew Shepard's attention, "Shepard...Benezia went into the Hot Labs." he reminded.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath, "Could Matriarch Benezia survive in the Hot Labs?" Shepard asked.

"It's possible...The specimens are sensitive to Biotics." Han Olar simply answered.

"Good." Shepard nodded as he stepped around the short alien and headed for a door with a Turian guard standing his post with weapon in hand.

"You're not part of the crew!" the Turian guard snarled, tightening his grip on his weapon a little tighter as the three strangers approached his post.

"Relax...I have Captain Ventralis's permission to head in there." Shepard said, in no way threatened by the guards demeanor.

"Oh...You're who he was referring to. Yeah...He radioed. He also said that you'll have to prove that you aren't contaminated in order to get out." the guard scoffed, scanning his three visitors up and down and taking note that they we all far more armed then he was.

"He told us that too. We'll be fine." Shepard said blandly as he made to step around the guard.

"If you have a death wish, why don't you go stand guard at the barricade instead." the guard scoffed once more.

"Did that already but thanks for the offer." Shepard quickly retorted as he walked through the door.

They emerged into a room with a small collection of crates and a three doors along the right wall. They slowly stepped inside, not really surprised as the door sealed behind them and locked them in. Each one scanned the room, looking for any indication if they wanted to look through the doors or not but it was the subtle glow of a terminal on a desk towards the back of the room that caught their attention.

"You think that's it Shepard?" Kaidan asked, pointing a finger towards the terminal.

"Might be. Looks like there's a datapad sitting next to it. Maybe those are the notes." Shepard shrugged as he started towards the back of the room.

Kaidan and Liara both shrugged as they followed Shepard to the terminal and watched as he picked up the datapad and began to read. Kaidan watched as the look on Shepard's face contorted into something that resembled confusion. He tried not to laugh as Shepard's brow arced high above it's partner the more he read, most likely having no clue what he was reading on the datapad.

"Shepard...Do you need me to look at it? You look like you're trying not to go to the bathroom." Kaidan asked, holding his hand out for the datapad while still trying not to laugh.

Shepard gladly handed it to Kaidan, "Go for it...It's all geek to me." he shrugged.

Kaidan silently laughed, "For you it is." he smirked as he began to read, holding the datapad slightly to the side so that Liara could look over his shoulder at the information.

The two remained silent for awhile while they read, only Kaidan's finger occasionally scrolling up to access new material for them to look at. Shepard turned and leaned back against the table with his arms crossed while he waited, rapping his fingers against his armored biceps and staring blankly at the door they had entered through. After some time, he glanced at Kaidan and Liara as Kaidan placed the datapad back onto the table and gently nudged Shepard out of the way so he could get to the terminal.

"You find something?" Shepard asked as he stepped to the end of the table and rested his hands on the table's edge.

"Actually...yes Commander. By the looks of these notes, all the scientists needed to do was synthesize the cure. Everything is here." Liara said as she scrolled back up to the top of the notes to begin the process.

"So they lost connection just before they were able to make it. How long will it take?" Shepard asked, taking a step back as Kaidan headed for a piece of equipment the resided nearby.

"Not long actually. Most of the components are organic. Think of it like... the cure for Hentavirus is Vitamin K. You can get it in Cranberry juice." Kaidan grinned, turning on the machine with the flight of his Omni-Tool.

"Smart ass." Shepard laughed as he stepped away from the table.

He opted to lean against a couple crates nearby and watch as Kaidan and Liara worked, periodically glancing back at the datapad of notes as they measured out what they needed to make the cure. He was happy that he wasn't the one who had to figure out how to make it, as he was certain he would have ended up making something explosive instead of something that helped the sick. He stayed quiet until the harsh grunt of the door drew his attention towards their visitors, seeing that they were heavily armed Geth accompanied by an Asari whom he vaguely recognized.

"Your mission ends here." the Asari said blandly, her eyes narrowing as she glared at Shepard and his squad.

Shepard's brows began to furrow, "I recognize you. You're that Asari I saw back with the other survivors. I thought you were a scientist." he returned the angering glare as he slowly started to move his hand towards his pistol.

The Asari scoffed, "You saw what you expected...Nothing more. I was ordered to eliminate you should the opportunity arise...and to my luck, here you are...trapped in this lab." she said with more then her fair share of smugness.

"Who ordered you to?" Kaidan demanded, stepping in front of the cure that was almost finished to provide it with some protection from the firefight he was expecting to erupt at any second.

"I suppose I could tell you since you aren't gonna make it out of here alive...Matriarch Benezia." she said, again with the same cocky tone.

The corner of Shepard's mouth began to curl up, "One thing you should know about confronting an enemy...Never get cocky." Shepard grinned.

"It's not cocky when it's gonna happen," she retorted, "Weapons free!"

With that, the two Geth that accompanied her brought their weapons up and took aim at Shepard. Luckily for him, he had his own Asari as her protective Biotic bubble wrapped itself around them to deflect the rounds from the Geth. Shepard quickly drew his weapon and opened fire at the Asari whom had wrapped herself in a Biotic Barrier. The two Geth dropped extremely quickly, thanks to Kaidan Throwing each into the far walls but the Asari was giving them a little more trouble as she kept herself protected with her own Biotics. As Liara kept up her bubble, Shepard and Kaidan lowered their weapons and flared their dark energy, moving in unison as they thrust the Asari back into the wall with a violent thud that knocked the wind out of her lungs. They strode across the room towards the Asari, leaving the protection of Liara's bubble as they bent down and picked her up by the collar of her scientist's garb to lift her up to their eye level.

"This is what happens when you get cocky." Shepard hissed as he took the Asari's full wait from Kaidan to pin her against the wall.

As she tried to speak, Shepard dropped her to the floor, seeing her Biotic Barrier fade and leaving her completely unprotected. He aimed his pistol once more at her and pulled the trigger, firing a round straight into her chest to pour a stream of blue blood on the floor.

"How much longer on that cure?" Shepard asked as he placed his pistol onto his hip.

"We're almost done. Shouldn't be long now." Kaidan answered before he returned to the table to finish their work.

"Good. Get it done. I'm very ready to be done with this place." Shepard groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose and waited by the door.

"Me too Shepard...Me too." Kaidan quietly mumbled.

Kaidan and Liara quickly finished their work and checked the notes one last time before he slipped the vial into a pouch on his belt.

"Ready Shepard." Kaidan said as he walked up to Shepard by the door.

Shepard nodded as he stepped up to the door, rather surprised as it immediately opened without any hesitation. They walked through, seeing that the Turian guard that was supposed to insure that the quarantine stayed in affect was laying on the floor in a pool of dark blue blood.

"Looks like that Asari killed the guard." Kaidan said as he knelt down to check for a pulse.

"Jesus...They survived the Rachni just to be killed by one of their own." Shepard growled, slowly shaking his head as he headed back towards the door that would take them back to the main med bay but stopped when the round Volus spoke.

"They came through the maintenance shaft if you're interested." Han Olar said with a light shrug.

"Who did? The Ge...those non-organics?" Shepard asked, quickly correcting himself as he didn't wanna cause any more worry by mentioning the Geth.

"Yes...Benezia brought them with her." Han Olar simply answered.

"We know. How do I get there?" Shepard asked.

"A team lead would have access...like Dr. Cohen." Han Olar said blandly.

"Finally...Something goes our way." Shepard said with a heavy, drawn out sigh.

"If you wish to speak with him...You can find him in the med lab." Han Olar wheezed.

"We know where he is. Thanks." Shepard said quickly as he turned and headed back through the door.

They quickly traversed back the way they came until they reached the med bay once more and headed through the door to the med lab. They nearly jumped down the short flights of stairs to reach the med lab as fast as they could, Shepard nearly tripping over his own feet and falling if it wasn't for Kaidan and Liara both catching his arms. They slowed their near sprinting pace once they reached the door, finding that the med lab hadn't changed and the doctor was still trying to help the patients as best he could.

"Doctor...We have it." Shepard said as he held his hand out so that Kaidan could place the vial in his gloved palm.

"Is that the cure?" the doctor asked, the quickly growing excitement evident in his voice.

"We think so. Hopefully the bullets that were flying at us didn't affect it." Shepard said, carefully handing over the cure to the doctor.

"Pardon? You were attacked?"

"Yup. It was great. Exactly what we needed." Shepard said, his voice over flowing with sarcasm until he got a strong elbow in his side from Kaidan.

"I...I don't know anything about that. I hate conflict...I've never even fired anyone." Dr. Cohen quickly defended.

"Easy...Relax. We didn't suspect you." Shepard's brows furrowed as he rubbed his side from the jab.

Dr. Cohen heaved a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness...Look...The guards...They've been a little on edge since you got here. Almost as if they were expecting you."

That caught Shepard's attention, "Figures...And things were going so well," he groaned when another elbow jabbed into his side, "Sorry...Just been one of those days."

"It's alright. Thank you for helping me with this. You saved them." Dr. Cohen said as he went to his medical equipment to prep to administer the cure to the patients.

"Glad I could help but I need some information." Shepard continued, crossing his arms over his chest again.

"Of course. Anything."

"We need to get into the maintenance areas"

"No one really is supposed to go back there but I don't see why you can't. You seem more then capable in handling yourself," he rummaged through a small pocket in his uniform and pulled something out, "Here...take my pass. It'll get you access." he handed the pass to Shepard.

Shepard's brows began to furrow again, "Is this pass different then the one I got for the Hot Labs?"

"Yes. Mine will get you into the back areas back where the quarantined lab is."

"Thanks. Appreciate the help."

With that, Shepard and his squad turned and again, darted back through the passageways to the med bay where they headed back to the quarantined lab. Han Olar still still stood in the center of the room, happily humming to himself that was broken by the wheezing intakes of breathe. Shepard lead his team towards the lab once again and caught sight of another door that was recessed back from the wall. He headed towards it and saw the red card reader, pulling out the new pass he had received from Dr. Cohen and quickly swiped it, turning the reader green. All three pulled their weapons and headed through into a short passageway to another door which opened up into a rocky, snowy tunnel. They kept their weapons trained down the tunnels length, seeing that it gently began to arc the further they stepped, their boots gently crunching on the ice and snow. Their soft footfalls were soon joined by the distinctive screeching of a Rachni as it came into view, standing right in front of another door which happened to be the way they needed to go. They wasn't no time in flaring up their Biotics, quickly Lifting the bug into the air where it's head was very messily smashed into the rock above to rain down a gooey green mess all over the snow.

"I'm really tired of these things. I wish Ash was here. She'd blow 'em sky high." Shepard groaned as he carefully hopped over the seeping corpse to reach the door.

"You and me both Shepard. I fully admit that I want my Lycan fix." Kaidan lowly chuckled as he followed Shepard through the door that took them into a passageway that squarely arced right.

"I knew it." Shepard laughed himself, leading his team through the second door into a room with a bunch of laboratory equipment stacked in one corner.

Their light banter silenced once they reached the center of the room, seeing that the only door they could go through was the one with an indicator over it that told Shepard there was another lab beyond it. They cautiously approached, weapons still aimed at the floor as they stepped through into the biggest lab they had ever seen.

The ceiling rose high over their heads with crates and equipment in just about every corner of the grated floor. The air was still chilled as they looked around, staying as quiet as possible as they took steps through the door, finally seeing a singular person standing on a raised platform in the center of the large lab.

"You do not know the privilege of being a mother. There is power in creation...To shape a life...Turn it towards happiness or despair." the singular being said from where she stood, staring at a very large container who's contents were shielded from Shepard's view.

"You must be Matriarch Benezia." Shepard stated, his voice carrying across the entirety of the lab.

Benezia nodded once, "Her children were to be ours...Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies." she said in a smooth voice, still looking at the container.

"Who's children?" Shepard asked, keeping his voice calm in hopes of maybe avoiding yet another fight.

"Her's...Her majesty, the queen." Benezia said, slowly raising a soft hand up towards the container.

Shepard's brows started to draw downwards, "Is this Queen in that container?" he motioned with his head towards the obscured object.

Again, she nodded and finally tore her eyes away from the container to see her unwanted guests, taking a moment to scan each one until she reached the only other Asari in the room. That's when Shepard saw the quickest flash of recognition in her eyes before it vanished to be replaced by the emotionless and blank stare she had had.

"I won't be moved by sympathy...No matter whom you bring with you into this confrontation." Benezia said flatly, taking a few, slow steps to the top of the stairs.

"You must be referring to your daughter." Shepard said, keeping his pistol aimed towards the deck.

"Indeed," she tilted her head, "Tell me...What have you told him about me Liara?" Benezia asked coldly.

"What could I saw mother? That you're insane? Evil? Should I explain to them how to kill you? What was I to say?" Liara said, her voice clearly betraying her as it shook with the whirlwind of emotions that were filling her.

"I supposed you make a point child," she turned her cold glare back to Shepard, "Have you faced an Asari Commando unit before Human?" she asked, her blue lips giving off the faintest hint of a smirk.

"Couple here and there but I don't believe that any mother, and this includes you, would kill their own daughter." Shepard tried not to snarl as his grip tightened on his weapon.

Benezia let go a low, airy laugh, "I know realize that I should have been stricter with her. Maybe then she wouldn't be so willing to defy my will." she growled.

Now Shepard's anger boiled hard in the back of his throat, "That's heartless...She's your daughter!" he started to shout, finding it harder and harder to keep from popping off a round in the Matriarch's direction.

"We may share the same blood...but she lost her way long ago." Benezia said just as coldly.

Shepard opened his mouth to answer but immediately silenced himself when the Matriarch's body flared high with her dark energy, causing Kaidan and Liara to move extremely quickly to find cover. Shepard went to find cover himself but found that his body was no longer under his control. He was wrapped in a shimmering Biotic field that immobilized him for a brief moment, but then allowed him to move once more as he started to feel a flood of emotions wash over him. He felt anger that wasn't his as well as sadness and confusion but he wasn't sure where it was coming from. The feeling was overwhelming as he dropped to his knees, his pistol clattering onto the deck with a heavy thud as he saw Kaidan and Liara lean out to fire their weapons at Benezia.

As soon as they opened fire, Shepard was sent into a whirlwind of pain in his arms and torso, causing him to scream out as the heat and crippling fire burned through him. He wrapped his arms around himself, tightly clenching his teeth together as more fire erupted in his gut. He forced his eyes open, looking up at Benezia as her body slightly shuttered from the impacts of rounds from Kaidan's and Liara's weapons and that's when he realized that the pain from the rounds weren't phasing her...the pain was being transferred to him.

"Stop shooting her! She's linked us together! I'm feeling her pain!" Shepard screamed, trying to keep from fully collapsing to the floor in a pain.

Kaidan immediately froze and looked at Shepard, seeing the intense pain across his face. He went to help Shepard but caught sight of a small squad of Asari Commandos coming through a door on the opposite side of the lab.

With Shepard out of commission, Kaidan and Liara were left to take them by themselves. Liara concentrated her efforts towards their right, down a catwalk were a couple Commandos had set up behind cover. She built up her dark energy as she sent a massive ball to their location. The ball swirled and hovered near the Commandos, lifting up not just the crates, but the Asari themselves as it swirled them in a circle before harshly throwing them all into walls. One of the Asari hit the wall so hard, that it could be heard over the swirling sound of the Singularity but her harsh grunt was immediately silenced when the crate she was hiding behind slammed into her, crushing her between it...and the wall.

As Kaidan saw that their right flank was covered, he focused his attention to the top of the stairs where a couple more Commandos were standing. His keen eyes caught sight of a red canister sitting at the feet of one of the Asari, giving him an idea but it held an heavy risk. He knew the explosion from the canister would take care of the Asari but the shrapnel could potentially cause Shepard more pain if they were to hit the Matriarch.

"Do it Alenko!" Shepard hissed, holding his stomach even tighter as another wave of pain ripped through him.

"Shepard...If that shrapnel hits Benezia, you could be in a world of hurt and I don't even know what kinda damage we already caused!" Kaidan protested, leaning back against his cover.

"Goddammit Alenko! Just fucking shoot the fucking thing!"

Before Shepard finished screaming, Kaidan took aim and fired, landing a round into the canister and caused it to explode, riddling the two Commandos with shrapnel but unfortunately...Benezia caught one with her cheek. Shepard howled another wail of pain, falling back onto his back and tearing his helmet off, gritting his teeth together so tightly that Kaidan was worried he was going to break them. Kaidan dropped his pistol and risked kneeling down next to him in hopes of helping in some way but he had no idea were to start as there weren't any physical wounds for him to address.

"Fuck! What the Hell did you mother do to me Liara?" Shepard growled, still holding a hand over his stomach.

Before Liara answered, she Lifted a Geth sniper high into the air and let it drop back to the floor with a heavy crash, "It's a Matriarchal ability. It's a Biotic link. Like a long distance meld. Any pain she feels, you feel in full force." she quickly answered, somewhat out of breath.

"So what do we do about?." Kaidan asked, removing his gauntlet to check Shepard's racing pulse.

"Nothing. My mother has to drop it." Liara said with a slow shake of her head.

Kaidan sighed as he pulled a pen from his med belt and dove the needle into Shepard's neck to inject a dose of painkillers, if at all to get the Commander up and back in the fight.

Shepard hissed as the pain finally began to ebb, "How the Hell is that even possible?" he groaned, rolling to his side and pressing his sweating forehead into the cold floor.

"The same way a meld works...just with more distance between the two involved." Liara said as she let her Biotics drop, seeing that her mother had braced herself against the container and was gasping for breath.

"Lovely...Just lovely." Shepard rolled his eyes as he accepted Kaidan's help to get to his feet.

Liara pointed to the top of the stairs, causing Shepard and Kaidan to look as well to see that Benezia appeared extremely weak. They retrieved their weapons and made their way up the stairs, Shepard a little slower then the others as the painkillers were still working on bringing the pain under control. As they reached the landing of the platform, Benezia dropped to her knees and looked over her shoulder, out of breath.

"This isn't over," she gasped, "Saren is unstoppable." she hissed as she slowly forced herself to stand.

"I'll prove you wrong." Shepard said, still slightly hunched over.

"My mind is filled with his light...Everything is so clear." Benezia said, her eyes glassy and not really looking at anything as she turned to face them.

"It's clear alright...He needs to be stopped...What's his next move Benezia?" Shepard asked, his voice still angry as the pain finally left him alone.

"I will not betray him," her breath came short once more, causing her to turn and brace herself against a console behind her, "You will...You...You must listen." feeling began to fill her voice, replacing the cold demeanor that had been there.

"I'm listening."

"Saren still whispers in my mind...I can fight his compulsions briefly but the indoctrination is strong." she struggled to say.

"So that's why you're helping Saren." Shepard said lowly, remembering the short but informative conversation he had had with Shiala back on Feros.

"It is a terror to be trapped in your own mind...To beat against the glass while your hands torture and murder. I was powerless...Nothing but a tool for him." she quivered.

"Why did Saren send you here? To train the Rachni?" Shepard asked, keeping a close eye on the Matriarch in case she decided to attack once more.

"No...he sent me here to obtain the location of the Mu Relay. It's position was lost thousands of years ago." Benezia said.

"How did you find it?" Shepard flatly asked.

"I did not...The Rachni did two thousand years ago." Benezia said, resting her hand on the console once more to keep from collapsing to the floor again.

"Keep talking."

"The Rachni have the ability to pass down knowledge through the generations. Queens inherit this knowledge from their mothers and pass it down to their young." she explained, placing a hand over her heart as she continued to fight the affects of her indoctrination.

"And?"

"I took the relay's location from the queen's mind," she hung her head and rested it in her hand, "I was not gentle." she sniffed with sadness.

"Why does Saren need the relay?" Shepard asked.

"He believes it will lead him to the Conduit. That is all I know...I am sorry." she took in a long, unbroken breath and squeezed her eyes closed.

"You can still help us. How do I find it?" Shepard asked.

Benezia nodded as she reached for something on the console and began to walk towards Shepard with her steps shuffling against the floor, "Here...I transferred the data to this OSD but you must move with haste. I have already sent Saren the information."

Shepard palmed the black OSD and put it into a pouch on his belt, "Thank you."

"You have to s-stop m-me..." she clawed her hands on her head, "I...I can't resist any longer..." she cringed, clenching her teeth together as she began to shake.

Shepard, Kaidan and Liara all perked up as they saw the Matriarch's body beginning to glow again, their internal alarms raising the alert that trouble was forthcoming.

"Mother! Please! You can fight this! Don't leave!" Liara called out, her eyes beginning to glass over as she saw her mother vanishing before her eyes.

"Liara! You have always made me proud..." she said with the last visage of her being, "You must...Die!" Benezia yelled, her voice no longer quivering as the cold demeanor returned.

Before Kaidan and Shepard could react, they were frozen in a Stasis field and left motionless to watch as Liara ran forward and grabbed her mother. She pulled her close to her, her lips next to her mother's ear as she pressed the barrel of her pistol into her mother's stomach.

"I'm sorry mother." Liara whispered as she pulled the trigger.

With a single, loud bang, Liara's pistol sent a round through her mother's body at point blank range spraying her blue blood all over the large container as the emotion returned to Benezia's face, her knees buckling as she slumped to the floor and held in her daughter's arms.

Benezia slowly raised her hand and placed it on Liara's cheek, "You must stop him my little wing." she whispered as a tear leapt from the corner of her eye and slowly slicked down her cheek.

"I'm so sorry mother. I didn't want it to end this way." Liara whimpered, gently whipping the tear that clung to Benezia's cheek.

"This was the only way it could end my dear. You saved me from serving him more." Benezia quietly whispered, unable to get her voice any louder as the color began to drain from her blue skin.

As Liara sat on the floor with her fading mother in her arms, the Stasis Field that held Shepard and Kaidan in place dropped, allowing them to move once more. Kaidan quickly strode up to the two Asari and knelt down, not realizing that Shepard had dropped to his hands and knees in pain, as the Matriarch had not released the link between them so he felt the bullet go through him. Kaidan reached into his med belt and pulled a packet of medi-gel from a pouch to apply it to Benezia's wounds but she stopped him by gently placing a hand on his.

"N-No...I-It is my time. I w-will never be t-the same again. T-This is the o-only w-way. S-Stop him. D-Don't let S-Saren w-win t-this f-fight." she stuttered weakly.

"No...wait...We can help..." Shepard tried to say through the pain as he crawled up to them.

Benezia slowly shook her head, too weak now to speak as she looked back to her daughter, seeing the thick build up of tears that threatened to plummet from Liara's eyes. She reached up once more and touched her cheek, her eyes saying what her heart wanted to, that she loved her daughter and she always will before her body went limp as her last breath left her lungs.

Liara quietly wept as she softly placed two fingers on her mother's eyes and closed them before she leaned forward and gently placed a soft kiss on her forehead. She slowly laid her to rest on the floor, wiping away the thick tears in her eyes and sniffled as she stood, looking over at Shepard and Kaidan whom just stared back.

"Liara...I'm so sorry." Shepard whispered as he stood up, placing his hands to his knees as the pain instantly vanished as soon the Matriarch had passed.

Liara sniffled, "It's better this way. If she was to die, then it was going to be by my hand." she choked back a strong sob as she glanced at her mother's lifeless body.

"Still...It's tough taking the life of someone you love...Trust me...I know." Shepard said, the tight feeling in his chest began to resurface from the memories.

Liara nodded as she sniffled once more, "It had to be done Commander and thank you for your concern." she said, ringing her hands together and taking a deep breath.

Shepard couldn't help but think about his own demons as he watched Liara try to regain control of her emotions. He wanted to comfort the poor girl but the tight feeling in his chest was making it hard for him to even think. He placed his hands on his hips when a low rustling started to catch his attention, causing him to slowly turn and look at the large container that the late Matriarch was staring at when they had arrived. The glass had fogged slightly, making it hard for them to see what was held inside. Shepard slowly stepped closer to the chamber, narrowing his eyes in hopes of getting a glimpse but it was no use...he couldn't see until he came within an arm's reach. He reached out and placed his hand on the glass, slowly dragging it down to wipe away the small splatters of blood when whatever was inside lunged at the glass.

When the creature lunged, Shepard leapt back so hard he fell onto his backside to scamper back from the chamber. His heart slammed in his chest from the scare as he jumped again when he felt something on both his shoulders, whipping his head to see that Kaidan and Liara and knelt by him to help him up. They looked back to the chamber to see that the creature was large to say the least. It's head was huge with a massive crest adorned behind it's many opalescent eyes. It's body looked like all the others Rachni bodies but it was a dark purple and far, far larger with multiple sets of legs and the same, long whips with claws at their end.

Shepard stood, still staring at the immense creature when Kaidan was bumped by an Asari Commando they thought was dead. She stiffly walked towards the chamber, her body mostly limp and stiff, almost as if she was sleep walking. When she reached the chamber, she lazily turned to face them, her eyes open but not looking at them, they seemed to be looking through them.

"This one...serves...as our...voice." the Asari spoke, her words broken and her voice adorned with a double timbre that raised their eyebrows.

"Who's voice? Who are you speaking for?" Shepard asked, aiming his pistol at the Commando.

"We...can not...sing. Not in...these low...spaces. Your musics are...colorless." the Asari said with the same, blank tone.

Shepard's brows pinched together, "I don't understand...I thought we killed you." he said, taking in a long breath to help steady his rattled nerves.

"This...vessel...is at the edge. She...struggles. You can not see...her magnificence. We are...the mother...We sing for those...left behind. The children...you thought silenced. We...are...Rachni." she said.

Shepard silently gasped as he figured it out, "The queen...You're the queen." he said quietly as he slowly stepped closer to the chamber.

"Yes..."

"Did you order your people to attack the science team?" Shepard asked, stepping next to he Asari and looking at the massive queen.

"No...The children are beyond our songs. They have been...lost to silence. The children we birthed...were stolen from us...before they could learn to sing," the Asari's voice sounded sad, lost and desperate, "End their suffering. They can not be saved...They are lost as they are." now her voice sounded pleading.

Shepard lightly placed a hand on the glass once more, "You want me to kill your children? You can't just tell them to stop?" he asked, trying not to sound upset that yet another mother wanted her children gone, though the first one wasn't in her right mind.

"I can not. These...needle men...they stole our eggs from us...They sought to turn our children into beasts of war...Claws with no songs of their own. Our elders are comfortable with silence but children know only fear if no one sings to them...Fear...has shattered their minds." she said, now sounding angry.

"Shepard...I think I understand." Kaidan said quietly.

"Please...fill me in." Shepard urged, glancing over his shoulder at Kaidan and Liara.

"Think of it as leaving a child in a closet until they're sixteen. They wouldn't be sane no matter how you look at it." Kaidan quietly informed, staring at the large creature inside the chamber.

Shepard nodded his understanding, "If...you're sure they can't be saved..." he was interrupted.

"It is lamentable but...it must be done...Please do what you must," the queen said, slowly dragging a wipe down the glass where Shepard stood, "But before...you deal with our children...We stand before you...What will you sing? Will you...release us? Are we...to fade away...once more?" she asked, the Asari the queen was speaking through stumbling slightly.

"You're asking whether I'm going to let you live or not?" Shepard asked, silently gulping as he still looked at the beast and actually seeing her large head nod.

"Yes." the queen's Asari confirmed.

Shepard stepped back away from the container, still looking at the queen the entire time as he thought. The Rachni had been thought extinct, wiped out by the Krogan a thousand years ago but here he was, standing in a lab and looking at a Rachni queen whom was asking, not demanding, but asking if she could leave. _The Rachni aren't mindless bugs...They're intelligent. _He thought, placing his hands on his hips. His mission was to stop Saren and prevent him from bringing back whatever these Reaper's were that wiped the Prothean's from the face of the galaxy. He wasn't sent to determine which races lived or died.

"Shepard, we weren't around during the Rachni wars. She's done nothing to us." Kaidan said quietly.

"The Lieutenant is right Commander."

Shepard nodded before he glanced up at the queen, as well as the Asari whom she was speaking through, "How do I know you won't attack other races again if I let you live?" he asked.

"All...you have is our word...but we would not. We...I...do not know what happened...during the war. We only heard discordance...Songs the color of oily shadows...A sour...yellow note. We would seek...a hidden place...to teach out children harmony. If they understand...perhaps...we would return." she said.

Shepard drew in a long breath once more, quickly mulling over his options as he looked at the queen herself. Her coloring he had to admit was lovely, the waves of purples that shifted into dark blues and blacks as the light changed reminded him of a dark nebula found out in deep space. The massive crown truly made her look like royalty and despite her ferocious appearance, the longer he stared, the less frightening she appeared. He couldn't kill her.

"I won't be responsible for killing an entire race," Shepard said as he stepped up to the console behind the Asari, "I'll let you go."

"You...would give us the chance to compose anew?" she asked, hope filling the double toned voice of the Asari.

"I won't commit genocide." Shepard simply said as he opened his Omni-Tool.

"We will...remember. We will sing...of your forgiveness to our children." she said in a grateful tone.

Shepard flighted his hand over the console, producing a low hum as the container lifted the queen into the air to a high catwalk near the ceiling of the lab. He watched as a door opened near the back of the container, allowing the queen a way out to freedom. He saw her turn in the container and head towards freedom but she stopped and turned to look back at him, her many eyes saying what she could not in his tongue. Her massive head bowed slightly, clearly showing him that she was thankful for his compassion before she turned and left, the low thuds of her thick legs against the grating echoing through the lab before they too, disappeared as she was gone.

"I really hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass." Shepard sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I don't think it will Shepard. You saw what she did before she left...I think she'll keep her word." Kaidan said as he stepped up next to Shepard.

"I hope you're right," Shepard mumbled, "I guess it's time to fulfill our end...We gotta clear out the Hot Labs." he sighed.

"How you feeling? You need another moment?" Kaidan asked, not knowing that the pain had vanished.

"No...The pain's gone. Let's get going...I need my Ashley fix."


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34: The Hunt Narrows

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

**Author's Note: **Updates to The Future That I See are going to slow down because I have started school online for my Bachelor's in Creative Writing in hopes of one day becoming a published author as well as being a script writer for movies and/or video games. I will still work on chapters regularly once I finish with my schoolwork for the day so please, be patient with me and I look forward to hearing from all of my followers as I continue to post as regularly as I can. Thank you all for reading :D

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The large lab was silent as Shepard and Kaidan gave Liara a few moments to reside over her mother, giving her time to come to terms with the Matriarch's fate. Liara knelt next to her mother's body, gently holding her hand in both of her's as she quietly wept with her eyes closed. The harsh lighting shimmered off the coating of blood on the floor as well as the blood that stained Benezia's dark clothing but it was the soft glint of a chain around her neck that caught her attention. Liara slowly reached for the silver chain, lifting it slowly to reveal a tiny pendent suspended from it. She gently slipped the chain from around her mother's neck to take a closer look at the small charm, seeing that it was a locket and as she carefully popped it open, she saw a picture of herself as a small child, sitting on her mother's lap. Liara wept just a little harder at the tiny memento, realizing that despite her mother's recent actions, she still remembered Liara and still loved her dearly. She slipped the necklace into her pouch on her belt before she gently kissed her mother's forehead once more, stood and walked to the two men that were patiently awaiting for her to finish.

"I apologize for taking so long Commander." Liara said quietly, blinking away the last remnants of tears that clung to her eyes.

"It's ok. Are you sure you had enough time?" Shepard asked, placing a hand on her shoulder as he was intimate with this kind of pain.

"I did Commander...Thank you. I believe we were going into the Hot Labs?" she said, eager to get away from the facility all together.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah...We have to purge them...Take care of the rabid Rachni before we can go." he took his hand off her shoulder.

"I am ready then Commander." Liara simply said, taking in a long breath to ready herself to finish this part of their mission.

Shepard nodded once more as he turned and headed towards a door with an exit indicator hanging over it. Once through, they followed the signs back towards the tram, remembering that Captain Ventralis had said the entrance to the Hot Labs was near there. They quickly ascended the steps and emerged back onto the abandoned platform, immediately turning right to a door with a burning beaker over it and swiping the card. They entered the elevator and rode it down, taking the brief moment to catch their breath and center themselves before they walked out to another large room with glass walls that provided a spectacular view of a hollow that had been carved out of the glacier. Shepard peered inside to see a singular man, sitting in a chair by himself in the center of the room and he appeared tired, or perhaps beyond that and into the point of total exhaustion. As Shepard approached, the man looked up, his eyes nearly colorless and sunken as he took in a deep breath and spoke.

"Are you hear to secure the situation?" the man asked in a heavily accented voice.

"Yes...I'm a Council Spectre. Who are you?" Shepard asked, feeling his own body begin to protest from not just soreness, but the rising hunger from using his Biotics so much.

"I am Yaroslev Tartakovsky...The operations director," the man took in another deep breath, clearly exhausted from just talking, "I would stand and shake hands but uh..."

"It's ok...Just rest. What do you need? Shepard asked, quietly.

"You must listen to me...If we do not contain our mistake...They will drop bombs from the battle station." the man said, nearly out of breath by the time be got to the end of his sentence.

"Makes sense. Why was Binary Helix running experiments on the Rachni?" Shepard asked, keeping his voice even.

"They planned to clone Rachni to mass produce them and create an army but when the egg hatched, they discovered that it wasn't a common Rachni, it was a queen so they moved her to Rift Station. They were thinking they could raise the babies to be obedient without her." the man explained, his heavy Russian accent making it tricky for Shepard to understand some of the minor words.

"We know separating them from their mother wasn't the best of ideas." Shepard huffed a breath, again wondering why corporations couldn't play nice.

"It was exactly the wrong thing to do. I am thinking, that without a queen, the Rachni do not develop properly...like her mind is shaping theirs. These Rachni are uncontrollable." he said, again, taking in a long breath.

"We have to put them down...What's the best way to do it?" Shepard asked simply, placing his hands on his hips.

"The Neutral Purge is the best way." the man said.

"How does it work?" Kaidan asked, his brows slightly drawing together as he hadn't heard of such a system before.

"It creates burst of Neutron radiation...Kills everything within the station. Anything beyond receives genetic damage of varying degree."

"Oh that sounds nice. Sounds like it could rot my nuts off. I plan on using those at some point." Shepard growled as he rolled his eyes.

"Not entirely," he took in another deep breath, "The tram is protected from the radiation. Any personnel there will not be affected." he clarified.

"Oh...So...set the purge, then book it to the tram. Easy enough...How do I set off the purge?" Shepard asked.

"The arming controls are through that door there. All you do is insert the key...then I will give Mira the..." the man started to say until his chest blew open and sprayed blood all over Shepard.

Shepard jumped back from the sudden splash of red that now painted his armor and looked at the scientist, seeing that a large, closed claw had replaced much of his torso. Giblets and entrails dangled precariously from the claws many spikes and blood continued to seep as he was lifted into the air but what unnerved Shepard the most, was that the man didn't die immediately, he had time to look at the claw that most likely removed his heart from it's place.

All three took a step back away from the hovering man to see that long whip the claw was attached to lead to a ventilation grate nearby. As the whip slung the man to the floor, a very large Rachni crawled out of the ventilation, screaming and all out roaring at them as it prowled closer to them, readying itself for the coming fight.

The three Biotics wasted no time in tearing the beast limb from limb, tearing off the whips and legs before wrapping it's body with them. Kaidan kept his dark energy up as he Lifted the creature and violently shoved it back into the shaft, cramming it down as it flailed and tried to resist but quickly gave up as soon as the grated covering came down on it's head.

"Fuck...Now what do we do?" Shepard huffed as he walked up to the mangled corpse of the man with the hard name to pronounce.

"I don't know Shepard. We don't have the code." Kaidan said, feeling the sweat build up underneath his helmet.

"You search the body, maybe we'll get lucky. I'll head to the controls and see if I can get it activated." Shepard said as he quickly started towards the back room.

When Shepard walked in, he saw that it was dominated by a large console with a holographic VI pedestal resting in front of it. As he stepped up, the hologram of Mira winked into existence, just as she had before when he had restored her functions.

_"Connecting...I have full access to the facility and I am at your disposal." _the holographic woman said with her synthesized voice.

"Activate the Neutron Purge system." Shepard ordered.

_"I'm sorry, but I can't do that without proper code authorization." _

Shepard stood up a little straighter as his stomach began to tighten, "Uh...shit...Um...6 Alpha..." he cupped his hand over his mouth and started to mumble. _Like that's gonna work you moron. God I'm an idiot._

_ "That is not the correct code. Please report to security for arrest and interrogation." _

_ Boy...That sounds familiar, _"How about not and say I did. I'm done for now." he rolled his eyes.

_"Very well Commander...Logging you out." _

Shepard groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose as he headed back into the main room just as Kaidan stood from searching the body.

"You find anything?" Shepard asked from across the room.

"Found the keycard!" Kaidan called back as he jogged across the room to where Shepard stood.

Shepard quickly took the keycard and looked it over, seeing in blatant black letters...the authorization code that he needed to start the purge. All three headed back to into the back room and approached the pedestal once more, activating Mira.

_"Online...How can I help you?" _

"Activate the Neutron Purge." Shepard ordered once more.

_"I'm sorry, but I can't do that without proper code authorization."_

Shepard looked at the card, "Code input 875020079...Code Omega...Locale execution."

_"Verified...Code Omega local execution in 120 seconds" _

Shepard, Kaidan and Liara all looked at each other for a brief moment as just how little time they had to get out sunk in. They quickly made for the door when more screams then they had heard yet erupted from the main room. They pulled their pistols and stepped through the door, only to stop dead in their tracks when they saw the squadron of Rachni between them and the door.

"Oh...my...fucking...God." Shepard said, feeling his muscles tighten all over his body.

"That...is a lot of Rachni Commander." Liara gulped, realizing that said Rachni were looking at them, waiting for them to make the first move.

Shepard glanced over at Kaidan, seeing the angry sneer that had adorned his face beneath his helmet. He started to growl low in his throat as he grew angrier at the Rachni for standing between him and getting back to ship where he could shower, get some real food and sit down to spend some time with Lycan. He felt the steady hum of his Biotics start to grow into a sharp buzz as the aura erupted angrily from his body.

"I...want back...to the ship!" Kaidan roared, his voice taking on the double tone it had when he was furious at Wrex that seemed to be a lifetime ago.

As he roared, the Rachni charged which was a very bad idea on their part. Kaidan ran forward, his body ablaze with dark energy as he Threw and Lifted bug after bug out of his path to the elevator. Halfway down the main room, he turned stared at Shepard and Liara whom stood in shock at his display of rage.

"Are you coming or not." Kaidan said, the double tinge to his voice reverberating through the room.

Shepard and Liara wasted no time in running after him as he continued on his rage through the Rachni juveniles. The three reached the elevator and piled in, immediately closing the door where Kaidan's dark energy withdrew back into himself and he slumped against the wall.

"You ok Kaidan?" Shepard asked, looking at Kaidan as he took several deep and slow breathes to regain control of his power.

"Fine...Just need a minute." Kaidan said between breathes.

"What was that?" Shepard asked, handing Kaidan one of his own energy bars to help his friend regain some energy.

"Same thing that happened in the Cargo Bay without the passing out." Kaidan said, taking a large bite of the snack and standing up straight.

"And how was it you were able to avoid the passing out part?" Shepard arced an eyebrow as he removed his helmet and wiped away a large amount of sweat that had accumulated.

Kaidan lightly smiled, "I just...thought of Ly...saw her in my mind and I just...needed to get back to the ship to see her." he briefly explained just as a muffled explosion lightly rattled their car.

They all braced themselves against the walls until the car stopped shacking and reached the top, letting them out onto the abandoned platform where the tram awaited their return.

"Why can't I do that?" Shepard groaned as he started towards the tram, the exhaustion finally starting to get the best of him.

"It would appear Commander, that the Lieutenant has finally started to embrace the Soul Bond between Lycan and himself. She grounds him in a way that gives him the most control of his Biotics." Liara said as she stepped into the tram car.

"Ok...Now I actually want you to meld with me and tell me what kind of bond is between me and Ashley." Shepard groaned as he hit the return button to Peak 15.

"I would be honored to Commander," she was interrupted by the strong growling of her stomach, "It would appear that I need to eat. I suppose we all do after the severity we used our Biotics." she sat with a tired sigh.

"You said it...I'm fucking starving. I can't wait to raid the galley when we get back to the ship." Shepard lightly laughed as he too sat, idling his leg and happy as the tram began to take them towards their safe harbor.

* * *

Shepard, Kaidan and Liara were hungary, cold and stuck in the airlock as it rained down cold water from a decontamination shower. They all stood rigid, helmets dangling in their hands as they let the cold water cool their heads from the build up of sweat. Finally, after several long, cold minutes, the water shut off and opened the door, allowing them to reenter the ship to see that they had a welcome party.

"Kaidan!" Lycan beamed as she jogged up to him and laid a towel over his soaked hair, gently rubbing the excess water from his raven locks.

Kaidan smiled and lightly placed his hands on her forearms, wishing that he was out of his armor so he could wrap his arms around her and feel her warmth.

"Hey you." he whispered, smiling under the towel over his head.

Ashley started to giggle, "You gonna fold his laundry too Lycan?" she laughed with a friendly pat to her friend's shoulder.

Lycan started to laugh along with her, "Shut up. The guy's probably exhausted and he needs a shower because I can smell him through the armor." she smile with chagrin up at Kaidan.

"Oh is that so?" Kaidan chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Lycan and pulled her to him, smearing the water from the decontamination shower all over her clothes.

"Hey!" Lycan giggled as she lightly protested against getting damp but quickly gave in to his embrace.

Ashley chuckle once more before she looked over towards Shepard, seeing the soft crooked grin that had spread across his lips, "You look tired Skipper."

"I am. Tired and hungary," he said as Liara stepped around him, looking down at her hands, "You gonna be ok Liara?" he asked, concerned for her.

"I'll be alright Commander. If I may...I would like to get cleaned up and find something to eat." she said, glancing up at him for a brief moment before looking back at her hands.

"Of course. Debrief in an hour." Shepard said as he watched her head down the CIC.

"Is she ok?" Ashley asked the question they had all been thinking.

"She...needs some time. I'll explain later." Shepard answered, glancing at Ashley, Kaidan and Lycan as his grin faded.

Lycan slowly nodded, "Ok." she said, slightly pulling away from Kaidan's wet embrace.

No one really had anything to say after that, opting to just look at each other and hoping that someone else would break the silence. They were concerned for Liara's well being, as she was usually smiling for one reason or another but she was really down and they had no idea what to do to put the smile back where it belonged. Their saddened silence was broken by the chorus from two very hungary stomachs.

Lycan pulled away from Kaidan a little more, resting her hands on his arms, "It would appear that you two are hungary." she pointed out, looking at his stomach which only caused her imagination to run wild with what a sweaty Kaidan looked like.

"I'm starving. Debriefing in an hour right?" Kaidan asked as he slipped the towel from his head and slung it over his shoulder.

"Around there yeah." Shepard confirmed.

Kaidan nodded as he smiled down at Lycan, unable to stop himself from gently grasping her hand and starting down the CIC towards the elevator. He had to force himself to keep from taking Lycan back into his arms and kissing her, the desire to feel her lips against his building all over his body like a heat wave. The door finally opened into the Cargo Bay where they headed for Kaidan's locker, Lycan carefully removing his weapons and setting them down onto Ashley's work station to be taken care of. Kaidan started the process of removing the armor plates from his arms and legs before he felt Lycan begin to unstrap his backplate to set it down next to the others. He watched her, soft smile still in place as she stepped in front of him and repeated the process with his front plate, setting it down all the while looking up at him with her own soft smile.

"I hope you didn't have too much trouble out there." Lycan said quietly as she leaned against his locker to let him finish getting out of his armor.

"It was...rough. " he answered as he grabbed a clean uniform and his shower bag from his locker.

"Lots of bad guys?" she asked, beating him to the punch when she took his towel out before he could reach for it.

"More like lots of bugs. I'll show you after my shower. How's that?" Kaidan asked, gently giving her upper arm a soft squeeze and a smile.

"Sounds great. I'll meet you up in the galley." Lycan said as she took his hand and gently placed a soft kiss to his palm.

Kaidan smiled and watched her head for the elevator, not even bothering to stop his eyes from scanning her figure until the door obscured his view. He gathered his things and headed into the showers, which to his surprise was empty but the floor was wet, telling him that it had been used recently. He slipped into a stall and peeled off the thick underlay, groaning as he realized just how sweaty he'd gotten while they were out. The steaming hot water immediately washed away the grime that had built up and began to ease away the soreness in his muscles, causing him to release a tired sigh as he took a few more moments to just soak. He finally decided it was time to wash up and quickly shampooed his hair, scrubbed his body and rinsed before he cranked off the water and started to dry off.

After quickly dressing and putting his things away in his locker, he headed up to the Crew Deck to find that Lycan had prepared his meal and was waiting for him at the table. He smiled as he walked up to her and sat down, holding her gaze while she slid the tray in front of him for him to begin.

"You made me dinner?" he asked, still holding her gaze as he picked up his spoon to start on the large bowl of soup that sat in front of him.

Lycan lightly shrugged, "Sort of...I just got it from the auto chef." she silently chuckled.

Kaidan swallowed down the large spoonful he had stuck into his mouth, "Still...You took the time to make me dinner. I really appreciate it." he said, slightly pressing his shoulder into hers.

"You're very welcome." she said as they both fell into a companionable silence.

Kaidan happily ate his meal that Lycan had prepared for him, taking each spoonful of soup with a soft smile on his face and glancing over at her as she played a game on a datapad. He smiled a little wider as he watched her skillfully play spider solitaire, which on all accounts wasn't very hard once you got the gist of it. He drew to the bottom of his bowl and finished off his soup by tilting the bowl to his lips and swallowing down the last sips of the liquid. As he made to stand and take his tray to the galley, he felt the slight pressure of Lycan's hand on his arm.

"I'll take it in. The debriefing is about to start." she smiled as she slid the tray towards her.

"Ly...I'm perfectly capable of taking my own dishes in. You don't have to wait on me hand and foot." he said, slipping his hand underneath her's to gently hold it.

Lycan lightly shrugged, "I know but I want to. You've been gone so long and working so hard, you deserve to just sit for a bit." she affectionately squeezed his hand.

Kaidan lightly bit his bottom lip as he looked around the Crew Deck, to his delight, seeing that no one was within sight of them thanks to the elevator housing that sat behind the table. He clutched her hand and pulled her to him, wrapping his other arm around her waist as he leant down and gently placed his lips to her's. The flush of warmth that fluttered down his spine made him shiver, causing him to smile against her lips before he pulled away and grasped her hands.

"I don't deserve you." he smiled, his forehead grazing her's as he whispered.

"Yes you do," she whispered back, slipping her hands free to pat his hip, "No go on. You're gonna be late for the debriefing." she smirked.

Kaidan lowly laughed as he nodded and headed for the stairs to the CIC, not really in any hurry to get up them as the muscle soreness had already started to return. He entered the Briefing Room just as Shepard came down the CIC from the bridge, both entering to find that everyone else was waiting for them in their usual spots with Liara staring down at her hands which still held the locket charm from her mother.

"Everyone ready?" Shepard asked as he took his seat, glancing around the room to see everyone nod.

"Alright...So to fill everyone in, Peak 15 was nothing like we expected it to be. Matriarch Benezia had brought a small contingent of Geth along with her but it's what the scientists were working on that disturbed me the most. We found...Rachni." Shepard shortly explained as the room blew into a chorus if what's and oh my God's.

"I thought they were extinct." Ashley exclaimed, trying to keep from yelping.

"They were. My people wiped them out a thousand years ago. There's no way you found those vial beasts!" Wrex boomed, clenching his fists into tight balls.

"Liara...If you could." Shepard lightly ordered.

Liara nodded, her face blank as she opened up her Omni-Tool and brought up the information they had collection on the large holoscreen. The room quietly gasped, said for those whom were there as they read through the information and scans displayed before them.

"Like I said...We found Rachni." Shepard repeated.

Wrex's face quickly turned into an angry sneer, "Please tell me you killed them all Shepard." he growled, shifting awkwardly in his chair.

_This isn't gonna go well. _Shepard thought with a sigh, "Most of them. I spared the queen."

"You did what! Those monsters kills thousands of my people during the war!" Wrex stood from his seat, fuming with anger.

"I know they did but that was a thousand years ago Wrex. We discovered that the Rachni aren't just instinct driven bugs, they're intelligent." Shepard defended, trying to keep his own temper under control, as the ship didn't need a battle royale to break out in the Briefing Room.

"They're bugs and they deserve to be dead!"

Shepard sprang up from his seat, "Sit the fuck down Wrex! I made the decision not to completely wipe out an entire race! If you don't like it...then get off my damn ship!" he rocked forward on one foot, still fuming with anger.

Wrex growled from the back of his thick throat, "Suit yourself Shepard but the ancestors help you when this comes around to bite you in the ass." he snarled, sitting back down with a heavy thud.

Shepard remained standing for a moment before he took his seat once more, still glaring angrily at the Krogan. _Thank God he responds to brash, _"Anyways...That wasn't the only thing we managed to discover. Turns out Saren was hunting for the location of the Mu Relay, which this Rachni queen happened to know where it was. Benezia got the location and gave it to Saren...she also gave us a copy." he continued.

"So what's next? We head to the Mu Relay?" Ashley asked, resting her hands on her knees.

Shepard slowly shook his head, "Afraid not...The Mu Relay could link to dozens of systems. Unless we know exactly where Saren is headed, we'd just be wasting our time. We need more."

"The Commander is right. We can not rush into this blindly. We still need to learn more about Saren and how to correctly combat his tactics." Liara said, her voice overly professional and void of her usual perk.

"But if we have the chance to head him off at the pass, we have to take it..." Ashley argued, her brows pulling together.

"Enough...Listen...I know what's riding on this mission and it's tough...real tough and I know we're all on edge right now so let's cut this short and get some rest. If you have any questions about the Rachni, the information we collected is already stored in the ships databanks so please, hit that up if you wish. Otherwise...you're all dismissed." Shepard said with a low sigh as he watched everyone stand to leave.

He stood from his seat to leave himself when Joker's voice came over the comm, _"The Noveria report is away Commander. Do you want me to patch you through to the Council?" _

Shepard groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yeah...Patch 'em through." he sighed as he turned to the face the three podium's.

_"Understood...Setting up link now Commander."_

After a few moments, the three podiums winked to life with the three distinctive forms of three different types of aliens.

_"You finally found the time to speak with us I see. We don't appreciate you refusing to take our call like you did." _the Turian councilor growled angrily.

"I was hungover...I didn't feel like getting yapped at by you your grace." Shepard rolled his eyes.

_"And I don't appreciate your tone Commander. You're lucky you're even a..." _the Turian was interrupted.

_"That's enough...His reasoning for not taking our call last time is a moot point when taken into a consideration this newest report. Is this accurate Commander? You found Rachni on Noveria?" _the Asari asked, her shock evident.

_"That's another point I wish to discuss! You released the queen? Do you realize what you've done? Just how many generations until they overrun the galaxy?" _the Turian snarled.

"If you would have read my report, you'd know that the Rachni aren't murderous bugs. They're actually intelligent and this queen understands why her people had to be wiped out the last go around." Shepard retorted.

_"I hope you're right Shepard. Our children's children will pay the price if you're not." _the Turian hissed, nearly under his breath.

"You should try having a little faith in me Councilor. I might surprise you." Shepard nearly growled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

_"Gentlemen...Please," _the Asari councilor jumped in, _"There are more pressing matters at hand."_

_ "Yes...There is a Salarian Special Tasks Group currently on Virmire that we recently lost communications with. The message we received was little more then static." _the Salarian councilor reported simply.

At the mere mention of Virmire, Shepard's chest began to tighten, "I assume you want us to go investigate." he said, keeping his voice even as his mounting nerves grew.

_"That would be a repetition of their task Commander. They were sent to investigate a possible facility that Saren is utilizing as a cloning facility but for what, we just don't know. We will inform you as soon as we know more." _the Salarian councilor finished.

Shepard tried to hide his gulp, "Understood Councilors."

With that, the podiums went dark, leaving Shepard standing in the middle of the Briefing Room with his own thoughts. He had pushed everything Lycan had told him about Virmire to the back of his mind, not wanting to think about having to choose between one of his closest friends and the woman he had come to love. He felt his stomach twist and churn the more he thought about it, so he decided to try and forget about it for a little while longer. He turned and walked out of the Briefing Room, his whole body starting to shake as he quickly made his way to his quarters and ignored the looks from Kaidan and Lycan as the doors shut behind him.

"I wonder what's on his mind?" Lycan said as she sat next to Kaidan by the flickering monitor.

Kaidan lightly shrugged, "I'm not sure. I'll leave him be for a bit before I go talk to him." he said as Lycan coaxed him off his seat and onto the floor where she started to rub his shoulders.

"Everyone looks gloomy," she said quietly, ducking her head over just enough to see a yawn rip from Kaidan, "And so do you for that matter."

"I'm just tired. I used my Biotics a lot today. We all did." Kaidan said as he hung his head.

"Then how come you don't go take a nap?" Lycan asked as she stopped rubbing his shoulders and sat down on the floor with her back up against the front of the seats and facing the monitor.

"I'm thinking about it. I just want a few minutes to just sit and relax." Kaidan sighed as he followed to sit right next to her, his shoulder pressed into her's.

"Why don't we watch a vid then?" she suggested with a soft smile.

"Sounds like a plan to me. What you wanna watch?" Kaidan asked as he brought up his Omni-Tool so he could begin browsing the endless list of movies to choose from.

Lycan stared at the slow scrolling list of vids on his Omni-Tool, "How about that Kung Fu Panda. That sounds interesting." she smiled and pointed at the title.

"It's funny. Old...but funny." Kaidan smiled as he selected it and pressed play.

They sat back as the monitor turned from the standby orange to black as their chosen entertainment began. Kaidan slouched down and rested his head on the front of the seat with a long, content sigh, wrapping his arm around Lycan's shoulders to pull her closer as they nestled into each other. The lights in the corner turned low to make viewing easier but it only fueled Kaidan's exhaustion as another yawn fought to get free. Lycan looked over at him once he reached up to rub his eyes, hoping to buy him time before the exhaustion became too much but she could clearly see that he was quickly succumbing. She lightly pulled away from him but kept her lips close to his ear to whisper.

"I'll be right back." she said as she hopped up to her feet.

"Where you going?" Kaidan asked as he watched her.

"Just gonna go get something. I'll be right back." she smiled as she headed across the Med Bay.

Kaidan opened up his Omni-Tool and paused their feature so that Lycan didn't miss anything while she was gone. It didn't take her long to return with a pillow from her bed in hand, sitting down in her spot once more and plopping it down into her lap.

"Come on...Lay down." she said quietly as she lightly patted the pillow.

Kaidan instantly started to feel his cheeks getting warm, "Oh...uh...Alright." he stuttered, shifting his weight just a bit to lay down on his side with his head resting in her lap.

"Comfortable?" she asked, lightly starting to caress his hair.

Kaidan nodded and sighed as he resumed their movie, "Extremely." he said, finding that his body was melting from her gentle strokes which only allowed the exhaustion to take over.

They fell back into their companionable silence as the movie progressed, both laughing when the poor panda was launched sky high by fireworks, only to face plant onto the ground below. However, Kaidan's exhaustion soon took full control no matter how hard he tried to fight it, his eyes slowly closing until he couldn't keep them open any longer and quickly fell asleep.

Lycan glanced down to see that Kaidan had fallen into a much needed sleep, his eyes still and his breath even with a delicate smile on his lips. She wove her fingers into his hair, smiling as the soft raven locks were still slightly damp and cool to the touch. She noticed that he hadn't put any hair product in after his shower and she had to admit, seeing his hair fall naturally around his face was a rare treat. She let her hand slowly drift down the side of his face to find that he had freshly shaven, leaving behind the smooth olive skin that she found joy in touching. She paid their movie no mind for a few moments, opting instead to watch his face while he slept and softly run her fingers through his hair.

After she was sure he was dead asleep, she turned her attention back to the movie and carefully draped her arm over his side to let her hand rest against his stomach while she watched. She split her concentration in two, half paying attention to the movie while the other half paid attention to Kaidan's breathing as his stomach and chest rose and fell with each breath. She was perfectly content to just sit there with him, knowing he needed the rest and she was happy that she could help him do so. She could always ask for details later anyways.

* * *

The _Normandy_ hadn't pushed off from their dock on Noveria, as her pilot was patiently awaiting his order but her Commander wasn't ready to give it...not yet. The shifts had progressed like they always did but after the night shift had gone into full swing, no one had seen or heard from Shepard since the debriefing.

Shepard sat in a chair at the small table in the middle of his quarters, head resting in his hands as he stared at a series of holos that he had laid out. One of the holos was a picture of the celebration after his graduation from Sentinel training, both he and Kaidan holding up their bottles of beer that they were adding to their already sizable collection. He shifted his gaze to another that he managed to find in the Alliance's personnel database of Ashley, in fact, it was her profile picture that he had uploaded into a holoframe. The last holo, was that of his family on his 16th birthday at the party his parents had put together. His little sister, Michaela, had knocked his plate of cake up into his face but both Shepard children were laughing like they had never laughed before. All three holos lay in a row for him to look at but they didn't bring him any solace for the thoughts raging through his head.

_ This is it...I have to go to Virmire. I can't just avoid it...Not this time. _He thought, over and over again as he continued to stare at the memories laid before him. He was at a completely lose of what to do and was about to give up until the chime at his door caused him to flip his chair backwards, putting him onto the deck with a heavy grunt and a bumped head.

"Fuck!" he yelped as he rubbed the back of his head and rolled onto his hands and knees, "God dammit...Who is it?" he growled, pushing himself up to his feet.

_"It's Lycan Commander." _her voice came through the comm on the door.

Any anger at the surprise immediately vanish, "Come in." he said as he tapped a button on his terminal to unlock the door.

The door quietly open with a soft hiss, revealing Lycan standing in a pair of sweats, tank top and zip up with a tray in her hands. She stepped inside and set the tray on Shepard's table, stopping to glance at his pictures but he jumped to pick them up so she couldn't see. He stuffed the holoframes into a drawer before looking back at her to finally realize that she had brought two mugs with a steaming hot liquid inside.

"What's that?" he asked, raking a hand back over his hair.

"It's tea Commander. I thought you'd might like some since you missed chow." Lycan said with a slight shrug, picking up a mug and setting it down on the table for him to sit.

"Oh...um...Thank you. You didn't have to do that." Shepard sighed as he stepped up to the table and grasped his mug.

"I don't have to do a lot things but I do them anyways Commander." she smiled as she sat and took a sip of her tea.

"You don't have to call me Commander you know. You can call me Gabriel." Shepard nodded, taking his own sip but not sitting.

"How about I just call you Shepard. I think Ashley would like the honor of being the first to call you by your first name." she huffed a small laugh.

"You're probably right," he took a sip, "So what brings you to my cave at such a late hour?" he asked, still not sitting down.

"Everyone else is asleep and since you haven't come out of your quarters since after the debriefing, I thought you could use a little Human contact." she said with another sip.

Shepard huffed his own sad laugh, "You've been hanging out with Joker too long." now, he made to sit as he picked up the chair off the floor and sat backwards in it.

"We all have," she smiled, "So what were those pictures of? If it's alright to ask that is." she rested her elbows on the small table.

Shepard sucked in a long breath and took another sip of his tea, not sure if he wanted to answer or not but he considered her a friend, so he decided to keep it simple.

"Just some old memories." he simply answered.

Lycan slowly nodded, "Old memories you don't with to share by the sounds of it so I won't push." she wrapped her hands around the warm mug, enjoying it's warmth as she took another sip.

"I appreciate it."

The pair remained silent for a few moments, both enjoying their tea in the blue glow of Shepard's cabin until Lycan broken it with the soft clearing of her throat.

"You know...Joker is still waiting for you to give the order to shove off." she quietly said.

"I know...I'm just not ready to give it yet." Shepard sighed as he swirled his tea in his mug.

"Are we headed back to the Citadel?" Lycan kindly asked.

Shepard slowly shook his head, "No...The Council...told us to head to Virmire."

"What kind of place is it?" she asked.

"It's a garden world."

At that, Lycan started to lowly laugh, causing Shepard to arc and eyebrow and stare at her for a moment while she quietly chuckled.

"What?" he asked after a few moments, confused as to why she was laughing.

"I guess you're finally taking Joker somewhere nice huh?"

Shepard's throat rumbled with a low laugh that slowly grew into a full laugh, "Yeah...I guess you're right on that one," his laughed started to fade, "So I gotta ask...How are you and Kaidan doing?" he dared.

"Oh...uh...I guess it's only fair considering...We're fine...Still trying to...figure a few more things out but we're good."

"What's still there to figure out? It's obvious how you two feel about each other."

"I guess we're still getting to know each other a little better." Lycan said with a light shrug, still clutching the mug to warm her hands.

"I would have thought that you two knew everything there is to know about each other." Shepard smirked, interlocking his fingers together.

"We do to a certain point. Mainly what I mean is..." her cheeks started to blush, "Well...what we like. I don't really remember what I like." Lycan said, looking away from Shepard as her embarrassment rose.

Shepard's brows lightly furrowed, "I'm assuming you're referring to things you like related to the bedroom."

Lycan nodded and lightly rubbed her upper arm, "Yeah...Ever since Liara erased my memory, I don't really know what I like and don't like anymore." she shrugged.

"I guess that leaves Kaidan to remap the terrain then." Shepard lightly chuckled.

"Funny," Lycan grinned, "To be honest, I hope we get to that point but I'm not gonna rush it. I value his companionship too much."

"I can imagine. He's been a close friend of mine for quite some time and I've confided in him more then my fair share of times." Shepard admitted with a small sigh.

"That doesn't surprise me. He just has that...aura, I guess, about him. You just feel like you can tell him anything." Lycan said, her lips softly curling into a soft smile.

"I taken advantage of that often. Did Liara ever come out of her room?" he asked, deciding to take the time to catch up on what he missed while held up in his quarters.

Lycan shook her head and took a sip of her tea, "No...She never did. Everyone's curious what's wrong with her."

Shepard drew in a long breath and held it for a moment, "You remember why we were on Noveria in the first place?"

Lycan thought for a moment and took a sip, "Matriarch Benezia right?"

Shepard nodded, "Yeah...Well...we found her but she was under Saren's control. Liara...killed her." he sighed.

Lycan felt a sharp in her chest at the news, "My God...I guess she's taking it pretty hard then. Poor thing...If I would have known, I would have gone to see her."

"Kaidan didn't mention anything?" Shepard asked, furrowing his brows.

Lycan shook her head, "He fell asleep when we were watching a movie not long after the debriefing. He's been out ever since." another sip of tea gone.

"Really...Thought he'd be spending time with you." Shepard grinned.

"Oh he did. He fell asleep when we were watching a movie. Wrex helped me movie him into the Med Bay after my butt went numb from sitting on the floor." Lycan laughed.

"He fell asleep on the floor?" Shepard felt himself joining in on her laughter.

"He did. He laid down and out his head in my lap and he was gone. I got lucky when Wrex came up for something to eat and I asked him to help me get him into the Med Bay."

They both chuckled at the thought of Wrex picking a completely exhausted Kaidan up off the floor to carry him like a limp sack of potatoes. Shepard wished he was there to see it.

"I bet that was funny." he said, reigning in his laughter.

"It was. It was hard to keep quiet so I didn't wake him up. I was pretty sure that he had yelped like a six year old if he opened his eyes to see Wrex." Lycan giggled.

"He probably would have too."

Soon, the laughter quieted down until there was nothing but silence between the two. Lycan finished off the last of her tea and set her mug down on the tray to join Shepard's, picking up the tray as she got ready to leave the Commander so that he could get some rest.

"I'll leave you to get some sleep Shepard. I hope the tea helped to calm your head." Lycan nodded as she headed for the door.

"How'd you know something was on my mind at all?" Shepard's brows furrowed lightly once more.

Lycan softly sent him a smile, "You don't lay out old memories that you don't want to talk about if something isn't." she pressed the edge of the tray against her side and held it with one arm.

"You're observant...That's good." Shepard returned her soft smile.

"I just don't like missing anything. Whatever it is that you're thinking about...Sometimes the answer doesn't present itself to the last minute so just be patient. All the answers come in their own due time." she smiled.

"If only it were that easy." Shepard countered.

"Sometimes it is...Good night Shepard." Lycan bowed her head briefly as she turned to leave but Shepard stopped her.

"Lycan...Thank you...for the tea...It helped."

"You're welcome. Now...if you'll excuse me...I have a debt to collect." she smirked.

"What? What debt?" Shepard felt his soft smile return.

"Joker owes me some cookies. He said I couldn't get you to open the door," her smirked grew, "Lucky for me, you like tea."

Shepard smiled as the doors shut behind Lycan, leaving him alone once more in his quarters with his demons and thoughts. He walked up to the drawer he had hidden his holoframes and opened it, all three laying there and staring back at him. His mind started to race again the longer he looked but the Commander part of his brain began to take over which he was grateful for and it told him that it was time for him to make a decision. He closed the drawer once more and walked to his terminal, quickly opening up his comm and linked it to the bridge.

"Joker...Set course for Virmire."


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Interim VI

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! Thank you to my beta Hewhoislost for keeping me straight!)_

The Normandy was closing in on Virmire and Shepard knew it, despite the fact that he hadn't left his cabin in nearly a day. He ran his checks via his terminal, deciding to just use the in ship comm to see how everyone was doing and for all he knew, things were fine. The three holoframes still sat on his small table and in his self proclaimed solitary confinement, he had spent most of it staring at the people in the holos.

Lycan's talk the night before only added to his thoughts on what to do when they arrived at Virmire and specifically, when it came time to choose between his best friend and the love of his life. He hadn't eaten in the time he'd been secluded, not having the appetite, or the stomach to handle a meal when he had to decide who lived and who died for the second time this mission alone. His stomach growled loudly and echoed in the small quarters and he knew then, that he had to leave it's confines at some point. He gently picked up the three holoframes, taking a moment to look at each one once more before he hid them in a drawer. Once satisfied that they were out of sight and out of mind, he started for the door and unlocked it, nearly having a heart attack when he saw his best friend standing on the other side.

"Jesus H. Christ Alenko! What is it with you and scaring the piss out of me!" Shepard growled as he raked a hand back over his hair.

"And my answer remains the same. I don't do it intentionally." Kaidan deadpanned, standing his ground.

"I suppose you wanna to come in." Shepard sighed, seeing Kaidan nod which was his cue to step, "Something you need?" he asked blandly.

Kaidan walked to the center of the room and turned to look at Shepard, leaning back against the table and folded his arms, "I came to check on you. You've been MIA since we left Noveria."

Shepard hung his head for a moment before smacking the button to close his door and placed his hands on his hips, "I'm alive...for the moment."

Kaidan's brows lightly furrowed, "I know that look...Somethings on your mind."

Shepard scoffed, "Am I that transparent? Fucking Christ Kaidan...between you and Lycan, I'm not even safe in my own head." he growled and leaned up against the bulkhead.

"She told me she talked to you. She didn't push if I recall." Kaidan said, shifting his weight to his other leg.

"You're right...she didn't and I appreciate it. Now that you know that I'm alright, can you leave?" Shepard asked bluntly.

Kaidan shook his head, "No...She saw some holos on your table there didn't she," he craned his head around and looked at the table top to see the light scuff marks left behind by haphazardly tossed holoframes, "And...judging by these marks...she was right." he finally looked back to Shepard.

Shepard immediately felt the rise of anger in his throat, but he forced it down, knowing that Kaidan's and Lycan's intentions were good, "Yeah...Three of them. They're in that drawer behind you." he motioned with his head towards the drawer underneath his terminal.

Kaidan pushed off the table and headed for the drawer, pulling it open to the see the holos and immediately knew exactly what was on Shepard's mind.

"Shepard...You've been thinking about Virmire haven't you." Kaidan said, leaving the drawer open as he turned back to look at Shepard.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah...Ever since the Council told us to head there," he sighed, "I can't get it out of my head." he admitted.

"It's been in the back of my head since Ly mentioned it too, but I'm not letting it consume everything that I am." Kaidan said, crossing his arms once more.

Shepard pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm not like you Kaidan. I can't just...will things into the back of my head like you can. I've lost a lot of sleep thinking about this." he sighed again, raking another hand over his head as he walked to his table and sat with a huff.

"You're lucky you don't get migraines then," Kaidan huffed, "Shepard...Whatever happens on Virmire, we'll make it through." he reassured.

"How can you be so sure we will? Kaidan, Lycan said I had to choose. That means that it was a stagnant event. I'm gonna have to choose between you or Ashley." the shaking in Shepard's voice grew as he rested his head in his hands.

"You don't know that Shepard. The fact that you, me and Liara still know what could happen, could be enough to sway the timeline. You may not have to choose." Kaidan said, taking the seat across from Shepard.

"We don't know for sure if that's true. None of us are quantum mechanics. The timeline shift could end up with you both being dead." Shepard countered with a heavy intake of breath, his stomach flipping at the dreadful thought.

"That's a huge 'what if' Shepard." Kaidan said, clasping his hands together on the table top.

"It's a possible 'what if.' I...I've lost so much Kaidan. Why do I have to make this decision? I love Ashley and I've waited a long time for someone like her to come my way but on the flip side of that coin, you're one of my best friends and I don't wanna rob you of a happy life with Lycan." Shepard said, finally looking up from the table to look at Kaidan.

Kaidan sighed, "It's like I said Shepard, you may not have to. Lycan may not remember anything, but she can still cause ripples. Virmire may not happen like she knew it."

"I hope you're right," Shepard returned the sigh and decided, he was going to take Kaidan's advice and not think about it, "Has Liara come out of her room?" he asked, eager to change the subject.

Kaidan shook his head, "No. Ly's getting worried about her...So is everyone else for that matter."

"She's probably still upset about what happened with her mother. Can't say I blame her." Shepard sighed.

"Someone should go talk to her...See if she's alright." Kaidan said, standing from his seat and walking towards the door.

"Yeah...I'll be out in a bit." Shepard sent Kaidan a nod as he stood and walked to his desk, closing the still open drawer.

Kaidan nodded before stepping through the doors and back onto the Crew Deck where he saw Lycan, sitting at a table with a small glass of water sitting next to her. He felt his lips curl into a soft smile as he walked up to her, gently placing his hands on her shoulders and gave them a light squeeze before he slipped into the chair next to her.

"Hey...Everything alright with Shepard?" Lycan asked, glancing at Kaidan's hand that was now clutched around her's.

"He's got a lot on his mind still. We really need to extract him from that damn room." Kaidan smirked as he lightly drifted his thumb over her knuckles.

"This is true. Did he mention anything about what to do about Liara? I'm getting really worried about her." Lycan asked quietly, scooting over a bit in her chair to sit closer to him.

Kaidan adjusted himself so that his legs were on either side of her's and placed his other hand on the outside of her thigh, "I am too Ly. Shepard said he would go talk to her but I just don't think he's gonna be able to extradite himself from his room."

Lycan shifted once more and slipped her hand free from his, "I'll go talk to her." she smiled at him as she stood and placed her hand on the side of his neck.

"Are you sure?" Kaidan asked, standing and following her into the galley where she began to throw together something for Liara to eat.

"Yeah. She could probably use a friend right about now." Lycan said, having to stand on her tippy toes to reach for a mug to put something to drink in.

"I think you're right. I also think Shepard isn't in his right mind to be handling such a sensitive matter." Kaidan said quietly as he got some crackers down from the top shelf for her.

"Thanks," she said with a smile, "I just wanna make sure my friend's ok."

Kaidan returned her smile and softly brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear, "Anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend Ly."

Lycan leaned into his touch and turned her head to lightly kiss his palm, "Then what's that make you?"

Kaidan knew exactly what she meant, "Blessed." he simply answered.

"You are such a softy Kaidan." Lycan lowly chuckled as she prepared the small tray of food.

"The term...is hopeless romantic." he whispered with mirth, taking a step closer to her as they locked gazes.

Lycan started to blush and giggle, "Kaidan...There's crew around." she grinned, lightly biting her lip as his arms slowly started to snake around her waist.

Kaidan glanced over his shoulder, seeing that, in fact, a couple crewmen were seated at a table engrossed in a conversation of their own. In the split second that Kaidan had looked, he caught the slightest of glances from one of the crewman and figured, it would either embarrass the living snot out of them both, or he could possibly loose the respect of the Marines under his command. He stopped his arms from completing their course around her waist and instead, he gently grasped her hands and continued to smile.

"You're right...I'm sorry," he sighed and leaned down, bringing his lips to her ear, "You just wait till we go on shore leave thought." he rasped, causing her to shiver as he placed a soft kiss.

Lycan took a moment to compose herself, taking in a few deep breaths to keep from just giving into the heat that was building in her gut from his whisper, "You're evil and I'm going to go see Liara." she grinned as she freed her hands from Kaidan's and grasped the tray.

"Only evil when I wanna be." Kaidan winked.

Lycan lowly chuckled again as she took the small tray and headed for the Med Bay, taking a brief moment to say hello to Dr. Chakwas before she stepped up to the door leading to the back room. She moved the tray under one arm and balanced the edge into her side as she pressed the intercom on the door and softly spoke.

"Liara? It's me...Lycan. Are you there?" she asked softly, tilting an ear towards the door.

The comm stayed quiet for several moments until a soft click and some sniffling quietly fluttered out to meet her ears, _"C-Come in."_

After a moment, the doors hissed open into a dark room, the only light coming from the terminal which had a picture of two Asari portrayed on it's screen. Liara sat curled in a chair with a tissue in hand, knees tucked into her chest as she stared at the picture in front of her and sniffled. Lycan walked in and quietly set the tray down on the desk, placing the small plate of food and one of the mugs in front of Liara for her to take at her leisure. Lycan grasped the extra mug she had made herself before pulling up a chair and taking a seat, slowly inhaling the minty aroma of her tea before taking a taste and looking at the young Asari.

"Is that a Human meal?" Liara asked quietly with another sniffle, several moments after some silence between the two.

"Mmhmm...That's tea in the mug." Lycan said, motioning with her head to the mug that still rested on the desk.

Liara wiped her nose with her tissue and reached for the mug, taking a long, deep breath of the new scent and taking a sip, finding that she enjoyed it's flavor and with the minty smell, it cleared her nose of the mucus build up from her sobbing.

"It's good...T-Thank you." Liara nodded kindly at her friend as she held the mug in her hands, resting it against the top of her knee.

"You're welcome," Lycan said softly, turning her gaze back to the picture on the terminal, "Is that your mom?" she asked, tucking a leg underneath her.

Liara slowly nodded, "Yes...That was taken quite some time ago."

"How long?"

"Almost sixty years ago. Back when we were still on speaking terms." Liara said, her voice shaking and nearly releasing another choked back sob.

Lycan's eyes briefly went wide at the mention of nearly an entire Human lifetime, "Sixty years. That would make you..." she tried to do the math in her head.

"Forty-six." Liara answered before Lycan finished crunching the numbers.

"Wow." Lycan whispered and took another sip.

Liara wiped her nose as it started to run again, "It seems like a lifetime ago. She...took the time off to come to my graduation from the university. It was the first time I had gotten to spend time with her since her appointment to the Matriarchal Council." she explained, taking another slow drag of tea.

"Was she gone a lot?" Lycan asked, switching the leg that she was sitting on out for the other.

Liara nodded, "Yes...I was on my own at an early age. My mother's close friend took me in when I needed a place to stay." she fumbled with her tissue to try and find a dry spot to wipe her nose with.

Lycan set her mug aside as she reached for the tissue box that sat on the desk and handed her a fresh one, remaining silent so that Liara could continued her tale.

"Shortly after the picture was taken, she started to act differently. The changes were subtle at the beginning, but after some time..." her eyes began to well up again and glaze over, "I'm sorry...It's hard to talk about." she sniffled.

Lycan set her cup down and leaned forward to place a caring hand on Liara's shoulder, "I'm sure it is. It can't be easy loosing someone close to you...well...I guess you and her weren't that close huh." she corrected, gently rubbing Liara's arm.

Liara wiped her nose, "Not like how I'm sure most mothers are with their daughters but...I still miss her."

"I'm sure you do. You'll always have the happy memories though right? You don't have to remember her as a bad person." Lycan said softly, handing Liara another tissue which she gladly took.

Liara's lips started to crack a smile, "I suppose you're right. I will always have those. You are too kind to say such a thing to the person whom took your's from you." she finally tore her eyes away from the terminal to look at Lycan.

Lycan returned the smile, "You didn't take them if I voluntarily gave them up." she said, scooting her chair closer to Liara.

Liara's sobs began to boil in her throat, "I do not deserve such a friend as you. The Lieutenant is a lucky man to have your affection. I hope to some day find someone as understanding and caring as you." she started to sob once more, succumbing to her sadness.

Lycan's eyes softened as Liara's tears spilled over, cascading down her pretty blue cheeks in long, unbroken rivulets of moisture that quickly dripped off her chin. Lycan's chest tightened as she fought to hold back her own tears, Liara's sadness only fueling her own. Soon, Liara couldn't stop her sobbing, leaning over to bury her face into Lycan's shoulder where she cried even harder, the sound only muffled by Lycan's sweater. Lycan wove her arms around her friend, cradling her to her shoulder and just allowed her the stable foundation to weep.

The only sound for quite some time were the sobs of Liara until the hiss of the door caught only Lycan's attention, causing her to turn her head just enough to see whom had arrived and caught the shape of Shepard out of the corner of her eye. She also saw that he was quickly joined by another Human male, immediately recognized him as Kaidan as both entered without saying a word.

Shepard's face stayed blank as he stepped over the threshold into the darkened room, followed by Kaidan to allow the door to close behind them. The low hiss of the door finally drew Liara's attention, causing her to glance up from Lycan's now soaked shoulder to see her other two guests.

"Oh...I'm...I a-apologize Commander." Liara stuttered as she straightened up and started furiously clearing away the evidence of her crying.

"No no...Liara...you're fine. I came to check on you. I would have done it sooner but..." his voice trailed off as he didn't know what else to say.

"I am sure you had quite a lot on your mind. You needn't check on me." Liara countered, wiping her nose.

"You're part of my crew. You're well being is just as important as Alenko's or Lycan's." Shepard simply sighed.

Liara's shoulders slumped, hands resting in her lap as she glanced up, "You both came to check on me?"

"It's like Shepard said...You're part of the crew." Kaidan reaffirmed.

Liara's lips cracked a smile again as she briefly glanced at the spread of crackers on the tray, eliciting a soft growl from her stomach. She hesitated for a moment before reaching for one and took a small bit, testing it's taste as she hadn't had one before...Then, she shoved the rest into her mouth.

"Thank you for the food." she mumbled, taking another cracker and quickly devouring it.

"Of course." Lycan nodded.

Shepard took in a deep breath and rubbed the back of his head, "I wish...I knew how to make the pain go away Liara but...I just don't know. I only know how to numb it." he looked down at the deck and leaned up against a crate, folding his arms over his chest.

"How did you cope Commander?" Liara asked, sucking a long breath to keep her sobbing under control.

Shepard slowly shook his head, "I didn't...Not for the longest time. It wasn't until after Akuze that I had Kaidan to help me. He made me understand that I wasn't alone."

"You crashed on my couch so many times I was about to start asking for rent." Kaidan smirked, as did Shepard for that matter.

"He's a good friend to be there for you like that. Many would look the other direction." Liara said with a soft sniffle.

"A lot did. I don't want you to feel like you have to go through this alone Liara." Shepard said.

Liara dabbed her nose with her tissue, "I know you don't Commander." she glanced at him.

Kaidan stepped around Shepard to stand behind to the still sitting Lycan and placed his hands on her shoulders, "She still loved you...despite her being under Saren's control...she still loved you."

"I know she did...She just...she deserved better. Something I wasn't able to give." Liara said, hanging her head to try and hide her quivering lip.

Just then, the door hissed open to allow a small group entrance. Everyone glanced to see that Garrus, Wrex, Tali and Ashley had all come up to see how she was doing and Garrus had a small tray of food in his hand.

"Oh...uh...I didn't realize that you already had something to eat." Garrus said, flaring his mandibles lightly as he set the tray down on the desk next to the one Lycan had brought.

"It's alright Garrus...Thank you." Liara said with a slight wave of her hand, unable to help herself from cracking a smile.

"I heard you killed your mother...Glorious." Wrex rumbled, towering over Garrus, Tali and Ashley whom stood in front of him.

Liara's brows furrowed harder, "Pardon me?"

"It's a glorious way to go...in battle." Wrex lowly chuckled.

"It's a Krogan thing." Lycan added, causing everyone to quietly chuckle for a moment, even Liara.

"Small one understands," Wrex smiled, "Do you wanna know something?" he asked, pushing through the three, over the threshold so that the door could close.

"Sure." Liara simply said.

"I killed my father."

That caused everyone in the room to look at him.

"Simply put...He invited me to a crush and broke a rule no Krogan would dare break. I buried my knife in his chest." Wrex grinned.

"You don't seem upset by his death." Liara said, starting to realize that she hadn't had to fight a sob for several minutes.

Wrex barked a laugh, "I'm just the opposite. That bastard needed to die but since he was my father, I at least gave him the honor of dying in battle." he grinned again.

"Is that good in your culture?" Liara asked, curling back up into her chair.

Wrex nodded, "It is. When a Krogan dies in battle, it's considered a blessing from the ancestors. They died doing something they thought important. They didn't just lie down and wait for the end." he explained.

"I suppose it is a good thing then...Except my mother died trying to kill us." Liara rested her chin against her knees.

"Not quite Liara," Kaidan spoke up, lightly rubbing Lycan's shoulders, "She helped us out first. She did give us the location of the relay."

"That's right...She did." Shepard confirmed.

"In my experience...It's always best to remember your loved ones for the good they did." Tali interjected.

"That is what Lycan has said. Have you ever lost someone?" Liara asked, picking her head up a little bit.

Tali nodded, "Yes...my mother passed when I was very young. I don't remember much of her, but I know she was one of the few Quarians who didn't wear an E-suit on the flotilla." she explained, her accented voice saddening as she spoke.

Liara's head picked up just a bit more, "How did she pass?"

"She took ill. I remember the night before she passed, I was sitting next to her and holding her hand. I'll never forget what she told me. She told me to live my life with no regrets and I haven't. I regret nothing I've done." the sadness immediately disappeared from Tali's voice.

"That's good advice." Shepard said, nodding his head as he scanned over his crew.

"That it is," Liara started to grin, "I remember this one time...when I was younger, I had fallen and hurt my knee," she lightly chuckled, "My mother started to make funny sounds and funny faces at me until I started to laugh." she started to laugh a little harder.

Everyone looked on as Liara's eyes slowly began to brighten, the tears drying up and finally giving her a long awaited reprieve from her seemingly unending sadness. She glanced around the room, locking gazes with everyone for a brief moment and realizing that they had come to see her on their own accord. Each one came to check on her, each having their own stories to tell and their own advice but they all had managed to say the same thing. She wasn't alone...not by a long short.

Lycan leaned forward, slightly out of Kaidan's reach and placed her hand on Liara's shoulder once more with a small smile across her lips.

"The best thing you can do for your mother now Liara...is to remember the good she's done." Lycan said, taking her hand off of Liara's shoulder and gently grasping her hand.

Liara's smile broadened, "You're right...You're all right. My mother wasn't evil...She was a good person and I'll remember her as such. Thank you...Thank you so much." she finally stood from her chair and began to give everyone a hug.

"It's like I said Liara...You're part of the crew and we aren't gonna let you sit in the dark feeling alone. We've all suffered loss...but there was always someone there for us to lean on." Shepard said as he started to weave through everyone towards the door.

The door opened as everyone, with the exception of Lycan and Kaidan, began to filter out of the back room, leaving the three with far more room to maneuver then they had had when everyone was in there.

"We all care about you Liara and we don't wanna see you upset. We're here for you...just remember that." Kaidan finished, taking Lycan's hand as she stood and placed a hand on Liara's shoulder.

"Are you gonna be ok?" Lycan asked, smiling as the tears had finally disappeared.

"I think I will be," Liara smiled, "If it would be alright, may I have a little more time? To remember my mother as she should be remembered?" she asked, taking another cracker from the tray.

"Of course. We'll be around if you need us." Lycan said as she and Kaidan headed for the door.

Liara watched the door close, once again leaving her to her thoughts but this time, they weren't the grief, sorrowful thoughts that had been rotting her mind, they were all the good memories that she had long forgotten of her mother. Her smile grew as she looked on at the picture, seeing her mother's wide smile as she hugged her daughter, the obvious pride and love at her daughter's achievement. She no longer hated what her mother had done, instead realizing, thanks to her friends, that her mother fought till the end, even if in that end, she had been embraced by the Goddess. She leaned forward and gently touched the screen, her fingertips slightly passing through the image of her mother's face.

"Rest in the embrace of the Goddess. You have earned it."

* * *

Shepard paced in his quarters, trying to gather up the nerve to go down into the Cargo Bay and talk with Ashley. He scratched the back of his head, rapping his fingers against the handle of his secret cabinet as he tried to determine whether or not to bring something to drink, but he didn't want their still infant relationship to be based on being drunken fools. He decided he was going to leave it and headed out, again, ignoring the looks from his crew as he made a bee-line for the elevator. On the ride down it clicked that Kaidan, Lycan, Garrus and all the others were enjoying a meal and conversation together as each told various stories and it told him that the Cargo Bay would be empty, causing a devious grin to grow on his face. The doors opened in the darkened Cargo Bay, except for the lighting coming from Ashley's workstation but she wasn't there, nor was she on the Crew Deck. His brows furrowed as he slowly stepped out, quickly scanning the space for the one thing he wanted...needed to help calm his racing mind for the coming mission. The area was silent with the exception of the steady hum of the drive core but as he drew closer to the workbench, he caught a glimpse of her behind a small stack of crates.

"Ashley?" he quietly called out, seeing the noticeable start as she immediately straightened up with an armful of modifications.

"Skipper! You startled me. Something I can help you with?" she asked pleasantly, having issues getting around the crates to her workbench.

Shepard reached out to take a large portion of her load and set it down before turning back to her, reaching his hands out to aid her in her objective of getting around the crates.

"Working late aren't you?" he asked, wrapping his hands around her's to provide her a foundation to get out from her predicament.

"Sorry Skipper...Just wanted to make sure things are ready for Virmire. The Council has a way of not telling us everything." she scoffed, hopping over the last crate and stepping up to her workstation.

Shepard battled back the strong twist in his stomach, "Their insatiable need for secrecy astounds me." he grinned.

"Ain't that the truth...Skipper?" she was startled when she felt his hands lightly rest on her hips as he stepped in close behind her.

Shepard pressed his body against her's, trapping her between his strong arms and her workstation as he leaned in, bringing his lips to her ear, "Don't freak but...We need to talk." he whispered, feeling her body stiffen which only caused his to heat up.

Ashley forced herself to remain calm as she slowly spun to face him, their hips pressed together which only ignited her imagination, "About what?" she asked, bracing herself against the edge of her workbench.

"Before we reach Virmire...You have to know," he whispered, one hand slowly drifting up her side to come to rest against the nape of her neck, "I...I have never wanted anything else but to be with you." he leaned down a little more to rest his forehead against her's.

Ashley's lips slightly parted, "Skipper..."

"Gabriel...Call me Gabriel." he breathed softly, his breath slowly drifting across her face.

Ashley's lips lightly parted as she felt how hard his heart was slamming in his chest, "Jesus...Your heart..." she gasped.

Shepard removed his hand from her hip and placed it over her's, over his heart, "You do...crazy...things to me Ash. My heart hasn't hammered like this since I almost died on Akuze except this time...I don't want it to slow down." he said.

Ashley felt her own heart begin to sputter in her chest, "What brought this on?...Not like I'm complaining of course." her eyes scanned his face.

Her question snapped him out of his lust filled desire to take her right then and there, his eyes flying open and his body pulling away from her, "Jesus...I'm sorry Ash...I...I should've...behaved myself." he cringed.

Ashley straightened up and took a deep breath, "I'm not upset...just...surprised. It was just sudden is all." she smiled, hoping that it would help calm his nerves she was sure was there.

Shepard returned her soft smile, "It kinda surprised me too. I just needed to see you I guess."

Ashley pushed off the workstation and stepped up to him, lightly placing her hands on his taught stomach, "Well...Here I am," her hands slowly trailed up his abs to rest on his chest, "What are you gonna do now that I'm here?" she lightly bit her lip as she pressed into him.

Shepard held his breath as the pressure of her against him caused a strong shiver to rack his body, "I can think of a few things." he whispered, snaking his arms around her waist.

Ashley quietly chuckled low in her throat, "I like the way that sounds." she purred, leaning closer to him and bringing her face an inch from his.

"So do I." he whispered, closing the distance between them.

At first, their kiss was soft, tender, almost as if they were relearning each other's feel and taste. Soon, their kiss deepened into something far more needing as Shepard's tongue made the first move. It slithered out, passed Ashley's lips and into her mouth to taste her full flavor, finding that it was far better then he had gotten to sample back on Noveria. His throat began to rumble with a deep growl that vibrated his lips against her's, causing her to giggle and tighten her grip on his uniform shirt. It didn't take long for the heat in Shepard's body to become too much for him to take. He loosened his grip around her waist and ever so slightly pushed against her to break their longing kiss.

"I needed that." he whispered with a smile, resting his forehead against her's and gripping her hips lightly.

"Got a lot on your mind?" she asked, snaking her hands around his neck and gently began to caress his neck.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah...I just needed something better to think about," he lightly grinned, "That worked."

Ashley lightly ran her hand over his hair, "I'm glad," she gently brushed her thumbs under his eyes, "You look like you could use some sleep."

"I do need it. I haven't slept in awhile." he said, still keeping his forehead lightly pressed against her's.

"How about we head on up to the mess, get some food and you can go get some sleep." Ashley suggested as she drifted her hands down his strong chest, her fingers lightly digging into it's tense muscle.

Shepard finally picked his head up and stood up straight, "Sounds like a plan." he lowly said as he let her go, finding that he was rather sad that he couldn't keep his hands on her anymore.

Shepard waited a few moments while Ashley straightened up her workstation as well as her uniform before they headed for the elevator, having to force themselves to refrain from pawing at each other for the duration of the ride. Once the doors opened, they walked out, Ashley being the first to come into sight as Shepard waited a few seconds in hopes that it would look like he was coming down from the CIC instead of arriving with her. They found that everyone had monopolized a whole table as some ate and other's told stories, but it was the current story being to told by Shepard's Marine OIC that dutifully caught his attention and everyone was grinning from ear to ear.

"So...everyone was deadly silent in the mess hall, we weren't even looking at each other until the entire hall erupted into this loud crash. When we looked up...we saw that Shepard...had meandered his ass, with his food, over to the officer's table and had dumped it all over the first officer he saw which just so happened to be Admiral Hackett..." Kaidan said, trying not to bust out into a full fit of laughter as everyone started to chuckle.

"You're serious! That's one of the Alliance's higher ranking officers isn't it?" Garrus asked, adding a distinctive, two toned chuckle to the group.

"He is. He's a serious big wig," Kaidan nodded before continuing his tale, "So now...Admiral Hackett was covered in a Biotic sized portion of food and was giving Shepard the best glare I've ever seen and it only got funnier when Shepard screamed at the top of his lungs...'I will not be oppressed!'" he started to laugh...so did everyone else for that matter but it all stopped when they noticed that Shepard was standing right there.

"Oh don't stop on my account. Go ahead and finish...It's hilarious." Shepard grinned as he sat down next to Ashley.

Everyone instantly relaxed, "You mean there's more?" Lycan asked, taking a deep breath to keep her laughter under control.

"Oh yes...After that, Hackett stood up, grabbed my belt, yanked by pants out and poured his nice big, fucking freezing cold glass of ice water down my trousers before he grabbed the back of my boxers and yanked them up, damn near over my head." Shepard finished, starting to grin and laugh at his own humiliation.

At that, everyone couldn't help but laugh, even Wrex was rumbling at Shepard's expense. Lycan had rested her forehead against Kaidan's shoulder, laughing so hard that no sound was coming out at all and even Kaidan was having a hard time sitting up...Everyone was having a good time.

"Don't forget what Hackett said after that Shepard. That's the best part." Kaidan said through his laughter.

"Oh! Yeah...that was a bundle of laughs," Shepard said with more then his fair share of sarcasm, complete with an eye roll, "After my lap was freezing and I had the wedgie from Hell, Hackett took the mashed potatoes off his head, smashed them into my face, looked at the entire mess hall and said 'Permission to laugh granted'...and that's what everyone did." he finished, feeling the burn in his cheeks as he began to blush.

Thus continued their laughing saga.

"How did you not get punished?" Liara asked, calming her laughter enough to take a sip of her drink.

"Hackett talked to the training head and said that I'd been embarrassed enough in the mess hall. I was just a kid at the time so he was right. I didn't cause any trouble for the most part after that." Shepard answered, finding that the reminiscing of past humiliations was diverting his other thoughts to something far lighter.

"No...you didn't...In fact, you passed everyone up in your class and got bumped up into mine shortly after that." Kaidan filled in.

"Were you guys friends right then?" Lycan asked, genuinely interested in hearing more stories.

"Not right away." Shepard said, his smile fading away, as did Kaidan's.

The laughter silenced as they saw the mood shift.

"What do you mean?" Lycan asked simply.

Kaidan gently placed his hand on her thigh, underneath the table, "Shepard was the reason I had that Biotic eruption that put six people in the infirmary." he said, glancing up at Shepard whom was staring at the table.

All eyes shifted to Shepard whom finally looked up, "The second my collarbone was shattered, I realized that I had made a huge mistake. I shouldn't have said those things to you Kaidan and I'm still sorry about that."

"Relax Shepard. I'm not angry about it. Not anymore," Kaidan sent Shepard a reassuring nod and a crooked smile, "Plus...I kicked your ass." he added, wanting to lighten the mood.

It worked.

Shepard smirked, "Yeah you did. You know how hard it is to do anything with a shattered collarbone?" he grinned, cringing at the painful memories of trying do the simplest tasks which were exponentially more difficult because of the injury.

"Not first hand I don't, but after watching you for a few weeks, I've got a pretty good idea." Kaidan smiled, relieved that his tactic had worked.

"So what happened after that LT? Did you two start to get along?" Ashley asked, resting her elbows on the table.

"Oh...the first couple weeks were rough because brass decided to put us in the same room in the infirmary." Kaidan smirked, both he and Shepard starting to chuckle.

"You two hated each other to start out with?" Garrus asked, rapping his talons on the table's top.

"God...Did we ever. I wanted to Warp him so hard, I could pour him down the sink." Kaidan laughed.

"You tried too you asshole." Shepard grinned.

"What changed?" Wrex simply asked.

"The practical did." Shepard quickly answered.

Kaidan took over the tale, "It was the practical on Titan towards the end of training. Everyone had their armor on and we had these...laser weapons to tag the other team with. Titan however...has no atmosphere and about halfway through the training...my entire team received a distress call," unbeknownst to him, his hand's grip started to tighten on Lycan's thigh as he continued his story, "The instructors recalled everyone back to the staging bunker so they could head out into the field."

"What kind of distress call was it?" Tali asked.

"It was me," Shepard interjected, "My hardsuit I guess was damaged and it started to decompress. I tried to seal it with the field repair kit but it failed. I was loosing air quick."

"I checked his location and as it turned out, the instructors wouldn't make it to him before he was completely decompressed. He'd be dead by the time they got to him. However, I could get to him and have enough time to try and seal his breach so I went for it against the instructor's orders." Kaidan continued.

"He got to me when the decompression was at about 50%. I was...lightheaded, dizzy, having issues thinking straight...the works and I thought I was hallucinating when Kaidan got to me." Shepard said, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms.

"You were in bad shape that's for sure," Kaidan nodded, "Once I got to him, I managed to patch his suit but the compression systems were completely dead. There was no way I was going to be able to repair it so I had no choice but to plug him into mine."

"Kaidan saved my life that day...despite hating my guts at the time. He plugged me into his hardsuit and we shared it all the way back to the staging bunker." Shepard nodded, sighing quietly as he remembered the turning point in their friendship.

Kaidan huffed, "The instructors were pissed at me by the time we got back but the second they saw the damage done to his suit, they weren't as upset anymore."

"How did such a damaged suit continued to get used?" Tali asked, knowing full well what a damaged suit could lead to.

"When they brought the suits to the staging bunker, it got pinched in the secondary seal of the crate. It was only a matter of time after that." Shepard answered, starting to pick at his fingernails.

The crew stayed silent for a moment as they digested the tale of how Shepard acquired his closest friend, most glancing around at each other and waiting for someone else to be the first to speak. Kaidan smiled down at the table, Lycan lightly rubbing his shoulder as he quietly patted her thigh and sent her a soft smile, letting her know that he was ok. The silence continued until Shepard lightly cleared his throat and sighed.

"Well...That was a fun trip down memory lane." he chuckled, by himself for the few moments until everyone realized that it was ok to join in.

"That was quite an interesting tale Commander. It proves that your friendship has a strong foundation." Liara said, oblivious to the shift in Shepard's expression.

Shepard nodded and forced a smile, hoping that he didn't just ruin their upbeat mood, "Yeah...I owe him huge, that's for sure," he said, making to stand, "You guys enjoy your evening. I think I'm hit the rack." he added as he started for his quarters.

"Are you sure Skipper? You haven't even eaten anything yet." Ashley spoke up, noticing that everyone was looking at Shepard.

Shepard opted to ignore everyone else and just focus on looking at Ashley, "I'll be alright. I'm not real hungry anyways. You guys have a good night."

With that, Shepard disappeared into his quarters, the last thing he heard before the doors locked out all outside sound was the various good night's from his crew. The silence in his room only allowed his thoughts to dominate his mind once again, none of the conversations he had had helping him to be at ease with the coming decision that was looming over his head. His moment in the cargo bay only strengthened his desire to make sure Ashley was safe, but the remembrance of how Kaidan had put aside his hatred for him to save his life reinforced his need to make sure that his friend received the best that he had to offer. _What is a single man expected to do when two people's lives were in his hands? __What is a single man, just a man expected to go through in one lifetime? I have put up with enough! I am not going to let this happen again! I am not going to let Fate win! I will shape the outcome! Kaidan is right...with us still aware of what might...MIGHT transpire...we might have changed the outcome. _He thought as he flopped down onto his bed, determined to rest and prove Fate wrong.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36: So it Begins

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

Shepard was puking...well...it was more like drying heaving because there was nothing in his stomach to toss up...not anymore at least. After he had gone to bed, he had gotten up in the middle of the night, finally getting something to eat because if he didn't, he wasn't even gonna have the energy to roll out of his bed once they arrived at Virmire. However, he hadn't been paying attention because of his racing thoughts and ended up grabbing something that very much did not agree with his stomach and caused it to wretch...and wretch hard. His aching abs was all he could think about for the time being until the soft chime from his door broke through his misery.

"Come...in." he managed to choke out before another hard wretch racked through his body.

The doors hissed open, which was no real indication of whom had come to see him until his pet name reached his ears.

"Skipper?" Ashley called, not wanting to go snooping through his quarters trying to find him.

"In here." he groaned, resting his head against his forearm which was leaning on the toilet seat.

Ashley followed the voice into Shepard's small, private bathroom, finding him slumped on the floor, half dressed in his armor with cold sweat glistening on his forehead.

"Jesus Skipper...Are you ok?" she asked, kneeling at his side and gently placing her hands on his back and shoulder.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah...Ate something that didn't agree with me." he said with a weak cough and an even weaker point towards his small table.

Ashley looked over her shoulder at the table, seeing a tray with a plate of half eaten food on it. She slowly stood, letting her hands drift over his clammy skin and took the few steps to the table, quietly gasping as she cringed at the foods color. Some bits were purple, others green but all looked unappetizing to her and she knew, that it wasn't meant for Human consumption.

"Um...That's Dextro based food Skipper. No wonder you're puking your guts out." she cringed, returning to his side to slowly rub his back and lightly rested her chin on his shoulder.

He quietly coughed again, "Fuck...I knew it tasted funny." Shepard said with a strained rasp in his voice.

Ashley picked her head up and looked at him, brows lightly furrowed and heart tightening in her chest, "Do you need me to go get Dr. Chakwas?" she asked.

Shepard tried to shake his head, but it only aggravated his ailing stomach, "No...She'll just ground me. I need to be down there."

"Are you..."

"Yes," Shepard interrupted, carefully plopping down onto the floor while Ashley reached for a wash cloth to dry his damp forehead.

"Alright...alright. I won't tell the doctor." she whispered, letting him rest his head against her shoulder as she tenderly dried his skin, "Do you need me to get you anything?"

Shepard took several, long breathes, each doing their part to calm his stomach, "Maybe...some water," he blew out a breath, "and some stims." he finally opened his eyes and sat up on his own.

"Haven't been sleeping?" she smiled, dabbing the rag one last time to the side of his face.

Shepard smiled at her as he lightly grasped her unoccupied hand, "Not really."

"I'll get the stims and meet you down in the Cargo Bay. Everyone's already down there." she affectionately patted his thigh before she stood.

"Alright...I'll be down in a minute," he smiled, hoisting himself off the floor with a heavy groan.

Shepard smiled as Ashley nodded and turned, leaving him standing in the middle of his small bathroom again to look at what his little episode had done to him. He groaned at the man looking back at him, seeing the tired looking eyes, the still slightly clammy and pail skin and the near constant growl deep in his stomach made it blatantly apparent that he needed something to eat that was actually meant for his species. He blew out a long sigh as he inched into the rest of his hardsuit, taking a second to make sure things were adjusted right before he grabbed his helmet and headed down to the Cargo Bay.

The Cargo Bay was a flurry of activity as nearly everyone not essential to the ships function was down there to help get the elite crew ready for the mission. Garrus and Tali conducted their final checks on what they have affectionately begun to call the Mega Mako, ensuring that each system was in tip top shape for when it hit the ground. Wrex was helping Ashley load the vehicle with a few small crates full of extra ammo blocks, mods and weapons that they might need should the situation arise while Kaidan was aided by Lycan as they made sure that their field medical capabilities were ready for anything.

"The Mako ready to go?" Shepard asked as he walked towards the meatier Mako.

"Just about Skipper." Ashley answered, setting down her small crate so another crew member could place it inside.

"Got those things I asked for?" he asked, grabbing her last small crate from her.

"Yeah. They're in the Mako already." she answered as she checked her equipment, making sure all was sound.

"Good,' he curtly nodded, "Williams! Alenko! Load up! Everyone else...back to stations! All elite...be on standby!" he bellowed, smirking as everyone within the sound of his voice quickly finished with their tasks and scurried to their posts.

Kaidan finished with the med kit and, with Lycan's help, hoisted it up onto his shoulder so he could carry it into the Mako and headed over, seeing that Shepard and Ashley were checking the straps that was holding everything in.

"Got room for one last thing?" Kaidan asked, plopping the heavy pack down onto the deck.

"I'll toss something off to make room for that." Shepard quipped, heaving it into the last open space available without blocking off any seats.

"Funny," Kaidan smirked, turning his attention to Lycan whom was leaning up against the hatch's frame with a worried look in her eyes, but a smile on her lips, "You look worried." he said quietly, rolling his shoulder to adjust his hardsuit just enough to make it a little more comfortable.

Lycan glanced down at the deck, "I'll be fine. I just have to keep reminding myself that you guys know what you're doing." she said, forcing the smile to return.

Kaidan fought back the urge to brush the back of his hand over her cheek, "Don't worry Ly. Things'll be fine." he said quietly.

Just as Lycan was going to say something, the comm squawked to life, _"On approach Commander." _Joker's voice said evenly.

"Understood Joker," Shepard called up towards the ceiling, "Take a minute Kaidan." he added, glancing at Kaidan before he and Ashley disappeared into the Mako.

Kaidan kept his smile in place as he turned back towards Lycan, taking a quick second to scan the Cargo Bay and see if anyone else was around...which they weren't.

"I guess this is it." Kaidan said, taking a step closer to her.

"Yeah...Just...promise me you'll be careful." Lycan said, taking her own step up to him and placing her hands on his armored chest.

"You don't have to make me promise that. I'd do it anyways." he said quietly, wrapping his arms around her waist, wishing he wasn't in his armor so that he could feel her warmth.

"You better. I'll kill you if you don't come back." she grinned, resting her forehead on his chest.

Kaidan's throat rumbled with a low laugh, leaning his head down to press his lips to her hair, "You'll be perfectly within your right to do so...but I'm coming back." he gently placed a soft kiss to the top of her head.

"I'll hold you to it," she straightened and wrapped her arms around his trunk, "You better go. Be careful." she said as she reluctantly pulled away from his embrace.

"Yeah. I'll see you when we get back." he said as he turned to head into the Mako.

Kaidan kept his smile in place as the hatch began to close, watching as Lycan lightly kissed her own hand and blew the kiss his way, making him smile once more just before the hatch sealed him inside.

"Ready?" Shepard asked without looking away from his consoles as he powered up the beast.

Kaidan spun and took his post in the navigator's seat, as Ashley had quickly claimed the gunner's position, "As I'll ever be."

Shepard nodded, his stomach finally calmed down from earlier as he finished activating all the Mako's systems. Just as the engine roared to life, so did his stomach and apparently it was loud enough that Kaidan had heard it, causing him to reach into his belt and handing him an energy bar without saying a word.

"Thanks." Shepard said, quickly downing the bar just as the comm inside crackled to life.

_"Commander...I've got a reading on our sensors. Must be that Salarian infiltration team."_

"Good...Get us in close." Shepard ordered, taking in a deep breath to mentally prepare himself.

"Might not be so easy Shepard." Kaidan interjected as his radar pinged.

"What? Why?"

"Check out those defense towers." Kaidan pointed to the many red indicators on his screen and both seeing that there was no way that the _Normandy_ was going to be able to get passed them, even with her stealth capabilities.

Shepard groaned, "Well that's just peachy," he flicked open his comm, "Joker...Drop the Mako. We'll go in hot and blow 'em the fuck up."

_"A little carnage never hurt anyone," _Joker smirked, _"I'll squeak you in underneath their radar." _it was obvious that he was incredibly confident.

"I'm sure you will." Shepard quipped as he cut the comm and buckled himself in.

The jarring of the ship as it broke through the atmosphere of the planet barely rattled the Mako's doors, but it was the sight the greeted them once the Cargo Bay doors opened that took their breath away.

To say Virmire wasn't beautiful could not have been further from the truth. From their altitude, the vast, rolling ocean gleamed like the largest gem they had ever seen. The sky blended seamlessly into the horizon where it touched the sea and the sporadic stretches of land dotted the surface so elegantly, that it was hard to believe they were here for someone as delusional as Saren.

"My God..." all three breathed in unison, staring stunned at the breathtaking vista.

_"I'm gonna drop you along the beach Commander. It should lead to the encampment by my scanners." _Joker's voice broke through their stupor.

"Sounds good." Shepard acknowledged, seeing that they were closing in fast on their projected landing zone, "Time to get wet."

The hard bank of the ship pressed them into their seats as the docking clamps keeping the Mako in place released with a heavy clunk. They watched as Joker expertly brought the ship in close...real close to the ground and Shepard saw his window to throttle forward. The Mako left the Cargo Bay just as the _Normandy_ leveled for the briefest of moments, giving Shepard the perfect opportunity to drop the small distance, which he didn't even have to use the drop thrusters for, to the water covered, hard packed sand below with a heavy splash. The second the Mako touched the near three feet of pooled water, it's comm came to life once more.

_"We've got a clean drop Commander." _Joker confidently squawked.

"Good. Stay out of range and continue evasive maneuvers until I get those damn towers down." Shepard ordered with nearly no emotion. _This is it...No turning back now. Just roll with the punches. _He told himself in an attempt to keep calm.

_"Don't have to tell me twice. I'll meet you at the camp once it's clear. I'm not in the mood to get holes blown in my ship." _

"She's my ship."

_"I fly her...She's mine." _Joker slipped in before he cut the comm.

"One of these days, he's gonna have to figure out that I'm the one in charge." Shepard smirked, settling in for what appeared to be a lengthy drive by the looks of the radar, "Alright. Let's get this show on the road."

Kaidan and Ashley just nodded, deciding to remain silent as their modified Mako began to crawl through the warm water. They had landed in a long rivulet, lined with jagged rocks and cliffs with the strong salty smell of the sea hanging in the air. The water gently rippled with the aftershocks of the waves from the ocean that broke through the small break in the rocks. The rivulet wound it's way around a sweeping bend that had a cluster of strange looking, walking mushrooms that waded through the crystal clear water. No one said a thing when Shepard drove over one that didn't move fast enough to get out of the way, smirking as it exploded with a pop into a little green cloud of dust. Things seemed to be going smoothly until they reached a tight turn back that blocked any view of what could be around the corner.

As Shepard slowed the Mako down, they rounded the corner slowly, giving them enough time to prepare for anything and to their not so much surprise, there was a pair of hovering Geth drones on the other side.

"I knew it was too easy," Shepard groaned, stopping the Mako dead in it's tracks, "Targets are hot...Open fire." he ordered.

Without saying a word, Ashley opened fire, sending a rocket down rage towards the closest drone which happened to be a rocket drone itself. The dark red drone returned it's fire just before it was reduced to spare parts, splashing down over another one of those walking mushrooms and causing it to pop with another puff of green. As the Geth rocket closed in, Shepard jammed a fist down on the vamped up jump thrusters that were now able to handle the added weight and hopped over it, giving Ashley another perfect window to fire again. With a powerful whoosh, the second rocket sailed through the salty air, locking in on the last target and taking it out without so much as a flinch.

"Area's clear Shepard." Kaidan reported once the fireball had vanished into the sea breeze.

"My guess...is that it won't be for long." Shepard said as he throttled forward.

"You're probably right." Kaidan mumbled.

The Mako splashed through the water, winding it's way through a cluster of stone pillars and around another bend where the rivulet widened to somewhat of a clearing. Hiding against a cliff face was a couple more rocket drones which were quickly taken care of by another set of rockets before they turned their attention to the few Geth troopers that stood on the beach. Ashley fired a rocket at one rocket trooper that was preparing to fire it's own rocket, but it never got the chance before it was blown to smithereens. She turned her attention with the machine gun towards the other, trying to hide behind a tall stone pillar, peppering it and the surrounding area with rounds that tossed up little puffs of sand.

This is how their drive went through the rivulet, ignoring the bright flashes of lightning off in the distance from the coming storm as they battled their way through the many clusters of Geth and kinetic barrier walls until they reached a large gatehouse. The structure spanned across the rivulet like a dam, that could block any sort of progress, but the gates were open and Shepard saw no way around it, they would have to go forward through the gate.

"Shepard, that checkpoint is covered in Geth." Kaidan reported just before the radar began to flicker and wink on and off, "and there goes the radar." he grumbled.

"I can see them...Williams, light 'em up."

Ashley chuckled as she did just that, taking several of the Geth squad out before they could even make a dent in the Mako's far stronger shields. Shepard rocketed the Mako forward before Ashley was done firing and aimed for the opened gate where a single Geth unit stood firing at them. Neither Kaidan, nor Ashley said a thing as Shepard ran right into it, squashing it with a grinding crunch underneath the six heavy duty tracks. On the other side of the gated check point however, a giant Geth Colossus waited for them amidst the gentle, rippling water and just about ready to fire an equally large blue plasma ball in their direction.

Shepard ground the Mako to a halt and hammered a fist down on the jump thrusters just in time to leap over the bolt to let it splash with a wet explosion underneath. With the unspoken order, Ashley fired a rocket that crashed into the Colossus before a second had even passed, eliminating it's shields for the smaller Tungsten rounds to smash through it's armor. The Colossus refused to go down from just the hail of bullets slamming into it's chest, gathering up just enough power to charge another shot but it was cut short as Shepard launched the Mako forward. The Mako plowed into the Geth's legs, the tracks sucking them under where they mangled and tore them from from their joints like ripping branches off a tree.

"That's one way to take out a Colossus." Kaidan smirked as the vehicle proceeded along the rivulet.

"Keep your eyes peeled. There might be more." Shepard said flatly as he poured on the speed.

"Most likely." Kaidan shrugged, keeping his eyes glued to the radar screen.

Shepard kept the power on around another blind corner, this time not even remotely shocked when two Geth Armatures came into their view screens. Just as Shepard had done with the Colossus, he aimed for the Armatures, flattening and tearing limbs off with tracks he was quickly beginning to love. Nearly around each corner, a pair of either Geth Armatures, drones or troopers laid in wait for them and every one of them fell before they could do any real damage to the Mako.

As Shepard rounded another tight corner, the second Colossus of the day spotted them but sadly, and to it's dismay, it didn't last long when two precision rockets and a hail of Tungsten rounds punch a rather large hole through it's body. Once the large Geth slumped to the water, another gatehouse loomed into distance with one exception...it's gates were closed.

"Looks like we gotta get out for this one." Shepard said as he started for the checkpoint.

"It was bound to happen sooner or later." Kaidan nodded as he caught the slightest glimpse of enemy targets before the radar went on the fritz again, "And we've got Geth."

"That's pretty much a given at this point...Williams. Do what you do best."

Ashley grinned a cheesy, toothy grin as she opened fire, not really caring where her rockets went as long as they slammed into the gatehouse. Shepard made a beeline for the closed gate, pulling the Mako to a skidding halt just before he crashed into the heavy metal gate which worked out in their favor, as all the Geth whom had survived the barrage couldn't get a good bead on them.

"Stay tight to the wall and keep low when we head up the stairs. I don't want anyone taking any shots." Shepard said, securing the Mako as he unstrapped his harness and slipped from his seat.

As Kaidan stood, he popped the rear hatch which splashed down into the water and allowed the warm sea breeze to flood the cabin which was welcomed as the air inside had started to get musky. All three took a moment to appreciate the gleaming water and sun streaked sky that was lined with dark, angry clouds as the storm continued to rage on the horizon with a strong, threatening thunder clap.

"Ready weapons. Williams...you're on point. I wanna get to the camp before that gets here." Shepard said with a motion with his head towards the looming storm.

Ashley pulled her assault rifle and tucked it in tight to her shoulder as she took a moment to stare at the clouds, seeing that they weren't swirling in towards them, but seemed to be whirling away from from them.

"Looks like that nastiness is headed away from us. We might get lucky." she smirked, splashing down knee deep into the water and started for the stairs that would take them up to the top of the gate.

"I hope so. I'd rather take my shower out of my armor instead of in it." Shepard smirked, taking up a position behind Ashley.

Kaidan splashed down and closed the hatch before pulling his pistol and taking up the rear, "That and a shower is better without the threat of bullets flying at your either." he added, pressing himself low against the wall of the ascending stairs.

"Well said," Shepard agreed, crouching low so his top half wasn't exposed as he shifted his focus towards Ashley, "You see anything Chief?" he asked quietly, watching as Williams slowly peered around the corner of the landing.

Ashley quickly took a peek on the other side of the landing despite half her vision being blocked by the second short flight of stairs. The top of the gatehouse offered plenty of cover but it also blocked any decent view if anything on the other side and it didn't help with the solid railing that ran the it's length.

"Hard to tell. Moving up." she simply answered, staying low as she creeped up to the top of the stairs.

As soon as they were all perched on the top landing, behind one of the solid railings, they caught sight of a lone Geth unit that had poked it's head out from behind one of the thick retaining walls. Ashley immediately took aim and opened fire, quickly taking down the Geth just as a rocket trooper popped around the corner. Shepard flared his Biotics and froze the rocket trooper in a Stasis Field, making it an immobile target for both Ashley's assault rifle as well as Kaidan's pistol. The second Geth quickly fell, giving all three a small window to dart across the open space to take cover behind the retaining wall. Ashley, still on point, peered around the corner down the way, seeing an archway that had been cut into the rock to make what looked to be a tunnel.

"Looks like there's something down there Skipper." Ashley reported, giving her rifle a quick check to make sure it wasn't close to overheating.

"It's probably where the gate controls are. I don't see any out here." Shepard said, waiting for Ashley to start making her way towards it.

Just as Ashley stepped out from behind the wall, a very large Geth Destroyer came walking out from the tunnel with weapon in hand.

"Uh oh." Ashley inhaled, taking aim just as it started to charge.

"Ashley!" Shepard barked as he lunged without thinking.

Ashley took a step back, still firing at the Destroyer but out of Shepard's path which put his shoulder into the Geth, causing it's charge to falter and stumble towards the railing of the gatehouse. Both weapons clattered to the floor as it's top heavy build and Shepard's momentum carried it over the side to plummet to the top of the Mako where it broke in half. Unfortunately, Shepard's momentum was too much for him to stop in time and he started to follow it over.

Seeing Shepard start to go over, Kaidan reached out, Biotics aglow and drew his arm back, Pulling Shepard straight towards him to send both men to the floor with heavy thuds.

"Get off me..." Kaidan groaned, rolling Shepard to the side.

"Nice catch LT." Ashley chuckled, extending a hand to help Shepard to his feet.

"Thanks," he nodded, "Try your Biotics next time Shepard. You seem to think you can wrestle with those things." he clapped a hand onto Shepard's back after he had stood up.

"Sorry...I just reacted." he shrugged, picking up his pistol from the floor.

"I'd say so. I swear...You should have gone to Vanguard training with your aggressive style." Kaidan smirked as they started towards the tunnel.

"I didn't make the cut."

"What? How did you not make the cut?" Ashley asked, stepping directly in front of the tunnel which brought a transmit tower into her view that sat towards the back of a large rounded alcove.

"Quote, unquote...Psychological issues." he laughed, stepping around Ashley and heading straight for the transmitter.

Ashley's and Kaidan's brows both arced.

"That doesn't surprise me," Kaidan mumbled, bringing up his Omni-Tool, "Is it encoded?" he asked, standing next to Shepard whom had already started to work the controls.

"Doesn't look like it," a heavy whirring sounded from the transmitter as it powered down, which was suddenly masked as the lowered gate began to rise, "Got it. Guess they thought no one was gonna get close with those towers up." he added.

Just as the towers finished powering down, their comms beeped, _"Just got readings that the grid is down. Starting my approach to the Salarian base now Commander. Joker out." _the comm died before Shepard could respond.

"Outstanding. Let's get back to the Mako and get our asses moving." Shepard said with a sudden rise of hope that things just might go their way. _Maybe Kaidan is right. Maybe I won't have to choose._

The trio darted back across the gatehouse and down the stairs to the Mako, quickly climbing inside and resuming their seats as Shepard wasted no time in powering up the vehicle. He pushed forward through the now opened gate, the tracks splashing up the water all over the hull as they rounded the corner. However, the second they emerged from around the rocks, another closed gatehouse, infested with Geth blocked their path. Just as before, they bombarded the gatehouse with rockets and Tungsten alike, taking out the ground troops that littered the rivulet, as well as a couple of troopers that were firing at them from up top. They spilled out of the Mako and shot up the stares, quickly taking care of the remaining Geth and jogged down the tunnel to the gate controls where Shepard wasted no time in slamming a fist down to open it.

With the gate opening, they hurried back to the Mako and continued down the rivulet like before, finding that once on the other side, they were met with no resistance. Shepard kept the power on as they charged through the water, rounding a few more corners and a very large stone pillar until their comm crackled to life again.

_"Commander...The Normandy's touched down at the base but we've got a problem." _Joker's voice said, obviously disgruntled by the news he had to report.

Shepard's stomach start to flip, "What's wrong?"

_"Looks like we're grounded."_

"Are you shitting me? Why?" Shepard snarled, his grip tightening on the Mako's controls.

_"The Salarian Captain will explain more when you get here."_

"Fuck," Shepard snarled, "Understood...Shepard out."

With an angry grunt, Shepard killed the comm and continued, taking a quick glance at the map in front of Kaidan to make sure that they were still on course as they drew closer to the encampment. After a few more minutes and a long, sweeping bend, a large concrete wall came into view, ending their journey via the Mega Mako.

"That's the Salarian's camp Commander." Kaidan reported, his heart sputtering in his chest as he saw the _Normandy_ happily perched in the low standing pool of water.

"Thank God. Nice work people." Shepard smirked as he charge for the beach, roughly pulling the Mako to a halt and spraying a long rooster tail to each side.

Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley unstrapped themselves from their seats and headed for the hatch which had been opened from the outside by Garrus whom was none too pleased with the marring scars over the Mako's hull.

"What did you do to this thing Shepard? Run over Geth?" Garrus jokingly called out as he ran a talon over a particularly deep cut on the vehicles nose.

"Actually, yes...Yes I did. A Colossus to be exact...Oh and some smaller stuff." Shepard grinned as he splashed down into the water.

"You ran over a Colossus? Why would you do that?" Garrus growled, arcing a thick brow plate.

"Because he was going to fire at us and it seemed to be a good idea at the time. Anymore questions?" Shepard glared, watching out of the corner of his eye as Ashley and Kaidan made their way to a Salarian whom was standing on the beach.

"No sir. I'll get some guys and start patching the cuts." Garrus nodded.

"Sounds good." was all Shepard said as he started towards where his squad stood.

As Shepard waded through the water, he took a moment to glance around, seeing that the scenery was much the same as it was when they landed. The pool of water was warm and as clear as glass and the air left the slightest hint of sea salt on his tongue as he breathed it in. The sky was still clear of any clouds, the storm a long ways off on the horizon which added an ominous feel but the soft rumbles of thunder were calming in their own way. _It's too bad we're here for a mission, otherwise, I'd __take some shore leave here. _He thought as he approached where Ashley stood.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" he heard Ashley say to the Salarian, her voice obviously more then a little annoyed at whatever situation had arisen.

"Stay put until we can come up with a plan unfortunately." the Salarian said flatly.

Shepard waded out of the pool and stood next to Ashley with his hands on his hips, "Are you in charge here?" he asked with a blank expression.

"Hello...I'm Captain Kirrahe with the Third Infiltration Regiment STG. You must be Commander Shepard." he said with a greeting nod.

"I am. This is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko and the rest of my team is over there. I'm sure you've met them." Shepard returned the nod as he quickly went through the introductions.

"Pleasure."

"So what's the situation here?" Shepard asked, wanting to know why his ship couldn't leave the ground.

"I'm afraid your crew has just landed in the middle of a hot zone. Every AA gun within the immediate area has been alerted to your presence." the Captain said, his large eyes blinking rapidly.

"Are you fucking kidding? I thought we took the grid down back at one of those gatehouses." Shepard growled with deeply furrowed brows.

"You did but only the guns on that side of the perimeter. The AA guns surrounding the compound however are on a different grid. They weren't affected." Captain Kirrahe informed without even taking a breath.

"Fuck me running," Shepard hissed under his breath.

"Pardon?"

Shepard realized then that the Salarian Captain probably had no idea what he just said, "Oh...nothing. So what do we do now?"

"We stay put until the Council sends the reinforcements we requested."

Shepard's anger immediately started to boil, causing his skin to start turning a lovely shade of pissed off red but thankfully for him, his Lieutenant spoke up so he could have a chance to muzzle his bark.

"Uh...We are the reinforcements." Kaidan said, trying to hide his light cringe.

Captain Kirrahe stood up straight, "What? You're...all they sent? I told the Council to send an fleet!" he snapped.

Shepard scoffed, "They said your message was unclear...static. They sent us to investigate if you guys were alright."

Kirrahe's eye ridge doubled as his brows, and they were wrinkled together, "That's a repetition of our task Commander. I lost half my men investigating this place." it was clear that he was not happy.

"What have you found out?" Kaidan asked, crossing his arms over his chest and glancing over his shoulder just as the rest of the elite team came over for their little impromptu briefing.

"Turns out that this is Saren's base of operations. It's a research facility from what we can tell but it's what he's researching that's the most disturbing." Captain Kirrahe said, his eyes shifting briefly over everyone.

"What is it?" Garrus asked.

Kirrahe drew in a long breath, bracing himself for what he had to sat, "He's breeding an army of Krogan." he blatantly glanced over in Wrex's direction.

"How is that possible? What does he do with all the stillborns?" Wrex rumbled, his scaly brows wrinkling.

Now it was obvious that the Captain was nervous, "Apparently...Saren has found a cure for the Genophage."

"What!" everyone said in unison.

"Saren already has an army of Geth at his disposal...What in God's name does he need a Krogan one for?" Shepard snapped, his hands balling tightly into fists.

"Exactly my thoughts. That's why we must insure that the facility and whatever else it holds secret is destroyed." Kirrahe suggested with a shrug.

Wrex's throat began to thunder with a low, threatening growl but he said nothing, ignoring the stares from all around him as well as the Salarian Captain. His mind raced at the mention of a possible cure for his people, giving them a chance to rebuild their dwindling numbers and avoid the looming threat of extinction but the strangest thing happened then...he thought of what Lycan had said to him only a short time ago. He knew his people were used to cleanse the galaxy of the Rachni, used as pawns in the Council's game and the Genophage was their reward. He couldn't count how many lifeless Krogan children he had held in his lifetime...and he had lost count of how many of them were his. The day he had gotten to hold a crying baby Krogan girl was something he had never forgotten, not in all his experience but as much as he wanted to give his daughter a chance to bare young of her own, he knew he couldn't subject her to whatever terms Saren would demand for it.

Shepard and his crew just stared as Wrex turned and stomped off, splashing through the water as he made his way through the camp to a small creek that jutted through the sand with the angriest sneer plastered on his face. However, no one dared to follow him.

Captain Kirrahe stared, "Is he going to be a problem? We already have enough angry Krogan to deal with." he groaned.

Shepard lowly sighed, "I'll talk to him." he plainly said.

"Thank you. I'd appreciate that," Kirrahe nodded, "Now, if you'll excuse me. My men and I need to rethink our plan of attack. Could you give us some time?" the Captain asked.

"Yeah...That's fine." Shepard nodded with a sigh, staring at the back of the Salarian's head as he walked off towards a tent with more Salarians inside.

Ashley crossed her arms over her chest as she looked passed Shepard and Kaidan towards a very disgruntled Wrex whom had plopped down onto the sand.

"Things just keep getting better and better don't they Skipper." she groaned with a slow sigh.

"Yup," he sighed as well, following her line of sight towards Wrex, "I should probably go talk to him huh." he added.

"If you don't want him to go loco...yeah...wouldn't hurt...well...it might come to think of it." she chuckled.

Shepard rolled his eyes, "Thanks for that reminder."

With that, Shepard started towards where Wrex sat, seeing that he was swirling a large finger around in a circle in the slow trickling stream. He took a moment to make sure his anger was locked away, knowing that it would only complicate things and he didn't want that at the moment.

"Wrex?" he said, alerting the Krogan that he was approaching.

"What?" Wrex rumbled without looking up from what he was doing.

"Mind if I sit?" Shepard asked.

Wrex shrugged, "If you want."

Shepard took the last few steps and plopped down next to Wrex in the sand, letting his booted feet rest in the water to enhance the liquids sound.

"Uh...Are you gonna be alright?" Shepard ventured, resting his arms on his knees.

"If you want me to say yes...I'm not going to."

"Wasn't looking for you to. That's some heavy shit...being told that someone found a cure for your people." Shepard said, turning his gaze to stare out at the ocean.

"It's crap," Wrex barked quickly, "I know Saren's just going to exploit it for his gain. It's like the Rachni Wars all over again." he snarled.

Shepard honestly didn't know what to say, but he didn't have to as Wrex continued.

"Is that all the galaxy sees us as? Disposable man power?" Wrex's voice was rising.

"None of us on the ship see it that way..."

Wrex scoffed, "I know for sure that only one doesn't see the Krogan that way and that's small one."

Shepard's brows furrowed, "You mean Lycan?"

Wrex nodded, "Yes. My people deserve a cure...but not at the hands of someone like Saren."

"So...You agree that we have to destroy this place then?"

Again, Wrex nodded, "Reluctantly...Yes. We have to destroy him, and his cure. I won't let him enslave my people like the Council did once already."

"Glad to hear it," Shepard sighed, "What did Lycan say to you that made you think this way?"

Finally, Wrex looked away from the stream and glanced at Shepard, "She told me that my people reminded her of something from her time, and that they believed it was better to die on their feet, then to live on their knees. She couldn't be more right."

"Powerful words. When it comes time to blow this place...I'm counting on you to still be on our team." Shepard dared, his muscles stiffening as he unconsciously prepared for backlash.

"You can count on me Shepard. I told you I'd see this to the end and I will. One way, or another...Saren is going to die." Wrex growled, shifting himself to stand.

Shepard hopped up and patted Wrex's broad shoulder, "Glad to hear it. That Captain is talking things out with his team right now. They're trying to come up with a new plan." he took his hand back.

"Hopefully it's something that makes a very large crater of this place."

"We'll see. If not, I'll make the suggestion," Shepard snickered as he saw Kaidan off with the rest of his team, waving him over, "Looks like they might have come up with something already."

"That was fast...even for Salarians." Wrex said as he followed Shepard back towards the largest tent.

"Yeah no kidding. They must have already had a plan B in the works and they just needed time to mash out the details."

Wrex and Shepard quickly traversed the looser sand over to where Kaidan, Ashley and the rest of his team were waiting with Captain Kirrahe outside the tent.

"Got your plan?" Shepard asked as he and Wrex walked up to the group.

"Sort of," Captain Kirrahe shrugged, "We can convert our ship's drive core into a twenty kiloton ordinance that could blow the base. It's crude...but it'll work."

Ashley grinned from ear to ear, "Nice! Drop that puppy from orbit and Saren can kiss his Turian ass goodbye." she snickered morbidly.

"If only it were that easy," Kirrahe shook his head, "The facility is far too fortified for that. We'll need to place the bomb at a precise location."

Ashley's grin vanished.

"And what location might that be?" Wrex asked, crossing his arms.

"On the far side of the facility."

"How do we get it there?" Shepard asked, creasing his brows.

"Your ship can drop it off, but you'll need to infiltrate the base first, disable the AA guns and pacify any ground forces inside." Kirrahe rattle off.

Everyone's eyes went wide for a brief second.

"Let me get this straight...You want us to go in on foot? We don't have enough men for something like that. Not even if I pull all the other available Marines off the _Normandy._" Kaidan interjected.

"I have to agree with him. It sounds too risky to me. Is there no other way to do this?" Shepard asked, trying not to explode with anger.

Captain Kirrahe slowly shook his head, "I'm afraid not but I think we might be able to work around that."

"How?"

"I'm going to divide my men into three teams and hit the front of the facility. While we have their attention, you can sneak your shadow team in the back." Kirrahe answered.

"The only problem I can see with that, is that your people are going to get slaughtered." Shepard retorted, his stomach starting it's gymnastics act once more.

Kirrahe smiled, "We're tougher then we look Commander but I'm afraid you're right. I don't suspect many of us will make it out alive and that...that makes what I'm going to ask all the more difficult."

Shepard's heart skipped a beat, "What is it?"

"I need one of your men to accompany me to help and coordinate the teams."

"What!" Shepard yelped loudly, causing everyone to jump from his sudden outburst.

"I apologize Commander...If there was some other way, I would do it but there just isn't any other way." Kirrahe countered, hoping that he just hadn't set the fuse on another bomb.

"You want me to just hand over one of my people! Just like that!" Shepard snarled, rocking forward on one leg and staring down the slightly taller Salarian.

"I'm afraid so..." Kirrahe tried to say but he knew, that he probably wasn't going to get very far.

Ashley sucked in a breath and held it as she placed her hand on Shepard's shoulder, "Skipper...It's alright. I can go with the Salarians."

Her touch seemed to rip him from his fuming anger, but her suggestion visibly caused him to stop breathing, "What?" he said in a far quieter voice.

"I can go with the Salarians. I know Alliance communications just as good as anyone here." she repeated, taking her hand back.

"Wait a second Chief," Kaidan interjected, "I can go. Shepard'll need your assault rifle more then he'll need my pistol."

"Not so fast LT. Skipper's gonna need you to arm the nuke. I don't understand all that techno babble." Ashley quickly countered.

"Garrus or Tali would be able to do that Chief. It doesn't need to be me..."

"Can it you two!" Shepard barked, realizing his outburst and quickly sucking in a breath to help calm him down.

Both Marines immediately shut their mouths.

"As much as I don't like it, the Captain's right. Williams...You'll go with Kirrahe and his men but you better not do any heroics. You hear me?" Shepard said, his voice filled with anger but it didn't seem to be directed at any of them.

Ashley held her breath for a moment, "Aye aye Commander."

Kirrahe nodded in approval, "Very good. I'll have the bomb loaded onto your ship and brief your crew on the detonation sequencing."

Shepard sent a curt nod, "Understood."

"Do any of you have any questions before we go?"

"I believe we're all ready when you are Captain." Shepard said flatly, placing his hands on his hips.

"Excellent. If you'll excuse me one more time...I have to prepare my men."

Shepard nodded again as Captain Kirrahe turned and started for the bulk of his men standing not far off, leaving him square in the glares from his team that were watching him for their next order. His vision blurred for a moment as he started to question whether or not he had made the right choice in sending Ashley into the fire but he knew she was a survivor. He knew she was more then capable of handling herself in a fight but that didn't negate the infant instinct to protect her from harm...no matter the cost.

"Wrex, you're coming with me and Alenko...Everyone else, you're on standby. If I need you, I'll call you. Is that understood?" he finally said after the silence had started to become uncomfortable.

They all nodded and scattered to carry out their orders but Ashley stayed behind, drawing Shepard's, Kaidan's and Wrex's gazes as they quickly realized that she was standing there.

"Everything alright Williams?" Shepard asked, placing his hands on his hips to keep them from touching her.

She opened her mouth to respond but waited a moment as Wrex turned and started towards a spot a little further away, out of ear shot, "Yeah...Everything's fine. Just don't..." she sighed, "Just don'y do anything stupid while I'm gone LT...You too Skipper." she slightly stuttered.

Kaidan cracked a smile, his helmet dangling in his hand, "We'll be fine...You'll see." he said, forcing his smile to stay in place.

Ashley nodded, "Yeah...I...Just...Good luck."

Shepard's brows furrowed again, "Is there something you wanna say?" he asked, unsure if that was something he should've asked.

"No...It's just...well...weird...Going under someone else's command. I've just gotten so used to working for you." she said quietly, trying to not let her voice carry to the others.

Kaidan's heart tightened but he knew he had to keep up the reuse, "Don't worry...We'll see you on the flip side." he forced another smile.

"I know," she blew out a nervous breath, "I should get going. It's been an honor serving with you both."

"Quit acting like you're never gonna see us again Ash...It's kinda depressing." Shepard said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck and swallowing down a roll of his stomach.

"Sorry. I'll...just get going. Stay safe." she said before she started towards where Captain Kirrahe and his men stood.

Shepard and Kaidan just stood, mirroring each other's posture with their hands on their hips. Their thoughts ran along the same path, both thinking of the coming mission which was waiting at their doorstep for them but they were nervous, knowing what was coming, if it was to come at all.

Kaidan glanced up towards the ship, seeing a lone figure with her pants rolled her to knees as she slowly waded through the water, staring out towards the open ocean. His lips started to adopt an honest smile the more he watched her, admiring the way the flowing shawl billowed around her shoulders that he didn't even know she had as it kept most of the breeze off her skin. He was so transfixed by the way the darkened horizon outlined her form, that he didn't even notice that Shepard was watching him.

"Go on...Take a few minutes with her before we head out." Shepard said, motioning with his head over towards where Lycan stood.

"Thanks Shepard." Kaidan grinned as he wasted no time in making his way over.

Kaidan's eyes were glued to Lycan's back as he waded through the water and sand alike to reach her. He set his helmet down on a nearby rock as he stepped back into the water, finally close enough for her to hear his approach and causing her to turn, the breeze pulling strands of her hair from her hair tie and fluttering them gently around her face.

"Hey." she smiled, holding the shawl around her shoulders with one hand and letting her other dangle at her side.

"Hey," he returned the smile as he lightly placed his hands on her hips, "Where'd you get this?" he asked, softly grazing his fingertips over the fabric.

"Liara let me borrow it. It's too warm for that zip up, but I wanted something to help keep the breeze off." Lycan said, reaching up to grasp his gloved hand.

"When we get back to the Citadel, I'll get you one." Kaidan said quietly, ignoring the subtle flip of his stomach.

Lycan's smiled faded as she looked away from him, "I have a really bad feeling about this Kaidan."

Kaidan's lips slightly parted with worry, "Why? Are you starting to remember things?" he asked, his brows creasing.

Lycan shook her head, "No...Just...It's just this bad feeling in my gut. I don't know why. I'm just scared that you aren't coming back."

Kaidan took his hand from her's and gently cupped her chin, forcing her to look up at him, "I'm coming back. I promise." he whispered, leaning his head down to rest his forehead against her's.

"I thought you said that you didn't need to make that promise?" she weakly smiled, feeling a light sting in the back of her eyes as she pressed up against him.

Kaidan gently placed his hand on her cheek, trailing his thumb just under her eye, "I'm making the promise to you and only you. I'm coming back." he slowly started to bring his lips closer to her mouth.

"How can you be so sure?" her throat started to grow tight as she looked at him, searching his eyes for anything to help keep her calm.

Kaidan stared right back into her deeply colored eyes, the glassy glaze causing his heart to tighten in his chest as he gently stroked her jaw, "Because...I have something to come back for."

That said, he gently placed his lips to her's for a soft, nearly motionless kiss that made all of Lycan's worries and doubts fade away. The heat of his lips gave her courage to believe that things would be alright, despite her fears of what they might face. She wished that they could stay like this forever, not having to move from that spot on the surface of one of the most beautiful planets any of them had ever seen but the distant calling of Kaidan's name forced him to pull away.

"Looks like I gotta go." he whispered, grasping the nape of her neck and holding her forehead to his.

"Be careful." she said, slowly allowing his hand to slip free.

"I will." _I love you. _He thought as he walked away with a renewed determination to come back into her arms.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Divergence

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

Shepard definitely wasn't expecting the 'Hold the Line' speech from Captain Kirrahe. He just didn't seem like the type but sure enough, he had stood up in front of his men and inspired them to give the mission their all. He had even noticed that his own team seemed to stand up a little straighter by the end of the Captain's speech, even if it did seem a little overdramatic. The motivational high was short lived however as Captain Kirrahe divided his men into the three teams, driving home the reality that Shepard and his shadow team were up to bat.

Shepard, Kaidan and Wrex made their way to the wall surrounding the base as Garrus moved the Mako up against it, giving them a boost to climb over to the other side and drop down onto a small sand bar that was deep in a shadowed canyon.

_"Comm check...Do you read me Commander?" _Shepard's comm squawked with the voice of Captain Kirrahe.

"Loud and clear. How you me?" Shepard replied back.

_"Have you the same. We'll start our push and try to make it to the AA guns, but it might be up to you to finish the job." _Kirrahe informed with Ashley's voice in the background.

"Understood." Shepard said as he pulled his pistol, motioning for Wrex and Kaidan to do the same.

_"Shadow team is on the ground...I repeat...Shadow team is on the ground," _Kirrahe informed the other teams, _"Chief Williams with Aegohi team! Mannovai, Jaeto team...Move out! Time to get their attention!"_

Shepard and his squad quickly made their way through the water and around a short bend in the cliffs that brought them immediately into the proximity of a small squad of Geth that were posted beyond a cluster of boulders. He wasted no time in opening fire, quickly taking out a Geth trooper as another erected a mobile kinetic barrier which Wrex focused on. Kaidan shifted his eyes away from the fire fight in front of him to see another, slightly smaller guard station not far off in the distance where he could clearly see some more Geth perched, laying in wait.

_"Mannovai is under coordinated crossfire. Check for any long-range turrets helping the Geth." _Ashley's voice said as Kaidan Threw a trooper hard into the cliff face.

Wrex headed straight for the Geth hiding behind the kinetic barrier, blasting his shotgun with no remorse into it until it had become a deep red before it winked out, exposing the trooper behind it. He sprinted up to it, flipping his shotgun around and used it as a bat, smashing it's grip into the Geth's head with herculean force.

"We'll keep our eyes peeled Williams." Shepard quickly said, sending a disabling pulse to a Geth sniper that sat up in the nearby guard station.

The trio quickly destroyed the ground troops and headed for the guard station, seeing that whatever remaining Geth up top had erected more kinetic barriers. They all kept the heat on, forcing the Geth to stay behind their barriers which gave Shepard and his team a clear line the structure.

_"Dammit! We can't reach the Geth turrets! They're out of range!" _Ashley reported with the backdrop of gunfire echoing her voice.

"Hold tight Ash! We'll see if we can give you some slack!" Shepard ordered, running as fast as he could through the water to get to the guard station's ramp.

The trio charged up the ramp, weapons barking and echoing loudly through the canyon as they rounded the corner and assaulted the remaining Geth. Kaidan flared his Biotics and Lifted the last Geth, bringing it out from behind the kinetic barriers and into the open for Shepard and Wrex. Both immediately opened fire, Shepard's pistol sending Tungsten rounds into the Geth's head while Wrex's shotgun scatter blew a hole through it's chest to rain down a storm of white fluid.

Once the leaking Geth corpse splashed into the water, Shepard slowly started to walk along the top of the guard station until, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a Geth console hiding behind a retaining strut. He quickly turned and walked up to it, bringing up his Omni-Tool to hack into the terminal and discovered that it was a triangulation tower. The second he found out, he immediately cut the power and aimed his pistol at it, pulling the trigger to pump the tower full of Tungsten, thus insuring that it couldn't be turned back on should Geth come looking for their comrades.

Without a word, Shepard and his team spun and hurried down the ramp and turned to walk under the guard station, splashing back into the pool of water and followed the canyon around, away from the outer perimeter wall.

_"Something's scrambling their targeting! We've got a shot! Chief Williams...Take the heat off Mannovai!" _Kirrahe ordered, his voice reflecting the relief that things started to turn towards their favor.

Shepard's feelings were mixed, hearing that he had managed to make things slightly more easier for Ashley, but hearing Kirrahe order her to take more heat caused his stomach to somersault. He ignored that little voice in the back of his head as he pushed on, following the rivulet through the canyon until it opened up, providing little to no cover as a Geth trooper came into view. As Shepard took aim to open fire, he was robbed of the kill, as Kaidan had Pushed the trooper into the canyon with a resounding crack that more resembled a roll of thunder.

"Nice!" Shepard smirked as he quickly headed towards the Geth corpse which lay in the sunshine that managed to bleed into the canyon.

The three darted through the water and into the small split between the cliffs that took them onto a narrow sand bar, bending to the right where they came face to face with a Geth drone. Shepard's and Kaidan's instincts immediately took affect as they took aim and fired, riddling it with holes and causing it to explode, raining down debris on top of the which they ducked to avoid. Just as Shepard, Wrex and Kaidan continued down the narrow bar, their comms beeped.

_"They're calling in sat-strikes! Jaeto...Watch for comm stations! Williams...Can you see __anything?" _Kirrahe barked.

When no one responded, it only made the little voice in Shepard's head scream louder as they pushed on, following the bar as it bent to the left into another clearing that had another lone drone which found out that Biotics from a Krogan Battlemaster where not something to trifle with. Once the drone was ripped in two, Shepard took stock of where they were, seeing another guard station cast into a deep shadow of the canyon wall but this station was different, as it had a large satellite antenna sitting on top of it.

"That must be transmitting the sat-strikes...Move in fast and take it out." Shepard harshly ordered as he pushed on, almost faster as he had before.

Shepard's blistering pace was causing Kaidan's internal alarms to wail as he followed, blasting away a Geth trooper that stood on the ramp as they came within sight of it. They charged up the ramp, Wrex slamming his shoulder into another trooper up top and carried it into the second before slamming them both into the canyon wall. He pressed the muzzle of his shotgun into the Geth's gut and pulled the trigger, spraying himself with a generous amount of white fluid from both Geth, as the high powered round had penetrated both.

"Jesus Christ Wrex!" Shepard laughed, "I need to take you along more often! That was awesome!" he clapped, taking a second to catch his breath from the constant run.

"Ha! I could get used to this!" Wrex boomed with a grin.

Shepard looked up towards the antenna, "Kaidan...Bring it down."

Kaidan, without thinking, flared his Biotics and brought his arm up, making a fist which began to crinkle the antenna's wings with a metallic groan. The wings continued to break and crack as Kaidan brought his arm back, ripping the antenna off it's mounts to come crashing to the concrete before he Pushed it hard over the side and into the water.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who isn't taking any prisoners." Shepard said, a barely visible crooked grin over his lips.

Kaidan just stared with a blank expression for a moment before he finally answered, "The longer the Geth have the upper hand, the longer the _Normandy_ is in danger, and Ly is on that ship."

"What we do takes on a whole new meaning when someone you love is in harms way doesn't it." Shepard said, wasting no time in heading towards a catwalk that jutted out from the guard station before the other's even had a chance to regained their breath.

"Yeah...It does but it means nothing if we run ourselves into the ground! Slow down!" Kaidan said as he followed, ignoring the burn in his legs from their pace.

"I'll slow down when this is over."

Without another word, the trio quickly ran down the catwalk, finding that there was no resistance to be had which put them on high alert.

_"We're getting pounded! Bunker up before those turrets come back!" _it was Ashley's voice that called into Shepard's ears.

The report sent another flip through his stomach that briefly slowed his pace until it renewed his vigor to push on with the flames in his lungs from the constant pace he was keeping. They continued to follow the catwalks until they reached the ocean, the shade giving way to the sun and to a large landing pad with two, very large fuel tanks sitting on the pad's edge. However, the tanks weren't alone, as near half a dozen rocket drones hovered over them, poised to fire.

Shepard skidded to a halt and pressed up against the cliff, pistol aimed at the floor as his flaming lungs forced him to take a second.

"Take 'em out as fast as you can." Shepard forced himself to say, clearly seeing that Kaidan had begun to pant with his own shortness of breath.

"Shepard..." Kaidan tried to say, but was interrupted.

"Shush...Just do it." Shepard glared for a moment before wrapping himself in a Biotic Barrier and wheeled out from behind the corner.

Kaidan groaned and followed suit with his own Barrier, popped out from behind the cliff and took out two drones before they realized that Shepard wasn't the only one there. Wrex ran passed Kaidan, ducking around a wayward rocket on his course to the fuel tanks where he e quickly climbed on top of one and leapt, arms outstretched to grab ahold of another drones legs. He start to pull at it's legs, meeting moderate resistance as he yanked it to him in midair where he proceeded to rip what he could off.

Before Wrex disabled his mount, he cranked it around to the last remaining drone and forced it to fire, sending a rocket barreling into the drone to destroy it with friendly fire before he ripped the guts out of the one he was riding. He hung on as the drone plummeted the short distance to the floor where he rolled off and got to his feet, satisfied that the drone was thoroughly useless.

"Got some anger Wrex?" Shepard smirked, taking steps back away from the fuel tanks before he took aim.

"Saren's gonna pay for what he's trying to do to my people." Wrex rumbled, picking up his shotgun.

"That he will Wrex...That he will."

Kaidan came up to Shepard and Wrex and was about to speak, but his words were drowned out as the reports of a pistol, joined by a shotgun as it boomed to life. After taking a number of rounds from what quickly became three weapons, one of the fuel tanks exploded, knocking all three to the floor and nearly off the landing platform until the explosion took the second tank. That rolled Kaidan over the edge. Before Kaidan's face hit the rocks below, Wrex grabbed his ankle, having to use both arms to hoist the Lieutenant back onto the platform.

"Thanks Wrex." Kaidan nodded, the burn in his lungs finally forcing him to sit for a few moments.

"Come on Alenko, we gotta push on." Shepard urged, grabbing Kaidan's arm and trying to pull him to his feet.

Kaidan yanked his arm out of Shepard's grasp, "How about we catch our breath Shepard. You're moving too fast."

"No I'm not. We got work to do."

"Sit down!" Kaidan bellowed, sweeping his leg around to whisk Shepard's legs out from under him.

Shepard crashed to the platform with a heavy thud and a grunt, as his backside was what hit with the most force, "Goddammit Alenko! What the fuck are you doing!" he yelled, trying to get up but Kaidan had managed to wheel around and force him back down to the platform.

"I'm the field medic and I say stay down!" Kaidan roared, forcing Shepard down until the blistering pace caught up with him.

Shepard struggled to get up but his fatigue nearly immediately took over, his lungs screaming for a break, his legs scorching under the fire of his muscles and his vision began to whirl. He finally opted to lay still to give his body a moment to recuperate.

"Ok...Ok..." he said, unable to keep himself from panting.

Kaidan relinquished his hold and opened his Omni-Tool to begin taking Shepard's vitals, not at all pleased at the sheer buzz of his heart vibrating in his chest, "You've got to slow down Shepard. You keep this pace up and you're going to cause your heart to rupture."

"We have...a mission...to complete." Shepard strained once more, accepting Wrex's help to lean up against the cliff face.

"You can't complete it if you go into cardiac arrest. Now take deep breaths and calm down." Kaidan ordered, pulling an injection pen from his belt.

Shepard's brows furrowed, "What's that?"

"A very mild sedative. I gotta get your heart rate down." Kaidan said, lightly flicking the pen before he removed Shepard's helmet and plunged the needle into his neck.

Shepard cringed from the slight prick of the needle, "Is it that high?"

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah...Just take a minute to let that kick in. It won't impair you, just bring your heart rate back into normal range."

Shepard nodded as he closed his eyes to force himself to concentrate on his breathing, sucking in long, deep breaths that made his chest ache from how full it made his lungs. Nearly immediately, he began to feel the sedative working as his heart slowed, the warm hum encompassing his body to help relax his tensed muscles. After a few moments, his heart now slowed, the fire in his lungs began to subside and his legs finally ceased to ache.

"There we go." Kaidan said, satisfied that the mild sedative had done it's job.

Shepard opened his eyes, "I didn't realize I was moving so fast. I'll slow it down." he said, taking one last long breath before getting to his feet.

"Good. I don't wanna use the stronger stuff." Kaidan smirked, handing Shepard's helmet back to him.

"I'll make sure you won't have to. Let's move out."

At a mildly slower pace, Shepard, Kaidan and Wrex headed back across the catwalk, reaching a fork that they hadn't realized was there due to their hurricane like speed on their last pass. They headed down the newly discovered path that lead them to the front of the base itself, the structure highly indistinguishable as anything definitive of Saren as it was made of straight concrete with no identifying features on it's edifice. However, it was littered with kinetic barriers and Geth alike, with snipers, troopers and rocket troopers all around. Shepard's and Kaidan's bodied went bright blue as they both Lifted individual Geth of their own and cast them over the side of the platform onto the rocks below with heavy cracks.

Wrex turned his attention towards the right, seeing a door hidden behind a stack of crates, as well as a Geth that was preparing to open fire. With his own Biotics, he ripped the weapon from the Geth's hands, disarming it to stand stunned as a very pissed off Krogan with a grudge charged for it. Wrex plowed into the Geth, using his heavy, thick head plate as his chosen weapon to disfigure the Geth's flashlight head.

With the last Geth offline, Shepard turned his attention towards the door Wrex was nearest too, "That way." he said as he jogged towards the door.

_"We're holding our ground. Jaeto...On me. Shadow team must be getting close." _Ashley's voice fill Shepard's helmet, giving him a sigh of relief knowing that the three distraction teams were holding their own.

On the other side of the door, it brought them to another catwalk outside that turned right, taking them down to a couple more doors with a terminal podium between them. Kaidan pushed passed Shepard and Wrex and stepped up to the terminal, Omni-Tool at the read as he started to work the system.

"We've got access to the base security. We should be able to cut the alarms from here," he said, delving deeper into the system, "We may be even able to trigger alarms on the other side of the base."

Shepard's brows furrowed, "Ashley and the Salarians are on the other side of the base."

"Yeah...It would clear out the guards for us, but it might be too much for them to take." Kaidan glanced up, seeing the concerned look across Shepard's face.

"They've got enough to worry about. Just disable the alarms."

"Good plan Shepard. We can handle any of those Geth inside." Wrex rumbled, tightening his grip on his shotgun.

Kaidan nodded, navigating the system to find the needed command to disable the alarms. After a few moments, he found what he needed and hit the command, immediately being greeted by a flash of red as the system warned whomever it's user was that the alarms were no longer functioning.

"There...The guards are ours to deal with." Kaidan reported, shutting down his Omni-Tool and plucking his pistol from his hip.

Shepard nodded his approval and headed through the closest door which opened up into a large, crate filled room. The second they walked through, they were met with a couple Geth but they aren't what caused the three to question if they should shoot or not. A majority of their opposition were Salarians.

"What the! Why are you guys shooting at us!" Shepard yelped, ducking behind a stack of crates large enough for all three of them.

They were only met with more weapons fire from the Salarians.

"Hello! Why the fuck are you shooting!" Shepard repeated, growing angrier by the minute.

Again, the Salarians only fired back.

Kaidan stepped around to the other side of the crate stack to flank the Salarians, "Shepard...Something's wrong with them! They aren't acting right!" he reported, taking aim but waiting for the order.

"What!" Shepard poked his head out, catching sight of the closest Salarian and noticing, that his head was lolled to one side, "You're right...Take 'em out!"

With that, Kaidan and Wrex opened fire, quickly taking out their remaining Salarian opposition so that they could concentrate on the few Geth that still remained. Shepard peered down the room to the right of the door, seeing that it dead ended all together before he glanced to the other side where he saw a wide set of stairs that would take them to a raised portion of floor.

"Head that way!" he ordered, motioning with his head in the direction he wanted to head.

With the main floor cleared, Shepard and his team quickly headed for the stairs where they found a large Geth Juggernaut, causing them to skid to a halt. The Juggernaut took aim with it's plasma rifle and prepared to fire, but Shepard had another idea in mind. Upon noticing the far more difficult and robust enemy, he had brought up his Omni-Tool and prepared an overload burst, rendering it's weapon about as useful as a giant, expensive paperweight.

Once the Geth had noticed that it's weapon was useless, it was suddenly met with a heavy slam from not just a Krogan, but a Human as well as both took it to the ground. While the two had it pinned, it struggled and looked up, seeing another weapon came right in front of it's face from a third being which pulled the trigger, putting one right in the light eye.

"That door...Go." Shepard said, getting to his feet and heading towards a door along the right wall.

The door buzzed open into a darkened corridor with a couple Geth terminals to their right. However, they ignored them as they turned right towards another door that took them to a raised catwalk with what looked to be containment cells on the level below. They quickly bolted across it towards yet another door that took them into a rather large lab with two more of the confused Salarian's.

All of their shield's sparked blue, catching the weak rounds and buying Shepard and his team a chance to fire back. The Salarians didn't stand a chance. Once the coast was clear, Shepard took stock of their room, seeing that he had two options to take this time. There was a central door that appeared to be an elevator, and another against the far wall. More choices. He stood a moment, eyes bouncing from door to door until he randomly decided to pick the elevator type one which turned out, was an actual elevator which brought them down to another, large room.

This room however, was not full of crates, but lab equipment instead and several of them were in use.

"Are those...husks?" Kaidan asked, refusing the urge to go up to it as it looked to be in a type of synthetic stasis field.

Shepard merely nodded as he cautiously stepped out from the elevator, weapon ready and held out in front of him as he quickly scanned the area. It didn't take long for the synthetic stasis fields to shut down, allowing the husks to charge them with extended arms and a ear splitting shriek.

With no cover to put between them, and the husks, Shepard and his team were left to try and drop the husks before they could reach them. They immediately took aim, between the three of them having more then enough fire power to take the husk down before it got too close but it was the second that came running around the corner that caught them off guard.

At the last second, Kaidan noticed the husk, being the closest to it as it brought an arm back and rocketed it forward, landing a terrifyingly strong slap to the side of his helmet. The blow knocked him off balance, causing him to drop to the floor which drew the attention of Shepard and Wrex whom took care of the husk that was closing in on it's freshly downed target.

"Jesus! Those things hit hard." Kaidan groaned, his cheek stinging even through his helmet.

Shepard reached down and helped his friend up, "You alright?"

Kaidan nodded but his train of thought immediately shifted when a rumbling voice echoed down from the other end of the large lab.

"What's going on in here!" the obviously Krogan voice boomed as another wave of husks were released from their containment.

Shepard let a snarl rip from his throat as he focused on the new wave, pleased when Kaidan's and Wrex's weapons joined in the fray.

"You aren't Saren!" the Krogan boomed once more, surprising them all as he pulled a weapon of his own to begin shooting at them.

"No shit!" Shepard shot back as he Lifted a husk into the air, giving him a moment to eradicate a closer one that was coming too close for comfort.

"We're doing important work! You're destroying everything!"

"You're trying to enslave the Krogan again! You won't win!" Wrex quickly countered as he charged passed the last couple husks and headed straight for the Krogan.

Wrex closed in well before the other Krogan had expected, trying to take aim fast enough but sadly, he didn't as Wrex forced his shoulder into his chest. They both went down to the floor with Wrex on top but since Wrex had initiated the melee, he was the whom won when he grabbed the other Krogan's head and forced it to the side, far beyond it's range. With a loud series of cracks, the Krogan went limp with a freshly broken neck and a smirk across Wrex's face as he stood.

"He won't get up from that will he?" Shepard asked nervously, slightly out of breath from the fire fights.

"Krogan have redundant nervous systems and multiple organs...but we only have one skeleton." Wrex grinned, again, picking up his shotgun from the floor.

"That'll work." Shepard smirked as he headed down the lab.

About halfway down the lab, they found a door that took them outside onto another catwalk and the close by sounds of gunfire met their ears which told Shepard that they were close to the Salarian teams...and Ashley. He pushed through his rising anxiety and headed down the catwalk until it turned right, straight into a pair of Geth guards standing at another door. Without hesitation, they were taken down with a well placed disabling pulse and rounds of fire from three different weapons. On the other side of the door was another slightly darkened room with the sun shining in through the right opened window and the breeze brought in a hint of the sea.

They slowly walked into the room, all three scanning for anything that might shoot back but what they found, was quite the opposite as someone stood up from behind the lone desk.

"Don't shoot! Please! I just wanna get out of here before it's too late!" said a rather pretty looking Asari, holding her hands out in front of her.

Shepard kept his pistol aimed at her, "Who the Hell are you and what do you want?" he demanded flatly.

"I'm Rana Thanoptis...I'm a neural-specialist but this job isn't worth dying over...or worse." she quickly answered, still holding her hands out.

"What do you mean 'Or worse'?" Shepard snarled.

"You think the indoctrination is bad? It doesn't just affect the prisoners you know. It affects everyone here. I'm sure Saren is gonna want to dissect my brain too." Rana said, shaking her head.

"Indoctrination?" Shepard quietly gasped, instantly recalling the information Lycan had given them before her memory was wiped.

Rana nodded, "Yes."

Shepard's brows furrowed as his anger started to surface, "Give me one good fucking reason why I should let you go." he growled.

Rana started to shake, "I...I can help you. That elevator behind me goes to Saren's private lab. I can get you in," she nervously lowered a hand, causing Shepard to tighten his grip on his pistol, "It's just a keycard. See?" she unclipped the card and held it out for him.

Shepard motioned with his head for Kaidan to take the card, which he did.

"Keep talking."

"All of Saren's private files are in there. You have full access." she started to plead.

"What were you studying here? I thought you were developing a cure for the Genophage?" Shepard asked, locking gazes with the frightened Asari.

"Not this level. It's that ship...Sovereign. It omits some kind of signal that's undetectable...but it's there. I've seen the affects first hand. Saren uses it to influence his..." she was interrupted.

"I know what Saren's using it for. Why were you researching it?" Shepard barked.

"Ok ok...The problem is, is that the signal is too strong. Spend too much time near the ship and you feel it...like...a tingle at the back of your skull. It drives you to do things but you don't know why. Everyone here is affected at some point." she said with a strong gulp, staring without blinking at the gun still pointed at her.

"That still didn't answer my Goddamned question! Why is Saren researching it!" he yelled, tightening his grip a little more.

"Saren's afraid it's affecting him too!" she yelled, scared more then ever, "It's subtle and by the time you notice the affects, it usually too late. He's trying to find a way to keep it from affecting him!" a tear leapt from her eye.

"Took you long enough." Shepard hissed.

"So...can I go? I told you what you wanted to know." she was visibly shaking now.

Shepard let her question hang in the air for a moment until he lowered his pistol, seeing Rana stiffen for a moment but not relax as she wondered whether or not she was being let go.

"No." was all he said until he raised his pistol again and fired.

Rana's head shot back for a moment as it absorbed the force of the close round that landed in the center of her forehead, a slow trickling trail of blue blood streaking own her face until she slumped to the floor.

"Dammit Shepard!" Kaidan barked, his eyes bouncing from the dead Asari to Shepard and back again.

"Don't...She helped Saren and it's entirely possible she was indoctrinated too. We need to finish what we came here for and get the fuck out." Shepard snapped with a fuming glare.

Kaidan couldn't argue with Shepard's logic, as they had no way of knowing, let alone stopping one of their own from suffering the affects but Shepard was right, they had to assume they were dealing with indoctrinated beings.

"Alright." Kaidan relented.

Shepard glared for a moment longer before he made for the door, sliding the card down the slot which opened up the door onto a short catwalk. They quickly jogged to the other door and into an atrium that contained the elevator, taking them up to where they marched through a door and finally emerged out into Saren's lab.

The lab was large, but rather narrow and was lit with a soft, bluish light that cast much of it in shadow. The most dominant feature, was the large grating that descended on either side of a long balcony that just...ended in the middle of the room. What caught their attention however, was the green glowing light of another Prothean Beacon on the level below.

"Shepard...It's another beacon." Kaidan said as he and Wrex finished scanning the room, seeing no one within it.

"It's glowing like the other one did." Shepard said, descending the staircase which brought him to nearly stand right in front of it.

"I bet it means Saren's used it. Be careful Commander, it might blow up again." Kaidan urged, taking a step back from the device.

"Be ready in case it does."

Shepard didn't see Kaidan and Wrex nod their heads as he stepped up to the device, taking a moment to observe it until a feeling of familiarity started to bubble in the back of his head. He placed his hands on the base of the beacon, his fingers arranged so that each was a little farther out then the last. After a moment, an unseen force lifted him into the air, exactly as the last one did and his mind began to whirl.

Just like last time, his mind was assaulted with images of blood and circuits, a shrieking cry of despair and many more that flashed by too quickly for him to distinguish. Soon, new images came, some resembling the ship he had seen on Eden Prime while others showed silhouettes screaming for help. The last image, was a backlit planet, floating in a sea of mystical orange dust and frankly, resembled an eclipse. Only seconds passed before Shepard slumped to the floor on all fours, panting and sweating from the blast of information from the beacon.

"Shepard...You alright?" Kaidan asked as he stepped up to Shepard's side, helping him to his feet.

Shepard nodded...slowly, "Yeah...Just not used to that."

"Shepard! Get up here!" Wrex boomed from somewhere not in their line of sight.

Shepard and Kaidan both looked up, seeing that Wrex was standing on the balcony at the top of the stairs in front of a dark red hologram. When they arrived at where Wrex stood, both immediately recognized the hologram as the ship they saw on Eden Prime. Even the hologram was big.

"That's the ship we saw." Shepard pointed, his brows creasing.

"I don't like this Shepard." Kaidan said, placing a hand on his pistol, ready to draw...but he didn't have to.

**"You...are not Saren." **the hologram boomed with a voice to low, so rumbling that it shook the very floor upon which they stood.

"What the Hell is that?" Kaidan exclaimed, surprised by the sheer thunder of the voice.

"Maybe some kind of VI..." Wrex started to say.

**"Rudimentary creatures of blood...and flesh...You touch my mind...Fumbling...in ignorance...Incapable of understanding."**

Shepard's lips parted, "I don't think this is a VI."

**"There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own, you can not even imagine it...I...am beyond your comprehension...I...am Sovereign." **

The mention of the name Sovereign caused all, even Wrex to gasp.

"The fucking ship!" Shepard yelped, his heart dropping to the floor once he realized exactly whom he was talking to, "Sovereign isn't a Reaper ship...It..._IS..._a Reaper."

**"Reaper...A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction...In the end...what they chose to call us...was irrelevant...We simply...are."**

Kaidan's brows joined Shepard's as they furrowed as well, "The Protheans vanished 50,000 years ago. Are you saying you're at least that old?"

**"Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation...An accident...You're lives are measured in years...and decades...You wither...and die...We...are eternal...The pinnacle of evolution and existence...Before us...you...are nothing. Your extinction...is inevitable...We...are the end of everything."**

Shepard's anger started to flame higher in his throat, "Whatever your fucking plans are...I'm going to stop you! We...are going to stop you! I'll make damn sure of that!" he raged, fists clenching tightly.

**"Confidence born of ignorance...The cycle can not be broken."**

"Cycle? What cycle?" Kaidan asked with a quiet gulp.

**"The pattern has repeated itself more times then you can fathom...Organic civilizations rise... evolve...advance...and at the apex of their glory...they...are extinguished. The Protheans were not the first...They did not create the Citadel...They did not forge the Mass Relays. They merely found them...The legacy...of my kind."**

"Why in the world would you..." Shepard started until Kaidan's hand grasped his shoulder, causing him to look at him.

"My God Shepard...They're harvesting us!"

**"Your civilization is based on the technology of the Mass Relays...Our...technology. By using it...your society develops along the paths we desire...We impose order in the chaos of organic evolution...You exist...because we allow it...and you will end...because we demand it."**

The pit of Shepard's stomach joined his heart at his feet, "No...No...This can't be happening...We are not some crop you can just grow every season and harvest when we're ready! You're just a fucking machine and those can be broken!" he yelled, the blood rushing to his head and turning his skin a pale red.

**"Your words are as empty as your future...I am the vanguard of your destruction...This exchange...is over."**

Before any of them could respond, the deep red hologram slowly flickered out of existence, to be replaced by an increasing mechanical howl that started to grate in their ears. They cringed until the sound became so loud, that it splintered the glass windows behind them like a shockwave, spraying them with glass shards that thankfully weren't big enough to get through their hardsuits.

_"Commander! We've got trouble." _Joker's voice came over their comms.

"You better be yanking my chain Joker!" Shepard snarled.

_"Wish I was Commander. That ship Sovereign...well...it's moving and it just pulled a turn that would sheer any of our ships in half. Judging by my scanners, it's coming your way and it's coming hard. You need to wrap things up in there and fast."_

"Understood," Shepard said, turning his attention to his squad, "We need to blow this place. Let's get to the breeding facility and get the nuke ready."

_"Got it Commander. I'll meet you there."_

No one said a thing as Shepard lead them back the way they had come, taking them back into the elevator and back across the catwalk with a Geth unit that was no match for all three of them. They sprinted across the catwalk, Shepard barely acknowledging Ashley's voice in his ear as she said something about the Geth. They darted back through the office where Rana's dead body still lay but once the other door had opened, they saw a small draw bridge lower, allowing them access to the left catwalk.

Shepard quickly bolted over the bridge where their enemies changed from Geth, to Krogan, affectively making their job harder. Kaidan wasted no time in wrapping the closest Krogan in a Stasis Field, making him a stationary target for Shepard and Wrex to take out with more Tungsten then either one of them knew what to do with. They quickly reached the other door and bolted through, not realizing that they had picked up their pace to the blistering speed from before as the end loomed on the horizon. They followed the curving corridor through another door that descended onto an outside ramp along the ocean as all three broke into an all out sprint, seeing nothing standing in their way.

As they rounded the ramp, a massive, three barreled gun came into view and they all knew, that that gun was something not to tango with.

"Shepard...That gun could punch some nasty holes in the _Normandy._ We gotta bring it down." Kaidan said, swallowing down a gulp of breath that pained his chest as it sunk into his lungs.

"Let's do it."

The second they topped the ramp, another Krogan stood waiting for them along a side balcony which quickly found himself having to battle with Wrex. Shepard and Kaidan however continued towards the edge of the wall where multiple Geth drones hovered, two going down immediately as both Sentinels blasted them with a disabling pulse. They pressed themselves against the wall and took a short breather before they wrapped themselves in Barriers and spun out into the open, firing their weapons as fast as they could into the remain drones.

As the last drones feel, their pistols screamed as they had overheated from the fire fight but they paid them no mind once Wrex walked up with a long stream of orange originating at his side and traveling down his leg.

"Fuck Wrex...you're hurt." Shepard groaned, tapping Kaidan on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Shit..." Kaidan groaned, "Let me take a look at it."

Wrex took a step back, "I'm fine. There are lots of perks about being a Krogan and having a redundant nervous system is one of them. Let's keep moving." he rumbled, stretching a suit patch over the hole that had gotten punched through his armor.

Shepard nodded as he set the pace once more, charging up the stairs where they found a spinning transmitting tower. By now, neither were in the mood to shut it down with their Omni-Tools so instead, they opened fire and blasted it to pieces.

"We're close...I can feel it...Saren is here." Shepard said, resting his hands on his knees for a second to catch his breath.

"Then we gotta keep moving Shepard. We don't have much time." Wrex barked, already starting for the door.

As Wrex was about to press the call button, the elevator car opened, revealing that it was filled with Geth. The shock in Shepard, Kaidan and Wrex was short lived however as they charge forward, grabbing ahold of the Geth and wrestling free their weapons to use against them. Shepard blasting a hole through his Geth's gut, Kaidan's through the chest and Wrex...well...Wrex tore the Geth's head off by hand.

They were thankful when it turned out that the elevator ride was long enough to give them a chance to catch their breath until it arrived at a dimly lit corridor. Shepard took point as he lead them to the edge of the wall at the corner and peered around it, seeing nothing along the second part of the corridor before charging to the door.

On the other side of the door was a long, open chamber with standing water covering the floor and Geth and Krogan for them to fight. Much unlike all the other rooms they had been in, this one had some cover for them to take in the form of empty breeding tanks. Each ducked down behind their own cover and picked off enemies, the fatigue setting in and making it more and more difficult for them to hold their guns at the level.

"I hope we're getting close." Shepard panted as he finished their last target, standing between them and the door.

_"You are Commander, but the Geth need to be cleared out before I can bring in the charge." _Joker confirmed.

Shepard hung his head, "Fuck...The gun is inoperable Joker. Can you do something about them?" he asked, leaning against a tank next to the opposite door.

The comm stayed silence for the briefest of moments, _"With that gun down...Please. I'll let you know when it's clear."_

Shepard smirked, "Thanks."

_"Yeah yeah...You can buy me dinner later."_

Shepard and Kaidan chuckled with what energy they had left while Wrex just grunted and folded his arms. They took their break as they saw the _Normandy_ fly overhead to whatever laid in wait on the other side of the door. The noise that followed boomed as the ship's guns blasted through the unseen Geth and not even a minute after that, the comm chirped.

_"I love my ship...All clear Commander"_

"Thanks Joker...We needed a quick breather." Shepard said, smiling as the burn began to subside.

_"Well...If you wouldn't have gone FTL speeds then you wouldn't have had that issue now would you." _Joker snickered.

"Yeah yeah. I just really wanna be off this planet."

As the door opened, Shepard, Kaidan and Wrex splashed down into a water filled clearing that had been charred by the _Normandy's_ cannons and was littered with Geth corpses. The ship had already landed, her Cargo Bay door opened and a small group of her crew were carrying something heavy down her ramp.

"This the bomb?" Shepard asked as they walked up to help place the bomb near a column that stuck out of the water.

"Yes Commander. The Salarians have already briefed us on the sequence. I sent it to you Lieutenant." Engineer Adams said with a short nod.

Kaidan brought up his Omni-Tool to see he had an unread message that he hadn't noticed arrived, "Got it."

Shepard opened up his comm, _"Bomb is in position...I repeat...Bomb is in position." _he announced.

_"Commander!" _it was Ashley's voice.

Shepard's stomach started to flip as everything he had been thinking about started to come to the front of his mind, "Ash...Get to the rendezvous point."

_"No can do Skipper...The Geth have us pinned down at the AA tower. We've taken heavy casualties! We'll never make the rendezvous in time!" _

_ No! _"Joker! Go get them!"

_"Negative Commander! It's too hot! We'll hold them off as long as we can!" _Ashley countered.

_ God no! No! _He thought as he tore his helmet off and let it splash into the water. The choice he had been dreading hadn't arrived but it was starting to rear it's ugly head, having him divide his team, entrusting the women he loved in the hands of another and now, hearing that she was trapped only made his heart ache with the thought that it might be coming.

Kaidan knew exactly what Shepard was think, "Shepard...Go...I gotta arm the nuke. I'll get on the ship the second it's done." he said, trying to ignore the dread building in his chest.

"You better be on that ship when we get back," Shepard whispered as he looked at his awaiting team, "Wrex, Garrus...You're with me."

With that, Shepard and his new team ran to another large door across from the one they came through, immediately running into heavy resistance of Geth and Krogan but his entire crew from the bomb site where close enough to help take care of them. Once the way was clear, Shepard ran through the water, the burn coming back quickly as they splashed to an elevator on the other side. It took them up to a high pathway with nothing overhead but blue sky and with nothing for them to fight which helped ease Shepard's worry, but only slightly. He turned and bounded up a tiny flight of stairs and sprinted towards the other side but the sound of an approaching Geth dropship forced him to skid to a halt. All he could do was watch as the dropship flew overhead, ignoring his very existence as it headed straight to the bomb site, the _Normandy_ taking off just as the dropship arrived and got out of harms way but when his comm crackled to life and Kaidan's voice came through, he realized that he was not on the ship like had he said he would be.

_"Lieutenant! We just saw a dropship inbound to your location!" _Ashley warned.

_ "It's already here! It's raining Geth all over the bomb site!" _Kaidan reported as the barking of his pistol sounded in all their ears.

_ No! No! No! Fate...Please! Don't do this! _He screamed in his head as he watched, his eyes beginning to sting as his heart nearly gave up beating.

"Kaidan! Can you hold them off!" he demanded to know.

_"Dammit! There's too many! I don't think we can hold them off!" _there was a brief pause with the only sound being that of Kaidan's breathing, _"I have no choice Shepard...I'm activating the nuke."_

The sting started to turn into welled up tears in his eyes, "What! No! Don't you dare Kaidan!"

_"I have to Shepard, otherwise...we fail! Go get Williams and get out of here!" _

A tear leapt from Shepard's eye, "I can't! Don't do this to me Kaidan! Don't make me choose!"

_"If there was another choice, I would have made it but there just isn't...You have to promise me something."_

More tears fell down Shepard's cheeks, now coming from both eyes, "Don't...Please..."

_"Take care of Lycan for me."_

With that last statement, Shepard's heart broke and he sank to his knees in despair and uncontrollable tears. Fate had won. She had forced the choice he had been dreading upon him and now he had to choose. His heart screamed with ache as he thought of Ashley and the life he could have with her, but it also screamed that he owed Kaidan his own life from so many years ago. He would have to lose something special to him again. He had to decide whom lived, and whom died and his heart began to give up. He battled through his emotions to try and think like a Commander in hopes that that would help him think clearly but the feeling of dread was far too strong. He couldn't make the choice.

"I can't choose!" he yelled, "I can't...I can't fucking choose!" he quit trying to stop his tears from falling to the concrete beneath him.

"Shepard...You have to." Garrus urged.

"I can't Goddammit! You don't understand!" Shepard roared, his throat closing up with more emptiness.

He was consumed by the despair as the seconds ticked by, not knowing what to do and not even realizing that Garrus and Wrex were looking back at him. He knew that if he could trade his life for theirs, he would in a heartbeat but he knew Fate would not accept that price, for she wanted him to suffer and he knew it.

"I c-can't choose." he stuttered, not caring anymore as all the fight began to leave his body.

"For ancestors sake Shepard. I'll make it for you." Wrex growled.

That caught Shepard's attention as he looked up, seeing Wrex lumber back towards the elevator, "Wrex! Wait!"

* * *

Kaidan had ducked behind the tall column near the bomb to use as cover, thankful that the bomb was near so he had the best chance of keeping the Geth off of it while it ticked away the seconds. The only thought in his head were those of Lycan, and knowing he was never going to see, touch or taste her again. The raging feelings drowned out the pain in his shoulder from a bullet wound, something he was thankful for as another shot from his pistol destroyed another Geth. He pressed his back up against the column as he could no longer stand, his exhaustion setting in as he realized that he had something to tell Lycan. He slumped into the water and brought up his Omni-Tool to begin typing out his letter but the closely approaching splashing of water drew his attention away from the message he was about to write.

"Wrex! What the Hell are you doing back here!" Kaidan yelped as Wrex loomed over him, hand extended to help him up.

"Giving you a hand." Wrex chuckled, a smile on his face as he easily yanked Kaidan to his feet.

"What about Shepard?"

Wrex brought a hand up to his comm, "Shepard, you better be on your way to the AA tower or so help you, I will rip you to pieces."

_"We are! We just got here! Get Alenko and get your asses back to the ship!" _Shepard demanded.

Wrex barked a laugh, "Ha! We'll see." he cut the link.

"We can't just leave the bomb unguarded Wrex! Someone has to stay with it!" Kaidan yelled, pressing his hand to his shoulder as it spiked with pain.

"Well then it's your lucky day Alenko. Get your ass moving before I change my mind." Wrex smirked, picking up Kaidan's pistol to claim it as his own.

"W-What? Wrex...you..." Kaidan stuttered, brows furrowing as it started to click what Wrex was saying.

"Don't question my motives Alenko! I've made up my mind!" Wrex barked, "Small one was right you know! I _would_ rather die on my feet then to live on my knees under Saren's rule! She understands! She's a Krogan at heart!" he boomed with a thick, glorious laugh as he shot another closing Geth.

Kaidan just stared for a moment, slowly shaking his head, "Wrex..."

"Go Alenko! Give this to her...She'll know what it is." Wrex said, plucking something from his belt and tossing it to Kaidan.

Kaidan barely caught the object tossed to him, having to cup both hands over his chest in order to keep it from splashing into the water. He glanced down at the object he now held and saw the small, gleaming jewels embedded into the carved, bone colored beads that was large enough around to perhaps fit as a choker around a Human woman's neck.

"Wrex..." Kaidan tried to say but he cut himself short as he knew there was nothing he could say that could change the Krogan's mind, "It's been an honor Wrex." he said with a curt nod.

"Just make sure Saren pays for what he's done. I'll be watching Alenko. Now go." Wrex smirked as he turned his attention to the Geth.

Kaidan swallowed down anything else he could possibly say as he turned and bolted for the door. He stuffed the jewelry into a pouch and made sure it was safe before picking up the speed and nearly slamming into the elevator. Time blurred for him as he ran, the distant sounds of gunfire and ordinance blasting all around, but the only thing he could focus on was getting to the ship and into Lycan's arms. She was his motivation. His shoulder screamed with each, long stride he took, every time his foot hit the ground, it would send a shockwave of pain through his entire torso. _I have to get to Lycan! I have to! _He screamed at himself as he ran. He had no idea whether he was close to the ship or not but when another door opened for him, he blasted out into a wide open platform with the _Normandy_ perched at it's edge.

He opened his stride even further as he saw Shepard clumsily climb up the Cargo Bay ramp with Ashley's help but she too appeared exhausted and possibly even injured.

"Shepard!" Kaidan yelled as he booked it, his legs screaming for a break.

Shepard heard his name from behind him and turned, seeing Kaidan fighting to get to them, "Kaidan! Run! Hurry!" he yelled back.

Kaidan had nothing left to answer back with but when he looked into the _Normandy's_ Cargo Bay, he saw her. He could clearly see the distress across her face, her worry, her fear as she encouraged him to push on. The burn in his legs made it harder for him to move, realizing then that he had started to slow down despite his urge to get to her. It started to feel like he was running through mud, his feet planting themselves without his permission and sending him to the ground as they forced him to stop. His lungs were on fire as he tried to push himself up but his arms refused to give him the strength he needed so he just slumped, resting his forehead against his arm. _This is it...I can't keep going. _He thought, looking up when he heard his name being yelled.

"Ly?" he panted, using the last of his strength to look up at her, seeing her dart out from the _Normandy_ on her way to him.

Lycan had run so fast to get to him that she was knelt at his side before he even knew it and he started to smile when he felt her hands grip his arms.

"Come on Kaidan! You have to get up! Please!" Lycan begged, yanking at his arms.

Kaidan's adrenaline began to course through his veins more the more she spoke, "Ly...I..."

"Get up Kaidan!" she pleaded once more.

At the sound of her voice, he found his energy reserve, grunting loudly as he forced himself to his feet. His stance faltered and he began to collapse but to his surprise, Lycan had caught him. He leaned against her as she led them both towards the ship, one arm wrapped around his waist while the other kept his good arm around her shoulders to help support his weight.

"Come on Kaidan. You can do it." Lycan said as they ran.

"Don't leave me Ly...I need you." Kaidan panted as he concentrated on not falling again.

"I'm not leaving you Kaidan now come on...Don't give up on me yet." Lycan urged.

The pair pushed themselves harder as the crew aboard the ship urged them to hurry. Shepard had collapsed to the deck, Ashley at his side but both yelled for them. Garrus, Liara and Tali were all reaching out, desperately hoping to catch them and whisk them aboard to take them all to safety.

As all started to seem lost, Kaidan and Lycan stumbled onto the ramp of the Cargo Bay where the others grasped them and pulled them on board. Kaidan pushed them all away, weakly crawling into Lycan's arms where he yanked his helmet off and buried his face into her shoulder, holding her as close as he could as he breathed in the scent of her hair.

Shepard looked up from where he was propped against Ashley and looked at his crew, taking a quick head count but he came up one short. He counted again, hoping that it was just a mistake from his exhaustion but again, he came up one short.

"Where's Wrex?" he asked, his head whirling and his body growing weaker and weaker by the second.

No one answered as they realized that Wrex was missing.

"Where's Wrex!" Shepard yelled, looking to Kaidan as he slumped against Lycan.

Kaidan just shook his head.

Shepard's eyes went wide as he turned back to the still open bay door, "Wrex!" he bellowed, trying to get off the ship but Ashley held him back.

The _Normandy_ began to pull away, gliding and gaining altitude fast from the base as the tremendously loud buzzing of an imminent blast began to echo through the air. They all looked on as the bay door began to rise, one short, as everything they saw was engulfed in the brightest flash of white any of them had ever seen. The ship screamed away from the expanding flash, the shockwave nipping at her stern before the _Normandy_ became too fast and she pulled away, bringing all but one to safety.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Letters of Remembrance

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! Author's note: I am so sorry for the late update. School has been crazy so I hope you all forgive me and enjoy the chapter! I'll try to update sooner. Thanks for reading.)_

The Med Bay was dark and Kaidan was grateful for it, especially since he was propped up in a bunk in half his uniform and a large bandage over his shoulder. However, the pain in his shoulder was nothing compared to the throbbing that was steadily growing in his head from the looming migraine that threatened to render him useless. He leaned back against the adjustable bed, resting his head on the pillow as he stared at the jewelry in his hand, slowly spinning it through his fingers to study each intricately carved piece that seemed to tell a story.

His thoughts, to his surprise, were blank, finding that he was unable to think of anything at all so he just listened to the dull thrum of the drive core that gently filled the Med Bay. The longer he stared, the more tunnel vision he got, so when the doors opened, he was startled and whisked the jewelry out of sight and stuffed it into his pant's pocket. He rested his head back down just as Lycan walked up with a caring smile across her lips, his eyes locking with her's as he noticed that her eyes weren't swollen from crying, but shone with appeared to be joy.

"Hey...How's your shoulder?" Lycan asked quietly, gently placing her hands on the edge of his bed.

Kaidan couldn't stop his mouth from softly smiling, even through his pain, "It hurts...Along with my head and the rest of my body." he groaned, trying to adjust himself to be more comfortable but he just couldn't do it as his abs screamed with fire.

"I bet. Do you need anything?" she asked, resisting her urge to softly touch his shoulder which happened to be covered in gauze and tape.

Kaidan carefully shook his head, "No...I'm ok. Thank you. Has Shepard called for the debriefing yet?"

"Not yet. I think he's giving everyone some time to cope with Wrex being gone but no one seems...really sad about his death." she said, her smile widening a little bit as she brushed her fingertips over his knuckles.

"How can no one be upset?" he started to get angry, but it instantly defused when Lycan grasped his hand.

"It's alright. It's a good thing. I think everyone knows that he died how he would have wanted to," she quietly chuckled, "Everyone's been talking about him. Telling stories." she placed her other hand over his and her eyes found themselves scanning over his tank top clad torso.

Kaidan slightly tightened his grip on her hand, "Remembering him instead of mourning him...I think that's what he would have wanted."

"I do too," she smiled, reaching up to brush a stray lock of hair off his forehead.

They both remained silent for a few moments, filled with relief that each other was ok as they looked into each other's eyes. Kaidan could feel the weight of the bracelet still hidden in his pocket and Wrex's words were instantly brought to the front of his mind. He had to complete Wrex's final wish, so he slowly slipped his hand free of her grasp to reach into his pocket and sucked in a deep breath to prepare himself.

"Wrex wanted me to give this to you." he said quietly, grasping Lycan's hand and placing the gleaming jewelry into her palm.

Lycan's smile faded as she looked down to see the bracelet that she had seem Wrex playing with, gently running her fingers over the carved beads but her smile slowly returned as she read the story inscribed on it. Her eyes barely stung with tears but she wasn't sad, she wasn't angry...she was happy that she had been granted the chance to know a being such as Wrex, even if it wasn't for all that long, she still felt blessed to have known him.

"You ok?" Kaidan asked, reaching up to gently brush his knuckles over her cheek.

Lycan nodded and wiped the tiniest of tears from her eye, "Yeah...I thought this had gotten destroyed on Virmire." she smiled.

"He said that...that you were right. That you'd been right along. I'm sorry I waited so long to give it to you." Kaidan said, taking his hand away from her cheek to close her hand around the jewelry.

"It's ok. You needed to get patched up first," she swallowed down some more determined tears, "I just...I just don't know what to say. I feel honored that Wrex would entrust this to me."

"What is it?" Kaidan asked, keeping his hand wrapped around her's.

"Something for his daughter..." Lycan started as both her and Kaidan noticed Dr. Chakwas walking up to them with a small armful of new bandaging supplies.

"Hello Lieutenant. How's your shoulder feeling?" Dr. Chakwas asked, setting down the fresh bandages onto his bunk.

"It's alright but the painkillers are wearing off." Kaidan resisted the urge to shrug, as that would only confirm that the pain was returning.

"We can do something about that since it's time to change your dressings." the doctor smiled as she snapped on a pair of latex gloves.

Kaidan opened his mouth so say thank you, but the ping from the doctor's terminal drew his attention, "Looks like you have a new message or something doctor." he pointed out with his good arm.

Dr. Chakwas looked over her shoulder at her terminal, "Oh my...Would you look at that. I don't suppose our dear Lycan here would be willing to change your bandages for me would she?" she asked as she removed the gloves and waded them into a ball.

"I can help her if she needs it." Kaidan nodded, his head feeling a bit better as his headache seemed to be dying down to no longer threaten a migraine.

Dr. Chakwas gave them both a gentle nod as she lightly patted Lycan's shoulder before she walked back to her desk and put some earphones in to check the new message.

Kaidan's brows furrowed lightly, "I don't think I've ever seen her put those in." he smirked, still taking care not to aggravate his headache in hopes that it would completely disappear.

Lycan retrieved her hand and slipped on a fresh pair of latex gloves before she carefully began to peel the old bandage away from Kaidan's skin, "You really need to stop getting shot." she snickered.

Kaidan's smile widened, "I'll try not to but in my defense, I didn't mean to get shot."

"I know. I'm just teasing. You look like you could've used a smile." she said softly, starting on another corner to peel away more tape.

"I do need one that's for sure," he winced as the cool air in the Med Bay started to touch his wound, "It's gonna need some more medi-gel I think." he said, watching as the deep red hole come into view.

Lycan muffled her gasp the best she could as she finally got a good look at his wound, seeing that the clean pierce was ringed with swollen, red flesh and topped with drying blood. However, her shock was short lived as she clearly saw that the wound had obvious signs of healing, as the hole had filled itself in with freshly developed muscle and skin.

"It looks good considering. Medi-gel works fast." she smiled as she carefully pulled the rest of the patch away from his shoulder in one, large piece.

Kaidan inspected his wound, also pleased with it's progress, "It's designed to do that. Helps decrease healing time so Marines can get back on duty faster and it also minimizes the chance of scars...if you don't reopen the injuries." he shot her a smirk and a soft wink, making her smile at his reference to her own scars on her wrist.

"That's good. I'd hate to see your skin marred by nasty scars." she repeated his line from what seemed like ages ago.

Kaidan's smile broadened a great deal, "Touche," he nodded, following her hands as she grabbed the tube of medi-gel that accompanied the supplies, "Don't be shy with it. You want it to make a solid seal over the hole." he instructed.

Lycan nodded as she poured a generous amount onto her fingertips and began to dab it into the bullet wound, "Am I doing it right?" she asked.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. Fill it in, then make a nice patch over it with this," he picked up an individually wrapped medi-gel patch and handed it to her, "You're doing a great job."

"Thanks," she finished filling the hole and opened the patch, "Are you gonna be ok? I mean...about Wrex?"

Kaidan's smile faded, but he nodded, "Yeah...I'll miss him...but I'm happy I'm here...with you."

Lycan's cheeks began to feel hot, "Me too Kaidan." she tried not to smirk when she saw the skin on his shoulder pimple with tiny goosebumps.

_"Alenko...Shepard's waiting for you in the Briefing Room." _Joker's voice fluttered down from the ceiling.

"Tell him I'll be right there. Just getting my shoulder patched up." Kaidan announced.

The comm just clicked off and the pair remained silent as Lycan finished smoothing down the edges of the medi-gel patch before she placed the fresh gauze and started to tape him up.

"Perfect. Feels great Ly." Kaidan smiled as he sat up and swung his legs around to get ready to get off the bed.

"I'm glad I could help care for you. Just take it easy ok?" Lycan smiled as she gently ran her hand down his exposed arm.

Kaidan hopped off the bed, the chill in the air sending a noticeable shiver down his spine, "Yes Ma'am...Mind if I borrow that zip up?" he asked, placing his hand on her hip.

"It's your zip up." she giggled.

Kaidan chuckled low in his throat as he gently grasped the zipper and slowly pulled it down, locking eyes with her as he opened the garment himself and slipped his hands inside to run them back over her shoulders, removing the sweater. He carefully threaded his injured arm through the sleeve, thankful for Lycan's help as she held the sleeve out so that he didn't have to apply more force then he had to before she pulled the zipper up halfway.

"Thanks. I'll bring it back." he snickered, still looking into her eyes, "Oh...You never did tell me what that bracelet was for."

"A story for later. You're gonna be late for the debriefing." Lycan smiled.

"I'll hold you to that."

Before he left, he gently squeezed her upper arm and leaned down, placing a soft kiss to her cheek that lingered for just a moment before he walked out of the Med Bay. He headed up the stairs, opting to walk instead of doing his usual bounding on his way to the Briefing Room, as he didn't want to cause his shoulder to hurt any more then it already did. When he walked into the Briefing Room, he saw that everyone was just sitting in silence and staring at their laps.

"Sorry to keep everyone waiting." Kaidan said quietly as he took his seat, holding his shoulder as still as possible.

At the sound of Kaidan's voice, Shepard finally looked up, "You're fine. Good to see your shoulder's doing alright." he said blandly.

Kaidan nodded, "Thanks."

Shepard took the time to look around at his crew, his eyes lingering on the now, only empty seat, "We lost a good man, but he died fighting." he said, earn the gazes of his crew.

"I can't believe he's gone. Everything was going so well up until that last bit," Ashley said quietly, slowly shaking her head in disbelief, "I don't know what happened."

"I don't think any of us do Chief. All I know...is that I owe him everything." Kaidan said, resting his head back against his chair.

"You and me both LT," Ashley agreed, her brows furrowing after a moment, "Didn't he have a daughter?" she asked, seeing everyone's faces lightly brighten.

"Yeah...If I remember right...He did. I'll make sure that she know's how he died." Shepard said, trying to remember what the girl's name was. _I'm sure Lycan remembers. I'll ask her after this, _"I know no one's ready to talk about mission related matters, but we have to." he added.

Everyone nodded their head in agreement.

"Well...Lycan was right about finding that second beacon. We found it in Saren's private lab but that wasn't the only thing we found." Shepard started.

"There was a VI inside and we discovered that Saren's ship, Sovereign...It's not a ship. It's a real Reaper." Kaidan chimed in, interlacing his fingers together and resting his hands in his lap.

"You mean that giant thing we saw back on Eden Prime?" Ashley asked, drawing her brows together.

"Yup...Turns out that's a sentient being. Who'd a thunk." Shepard rolled his eyes and leaned back into his chair.

"Kee'lah...Why would Saren want to help the Reapers return?" Tali asked, resting her hands on her knees.

"Apparently, he believes that he is trying to protect life by submitting us to slavery, and that by helping Sovereign, he's insuring his own survival." Shepard answered a little too emotionlessly.

"Saren's lost his mind." Ashley snarled, her brows drawing together even harder.

"I don't disagree with you there, but that doesn't change the fact that Saren's got a jump on us." Shepard sighed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.

"So where's that bastard headed?" Garrus asked, not even trying to hide his angry snarl.

Shepard shrugged, "To find this Conduit thing and I'm hoping that that second beacon blast will be able to help us find out where this Conduit is."

"I may be able to help Commander. We can join minds again and perhaps my knowledge of the Protheans will help us discover the Conduit's location. It very well may have filled in the missing pieces of your vision." Liara said, sitting up a little straighter.

Shepard quietly groaned, "Oy...It's not my favorite thing to do but it's gotta be done." he sighed as he stood and stepped into the middle of the Briefing Room.

Liara nodded and met Shepard in the middle of the room, taking in a deep breathe as she mentally readied herself to dive into Shepard's mind but before she could speak the words, Shepard held up his hand.

"Remember what else I wanted you to do?" he whispered.

Liara thought a moment, unsure of what Shepard was referring to until he subtly pointed at Ashley through himself so she wouldn't see it, "Oh...of course Commander." she whispered back.

Shepard and Liara locked gazes as she spoke the same words she had many times before. The second she spoke, her mind's eye was assaulted with familiar images that she had seen the first time she melded with Shepard but what was different about this time, was that they were interlaced with new ones. They quickly flashed by, like always, never sticking around long enough to gather any accurate details but the one prominent image, was of the solar eclipse. Her Prothean knowledge allowed her to recognize several constellations that surrounded the shadowed planet and the shape of the nebula seemed familiar as well. _That looks like the Pangaea Expanse but...Wait...That sun's golden color...that' in the Refuge system...Oh my...I know where the Conduit is but I can't just end the meld just yet. _She thought as the images settled and allowed her to explore his mind a little further.

Liara focused on the flood of emotions that flowed and ebbed all around her but she was looking for a certain emotion that she knew was new to Shepard. She started to push aside the obvious emotions such as anger, fear and sadness to narrow down her search but as she thinned the layers of Shepard's mind, the emotion she was looking for began to tug stronger and stronger. She soon found the path of love hidden behind several other emotions and started down it's path to see a distance band in the distance begin to come into view. She slowly approached the band, mesmerized by the swirling hues of the richest purple she had ever seen and began to follow it, watching as the horizon slowly lightened enough to show the silhouette of a man. She cautiously reached out with a single finger and gently touched the band, causing it to brighten and swirl for a moment around her finger before it sent a pulse rocketing down it's length. The light pinged on the horizon, briefly lighting up the silhouette to reveal it to be Shepard which was no surprise, but the ping had sent a continuation of the deep purple band off in another direction. _It must lead to person he feels bonded to. This is fascinating. _She thought as she started to run to follow it. The band seemed to go on forever the more she ran but out of nowhere, the entire black void vanished to leave her standing in the middle of the Briefing Room.

"By the Goddess!" Liara exclaimed, surprised that the meld ended so abruptly as she didn't even notice that she had skidded to a halt.

She looked at Shepard, curious as to why everything was so quiet but that's when she noticed that Shepard not only didn't respond to her, but hadn't blinked his eyes.

"Commander?" she asked, waiving her hand in front of Shepard's face.

Her brows began to furrow when again, Shepard didn't respond to her hand so she started to look around, noticing that no one else was responding either. She stepped over to where Garrus sat, seeing that he was unmoving, as well as Tali...so was Kaidan and Ashley for that matter. No one was moving at all. _This is...unusual. Is this what Shepard is seeing? Or is this perhaps a memory? A stilled image? _She thought as he looked at each person in the room. She felt herself starting to loose concentration the longer she just looked at the room so she stopped and closed her eyes.

As she slowly opened them after regaining her concentration, the deep purple band of energy came into focus, emanating from Shepard and shimmering it's way across the room to wrap around Ashley like a warm blanket. However, it wasn't alone as she saw a bright blue band of energy stretching from Shepard as well, but this one led to Kaidan, it too wrapping around the Lieutenant to completely encase him. She slowly stepped closer to both bands, carefully extending her hand to attempt to touch them once more but before she could do anything else, she was ripped from the meld and forced back into reality.

"Goddess!" she exclaimed from the shock of suddenly being pulled out of the meld without her consent.

"Are you alright Liara?" Kaidan asked, knelt down next to Shepard whom had collapsed to be caught by Ashley.

"Yes Lieutenant...I just...I had just forgotten how intense the images could be. I just need a moment." Liara said, bracing herself against the top of her chair.

Shepard groaned, "Did any of it make any sense to you?" he asked, his hand cupped over his eyes.

"It's hard to tell, but it seems to be a distress call sent out across the Prothean empire. It's a warning against the Reapers but from what I saw, the warning came too late." Liara said, gently rubbing her eyes as she steadied her breathing.

Shepard finally opened his eyes and looked at Liara, "Please tell me there was something about where we can find the Conduit."

"The images went by so fast that it was difficult to accurately discern it's location but I believe the Conduit is on a planet named...Ilos. It's in the Refuge system of the Pangaea Expanse." Liara said, finally feeling well enough to stand up straight.

"I assume that the best way to get there is through this Mu Relay?" Shepard asked, not really in any mood to try and sit up on his own, so he just laid against Ashley while his head whirled.

"It's the only way to get to Ilos Commander. The relay links to dozens of systems and hundreds of worlds." Liara said as she slipped into her seat.

"If that's the case, then how is it you knew it was Ilos?" Shepard asked, finally sitting up off of Ashley.

"The constellations mainly. I've studied many of them near major Prothean worlds." Liara said.

"We've gotta get there and stop Saren..."

"Shepard...The Pangaea Expanse is in the Terminus Systems and Alliance ships aren't welcomed...Hell...Neither are Spectres for that matter." Kaidan interjected, now confident that Shepard was alright and decided to sit back in his chair.

Shepard glared at his Lieutenant, "That's what the stealth systems are for. We have to get to Ilos..." he started to argue.

"Commander...Saren's going to have his entire fleet orbiting Ilos. You'd never make it to the planet's surface." Liara quickly countered.

"We have no choice. We have to tell the Council." Kaidan shrugged, then sighed.

Shepard rolled his eyes as he pushed himself up to his feet, "I hate to admit it Alenko but you're right. We're done here. Dismissed."

Everyone stood from their seats and headed for the door with the exception of Shepard and Liara when he grabbed her arm. Liara nervously stayed behind and waited in silence as everyone else filed out of the Briefing Room to leave just her and Shepard alone.

"Well? What'd you see?" Shepard asked a little too eagerly as he folded his arms.

"I saw a purple bond but it was different then the Soul Bond between the Lieutenant and Lycan, as I only saw your silhouette." Liara started.

Shepard's brow's furrowed, "Why's that?"

"I am unsure Commander but it wasn't alone. There was a blue bond as well that blanketed the Lieutenant..."

"Wait...What? I'm bonded to Kaidan?" Shepard interrupted.

"No Commander...The blue bond signifies a deep seeded friendship but the purple bond was wrapped around Chief Williams. There were two separate bonds." Liara finished.

"So what's a purple bond then?" Shepard was confused.

"I can't be sure. Give me some time to do some research. I've never had to experience anything like this before." Liara said with a short nod.

"Y-Yeah...Let me know as soon as you find out."

With that, Liara nodded and left Shepard alone in the Briefing Room to ponder their next move until the comms chirped to life above his head.

_"Commander...There's a comm buoy nearby. I can link us in if you wanna report back to the Council...You know...To warn them about Sovereign." _Joker said with absolutely none of his usual sarcasm.

"Set up the link Joker." Shepard flatly said.

_"Patching it through Commander."_

Shepard stood and faced the three podiums as he waited for the link to be set up...upon which he didn't have to wait long.

_"Commander Shepard...I'm pleased to see that your mission on Virmire was a success." _the Asari Councilor said kindly.

"I wouldn't call it a success. I lost a good man down there." Shepard corrected.

_"Regardless...Saren is formidable enough without an army of Krogan serving under him." _the Turian Councilor said as if Shepard hadn't said a thing.

Shepard's brows pinched, "Right...You're just gonna wave off the fact that I lost a man but that's alright...It's not like he saved our lives and the life of my best friend or anything." he spat.

_"I don't like your tone Shepard..." _the Turian snarled.

_"That's enough! That's not the purpose of this call." _the Asari councilor interrupted, getting rather tired of playing referee between Shepard and the Turian councilor.

"Look...Saren's not the threat...Sovereign is. The Reapers wiped out the Protheans and now they're coming after us." Shepard angrily scoffed.

_"Yes...We saw mention of this in your report. This Sovereign...a sentient machine. A true artificial intelligence...This news is quite alarming...If it turns out to be accurate." _the Salarian said more then a little snidely.

"Goddammit! The Reaper's are real! Sovereign's real! Saren's even admitted it to me!" Shepard fumed, balling his hands into tight fists.

_"He's playing you Shepard! Saren still has contacts on the Citadel and he probably saw your earlier reports..." _the Turian councilor easily dismissed.

"For fuck sake! Saren isn't playing me! You people refuse to see reason and I'm done trying to force feed this shit to you! If you don't wanna believe it, don't come crying to me when a Reaper's on your Goddamn doorstep! Joker...Cut the fucking link!" Shepard hissed angrily.

Before any of the Councilors could protest, their holograms winked out to Shepard's relief and left him in the silence of the Briefing Room which wasn't necessarily a good thing. He was so consumed by the anger that had boiled to near explosive levels, that he hadn't realized the comm was still on.

_"They're aren't gonna listen are they Commander..." _Joker said flatly.

"Hell will freeze over before they ever listen to us Joker." Shepard sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Shepard looked up at the ceiling as the click of the comm informed him that Joker had cut the feed, once again leaving him cast in silence. He sighed again as he decided to check on his crew, knowing that there were probably some whom were quite shaken from their recent ordeal. He spun and left the Briefing Room to emerge out into the CIC, noticing the quick glances from his crew as he passed by. Something he found that brought him solace, was that the glances weren't scrutinizing or judging...they were trying to convey comfort in their knowledge that they had left someone behind. He sent them all short nods as he passed by, heading down the stairs to the Crew Deck and ducked into the elevator.

The Cargo Bay was quiet, save for the work that was being done to the Mako to repair her armor of the deep gouges that had been left by running over Geth. As he stepped out, he saw Captain Kirrahe and what was left of his men huddled in a dark corner, all looking exhausted.

"Captain...How are you and your men holding up?" Shepard asked as he knelt down next to a moderately injured Salarian and handed him the canteen that he was reaching for.

"We're exhausted but we're hanging in there Commander. I appreciate what you and your crew did for us down there. I know it was a sacrifice leaving behind your crew member." Kirrahe said with a grateful nod.

"I owe Wrex a lot for what he did. He'll be missed." Shepard said quietly as he stood back up.

"I must admit Commander...Perhaps I was wrong about the Krogan. I've never met a Krogan willing to sacrifice themselves for others in the way that your's did." Kirrahe admitted as he tended to another Salarian whom was still visibly shaken.

"Wrex was one of a kind that's for sure. Maybe his story will inspire others to be better then they are." Shepard said, finding that he too would stay true to his own words.

"We can only hope that it does Commander."

Shepard nodded his head in agreement before he stepped away, leaving Kirrahe to care for his men while he continued making his rounds with the rest of his crew. He glanced over towards Ashley's station, seeing that she wasn't alone as Kaidan and Lycan were also there and helping her to clean the myriad of who know's what out of the weapons. He started over, trying not to be too quiet so he didn't scare them...which could end up with him getting pistol whipped if he wasn't careful.

"Everything going alright here?" Shepard asked once he was close enough that he didn't have to yell.

All three glanced up at the sound of his voice.

"Uneventful...which is a relief considering." Ashley answered as she snapped out the various mods from the weapons.

"We've earned some quiet time, that's for sure." Shepard agreed, clapping a hand down onto Kaidan's shoulder...which wasn't a good idea, "Oh shit! Sorry man."

Kaidan hissed with the sharp spike of pain from his shoulder as he held his breath to keep from swearing up a storm. He glanced up at Lycan whom was sympathetically wincing as she grasped his hand in hopes of providing comfort through his pain. Luckily for him, Lycan had stashed a couple painkillers in her pocket for him to take when the pain returned, upon which he quickly took and swallowed down a large gulp of water from a glass he had brought down with him.

"Thanks Ly." he said, gently squeezing her hand.

"You'd be lost without her around." Shepard started to laugh as Lycan smiled and returned to cleaning the pistol in her hands.

"I'd sure be in a lot more pain that's for sure," Kaidan nodded as he reached for what he thought was his weapon when he realized where his real pistol was, "Damn...I'm gonna need a new pistol." he groaned.

"Why?" Shepard asked as everyone stopped what they were doing to look at Kaidan.

"Wrex took it." Kaidan said, feeling his heart tighten briefly before the ache disappear.

"He went down in a blaze of glory with your gun LT?" Ashley smirked.

Kaidan's mouth cracked a crooked grin, "Yeah...Yeah he did." he nodded.

"I bet the old bastard took out a dozen of those damn machines before that bomb went." Shepard threw in, finding that he was fighting back a laugh.

"I wouldn't doubt it. He probably even used it as brass knuckles." Lycan snickered.

"Going old school! That's a man after my own heart," Shepard laughed with a grinned, "Listen...I'm curious if any of you know Wrex's daughter's name. I was gonna see if I can somehow get a letter to her to let her know what happened." he added, changing the mood of the conversation.

"Her name's Grexa." Lycan quickly answered, sliding the pistol she was working on over to Ashley for inspection.

"Grexa...Sounds fitting to me. Thanks Lycan." Shepard nodded, his smile returning.

"If I knew more, I'd tell you but all I know is her name." Lycan lightly shrugged.

"Hey...I got her name. I think I can work with that." Shepard nodded, making sure to clap Kaidan on his opposite shoulder before he stepped away, leaving them to their work.

As he walked away, he decided that it was time to do his search in hopes of finding some way to get in touch with Wrex's daughter but he honestly had no idea of where to start. On his way to his quarter's, he stopped in the mess to grab himself something to drink and a snack before disappearing, leaving the door unlocked this time as he headed for his terminal. He logged into the Alliance databases, hoping he'd get lucky but then started to second guess himself as he remembered that Wrex wasn't Alliance. _Hmm...Where would the best place to start be?...Right...C-Sec._

He tried using his Alliance information to log into the C-Sec databases but sadly, the server only flash a red sign at him that said _User Error _on it. So instead, he flicked on his desk comm and found Garrus's Omni-Tool.

"Garrus? I need to get into the C-Sec database. Can I use your profile instead of hacking my way in?" Shepard asked as he raked a hand back over his hair.

_"Sure...Just don't linger too long or the brass'll get suspicious." _

"Send me your info."

Shepard cut the link and waited patiently for his own Omni-Tool to ping with a new message, quickly opening it and entered the information which granted him restricted access. His brows furrowed as he glared at the limitations and decided that that was going to change. He dove head first into the server and hacked his way into the mainframe where he cut the restrictions, grinning at himself as the big red _Restricted, _turned into a big green _Full Access. _

_Search: Urdnot Wrex_

_-Searching-_

_ Profile Found: Restricted_

_ Profile Source: Citadel Security_

_ Name: Urdnot Wrex Alias: 'Big Red' Height: 8'3"_

_ Weight: 1500 lbs Eye color: Red Race: Krogan_

_ Distinctive Markings: Long scars on right side of face_

_ Criminal History: _

_ -Assault – Multiple Counts_

_ -Assault with a Deadly Weapon – Multiple Counts_

_ -Theft – Multiple Counts_

_ -Grand Theft Auto – Multiple Counts_

_ -Illegal use of Biotics – Multiple Counts_

_ -Breaking and Entering – Multiple Counts_

_ -Use of Illegal Weapon Mods – Multiple Counts_

_ -Kidnapping – Multiple Counts_

_ -Attempted Murder – Unknown_

_ -Murder – Unknown_

_ -Destruction of Government Property – One Count_

_ Occupation: Mercenary – No group affiliation_

Shepard's brows arced high the more he read, "Good lord! The guys got a longer resume then I do! Sheesh..." he exclaimed as he continued on, finding the list continued for so many pages, that he eventually gave up and clicked on the search field.

_Search: Urdnot Wrex + Offspring_

_-Searching-_

_ Negative Results_

Shepard's brows fell and creased together as he stared at the flashing words on his screen. _Damn...Worth a shot. _He grumbled as he deleted the words and tried to think of something else to try. He searched general information in hopes of finding some sort of information on Grexa but she seemed to have nothing on her what so ever. _Probably means she's never left the Krogan home world. _He sighed heavily until a thought popped into his head with the snap of his fingers.

"Wrex's contact information." he whispered as he filled in the necessary fields and opened a message.

He began typing out his message, hoping that someone on the other end would find it, read it and hopefully pass it along to Wrex's daughter. At first, he found it difficult to find the words to put to virtual paper but as he battled through, they started to flow a little bit easier. It didn't take long for the letter to become quite lengthy, so lengthy in fact, that he had to stop himself and end it, so he could go back and trim it down a bit. Once he was happy with it, he started to read it back himself.

_To: Urdnot Wrex (Attn: Grexa)_

_ From: Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Shepard (Commanding)_

_ Subject: I Regret to Inform_

_ I am sending this message to Wrex's contact address with the hopes that it will reach his daughter...Grexa._

_ Though I've had the unfortunate duty of writing letters like this in the past, it's never easy. More so, in this case. Though your father was not a member of the Alliance and we had different opinions, he was a member of this crew, and a sentient I considered a friend. I'm better for the time I spent with him and honored that he allowed himself to be under my command. I will admit, I am unfamiliar with most Krogan customs, but I do know that Krogans only follow the strong and worthy. _

_ Your father gave his life proving the strength, honer and courage of the Krogan Race. I have fought on many battlefields and with many sentients, but what Wrex displayed was something I have never witnessed. Most fight for a cause, money or personal fame, but Wrex fought because that's where he could make the largest difference. My people have a phrase, 'Most people spend their whole lives wondering if their lives meant anything. Marines don't have to.' I feel I can amend this to say Wrex doesn't have to ether. _

_ His sacrifice allowed the Krogan to remain a free people, though I can't say why, maybe in time I might get the chance to tell you. He is also responsible for saving the lives of people that would not have survived in any other case. I know that he will always be held in high regard and the more religious of my crew will have him in their prayers. _

_ Amongst the older civilizations from my world, there was a custom that only the greatest worriers were given the honer of cremation by fire and the larger the pyre, the greater the worrier. I can tell you Wrex's pyre was seen from space and his final defiant roar will ring through the void for eons. His last words to me, or any one who could hear him were: 'I would rather die on my feet, then live on my knees.' From what I know of Krogan history and I'll admit, it's not much, is that your people were never meant to serve...they were meant to defend and fight along side. Wrex embodied that aspect, for no being could stand before him. _

_ There is a woman on my crew who knows more about Wrex then any of us ever did. She had spent several occasions talking with him and she is the one whom gave me your name...Grexa. Her name is Lycan Dareden and she can be reached by contacting Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko of the Systems Alliance. I have a feeling that if she knew your name, she knows a lot more and can tell you of the great things he's done while on my crew. I believe it is also safe to say, that she can tell you how your father regarded you while he was away. I apologize if my interpretation of the Krogan family dynamic is incorrect, but I would like to think that he cared about your well being. I'd also like to think that he loved you._

_ I regret how Wrex died but I know that he wouldn't have wanted it any other way. He was a great Krogan and an even greater friend. He will be missed by many, but most of all, by myself, as well as Lycan and Staff Lieutenant Alenko. They are the ones he has touched most. I hope that this letter reaches you Grexa and I hope you understand that I did not wish his passing, but if I could change it...I would. He died with honor and I pray he rests in peace...but God help anything that get's in his way. _

_ My Condolences,_

_ Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Shepard, Systems Alliance, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance _

_ SSV Normandy, Commanding Officer _

As he finished reading his letter, he felt mildly satisfied with it, his unwillingness to send it still strong and keeping his finger at bay. He drew in a slow breath before he tapped the send button, listening to the quiet whoosh as the message shot across the extranet to it's final destination. He didn't feel very confident that the letter would find it's way to Grexa, deciding that he would explore other avenues in hopes of getting the message to her when they got back to the Citadel.

As he got up from his seat, he shut down his terminal and popped open his secret cabinet to retrieve a bottle of whiskey. He quietly set the bottle down onto his small table and swooped up his tumbler that had been sitting on his nightstand for several night cycles, quickly giving it a wash before he halfway filled it with the amber liquid. It burned on it's way down his throat but at the same time, kept him calm and gave him a little more clarity to think of some other way to get a message to Grexa. He went to take another sip when the comm on his door beeped and drew his attention.

_"Skipper? Are you in there?" _Ashley's soft voice came fluttering through.

"Yeah...Come on in." he said, setting down his glass.

The door quietly whooshed open and allowed Ashley to enter his cabin. She stopped once she reached the table, slowly reaching out and grasped Shepard's drink to take a sip herself before she slid the tumbler back across the table.

"Not bad Skipper." she winked at him as she lightly folded her arms across her chest.

Shepard smirked as he finished off the drink, "A taste acquired from my dad before he died. It was his vice I guess." he said, pulling out a chair and taking a seat.

"Do you drink a lot?" Ashley asked, slightly wincing as she rethought about how that sounded.

Shepard grinned, "On occasion I do. It helps to remember my father. You know, I know a little place on the Citadel that has most liquors and wines from Earth that you can sample." his smile grew.

Ashley's brows perked up, "Like a wine tasting kinda thing?" she sat down across the table from him.

"Yeah," Shepard nodded, "There's a door fee but you can order dinner and dessert. It's a pretty nice place."

"Sounds like it." she asked with a growing smile.

"If we get some free time, maybe, you wanna go? I think it's something you might enjoy." Shepard said in a slightly quieter voice as he locked eyes with her.

Ashley's went slightly wider, "As in..." she lightly bit her lip, nervous to even say the word out loud.

Shepard couldn't help the low rumble of a laugh from trembling deep in his throat, "That is what I'm referring to, yes."

Ashley's cheeks started to burn as they turned a lovely shade of embarrassment red, "Do I have to dress up?" she asked with a light chuckle.

Shepard started to gently rub his chin, "Well...If I remember right, you did say something about if I wanted to see you in a tin foil mini skirt, I would have to buy you dinner first. I'm looking to cash in on that."

"Looks like I have to go shopping then," she lightly cringed, "I don't have one of those."

"I'm just teasing you Ash. Anything would be fine to me. If you wanna wear your pajamas, then you can wear them." he let his grin soften as he stood from his chair and walked over to her with his hand extended.

Ashley hesitated a moment, her eyes bouncing from his eyes, to his hand before she gently grasped his hand where he helped her to stand. As she rose, her eyes never left Shepard's as they came face to face with their bodies only inches apart.

"At a place like that? They might not let me in if I wear those." she lightly smirked, slowing raising her hand to run it over his hair.

Shepard closed his eyes to enjoy the soft caress, "And why's that my dear Gunnery Chief?"

Ashley lightly bit her tongue as she leaned up to whisper in his ear, "Because I don't wear pajamas when I have the luxury of having a private place to sleep."

Shepard's eyes shot wide open at her comment, seeing her step away with a victorious grin plastered across her lips. Their eyes never broke from each other until the door opened upon Ashley's arrival, snapping him out of his stupor and back from his little daydream.

"Have a good night Skipper." she officially said so not to arouse suspicion of what their actual conversation was about.

"You too Chief." Shepard nodded, sending her a wink just before his door closed behind her.

Shepard replayed the conversation over in his head again and again, forcing himself to remember the look on Ashley's face when he had asked her out on a date. The twinkle in her eye made his heart sputter in his chest and the color that painted her cheeks made him wish he had taken a picture. However, those thoughts were quickly trumped when he remembered that Ashley _always _had her pajamas on and his imagination revved back up. His body started to warm up until the comm above his head crackled and ripped him out of his pleasure filled haze.

_"Commander? The Council's on the horn again." _Joker's voice said, sounding almost annoyed.

Shepard groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Of course they do. What the Hell do they want now?" he snipped up at the ceiling.

_"They want us back at the Citadel ASAP." _

Shepard froze, "What?" he began to protest, "Did they say why?" he groaned.

_"They've changed their minds. They're preparing a fleet to go after Saren." _

Shepard held his breath as he gave his heart a moment to calm down from it's momentary high, "It's about damn time! Maybe hanging up on them was more of a statement then I thought." he smirked.

_"I actually think Captain Anderson had a little something to do with it. They're still pretty pissed that you hung up on them."_

"I'd do it again if it makes them happy."

_"I don't think the Turian's heart would be able to take it. Anyways...They want us back as quickly as possible." _

"I'm not gonna argue why they changed their minds but if this is true, I want the _Normandy_ at the head of that fleet. I wanna see the look on Saren's fucking face when we bring him down." Shepard smirked as he headed to the bridge.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Why I Hate Politicians

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

Shepard hated waiting on the Council. He couldn't stand just sitting in the Human embassy, no matter if he was with friends or not, waiting for the politicians and political "ass kissers" to finish whatever they were doing before they could address a matter of galactic importance. He had sat down in a chair with his arms crossed, face set into a sneer while his leg impatiently bounced up and down while he and his squad waited to be called to the Council chambers.

"These people better hurry the fuck up. We don't have time to be waiting around for the Council to dot their I's and cross their T's." Shepard growled as he glared at the embassy door.

"Who knows what's taking them so long Skipper. Maybe they're actually forming the fleet because I sure didn't see one when we came into dock." Ashley said, nodding her head in agreement as she paced the room.

Kaidan sighed and lightly winced as he rolled his shoulder in hopes of loosening some of the stiffness that had set in from all their waiting, "It's not that easy to throw together a fleet Chief. The Ambassador and Captain Anderson are probably still trying to battle through the red tape with the Alliance brass." he said, reaching into a small pouch on his belt that Lycan had packed full of pain killers before they had left the ship. _I'd truly be lost without her._

Ashley lightly scoffed and folded her arms, "Red tape and politicians seem to go hand in hand there LT. Somebody needs to give them all a boot in the ass." she grumbled.

"I wouldn't disagree with you Chief." Kaidan nodded just as the comm on the large desk pinged.

Shepard whipped his head around and spray to his feet to rush to the desk and activate the comm, "Yes?" he said eagerly.

_"Commander...The Council's ready for you." _Captain Anderson's voice said quickly.

"It's about damn time. We're on our way." Shepard rattled off.

Without saying a word, they immediately left the embassy and headed down the stairs out onto the Presidium. Luckily for them, the crowds were light, allowing them a far easier time winding their way around the ring and even taking a brief moment to admire the shimmering water that gently splashed from the fountains that were placed at even intervals. Shepard stopped just outside the elevator that would take them up into the Citadel Tower, taking a moment to center himself before confronting the Council with his myriad of questions that he still had floating around in his head.

"Everything alright Shepard?" Kaidan asked, leaning back against the railing and resting his hands on his hips.

"Yeah...I just don't wanna blow my top in there. We're already on thin ice with these people." Shepard sighed as he raked a hand back over his hair.

"Why's that Skipper?" Ashley asked, readjusting her belt on her Alliance uniform to make sure it was straight.

Shepard somewhat winced, "Um...I kinda hung up on them the last time we talked."

"You what!" Ashley barked, smacking Shepard's shoulder but with a smile across her lips.

Shepard cowered, "What? They pissed me off...I can't stand that Turian! He's so...so...irritating!" he shrugged, acting as if her smack hurt.

"They piss us all off Shepard but their isn't much we can do about them. We just have to roll with the punches." Kaidan said with his own, slow sigh.

Shepard rolled his eyes, "I know...It's just my wishful thinking I guess that the Council would actually do something logical." he said as he turned and headed for the elevator.

"We all wish that Shepard."

The trio entered the elevator and stood in silence, listening to the bad music while it slowly rose up into the tower. The long chamber hadn't changed at all since they where last there. The trees were exactly the same, the fountain's pattern hadn't altered in the least bit and the lights were still dim to add that serene atmosphere that, for some reason, was grating on Shepard's nerves. They walked out and headed deeper inside until they saw Captain Anderson standing at the base of the stairs just before the platform where they would address the Council.

"Commander...Thank you for arriving so quickly. They're just about ready to start." Anderson said as he extended his hand for a quick shack from all three of his former crew.

"It's about time the Council is willing to do something about Saren." Shepard said after he shook Anderson's hand and started to walk up the stairs.

"Let's hope so Shepard."

Anderson, Shepard and his team topped the stairs and headed to where they saw Ambassador Udina standing by the podium for those willing to address the Council. He stood stick straight, back facing the Marines with his hands clasped behind his back. He had this aura about him that just overflowed with smugness that wasn't helping Shepard contain his anger which was just waiting to start boiling.

"They're here Ambassador." Captain Anderson said, tapping Udina's shoulder as they arrived for the meeting.

Udina glanced over his shoulder and look at Shepard and his crew, "Good job Shepard. Thanks to you...and me...the Council is finally taking real action against Saren." he said smugly as he turned back to look up at the still three unaccompanied podiums on the other side of the glassed over pit.

Shepard's brows lightly furrowed, "Right...I forgot. You're the one whose been bouncing around the galaxy righting wrongs, battling Geth and loosing members of your squad." he rolled his eyes as the sarcasm oozed all around.

"I see that you haven't learned any respect while you were out. Who do you think has been keeping your digressions in check while you've been making a mess of things." Udina said with the same glare.

"I've give plenty of respect to those that have earned it." Shepard fired back as he folded his arms. _Now I'm wishing I was wearing my armor and I was packing more heat because I really wanna put a new hole in his head. _He thought with a light grimace.

Udina spun to taking his turn until Anderson stopped him, "Ambassador...The Commander's been through a lot and we have far more pressing matters to address."

"That's correct Captain Anderson." the Asari Councilor interjected smoothly, seeing everyone shut their mouths and immediately turned to face them, as they hadn't noticed the Council file into their spots, "If Saren is foolish enough to attack the Citadel, as you all believe, then we'll be reading for him." she finished.

"Patrols are stationed at every mass relay linking Citadel space to the Terminus systems." the Turian added, standing straighter then needed, a lot like Udina was actually.

That caught Shepard's attention, "Ok...That's all fine and dandy but how many ships are you gonna send to attack Ilos?" he asked, taking a deep breath in hopes of keeping his anger under control.

"I'm sure you're aware that Ilos is only accessible through the Mu Relay, deep inside the Terminus systems Commander. If we send a fleet in there, the only possible outcome is full scale war." the Salarian councilor said with only a bob of his head.

"Now is the time for discretion Commander. Saren's greatest weapon was secrecy. Now that's he exposed, he is no longer a threat. This is officially over." Udina said flatly and with a blank stare over to the quickly angering Shepard.

"No...It's not over. Send me after him. I can be discreet and one ship going into the Terminus systems won't cause a war. This is what the _Normandy_ was built for!" Shepard said to the Council, ignoring Udina because if he didn't, he was going to do something that was going to put him in jail.

"Discreet? Please Commander Shepard. You detonated a nuclear device on Virmire. I wouldn't call the discreet." the Turian councilor scoffed.

"Your style served you well out in the Traverse Commander...We recognize that...but Ilos requires a deft touch. We cannot risk a war. We can handle things from here." the Asari councilor added with a smooth, soft tone in hopes that it would help keep the tension from rising within the chamber.

Shepard's anger started to reach it's boiling point, "You don't get it...If Saren reaches the Conduit before we do, then we're all screwed in all kinds of ways! You have to let us go to Ilos!" he countered, feeling his heart thumping in his chest the closer he got to blowing his top.

"Ambassador Udina...I get the impression that Commander Shepard isn't willing to let this go." the Turian councilor growled flatly.

"The councilor's right Commander. There are serious consequences to be had here. Humanity's made great gains thanks to you, but now you're becoming more trouble then you're worth." Udina said as a smirk began to grow across his lips.

That's when the rest of Shepard's crew couldn't stay silent any longer.

"You bastard! You're selling us out!" Kaidan barked, feeling a light buzz begin to emanate from his implant the angrier he got.

Now Udina's mouth was plastered with a full on and smug grin, "It's just politics Lieutenant. It's time for all of you to step back and let me do my job."

Shepard's anger raged at a full boil, "You can't do this Udina! Let me take my ship and end this once and for all! Saren can't win against all of us!" he snapped, jabbing a finger into Udina's chest.

"I'd like to see you try Commander. I've locked out all the _Normandy's_ primary systems. Until further notice...you're grounded." Udina grinned.

Kaboom.

"You cock suck! You no good piece of flesh!" Shepard lunged for the Ambassador, only to find that he was being held back by Ashley and Kaidan as they grabbed his arms.

"Get him out of here Lieutenant. I don't wanna see you people again." Udina flatly ordered as he turned back to face the Council.

"You'll regret this Udina! I'll see to it that you pay! I lost a good man so you could do your fucking job you ass hat! You're making a mistake!" Shepard yelled as Ashley and Kaidan began to drag him off with Anderson's help.

"Calm down Shepard. This isn't helping our situation." Anderson said as he helped to push Shepard down the stairs and back away from the platform.

"I don't give a flying frogs fat ass! Udina's slime! He's worthless! He's gonna be the reason we all get wiped out!" Shepard roared, still struggling against his squad's hold on him.

"He'll get his Skipper but you don't need to be in jail for it." Ashley chimed in, tightening her grip on his arm and placing her other hand on the back of his neck, over his amp jack in hopes of calming him down.

Shepard continued to struggle until the warmth of Ashley's hand on the back of his neck started to calm him down a bit. His struggling weakened the closer he got to the elevator and when the doors closed, he knew then, that there was nothing he could do.

"Goddammit!" he growled, slamming a fist into the glass after Ashley and Kaidan released their holds.

"Relax Shepard. There's nothing we can do about it right now. Let's get back to the ship so we can regroup and come up with some kind of solution." Kaidan said, gripping his shoulder as it screamed with pain from trying to restrain Shepard.

Shepard stood with his hands gripping the top of his head so he wouldn't punch anything else, "Jesus Christ...Does Udina even know what's he's doing Anderson? Does he have any idea what he's done?" he asked, taking long, painfully deep breaths to calm his eruption of anger.

"I doubt it but I can't do anything right this second. Alenko's right. Head back to the ship and take a breather. I'll contact you if I find out anything alright?" Anderson said, taking a gander and resting his hand on Shepard's shoulder.

Shepard bit his tongue to keep from exploding again, "Fine." was all he said as the elevator doors opened and he sprang out in a very fast walk.

"Keep an eye on him you two. Make sure he doesn't get arrested." Anderson said to Kaidan and Ashley.

"Understood Captain." Kaidan acknowledged as they took off after Shepard.

Ashley and Kaidan jogged after Shepard, moving around various groups of people milling about the Presidium ring on their way to catch up with him but they found that he was walking so fast, they would have to all out sprint in order to catch up.

"Skipper! Wait up!" Ashley called out as she jogged after him, noticing that he didn't slow his pace at all.

Shepard nearly ignored the calls coming from behind him but when he heard his first name dance across a female's voice, he immediately halted his charge and spun around to face whom it had come from.

"Gabriel! Come on...Wait up." Ashley called out once more.

"I swear to God Ash...That asshole needs to fry in Hell." Shepard hissed, far quieter then he had been earlier.

"I don't disagree with you Skipper. Udina's a worthless fuck but there's nothing we can do right now." Ashley said softly, glancing over her shoulder as Kaidan walked up.

"I know!" Shepard snapped, instantly taking a deep breath to bring himself back down, "I know. Let's just get back before I blow another gasket." he groaned as he started walking back towards the dock, this time, a lot slower then he had been.

"Yeah...They're getting expensive." Kaidan mumbled as he walked, deciding to walk drag while Ashley walked right next to Shepard, just in case he went on a rampage again.

The trio spent the rest of the walk in silence, not even taking a moment to watch the escalating argument between a Volus merchant and his much, much larger Krogan customer as they argued about the price of some sort of mod. They wove through the Wards until they reached the C-Sec academy, signifying the end of their journey as they took the elevator that deposited them nearly on the _Normandy's_ doorstep. The second the airlock opened, Shepard disappeared down the CIC without even saying a word to Joker, Navigator Pressly or anyone else for that matter as he vanished inside his quarters, officially abandoning Ashley and Kaidan on the bridge.

Shepard ignored everyone on his way to his quarters, not even caring that he took his sidearm with him instead of checking it back in with his Gunnery Chief. He haphazardly tossed it on the bed before he slumped down next to it and flopped on his back with his arms over his head.

"Fucking politicians...Always sticking their noses in where it doesn't belong." he grumbled to himself, staring at the ceiling.

He laid there quiet for a few more minutes, calming himself down as best he could before he decided to put his side arm away in his locker. He sat up with a sigh, letting his arms lay limp in his lap before he glanced to his right at the pistol. He flopped his hand on top of the weapon and picked it up, turning it over in his hands as he examined it. The meeting with the Council continued to play in his head and he had nearly drawn his weapon and shot Udina for what he had done. _Grounding us...The guy's got balls, I'll give him that. _He thought as he stood and headed out of his quarters.

He thanked his lucky stars that the Crew Deck was empty, most likely due to the fact that the crew was probably out taking a much deserved breather. He walked up to his locker that resided next to the Med Bay and opened it up to place his pistol inside but as he did, his anger started to bubble up again the more he thought about what had happened. He sneered as he hung the weapon on it's rack and closed his locker but the second it locked, he slammed his fist into the door, causing his hand to immediately sting from the impact.

"Fuck..." he groaned, gently massaging his hand as he turned, pressed his back into his locker and slumping to the decl.

He sat there, massaging his hand and trying to think of a way to get around their problem but he just couldn't think of anything. He knew that if Anderson could do anything, he would but his hands were tied as well and they were tied by Udina. He carefully flexed his hand, sighing lightly as the pain began to ebb away which was something he was happy about. It meant his hand wasn't broken.

"You gonna be alright Skipper?" a female voice said as it approached.

Shepard looked up from his hand to see Ashley standing over him, leaning against the bulkhead with her arms lightly folded, "Hey Ash...I...I'm just thinking. Trying to come up with some way to get around this political bullshit." he said, resting his arms on his knees as he kept his eyes lock with her's.

"This is why I hate politicians Skipper." Ashley sighed, glancing down at her boots for a moment.

"I've always hated politicians. They do more harm then good." Shepard scoffed, rubbing a hand down his face.

"Here here Skipper," Ashley nodded, "So what do we do now? Do we just wait for the shit to hit the fan?" she asked, standing up straight and resting her hands on her hips.

"I don't know...Official channels are closed. They've made that perfectly clear." he groaned, slowly shaking his head.

"There's nothing we can do? We can't...I don't know...get another ship or something and go after Saren ourselves?" she asked with a soft sigh.

"Yeah...That's all we need. Get arrested for theft and officially end all our careers. Forgive me if I pass on that." Shepard rolled his eyes again, but his lips lightly smiled.

"I supposed you're right...So I guess we just find a good spot to watch the fireworks then. Shouldn't be too hard." she said, extending her hand to give him a hand up.

Shepard hesitated a moment, his eyes bouncing back and forth from her hand, to her eyes before he shrugged and grasped it. He pushed himself up off the deck just as she yanked, surprising them both as the two forces enhanced each other and caused them both to loose their balance. As Ashley fell back against the bulkhead, Shepard tripped forward, barely catching himself with his hands before he completely crushed her between him and the wall. He regained his balance in time to catch Ashley's gaze, forcing him to realize just how close they were to each other, his hands on either side of her, pinning her between them and their faces were only inches apart.

"I...I didn't mean to trip. I can be pretty clumsy sometimes." Shepard whispered, taking a small step closer to her, putting his left leg between her's.

"I don't know my own strength sometimes." she whispered just as quietly, flattening her hands against the wall to steady herself as Shepard insured her balance was only held fast by his leg.

"I can see that." he leaned a little closer, pressing his body further into her and bringing their lips a hair's breath away from grazing over each other.

Ashley's lips grew the lightest of smiles, her eyes filling with mirth as she closed the distance between them, touching their lips together so lightly that it almost tickled. They both hesitated to press harder, knowing full well that their bodies were already starting to heat up with the caged passion and lust that had been steadily building ever since they met. Shepard quietly moaned deep in his throat as he went to deepen their kiss but the moment he touched a hand to her face, the comm crackled above their heads.

_"Commander...You there?" _Joker's voice shatter through their moment like a wrecking ball does through a wall.

The second Joker's voice trickled through the comm, they immediately jumped apart, both gripping the backs of their necks in frustration as their bodies ever so slowly began to cool off.

"Have you been eavesdropping again Joker?" Shepard growled up at the ceiling, wanting very much at that moment to strangle the pilot.

_"No sir...I just knew you were on board so I hailed you. Captain Anderson wants to see you at Flux. It's that bar in the Wards that opened up a few months ago." _

"Yeah yeah, I know the place. What does he want?"

_"Didn't say. Just said he wanted to see you as soon as possible."_

Shepard groaned and rubbed his neck again as he glanced over at Ashley, "Roger that Joker. Tell him I'll be right there."

The comm clicked off, once again leaving Shepard and Ashley completely alone.

"I think he did that on purpose." Ashley lightly laughed.

"Wouldn't surprise me. Take a rain check on this little...escapade?" he asked, placing his hands on his hips to keep from touching her.

"We can save it for our date. How's that?" she smiled.

"Perfect," he returned the smile with a wink, "Let's go find Kaidan and go meet with Anderson."

* * *

Kaidan's shoulder hadn't quit screaming in pain since he had to hold Shepard back from all out murdering every politician on the Citadel. Every time Shepard would thrash and try to get free, it would jar his shoulder in every direction which would send a wave of fiery pain shooting through his arm. All he could do was ignore it and take a moment to breath after the airlock had opened and both Shepard stormed down the CIC in anger, closely followed by Ashley. _Can't say I blame them. _He thought as he leaned back against the bulkhead to give his shoulder some support. He was so focused on trying to bring the pain under control, that he hadn't noticed Lycan walking up to him.

"You ok Kaidan? You look like you're in pain." she asked with concern in her eyes as she gently placed her hand on the bicep of his good arm.

"It hurts...Shepard nearly pummeled Udina and we had to hold him back." Kaidan sighed, tightly gripping his shoulder.

"Oh geez...I'm surprised he didn't manage to land a decent punch." Lycan chuckled.

"We'd be scrapping together credits to make his bail if that happened. I'd like to keep him out of jail if we can." Kaidan groaned, cringing as his shoulder spiked again with more pain.

Lycan chuckled again and gently removed his hand that was covering his shoulder to find that his uniform shirt was stained with a dark splotch roughly the size of her own fist. She slowly turned his hand, seeing that his palm was lightly smudged with crimson and she knew then, that his shoulder had started to bleed again.

"Kaidan...you're bleeding again." she said quietly, letting go of his hand.

Kaidan's brows furrowed as he looked down at the dark spot and released another groan, "Dammit." he sighed, letting his arm hang limp as he placed his hand back over his shoulder.

"Come on...Let's go get you patched up again." Lycan softly urged, wrapping her arm around his waist and back to lead him down the CIC.

Lycan carefully took each step slowly so not to aggravate Kaidan's shoulder any more then it already was. Kaidan was the one who picked up the pace as they walked down the stairs, wanting to just get to the Med Bay so he could get some relief instead of taking it slow to try and limit the amount of pain he was already feeling. He just wanted the pain to go away and getting a fresh dressing and some pain killers was the way to do it.

As they entered the Med Bay, they noticed that it was completely empty and the lights were turned low like they always were but the doctor was nowhere to be found. Lycan lead Kaidan to the bed next to her's and helped him up, mainly just holding his shoulder still which earned her a soft and thankful smile from him after he laid back with a long sigh.

"Looks like you're gonna have to take care of me Ly," Kaidan smiled with a pained laugh as he looked into Lycan's dark brown eyes, noticing then that her necklace had changed, "You're wearing Wrex's...jewelry." he pointed out, lightly flicking a finger against the jewelry around her neck.

"Mmhmm...It's supposed to be a bracelet for a Krogan, but it's big enough to fit around my neck. Do you...not like it?" she asked, her smile fading slightly.

"No, I love it...actually. It looks really good on you." Kaidan said, forgetting about the pain for a brief moment the longer he looked into her eyes.

Lycan lightly bit her bottom lip, "I didn't wanna lose it. This was the best way I could think of not to," she said, remembering then that she was going to have to care for Kaidan's shoulder, "Oh...um...Where can I find the bandaging supplies?"

Kaidan snapped back to attention the moment she looked away, "Oh...uh, in that cabinet. The one next to the door to the back room." he pointed.

Lycan nodded as she headed for the cabinet and began pulling the things she was going to need, "You're gonna need to take off your shirt." she said, feeling a blush creeping up her neck.

Kaidan's own cheeks started to warm, "Uh...ok," he cringed as he sat up, carefully tugging his shirt out from his belt but no matter how careful he was, the pain kept spiking, "Um...I think I need your help Ly." he admitted.

Lycan's blush grew a little hotter, "That's fine," she smiled as she set down the supplies on the bed, "Ok...Put up your good arm." she urged, gently pulling up his shirt and pulling it off his good arm to hang crooked on his torso.

Kaidan's stomach started to flip a little as Lycan smoothly slipped her hands underneath his shirt and used her arms to stretch the fabric, pulling it away from his wound and pulled it up over his head. As his shirt cleared his head, he turned to face her, locking eyes with her once more and admiring the way she looked back at him. The soft light from overhead gently reflected off her glistening eyes, making his heart sputter in his chest as he completely ignored the pain and raised a hand to cup her chin.

"Ly..." Kaidan whispered, stretching his neck up to bring himself closer to her face.

Lycan held her breath as she found herself leaning down to meet his lips, gently grasping his good shoulder for support but when she felt his other hand on her hip, gently tugging her to him, she allowed him to guide her. Kaidan urged her over just a little more, using the bed as leverage to try and pull her up into the bed with him but she placed her hand on his chest.

"Kaidan..." she whispered, lightly panting as she lightly dug her nails into his tight chest.

Kaidan silenced her by placing his finger over her lips, his eyes scanning her face as his other hand gently brushed over her cheek. The pain in his shoulder was nearly none existent as he slid his hand around to cup the back of her neck, the whole time battling with himself whether or not to just go for it. His shoulder was going to need her attention soon but he wanted this, he wanted a distraction from the betrayal in the Council Chambers. _Ah...The Hell with it. _He thought as he pulled her to him.

Their lips met with quite a bit of force from Kaidan's tug, his hand still cupping the back of her neck as his tongue started to push against her lips. It didn't take long for Lycan's lips to allow Kaidan's tongue to slip into her mouth where it slowly slicked up and down her own in smooth strokes. She felt his chest rumble with a low moan as he tasted her, his fingers lacing into her hair to keep her close but his other hand started to wonder. Lycan melted into his touch as his hand started to migrate, rounding her hips where it grabbed a thick handful of her ample backside. The moment she felt the grab, she giggled against him, her body heating up with every second that passed by, so it was clearly a shock when the comm over their heads crackled to life.

_"Alenko! Where are you?" _Shepard's voice rained down on them.

Lycan swallowed her yelp but stayed as still as possible so not to cause any noise while Kaidan grumbled and removed his hand from her rump to place it on the small of her back.

"Yes...I'm here." he groaned with a sigh, resting his forehead against Lycan's.

_"What you up to?"_

Kaidan's cheek started to blush again and gulped, "Getting my shoulder patched up again. It's bleeding." he took his hands back, allowing Lycan to take a step back and prepare to change his bandages.

_"Well hurry it up. Anderson wants to meet with us at Flux." _

"Aye aye. Be up in a few."

The comm went silent after that, casting Lycan and Kaidan back into their rather tense but not unpleasant silence. They stayed that way while Lycan removed the blood soaked covering, cleaned the wound, applied fresh medi-gel and covered it with a new, clean bandage to keep it safe. After that, she handed him a couple pain killers and smiled as he hopped down from the bed with a soft smile on his face.

"There you go. Have fun at whatever Flux is." Lycan smiled as she snapped off her gloves.

"Feels great Ly," Kaidan said as he went to pick up his stained uniform shirt, but Lycan beat him to the punch, "Ok...I can't go meet with Captain Anderson in a tank top." he grinned.

"Here...Wear this. This one's stained." she said, handing her his zip up after she took it off.

Kaidan smiled as he took it from her and put it on, all the while looking into Lycan's eyes, "You've always got my back Ly. I'll be back in a bit." he said as he leaned down and placed a quick kiss to the corner of her mouth.

As he walked backwards, he continued to look into her eyes while he smiled at her until the Med Bay doors closed, blocked off his view. He spun then and headed up the stairs to the CIC where he saw Shepard and Ashley already standing by the airlock waiting for him to arrive.

"Going casual?" Shepard asked with an arced eyebrow.

"My shirt's got blood on it." Kaidan quickly answered.

"You could've put a clean one on..."

"You said hurry up. Don't sass me." Kaidan smirked.

Shepard threw his hands up in mock defeat, "Alright...You win. Let's go. Anderson's waiting for us." he said with his own smirk.

Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan walked out of the ship for the second time that day and headed for the elevator to take them into the C-Sec academy. Luckily for them, Flux wasn't far, as it was on the upper level of the Ward which was just at the top of the Ward entrance for the academy. Plus, the big flashing neon sign was something of an indicator. They walked up the short flight of stairs and rounded the corner, the sound of the thumping music already could be felt in the bottom's of their feet the closer they got. The pair of Salarian bouncers ignored them as they walked up the second flight of stairs which brought them to the front door of the bar.

The bar turned out to be filled almost to capacity. The dance floor was crowded, the bar had maybe one open seat and nearly every table had at least one person sitting at it. The neon lighting from the DJ station danced over every flat surface it touch and the phasing colors began to have a mild impact on Kaidan's head. He forced the gentle hum between his temples back as he scanned the room, looking for someone that at least resembled Captain Anderson and luckily for them, one person was waving his hand over everyone's head to draw their attention. Shepard caught sight of the waving arm and started over, having to battle their way through the crowd until they reached a table near the back of the bar, furthest away from the entrance door.

"Could you have picked a more crowded place?" Shepard said, finding that he had to talk rather loudly in order for the older man to hear him.

"The only place I could find where no one would overhear us." Anderson said, offering the three a seat.

Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan sat down and moved in as close as they could so they could try to keep their conversation just between them.

"So what you got for us Captain?" Shepard asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table.

"I might have a way of getting you off this station." Anderson said, appearing nervous as he glanced over his shoulder.

Shepard smirked and rubbed his hands together, "I'm liking where this is going. What you have in mind?"

"Well...Citadel Control locked out the _Normandy's_ systems...If we can override the Ambassador's orders, we can get them to bring her systems back online," Anderson said evenly with a smirk, cutting right to the chase, "You could in the Terminus Systems before anyone even knew you were gone." he added.

Shepard's brows furrowed, "You're talking about stealing the _Normandy _aren't you." his lips started to curve into a devious smile.

"I am."

"If we steal her, then you're the one left holding the bag Captain. You'll be charged with a whole slew of tasty charges." Shepard shook his head, losing his interest in causing a little mayhem.

"Me getting charged is small change compared to if Saren finds the Conduit. If that happens, everything as we know it comes to an end. Lets face it Shepard...You're the only one we've got that has a shot at ending all of this." Anderson countered.

Shepard's smile completely faded, "Captain...I appreciate this. I'll repay you somehow. We'll get you out of jail no matter how much it costs."

"Just get to Ilos. That's payment enough."

Shepard nodded, "So what do you need us to do?"

"Just be on that ship when I get those systems unlocked."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Kaidan interjected.

"I can unlock her systems from one of the terminals in Citadel Control. You'll have a few minutes to hightail it out of here before anyone gets a chance to mobilize."

"Whoa whoa whoa...Citadel Control will earn you a bullet to the chest. I don't want you _actually_ taking a bullet for us Captain." Shepard shook his head again, definitely not liking the idea of anything death related happening to Anderson.

"We've got little choice Shepard."

"There's gotta be another way Captain. Something that won't get you a vacation in a body bag." Shepard said, ignoring the nervous flip in his stomach.

"Didn't Udina issue the lockdown order?" Kaidan asked, looking around the table.

Anderson nodded, "Yes...I could hack into his computer in his office and override it that way too I suppose."

"What are you gonna do if Udina's in there?" Ashley asked simply.

"I'll just have to think of something on the fly at that point," Anderson sighed, "I'm leaving this up to you Shepard. I can either get into Citadel Control, or release the shackles from Udina's office."

Shepard sucked in a long breath, shocked that the Captain was leaving such a huge choice up to him. _Man...He isn't supposed to be taking shots that were meant for me. _He thought as he looked up to Captain Anderson, deciding it best that he wanted the man to have the best at surviving this little ordeal.

"I'm sorry Captain but I don't want to hear you ended up dead because of this. Get into Udina's office. I'd rather hear that you're in jail then in the morgue." Shepard said.

"Then make sure you're on the _Normandy_ when those locks come loose." Anderson said, standing from the table.

"Understood Captain." Shepard said, standing as well and extending his hand for a good-bye shake.

After each one quickly shook Anderson's hand, Shepard and his team turned and hurried out of the bar, dodging as many people as they could along the way. They broke into a full run the second they left, bounding down the stairs and back into the Wards where they turned and headed straight for C-Sec Academy. It took them no time at all to get back to the ship and Shepard hailed Joker as they ran down the dock to open the airlock early so he could cut their wait time.

"What's the hurry Commander?" Joker jabbed, still very disgruntled about his screens flashing red at him.

"Get strapped in and get the crew back on this ship ASAP Joker." Shepard ordered as they blasted into the ship.

"Why? We're locked down." Joker rolled his eyes.

"Do it Joker!" Shepard snapped.

"Ok ok...Don't get your panties in a twist." Joker grumbled as he turned his chair to carry out his order.

"You two...Go make sure the elites are on board and ready to leave." Shepard turned to face his two squad mates.

Ashley and Kaidan both nodded and headed down the CIC, leaving Shepard on the bridge with Joker. He stepped up next to the pilot's seat and watched as the pilot sent out the bang listed message to everyone on the crew to make sure they got back to the ship as fast as possible. Shepard nervously stared at the airlock as a few members hurried inside but after a few minutes of no other arrivals, he got even more anxious.

"Send a blanket ping. Make sure everyone's on board." Shepard ordered as he folded his arms.

Joker's hands blasted over the one screen that he could use and was quickly rewarded with the information he was after, "Everyone's accounted for sir. All present on board." he officially said.

"Good...Now we wait."

"I still don't know what's going on Commander. Why in such a hurry to go nowhere?" Joker glanced up at Shepard.

"Anderson's getting the lockdown overturned. We gotta be ready to rock the second you're back online." Shepard answered.

Joker's eyebrow popped up, "How is he managing that?"

"He's breaking into cock suck's office and releasing the restrictions."

"No shit! Captain's showing his pair huh? Fuck yeah!" Joker exclaimed, clapping his hands together as he focused intently on his consoles.

The pair stared and waited, nearly unblinkingly as they watched the flashing red of the screens in front of them. The seconds ticked by, each one feeling more like minutes and hours and it didn't take very long for both of them to start getting impatient. Shepard wanted to hit the proverbial gas and get to Ilos before Saren could do any damage, but he had no idea if Saren had already found the Conduit. Just as Shepard was about to start searching for anything that would indicate that Anderson had been arrested, Joker's screens lit up with a bright green color.

"Joker go! Get us out of here!" Shepard yelped excitedly.

Joker wasted no time in firing up the _Normandy's_ drive core and started to back her out of her berth, quickly spinning the ship around and hammered down, rocketing the ship forward and away from the Citadel. He flew through the Citadel Defensive Fleet, checking his sensors over and over to check if anyone was in pursuit but to his disappointment, no one was showing any indication that they wanted to follow them. It was almost as if none of them even cared that the _Normandy_ had just been stolen.

"Damn...It's more fun when they chase you." Joker quipped as he made a beeline for the closest relay.

"Anderson did it...Jesus Christ the old battle axe actually did it," Shepard smirked, "I don't know how, but he just helped us steal the _Normandy._" he laughed in disbelief as he turned and headed down the CIC.

"Commander! Where to?" Joker hollered over his shoulder.

Shepard stopped about halfway down the CIC and turned back around to look at the pilot, having a quick flash of doubt at what they had just done. He glanced around the CIC at every crew member diligently at their post, none the wiser to what they had unknowingly been roped into. He knew it wasn't their fault and he would make sure that none of them saw any repercussions for this. If he could swing it after all this was over, he would be the only one being charge with the crime of stealing the most advanced warship in the Alliance fleet...After they stopped Saren.

"Get us to Ilos."


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40: The Night Before Ilos

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! **Warning: **This chapter contains double the love and double the fun! It earns the story it's M rating. You've been warned.)_

Shepard had never thought his career would end like this, not in a million years but he knew he had to do it in order to stop Saren from unleashing a blight on the galaxy. They were finally headed to Ilos to try and stop him but he couldn't shake the ill feeling in the pit of his stomach that they wouldn't make it in time and that stealing the _Normandy_ would have been for nothing.

He stared blankly at the terminal on his desk, glaring at an old file of his from when he was younger and he couldn't help but read the laundry list of offenses he had been charged with. _This isn't the first time I've stolen something but nothing worth millions of credits. _He scoffed at himself as he read the old charges that he had swept under the rug when he enlisted in the Alliance. He leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh and shut down his terminal, having had reached his limit of self loathing and decided he was gonna at least try to get some rest before they arrived at Ilos but the chime at his door was unexpected, as well as a little shocking. He groaned and stood with a hand on his hip, while his other one ran over his hair as he stood halfway between his desk and his bed that was calling his name.

"Come in." he sighed as he turned to face the door.

The doors quietly hissed open to allow Shepard's guest in and to his surprise, Ashley entered with a soft expression on her face as she stepped inside just enough to allow the doors to close behind her.

"Ash...I'd thought you'd be in bed by now." he said was he folded his arms lightly over his chest.

"I'm not tired," she lightly shrugged as she walked up to him, "Couldn't sleep anyways with what we're headed into." she lightly smiled.

"Can't blame you for that. I'm probably not gonna be able to get any sleep either. Didn't think I'd end up stealing an advanced warship. It kinda leaves you with a few things to think about." he said with his own shrug and a small sigh.

"We're with you all the way Skipper. You don't have to take all the hits alone." she said in a soft half whisper, looking into his exhausted eyes that had lost a little bit of their usually brilliantly blue color.

"I appreciate it Ash, but I can't ask you to take this hit for me. You've got so much more to look forward to." Shepard said quietly, realizing then just how close she was to him.

Ashley lightly bit her bottom lip as her stomach started to flip, "Like what? More scrutiny from the brass because of who I'm related to? I've had to work twice as hard to get where I am now. I'm tired of busting my ass for what I want." she said, beginning to ring her fingers together as her nervous built up.

"Believe me Ash...I know the feeling." he found he had started to whisper, looking into her saddening eyes as the soft blue lighting of his quarters lightened her lightly tanned skin.

Ashley felt the heat of a harsh blush starting to creep up her neck and paint her cheeks, "Why are you still hesitating Skipper?" she softly smiled, slowly raising her hand and gently placing it on his cheek.

Shepard's heart started to pick up it's pace as he leaned into her touch and closed his eyes, "Ash...I can't protect you from this. I can keep the brass from charging you with stealing the _Normandy_, but I can't keep them away from you if we continue this." he whispered, opening his eyes as he grasped her hand and removed it from his cheek.

She wrapped her fingers around his hand, finding that he did the same, "I don't care anymore Skipper. I've never felt good enough about anything I've done, but being with you...working under you...you make me feel good enough." she took a small step closer to him, keeping their gazes locked.

Shepard let go of her hand and wheeled around, clawing his hands on the top of his head with mild frustration, "Dammit Ash...You have no idea how much I want you but...I care about you so much that it would kill me to see you throw away your career. I'm not worth that." he trembled, not having the guts to look her in the eyes.

Ashley swallowed back the feeling that he was turning her away and stepped up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist to pull him close to her. She lightly rested her chin on his shoulder, leaning her temple against his ear as he placed both hands over her's against his stomach.

"You're special to me Skipper. I've never needed a man before but when you came to my rescue on Eden Prime..." she started having trouble finding the words to express the torrent of emotions raging through her.

Shepard turned around to face her and finally looked into her eyes, still holding her hands against his stomach with one hand while he used his other to keep her from continuing, "Ash...I honestly don't know how to tell you the things I feel so if I fuck it up and you walk out, I'll understand." he felt his voice quivering in his throat.

"I'll never walk out on you Skipper."

Shepard softly placed his hand on the side of her neck, "Bunk here tonight Ash...with me." he bluntly said, lacing his fingers into her neatly kept hair.

Ashley's lips started to curve into a soft smile, "Finally decided to be more straight forward huh?" she lightly tilted her head as she kept their eyes locked, one of her hands sliding up his chest to rest over his collarbone.

"Taking a page out of your book. Hope you don't mind." he said, shuffling ever so closer to her.

"Take as many pages as you want." her eyes halfway lidded themselves as she pressed her hips further into his.

Shepard lightly licked his lips from the feeling of her body pressing into him, causing a wave of heat to fall from his head, all the way to his toes, "Fuck it...I'm not playing it safe anymore." he quickly said before he grabbed her and forced his lips to hers.

Their kiss never started out slow, as it was hard, passionate and bruising, but neither cared. Shepard's tongue had launched out the second their lips had touched, wrestling its way into her mouth where it was warmly welcomed by her own tongue. His arms snaked their way around her waist and picked her up off the deck where her legs immediately wrapped themselves around his hips, locking her in place against him.

"Bed...Now." Ashley ordered, her arms wrapped around his neck to help keep them both stable on Shepard's feet.

Shepard obeyed the order as he turned and shuffled to the bed, having no trouble supporting her weight as he lowered them both onto the stiff, rather uncomfortable bed that was large enough for him, but would be cramped with two. Their lips never broke apart as he scooted them both up, all the while managing to undo her belt along the way and began to tug her pants down over her hips. That's when they finally broke their bruising kiss, Shepard sitting up on his knees to quickly remove her boots before he yanked her pants the rest of the way off. He finally noticed that she wasn't your typical badass female Marine wearing the standard, plain white and boring panties that most of the women wore, she had kept her feminine whiles by hiding a deliciously red lace hip hugger beneath the boyish uniform pants.

"You've been holding out on me." Shepard grinned as he slid his hands up her now exposed thighs, over her hips to feel the softness of the lace and slipped them underneath her uniform shirt.

Ashley just winked and lightly nibbled on her fingertip as she let a small, tantalizing giggle fill the room while he slid her shirt up over her head. To Shepard's surprise, Ashley also hid a matching red bra of the same type of lace, hugging her perfectly shaped and modest bust so wonderfully, that even without the intimate garment, her figure wouldn't change. He bent over to bring his lips to her collarbone, a hand cupping a bra covered breast while his other gripped her thigh, hiking up her leg to his hip. He gently suckled her soft flesh as the hand that cupped her breast slid in behind her on it's way to unhook her bra, but she forced him back a little, causing him to look at her with slightly furrowed brows.

"Uh uh Skipper. You don't get to see the girls while you're fully clothed." she purred, running her hands down his chest, over his abs to his belt where she tugged quite forcefully and yanked his shirt up.

Ashley grunted and made a dissatisfied face as she saw the white tank underneath, obscuring the view of his torso which was quickly rectified by yanking it off just as forcefully. Neither knew where the garments landed in Shepard's quarters as Ashley concentrated on ridding Shepard of his pants by undoing his belt and stuffing her hands into them to grab a handful of his backside.

Shepard grinned at her urgency to get him out of his clothes as he returned his attention back to her collarbone, lightly nipping and licking his way from one side to the other. Her light moans of building pleasure only made his body ache with heat, his member growing steadily to make his pants vastly uncomfortable. He dropped his weight to fully lay on top of her as he undid his boots, kicking them off and removed his pants all without breaking his hold on her collarbone. He finally pulled his lips off her flesh, realizing that he had left a reddening mark where he had been suckling and he knew it was going to develop into a hickey. He couldn't ignore the heat that was boiling deep in his abdomen, nor could he ignore the harsh twitching in his pants from his aching member. He supported himself on his hands as Ashley's hands began to wonder, trickling down his chest and abs where her fingers began to slip into his boxers. The sensation caused his muscles to contract as her fingers crawled closer to his groin, his half lidded eyes looking into hers which were filled with sincere love. He allowed her fingers to continue their exploring as he leaned down, capturing her lips once more but the second her nails lightly danced over his pulsing member, his breath hitched in his throat with a quiet squeak.

Shepard's body blazed with heat so hot, that he couldn't resist his urges any longer. He slipped an arm behind her back and skillfully unhooked Ashley's bra, using the same hand to slip the delicate fabric straps off her shoulder and lift it out of the way. He pulled back enough to admire her round breasts, laying a trail of kisses down her neck, over her collarbone to capture a pert nipple carefully between his teeth which caused her whole body to writhe and shutter beneath him. He lightly suckled the small nub of flesh, immediately causing Ashley to retrieve her hands from his boxers and grip his shoulders as she arched into him, small purrs and moans escaping her throat as he continued to suck and lick.

"Have your way with me Skipper." she purred, lightly clawing her hands and running them down his strong arms.

He let her nipple slip free of his lips as he glanced up into her eyes, "With pleasure," he growled as he strongly gripped her hips and turned her over.

Ashley yelped with a giggle as Shepard turned her over, thwacking an open hand onto her partially exposed butt cheek before he much more softly, slid the lacy garment off her hips and down her legs to leave her fully and completely nude in front of him. He quickly tossed them aside and whisked his own boxers off, having a bit of trouble as they caught on the protruding appendage that was aching to find Ashley's warmth. After finally casting his boxers aside, his hands returned to her hips and pulled her to him but she arched her back, popping her rump up to barely miss his member as he stood them both up to their knees.

Shepard didn't mind having her rump pressed into his body, just above his groin as he got to run his hands all over her soft skin, laying trails of lingering kisses along her spine while his hands danced over her hips, around her ribs where they full cupped her breasts. Ashley leaned her head back against his shoulder and turned her head where their lips met once more in a hard passionate kiss, but Ashley was having an interesting time concentrating on maintaining the kiss as Shepard lightly pinched and twisted her nipples. Another moan escaped from her throat as the flood of sensations from Shepard's ministration enflamed her body in ways she couldn't imagine and caused her to pant against his lips. Her arms wrapped themselves around his head, keeping him exactly where he was as she pressed her rump further into his hips but this time, she lowered herself enough that it put Shepard in a prime position to enter her.

Shepard got the hint as the tip of his member grazed over her entrance, feeling the warm wetness that had coated her folds slick over his member to ready him for the passionate love making that awaited them both. He lowered one hand down her front, smoothly grazing his roughened fingertips over her tight stomach until he reached her throbbing, heated flesh between her legs where his fingers started to play. He felt her go weak the moment he touched her there, causing him to tighten his other arm around her to keep her upright as he slowly pushed his hips forward to finally enter her.

"G-God...S-Skipper." Ashley moan as she felt him fill her, his movements slow at first to make sure that he was fully coated in her fluids before he picked up his pace.

Shepard removed his lips from hers to suckle on her neck, moaning as well, as his body exploded into a million different sensations all at once. The warmth that wrapped around him was nothing he had ever felt before. It was welcoming and inviting, not the dry and abrasive feeling he experienced the last time he broke the regs. His fingers continued to play with her, causing her to writhe against him even more which only fueled his building fire and caused his pace to increase.

Soon, both fell forward onto the bed, the movement not even disrupting Shepard's rhythm as he let Ashley support him against her back. She pushed herself up, giving Shepard enough room to continue fiddling with her, only to stoke her building fire. It quickly became evident that Shepard was having a difficult time splitting his concentration so he stopped what his hand was doing, earning a low groan of disapproval from her.

"Skipper..." she panted, leaning back just a bit to burying him deeper inside her, "I'm so close..." she mulled.

Shepard leaned forward, firmly grasping her hips with both hands and brought his lips to her ear, "S-Sorry...Turn around." he stuttered, pulling himself free of her warmth.

As soon as Shepard withdrew from her, she whipped around faster then he could react, pushing him down to sit on his butt and threw her leg over to straddle him with such grace that Shepard couldn't help but smile wide. She gripped his strong shoulders as she lowered herself down back onto him, wrapping completely around him to earn a moan from low in his throat. This time, Ashley took charge as she started to bounce on his lap, finding that Shepard had joined in as well to met her movements halfway. The force fueled their fire into a blazing inferno, Ashley's internal muscles contracting around Shepard's member tighter the more he moved until it soon became too much for her to take. Her grip tightened on his shoulders as her body erupted into a blast of heat, giving her tunnel vision as she reached her climax.

"Oh my God Gabriel!" she exclaimed, capturing his lips to drink in his kisses.

"Ashley...I...God...I..." Shepard breathed against her mouth, wrapping his arms around her midsection and cradling the back of her head with one hand.

Before he could even finish what he was saying, his member screamed as it released inside her, flooding every sense he had with a euphoric bliss that left him with a satisfying warmth that encompassed his entire body. Her held her close as they relaxed into each other, Ashley's cheek resting against Shepard's as she lovingly caressed the nape of his neck. They stayed silent for awhile, just trying to catch their breath before Shepard gently grasped both sides of Ashley's neck so that he could look into her eyes.

"I love you." he whispered, gently placing his lips to he's in a slow, longing kiss.

After a few moments, Ashley broke their kiss and softly resumed her tender strokes to his neck, "You do?" she asked with a caring smile across her swollen lips.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah...I do. I don't want anything bad to happen to you." he admitted, fixing bits of her mussed hair by carefully threading his fingers through her loose locks.

Ashley smiled as she brought herself up, slipping free of Shepard's softening member to lay down on the bed, watching Shepard as he crawled in behind her and molded himself to conform to her body. She snuggled back into him as he managed to wiggle the itchy, crumpled blanket out from beneath them to lay it over them both and ward off the chill of the air from their sweat coated skin. He tenderly trailed his fingertips over her still exposed shoulder, closely followed by gentle and soft kisses that made her smile and breath a small laugh.

"How close are we to Ilos?" she asked, her soft smile fading as she realized that the blissful moment was going to have to come to an end.

Shepard shrugged and placed another kiss, "A few hours I'd say." he said quietly with yet another kiss.

Ashley grinned deviously, "Plenty of time." she purred with a wink.

Shepard chuckled low in his throat as he tightened his grip on the woman he loved, "Easy there tiger...How about some sleep love." he smiled.

Ashley faux pouted at him, jutting her bottom lip out as far she could get it, "Alright Skipper...but you have to make up for it on shore leave." she smiled.

"You don't have anything to worry about." he grinned with a big cheshire grin.

The pair snuggled down into the blanket and stayed as close as possible as they let sleep wash over them, both drifting off to sleep in only a matter of minutes. Shepard, for the first time since he could remember, dreamed of happiness and love instead of the hate and betrayal that had plagued his mind for far too long. He dreamt of their lovemaking, their upcoming date and even things that he wished were waiting for him in the future. He was so content with his life at that moment that when the comm squawked over his head, he sprang up in bed with wide open eyes from the shock.

_"Commander...We're five minutes out from the Mu Relay." _Joker's voice pipped into Shepard's quarters.

Shepard bit his tongue for a moment to keep from yelling at the pilot for his rotten timing, "Understood Joker. W...I'll be up in a few minutes." he said with a light cringe, glancing over at Ashley whom luckily, was still asleep and thus, couldn't see his blush from his near slip of the tongue.

_"Roger that Commander." _Joker quickly said as the comm shut off.

Shepard sighed and ran a hand over the top of his head before he glanced over at Ashley, knowing that she had to get up as well and they only had five minutes to get dressed and get to the bridge. He leaned over and gently grasped her shoulder where he lightly shook her to draw her out of her slumber.

"Ash...It's time to wake up babe." he said, placing a gentle kiss to the same shoulder.

Ashley groaned and rolled onto her back as her eyes fluttered open, thankful that the soft blue wasn't harsh, "Mmm...Morning Skipper." she smiled up at him.

Shepard returned that smile, "Morning," he brushed his knuckles over her cheek, moving aside a lock her dark hair, "We're about five minutes out." he sighed, taking his hand back and standing from the bed.

Ashley sat up, grasping the blanket to her naked chest, "Already?" she lightly cringed.

"Yeah." he simply sighed, wishing he could just climb back into bed and stay there with her all day.

"Skipper...Can you promise me something?" she asked, her smile fading as she watched Shepard gather her clothes and set them on the edge of the bed for her.

"I'd promise you anything Ash." he said, leaning back against his small table.

"Promise me you'll come back." she blatantly said as she reached for her clothes.

Shepard pushed off his table and walked over to her side, sitting down on the bed and gently grasping her hand in both of his, "Ash...I'm coming back and then...I'm gonna take you on a vacation with me and we're gonna go anywhere you wanna go."

Ashley's smiled returned as she lightly bit her bottom lip, "Can you take me to where you grew up?" she asked, nervous that it was an unreasonable request but to her surprise, his smile didn't fade.

"If you wanna go to Mindoir...then I'll take you. I promise." he whispered, leaning in for a slow kiss.

After a few, far too short moments, they both broke their kiss, knowing that duty was calling.

"Come on...Get dressed and I'll see you on the bridge. I gotta go find Kaidan." Shepard said as he prepared to leave his quarters."

"Hey Skipper?" Ashley said before Shepard could walk out, smiling as he stopped and turned to face her, "I love you too."

Shepard smiled wide as he winked and left his quarters after the best night of his life. _I'm in love._

* * *

The ship was far too quiet for Lycan's liking, even with the soft noise from the vid she was watching, but there was one thing that was keeping her from giving it her full attention. She was worried about Kaidan. After the ship had quickly fled the Citadel, his mood had shifted from anxious to get to Ilos, to sullen and quiet. They had watched a couple vids and had eaten their dinner together before he had vanished for the night, leaving her to finish their last vid by herself just as Shepard walked into his room for the night.

As the ending credits began to scroll by, she shut off the flickering monitor and walked into the mess to deposit her empty glass before she thought a moment on how to find out where Kaidan was hiding. Deciding to make it easy on herself, she brought up her Omni-Tool and selected the ping feature which brought up a small menu with a rather short list for her to choose from. She quickly found Kaidan's name at the top of the list and tapped the interface, watching as a small floor plan of the _Normandy_ popped up with a small flashing red dot on it. _Where is that...Oh...Is that the Mako? I'll try there. It's worth a shot. _She thought as she wrapped the zip up closer around her and headed for the elevator. She stepped out into an utterly deserted Cargo Bay with low lights, just like always, but as she looked around the dimly lit space, she saw a thin sliver of light seeping through the slightest of cracks from the Mako's door jam. She padded across the deck in her bare feet towards the Mako, hearing miniscule clinks of tools from inside and she knew then that she had found him. She quietly stepped up to the door and softly knocked, hearing a tool clatter to the vehicle's floor and it told her she had startled him, although she didn't mean to.

"Uh...one sec." Kaidan's raspy voice fluttered through the crack in the door.

"It's ok Kaidan. Take your time." Lycan said softly, picking at her fingernails as she waited for the door to open.

The shuffling from inside the Mako halted nearly immediately, "Ly? One sec...I'll clear a space and open the door." he said as he did just that, revealing the inside of the Mako to her.

Lycan smiled lightly as she stepped up and climbed inside, seeing the singular light shining down from overhead and that the floor of the Mako had been covered with a thick pad that looked like it could be used as a makeshift mattress. She sat down next to him with her legs crossed and continued looking around where she caught sight of a pillow and a neatly folded blanket near the back of the Mako.

"What's all this for?" she asked with a quick point to the pillow, blanket and pad.

Kaidan packed the few tools he had with him away and tucked them out of the way before he looked back at her, "I uh...didn't feel like sleeping in a pod tonight so I brought down some field stuff to crash in here." he said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Do you sleep in here a lot?" she asked with a soft nibble to the inside of her bottom lip, looking at his tired face. _He looks like he's got something on his mind._

Kaidan lightly smile and shrugged, "If I need to think I do." he looked away from her as he felt his cheeks start burn with a building heat that was slowly creeping up his neck.

Lycan's brows lightly furrowed as she slowly reached up and placed her hand on his opposite cheek, gently turning his head back to her so she could look into his eyes, "About what? What you're gonna find on Ilos?" she asked, brushing her thumb softly along his jaw.

Kaidan's eyes scanned over her figure, noticing then that she was wearing her pajama shorts and his zip up which was most likely hiding her tank top. _Dear God I'm doomed, _"A little of it is about Ilos, but...not all." he admitted, glancing down at his hands which were ringing their fingers together.

Lycan felt a warm flush wash over her for some reason, "What else do you think about?" she decided to push on, wanting to know what was on his mind.

Kaidan shrugged again, "A little about how my career has come to sudden and crashing halt...A little about...just a little about everything I guess." he said, leaning a bit into her touch and closing his eyes.

"You know if you keep thinking about all that, you're gonna end up with a migraine." she said kindly, taking her hand away from his cheek now that he was willingly looking at her and placed it over his seemingly nervous ones.

"I know Ly...I just..." he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck again, "It's just that I have so much to say and...no matter how hard I think about it, I can't find the words." he admitted, wrapping one hand around hers.

That warm flush returned to Lycan's body and raised a layer of gooseflesh all up and down her spine, "You're talking...about...us?" she ventured, lightly wincing and wondering if it was the wrong thing to say.

Kaidan drew in a long, slightly shaky breath as he felt his head start to nod, "Y-Yeah...That's mostly what I've been thinking about." he sighed, feeling his heart starting to hammer in his chest.

"I-Is there something wrong with us?" she asked, holding back the tightening in her throat as a spike of despair shot through her.

Kaidan instantly picked up on her fear from her hand beginning to shake and the trembling in her voice, "No...No no no that's not it Ly...God...I didn't mean for it to sound like I thought there was something wrong with us," he said in his own shaky voice, "Ly...There are some things I really need to tell you." he wiped his clamming hands on his sweat pants as the nerves began to rapidly build.

"You know you can tell me anything Kaidan." Lycan said, scooting closer to him and carefully pressing her shoulder into his as she saw he had started to lightly shake.

Kaidan drew in a couple of short breathes to help steady his rising nerves as he gently grasped her hands, bringing them to his chest so that she could feel his heart hum beneath them. He finally willed himself to look into her eyes without looking away, seeing them search his for any indication of what he was trying to say, but he also saw that a small bit of fear was still there and it tore him up that he had caused it. He racked his brain for the right words but they were so jumbled around in his head that he couldn't just pick one that would adequately describe the torrent of emotions that he felt inside, so he decided to just let them all pour out.

"Ly...There's something I've been wanting to tell you from the moment you literally fell onto my life. You came to me from across time and space to show me that...not only am I alive...but I can find happiness with another person. When I thought I wasn't ever going to see you again on Virmire, I was going to send you a message to let you know how I feel, but Wrex gave me something I could never have asked for. He gave me a second chance and...I'll be damned if I'm gonna throw it away." Kaidan started, finding that the more he spoke, the easier it became to tell her his true feelings.

"Kaidan..." she tried to speak but she found that one of his fingers had gently placed itself on her lips, preventing her from saying anything else.

"Please...let me finish," he whispered, still holding her gaze, "Lycan...Ly...I love you. I've loved you since I first met you, but I didn't begin to realize it until after I woke up that morning on Feros. When I realized that it wasn't you next to me...I was lost. I didn't know what to think and all I wanted was for it to be you. When Wrex threatened you down in the Cargo Bay...I could have torn this ship to pieces to keep you safe, but the nail in my coffin Ly...was when you sacrificed everything you knew about who you are, just for me. I knew then I couldn't spend another minute without you in my life in someway. I pray you feel the same about me, but if all you want is to be friends...then I'll accept and respect that because you would still be in my life...It all boils down to that I love you." he finally finished, drawing in a long, deep breath to bring the light shaking back under his infallible control.

Lycan damn near couldn't believe what she was hearing. _He loves me? My best friend, confidant and the man I, myself, fell in love with...loves me? _She thought, her mind racing as she looked into his kind eyes. All she saw in those whiskey colored orbs was the truth, not a single hint of deceit was anywhere to be seen and she clearly felt her heart begin to flutter in her chest. She slipped her hands free from his and gently slid them up his hard chest, carefully over his shoulders to lightly grasp both sides of his neck and keep his head exactly where it was. Her lips quirked into a soft, tender smile as she slowly leaned closer to him, his eyes following her, half lidded until she was too close for him to keep focus.

As their lips softly touched, Kaidan felt himself start to breath again, drawing a scent filled breath that only served to remind him of just one of the many things he loved about her. His hand tenderly cupped her cheek with his thumb slowly trailing over her temple as he melted into their kiss, still taking deep inhales of her clean scent that caused his eyes to roll into the back of his head. After a moment that was far too short for him, she pulled away just enough to rest her forehead to his and give their lips a small amount of room to move.

"Ly..." he whispered, finding that he was actually scared of what she might be thinking, "I love you." he repeated, gently stroking her temple once more.

Lycan's soft smile returned, "S-Show me how much you love me..." she whispered, her voice trailing off as her breath began to come short.

Kaidan's lips briefly smiled as his hands lightly grasped her hips, quickly and smoothly hoisting her up, with her help, to straddle his lap, their faces never being more then an inch apart the entire time. He stared deep into her chocolate eyes as he brushed aside that same, adorable lock of dark auburn hair that always fell from whatever tie she tried to use to keep her hair back. He ever so softly kissed her lips again, both sets moving so slow, so deliberately that the act sent shivers down both of their spines. Lycan didn't bother to part their lips this time as she half opened her eyes to see that his were filled with desire, passion, love and lust, all at the same time.

"I love you Kaidan." she whispered against his lips, lacing her fingers into his thick raven hair on the back of his head.

Those words launched Kaidan's heart into a marathon sprint that made his entire body instantly warm. Their kiss never deepened however, it stayed slow and deliberate as his hands found their way to the pull down on the zip up where he just as slowly pulled it down and slipped the sweater off her shoulders. His hands immediately turned their attention to her soft skin that stretched over her arms, up to her shoulders where he slipped them underneath the straps of her tank top to discover that her bra was still on. He removed his hands from underneath her tank top to slide them down the soft fabric to its hem, slipping his hands inside where he trailed them back up, taking the shirt with him.

Lycan broke their slow kiss to raise her arms over her head, giving him the perfect opportunity to remove her tank in a slow, smooth motion and cast it aside to be forgotten. Kaidan leaned back to look into her eyes as his hands found her back again, finding the clasp that was the only thing keeping her breasts at bay. He pinched the two sides together, loosening the clasps hold just enough allow them to spring apart and release the garment's much needed support. Without even lifting his hands off her skin, he slowly ran them to her shoulders to slip the straps down but they were stopped when Lycan grasped them.

Lycan leaned forward to softly kiss him again, grabbing a handful of his loose fitting shirt and lifted it up, exposing his perfectly chiseled physique to her for the third time since they had met. Once she had ridded his defined torso of his shirt, she raised her own hands to slip her dangling bra off her body, but Kaidan stopped her.

"Please...Let me do it." Kaidan whispered, softly sliding his hands to the straps that where barely clinging to Lycan's shoulders.

Lycan smiled and nodded at him, drawing in a long breath to steady her raging nerves as Kaidan proceeded to slip her bra the rest of the way off to expose her chest. As the plain garment fell away from Lycan's body, Kaidan couldn't contain his quiet gasp as her shoulders were left the full burden of supporting her full chest. He wrapped one arm around her waist to hold her body close as he gently placed his hand back on the side of her neck, bringing her back to him to continue their tender and slow kisses. Kaidan rocked forward onto his knees, still holding Lycan to his own body as he laid them down, gently laying Lycan down onto her back on the thick pad. He unwrapped his arm, softly running both hands down her chest, over her breasts, as he sat up onto his knees with his fingers dancing around the waistband of her shorts. He locked eyes with her as he slowly dipped his fingers behind the waistband and just as slowly began to pull her shorts down, delicately sliding them down her hips to leave her nearly completely exposed to him, the only piece left being that of her plain white panties that he had bought her.

Kaidan felt himself having a hard time breathing as he admired her, laying there in front of him with a soft smile across her rosy lips and twinkling in her eyes that made him nibble on his bottom lip.

"You are so beautiful." he breathed as he leaned down to lay a soft trail kisses across her flat stomach and up through her rolling breasts.

Lycan lowly chuckled as his light stubble and tender touches tickled her skin on his kissing path over her torso. She laced her fingers into his soft hair, lightly tugging him back up to her where their kisses finally deepened, her tongue meeting his in a slow dance that sent an eager rush of heat to both their abdomens.

Kaidan balanced himself on his knees, keeping their lips together as he reached for his waist and started to pull down his sweats but to his surprise, Lycan began to help by tugging on his boxers to follow his sweats. He moaned against her lips as his sweats cleared his backside and quickly slid down his legs and off his ankles where he kicked them off before returning to blanketing her. His boxers hung halfway off his rump as Lycan's arms were too short to lower them any further so he took over, sliding them off, but the second his boxers were cast aside, his hands began to slowly drift up her legs to her hips where he gently slipped his fingers under the hem of her panties.

"May I?" Kaidan whispered, still kissing her plumping lips.

Lycan's body was awash with heat, laying there, nearly nude in front of him but she'd be lying if she wasn't nervous to take this step with their relationship. However, Kaidan caught on the second he broke their kiss as her lips had ceased to move.

"W-What's wrong?" he asked in a hoarse whisper, looking into her nervous eyes.

Lycan nibbled on her fingernail as she looked back into his loving eyes, "N-Nothing...I'm...I'm just nervous." she stuttered, resisting the sudden urge to cover herself.

Kaidan let go of her panties and laid over her, covering her and brought his face close to hers, catching whiffs of her shampoo that raised a small layer of gooseflesh along his back. He brushed aside her hair with his knuckles, never breaking his longing gaze as he smiled at her to reassure her that everything would be alright, but he couldn't shake the feeling that she might not want to do this.

"Do you not want to?" he asked sweetly, briefly looking over his shoulder to make sure he knew where his boxers where...just in case.

"No I do...It's just that I'm nervous," she lightly bit her lip once more, "I don't want to lose what we already have." she admitted, threading her fingers into his soft hair and gently took a handful to keep him from getting up off of her.

Kaidan leaned in a little closer to her, bringing his lips only a breath away from hers, "I promise you we won't. All I want Ly, is for you to be happy and if you don't want to yet, then that's fine." he smiled as he made to get up, but Lycan's hold on him only increased to keep him exactly where he was.

He watched Lycan as she kept her eyes locked with his, feeling her hands sliding down his ribs until they reached her own panties and slowly began to slip them off her hips. Kaidan smiled at her as he felt the fabric of the last garment that needed to be discarded scrap over his growing erection which caused him to hiss with mild irritation, but it was quickly overshadowed by his growing desire for her. He saw her cast them aside, seeing her own smile widen as she let her nervousness flow away from her, her arms wrapping around his neck, as well as her legs which were gently sliding up his body to hook onto his hips.

Before he could say anything else, their lips met in another slow, love filled kiss as Kaidan ran his hands down her sides to lightly grip her hips, but one hand continued on it's journey as it started to travel inward. His fingers found her warming center, causing her to gasp and arc into him as he began to gently rub her, smearing her warm fluids all around her entrance. Her soft moans traveled straight into his mouth as he delved a singular finger into her warmth, her teeth lightly biting down on his bottom lip as he twitched his digit to earn another airy gasp and a tightened grip on his hair. He moved his lips away from hers to lay a soft trail along her jaw to her neck where he softly nipped and licked, taking care not to leave any visible marks on her pale skin.

Lycan's breath came quick as her body warmed from the sensations against her neck and between her legs, each twitch of Kaidan's finger sending a rush of heat all over her flushed skin. She let go of his hair to slide her hands down his back, lightly digging her fingernails into his olive toned skin which caused him to deeply moan in his chest as she ran her hands over him.

"Kaidan." Lycan breathed, lightly gripping the nape of his neck again as her arms wrapped around his strong shoulders.

The sound of his name crossing her lips sent an incredible amount of heat rushing over him, making him claim her lips with their most forceful kiss yet. His tongue darted out to meet hers, running down its length in long strokes to get her full taste and leaving him quickly wanting more. He slowly withdrew his finger from her warmth, slowly pressing up as it easily slipped from her soaked passaged with a smooth coating of her fluids. He pulled away, breaking their kiss to look into her desire filled eyes that had hazed over with her growing lust.

"Ly..." Kaidan panted, threading an arm beneath her shoulder blades to hold her to him as he sat down onto his butt, bringing her with him.

Lycan continued to look deep into his eyes as he sat down, his other arm wrapping around her waist to grip her opposite hip as he began to suckle her collarbone which was accented by gentle licks. She felt a tantalizing tickle at her entrance as Kaidan's member twitched with the anticipation of experiencing her slick warmth. She tenderly placed a hand on the side of his neck as her eyes scanned his handsome face, seeing him gaze back with screaming eyes that yelled that he loved her. She held his gaze as she slowly lowered herself onto him, watching his eyes roll into the back of his head as her warmth enveloped him.

Kaidan's breath hitched in his throat and his heart slammed in his chest so hard that it was starting to hurt. He couldn't stop his hips from bucking upwards, hilting himself into her which caused her to gasp but instead of a harsh, jerky arc, she lolled her head back slowly, gripping his shoulders to support her as she leaned back, thrusting her breasts into his face. He dared not move, his fear that if he did, it would all end too soon almost too overwhelming that he was about to start shaking, but he willed his fear down where it was consumed by his passion for her. He captured her lips for more tender and slow kisses, but the moment he did, he felt her passage flex and tighten around him.

The moment Kaidan felt her squeeze him, he nearly jumped with a yelp, but what came out instead was a moaned and airy gasp that was laced with what almost sounded like her name. Before he had even recovered from the initial shock, another flex of her internal muscles sent another wave of lust rushing through him, making his erection pulse inside her as he drew ever closer to finding his release but he would be damned if he found his before her.

"L-Ly...S-Stop." he breathed, keeping a grip about her waist with one arm and using his available hand to trace a soft line down her spine.

Lycan looked back into his glazed over eyes, "W-What's wrong?" she panted.

Kaidan shook his head, "N-Nothing. I just don't want this to end too soon." he smiled, rocking forward to lay her back down onto her back.

Lycan's arms wrapped around his shoulders as she brought her lips to his ear, lightly licking and suckling his lobe before she whispered, "Then make it last."

That was all the encouragement Kaidan needed as he finally gathered up the gumption to begin moving inside her, his hips slowly drawing back and taking his pulsing member with it. Just before he was about to slip from her, he began to roll them forward, just as slowly slipping back inside to earn himself another mull of pleasure from her throat.

"Faster." she breathed as she claimed his lips, this time being the first to dive their tongue into the others mouth.

Kaidan was happy to oblige her request, picking up his pace as he started to believe that it wouldn't be his undoing. He was eagerly rewarded with a roll from her hips to meet his, the added force making her gasp with pleasure as well as send an inferno of desire through him that began to build a delicious layer of glistening sweat over both of their bodies. Each slow buck earned Kaidan more and more moans of delight from Lycan, her mouth curling into a soft, content smile even against his lips as he continued his rhythm of delving into her warmth. He quickened his pace a little more, earning more mulls and moans until her breath came so hot, so raged that he forced himself to break their kiss just to watch her face when she found her peak of pleasure.

Lycan's own eyes rolled into the back of her head, her body exploding into a world of ecstasy with her inner fire roaring all over as her internal muscle spasmed out of her control. They pulsed, milking Kaidan's member still inside her which caused him to begin gasping and moaning for more, unable to stop himself from fully enjoying the feeling of just being inside her. Kaidan dropped his head, bringing his lips to her ear as he continued his rhythm, the fading pulse of her passage only building on top of the passion that was already there. His muscles that wrapped his hips began to contract, forcing him to pump faster as each thrust started to feel increasing more desirable and the need to claim her only serving as fuel.

What followed blew Kaidan's mind away as his body finally released with an incredible amount of pressure that it had been building up over time, the final thrust being his undoing as his member began to pour into her.

"Oh God...Ly!" Kaidan moaned in a raspy voice, each pulse feeling better then that last and leaving him tired and exhausted.

Lycan's arms held him tighter as he finished his release, lightly kissing his neck as he was too weak to keep his head up off the thick pad. She tenderly stroked the nape of his neck, her fingers fluttering over his amp jack that only caused him to shutter and smile against her skin.

"You know what I just realized?" she whispered, beginning another stroke as they laid there, still joined.

"Hmm..." Kaidan mumbled against her skin, placing his own soft kiss to her neck.

"You never did show me what else you could do with your Biotics." she airily laughed, helping him to lift his own head so that he could look at her.

Kaidan smiled as he looked into her eyes, admiring the way her sweat twinkled under the singular light overhead, "I couldn't show you all my tricks Ly." he grinned, leaning his head down to place a soft kiss to the hollow of her neck.

"How about we see those tricks on shore leave." she chuckled, sliding her hands down his back.

Kaidan chuckled along with her, "Sounds like a plan." he growled, rushing his mouth to nibble on her neck, earning a squeal of glee from her.

The quick burst of energy was quickly spent as Kaidan slowly and begrudgingly, pulled free of her warmth and slipped behind her, wrapping his arms around her to bring her as close as possible but Lycan turned to face him before he could get a firm hold.

"You don't wanna bask in our afterglow?" he asked, still with a smile on his face as he brushed his knuckles over her flushed cheek.

"I do...I just wanna face you." she smiled back, hiking a leg up to his hip and snuggling into him which pressed there groins back together.

Kaidan wrapped his arms around her and brought her as close as possible to him, finding that he couldn't get enough of her closeness, "That works just fine." his smile broadened even more.

Lycan lightly pressed her forehead to his as she reach up to stroke the nape of his neck some more, earning a low moan and a pair of closed eyes from Kaidan, "I meant it when I said I love you you know." she whispered.

"I meant everything I said too Ly. I love you...I love you so much that I have trouble finding the right words." he whispered back, resting the hand that he had brushed her cheek with on the side of her neck.

"I think 'I love you' will do just fine." she smiled, leaning in to ever so softly touch his lips to hers.

Kaidan felt more complete then he had ever felt, laying there with the woman he loved more then anything else in the galaxy. Every touch, every kiss from her only added to the strong love that was already there and all he wanted was to show her how much she meant to him. She had become his rock, his foundation when it was difficult to find any solid footing in a tremulous galaxy, even with his status in the Alliance. He knew she would always be there with him, for him and by his side.

He pulled back from their tender kiss, leaving his forehead against hers as he looked into her tiring eyes, "Well...If that's the case...I love you. I love you with all my heart." he said, his smile widening to brighten his features.

Lycan joined in with her own bright smile as she inched closer, feeling a strong shiver coming over her as the chilled air combined with her cooling sweat. Kaidan immediately picked up on the chill as he had begun to feel it too, so he reached for the pillow and blanket still tucked away and covered them, propping the pillow underneath his head as Lycan had started using his bicep as hers. He laid as still as possible, watching her as her eyes closed and her breathing evened, showing him that she had fallen asleep. He gently brushed his fingertips over her cheek, enjoying the feel of her soft skin as he skillfully used his Biotics to turn off the singular light and cast them into a deep darkness which quickly took him into his slumber.

* * *

_ "Alenko! Where the fuck are you?" _

Kaidan groaned as he rolled onto his back from the noise, still with his eyes closed as he didn't want to wake up.

_"I know you're on the ship Alenko. Where are you?" _the random voice squawked again.

Kaidan took a moment to come to his senses, slowly opening eyes as someone had begun to poke him in his side. His eyes finally came into focus to see that Lycan had propped herself up on an elbow and was lightly poking him, as well as gently rubbing his chest with a soft smile on her face. He smiled back as she pointed to his Omni-Tool still on his wrist as it flashed with a small green dot every time the person's voice pipped through.

_"Alenko! Wake the Hell up man!" _his Omni-Tool flashed.

"Yeah yeah...I'm here." he groaned.

_"There you are. Jesus...Waking you up is like trying to raise the dead." _it soon became apparent that it was Shepard trying to get his attention.

"That happens when someone's tired Shepard." Kaidan groaned, lightly rubbing his eyes free of sleep as he sat up.

_"No shit," _the voice laughed, _"Hey, we're getting ready to jump the Mu Relay. Get up and meet me on the bridge." _Shepard ordered, cutting the link as soon as he was done.

Kaidan sighed and hung his head as he took a deep breath, rubbing the back of his neck before he turned to look back at Lycan, enjoying her tired, yet content and pleasant look on her face.

"Thanks for waking me up Ly." he said, leaning down to rest on his elbow and brush a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"No problem. Sounds like it's back to work." she said, leaning into his tender touch.

"Yeah. Let's get dressed and make this thing look like we didn't just spend a night filled with the most unbelievable sex that I've ever had." he grinned, sitting up again and beginning to gather his clothes.

"I can't remember anything else so for me...it was the _only_ night of unbelievable sex I've ever had." she lightly chuckled as she too began to gather herself.

Kaidan chuckled, however, it soon faded as he thought that maybe, he just might have been her first, but she sure didn't act like it was.

"I wasn't...um...that wasn't your...uh...first time was it?" he nervously asked, feeling a blush beginning to heat up in his cheeks.

Lycan's soft smile grew as she sat up next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "Babe...I honestly can't remember anything else," she lightly rested her chin on his shoulder, "And truthfully, I don't want to."

Kaidan's smile quickly returned as he gently placed two fingers to her chin to lift her head up a bit, bringing her up to meet his lips for a soft, slow and passionate kiss. He reluctantly ended it after only a few moments, breaking their contact to rest his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes that had a somewhat distance look to them.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, taking his hands back to continue getting dressed, somewhat awkwardly pulling on his discarded boxers.

Lycan reached for her bra and slipped it on, "Yeah. Just thinking about last night and the fact that we didn't use a condom or anything." she said, finishing with the clasp and going for her underwear.

Kaidan arced an eyebrow and looked at her for a moment, his lips smiling as he pulled on his t-shirt, "Oh...Well, that's kind of in my court actually."

"Really?" she sat up fully, slipping on her tank top and shorts before reaching for the zip up to stay off the coming chill.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah...Remember that Marine standard mod package I told you about?"

Lycan nodded as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to make it somewhat presentable to hide the evidence of what they had done the night before.

"Well...one of the mods is an injection that...Oh, what's the best way to put this...I shoot blanks at the moment." he said with a mild cringe, feeling the same blush begin to regain some heat.

"You mean...you can't have kids ever?" a strong spike of sorrow began to fill her chest at the thought of him being unable to produce offspring.

"No I can. All you have to do is go into any military clinic anywhere at anytime, show them my military ID and they'll give me the reversal injection...No questions asked. A week later, everything's back up and running." he quickly explained, still with a soft smile across his face.

"Oh...I didn't know that," she lightly smiled as she finished tying her hair back in a low ponytail, "And here I thought I was gonna have a stressful month wondering if I was gonna have some news for you or not." she lightly chuckled.

Kaidan sucked in a breath at the thought, but quickly trumped it before his imagination could run wild with it. He immediately felt a strong blush coming across his cheeks and neck as he finished dressing himself, quickly gathering up the bedding before he finally gathered up the gumption to speak.

"Um...No...You won't have to worry about that." he finally said, looking over to her and gently placing his hand on the side of her neck.

Lycan smiled as she turned to kiss his palm before she moved to get out of the Mako, "Come on...If we don't get dressed and up to the bridge soon, Shepard's come looking for us." she chuckled.

Kaidan barked his own laugh, "Dear God...I really don't wanna have to explain this one to anyone," he laughed as he followed her out into the Cargo Bay, grinning as he planted a hardy thwack to her backside, "Plus...I plan on keeping this our little secret."


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Ilos

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! I apologize for the large delay in the update. School comes first. Hope you all like it! Enjoy!)_

Ilos was a far different kind of planet then any that Shepard and his crew had already visited during their mission. So much so, that despite having a breathable atmosphere, her surface was the color of rust and looked as if it had been burned if viewed from the blackness of space. However, unlike the other worlds, Ilos was surrounded by a legion of Geth ships protecting her orbit.

"Activate the stealth systems Joker." Shepard ordered in that emotionless and official tone of voice while standing behind the pilot's chair.

Joker's brows scrunched up, taking the bridge of his nose with them, "Um... Commander. Those won't do shit if we're within visual range." he grumbled with a quick look over his shoulder.

"Do you see any windows on those ships Joker?" Shepard quickly countered, watching Joker, as well as everyone else shake their heads. "Then keep the systems active," he added.

"Aye Commander." Joker nodded as he turned his attention back to his screens.

Shepard looked over his shoulder when he heard approaching boot falls, seeing Ashley as she walked up next to him with her shoulders slumped and her head hung low like she didn't have the energy to hold it up. However, the most definite sign of her tiredness was the soft, but dark circles underneath her usually alert eyes. He sent her an apologetic smile, knowing that she understood his meaning as he crossed his arms over his chest to keep from touching her before he looked back out of the viewports at the closing Geth ships.

"Is that all of Saren's fleet Skipper?" she asked in a quiet voice, drawing in a deep breath to ward off a threatening yawn.

"Don't know, but I'm leaning more towards that it's only a portion of it. It's a given that he'll have something with him planet side." he said, slowly shaking his head as the ships in the distance drew ever closer.

Shepard and Ashley fell into silence after that, as they were too tired to carry on with their conversation for obvious reasons. They opted to just stare out the view ports, watching as Joker carefully and cautiously began to fly the ship through the fleet of Geth still orbiting Ilos.

After a few quiet and tense moments, boot falls began to draw closer, grabbing Shepard's attention and causing him to look over his shoulder again to see Kaidan and Lycan walking up to the bridge. They both looked like they had just woken up, but what caused Shepard to ever so softly grin, was that Lycan was walking close enough to Kaidan, that her shoulder brushed against his arm with every step they took.

"Morning. Hope you guys got some sleep." Shepard nodded, forcing back the grin that played at the edge of his lips.

"Not nearly enough," Kaidan sighed with a quick rub to his left eye. "That it?" he asked, finally glancing outside.

"Yeah...That's it." Shepard simply answered with a short nod.

"I hope we get to Saren in time. There's no way of telling if he's found the Conduit or not." Kaidan said, folding his arms over his chest to find that his shoulder was still complaining against the movement, but not so much as to cause him great agony.

"Believe me, I'm hoping that too," Shepard sighed, holding his breath as the _Normandy_ passed by Geth drop ships. "Joker...Scan for anything that might gives us a hint to where Saren might be," he ordered.

Joker nodded, checking his course before looking at his scanners, his vibrant green eyes bouncing around like balls in his head as he looked for any signs that would pinpoint Saren's location. After a few minutes however, he couldn't see anything that would even remotely help them, but he knew just the person whom could narrow their field of search.

"I can't see anything, but Pressly might." Joker reported as he turned his attention back to piloting.

Shepard yelled over his shoulder, "Pressly! We need you up here!" he called out, seeing the aged man look up from his station near the galaxy map.

Pressly wasted no time in getting up to the bridge, which wasn't really all that long because he was just down the stairs, "Yes Commander?" he asked as he topped the stairs.

"We need you to scan the surface to look for anything that might point us in Saren's direction." Shepard said while keeping his face neutral.

"Aye Commander." Pressly nodded as he stepped up to one of the available stations and began to work.

As Pressly scanned the planet, all present stayed quiet as they watched the last of the Geth ships slip behind them. As the viewports cleared to leave only Ilos looming before them, everyone breathed out sighs of relief that they had slipped through the thick cloud of enemy ships without instigating a firefight. Shepard turned his attention to Pressly as Joker slowed their approach, not wanting to overshoot, or completely get it wrong of where they thought Saren might be on the planet's surface.

"You got anything Pressly?" Shepard asked, finding that his leg was starting to bounce with growing anxiety, even while he was standing.

"Yes sir. I'm picking up activity straight ahead with Geth signatures, but we've got a problem." Pressly reported, keeping his focus on the holographic interface of his terminal.

Shepard's brows pinched together, "What's the problem?"

"There's no place to land. It's so jammed packed with various structures that you can't even do a Mako drop." Pressly said, the tone of his voice changing from calm, to a bit frustrated as he continued to search for a suitable landing zone.

"What? There has to be something Pressly. Saren landed, why can't we?" Shepard asked, his voice beginning to grumble with the anger that was slowly beginning to heat up.

"We're too big Commander. There isn't anything within five clicks of where that signal is that could serve as a suitable LZ, not even for the Mako." Pressly countered with much more irritation this time.

Shepard took in a deep breath to keep from blowing up at the navigator, "Come on Pressly. Five clicks just isn't gonna cut it. We need to land right on top of that bastard's head." he placed his hands on his hips to keep them from balling into fists.

"There isn't anything Commander. I've looked..." Pressly started until someone else started to talk over him.

"I can do it." Joker interrupted without looking away from his screens.

Shepard turned his attention towards the pilot, "Joker?"

"I can do it Commander. I can drop the Mako right where Saren is. I know I can." Joker repeated, this time looking at Shepard to make sure that he understood the sincerity in his eyes.

"Joker...It's a risky move. One slip and it could all end here." Kaidan interjected, uncrossing his arms to let them dangle at his sides where Lycan slowly brushed his knuckles with her finger.

"There won't be any slip ups Alenko." Joker defended.

Shepard held up his hand to silence them both before they could argue any further, "Enough! If you think you can do it Joker, then we'll go ahead with that. Ashley, go tell Garrus and Tali they're coming with me. Everybody understand?" he ordered, waiting for someone to speak up, which they did.

"Shepard...You have to let me come with you." Kaidan argued, trying to keep his voice calm since they were in front of other crew members.

"Not this time Kaidan. You need time for that shoulder to heal up." Shepard shook his head, letting his hand drop back down as Ashley stood by, waiting to see if there was going to be a change in personnel.

Kaidan's brows started to pinch together, "My shoulder's fine." he flatly said, locking a blank emotionless stare onto Shepard.

"Is it?" Shepard snapped, quickly walking up to Kaidan and jamming a finger onto his shoulder.

Kaidan instantly felt the spike of pain from Shepard's finger, but he kept his face blank and his eyes locked on target, "Like I said...It's fine." he snarled.

Shepard however, didn't believe him as he balled a tight fist and sent it forward with enough power to mimic the recoil of Kaidan's chosen weapon. Upon his fist making contact with the shoulder in question, Kaidan's blank gaze faltered into a mild wince, allowing Shepard to see the him trying to hold back the yelp that was bubbling in his throat.

Kaidan gripped his shoulder from the impact to hold off the waves of pain that Shepard had induced, "What the Hell was that for?" he growled, tightening his grip to stay a little more of the pain.

"That was the recoil of a standard Alliance pistol. If you can't handle that, then what makes you any good on the battlefield?" Shepard said with nothing but the commanding tone he tried to only use when working with the Alliance brass.

"I don't need a gun to be armed Shepard. You know that." Kaidan defended, letting go of his shoulder and leaning over a bit as Lycan began to inspect for any additional damage.

"Yes, I do, but that doesn't change the fact that you can't raise your pistol. You go down there injured, you could get yourself killed." Shepard harshly spat, squaring his shoulders in hopes that it would convince the shorter Lieutenant to just relent his position.

"What do I have to do to convince you Shepard? I have a promise that I need to keep." Kaidan said, still keeping his eyes locked on Shepard's.

Shepard's Commander position faltered when Kaidan mentioned having a promise to keep and it peaked his curiosity, "What promise?" he flatly asked.

"I promised Wrex that I would make Saren pay. I'll do whatever I have to do in order to hit dirt Shepard." Kaidan said, his emotionless stare softening into nothing but sincerity that he truly was committed to keeping that promise.

Somehow, Kaidan's words froze Shepard in his place, giving him a few moments to absorb it all. He knew that if their roles were reversed, he would be doing the same thing, fighting to go ground side despite the increased risk of further injury, or even death. He couldn't deny Kaidan's nobility, almost to the point were it was too much, but he could see it in the man's eyes that he was sincere when he said he would do anything. He glanced down at the deck while he pinched the bridge of his nose, not wanting to get any more irritated then he already was, but it wasn't towards any of his crew, well, most of it wasn't directed towards any of his crew.

"You can go, but _only_ on my terms." Shepard finally said, placing his hands on his hips again.

"What are they?" Kaidan asked, glancing at Lycan as he felt her tense up from her grip on his arm.

"You get the shoulder wrapped, you carry plenty of painkillers and stims and if you can't keep up with my pace, I'm leaving you behind and the _Normandy_ will pick you up later." Shepard counted off on his fingers with an expression that made everyone's blood run cold.

"You'd actually leave me behind on an alien planet Shepard? Is that all our friendship means to you?" Kaidan spat with fire in his voice.

"Our friendship means nothing if we're all dead Kaidan. Those are my terms. Take it...or leave it." Shepard said flatly.

Kaidan just stayed silent for a few moments, eyes locked with Shepard's as he drew in a long breath to help clear his head. Lycan's tight grip on his arm was still there and he knew she was scared, but she was doing a remarkable job in restricting how much of it showed. He knew he was going to have to reassure her, somehow, someway and no matter what he had to do, he was going to ease her definite worry.

"Understood Commander." he said with a short nod of his head.

"Then get going." Shepard said with a point down the CIC.

Kaidan nodded as he spun on his heels and headed down the CIC with Lycan close at his side as they both headed down into the Crew Deck and into the Med Bay. When the doors opened, they found Dr. Chakwas at her desk, much like she always was, but the second she looked up from her desk; she saw the determined glare on Kaidan's face and her soft smile faded.

"Is everything alright?" she asked as she stood from her desk.

"Everything's fine doctor. I just need my shoulder wrapped as tight as functionally possible." Kaidan said as he sat down on one of the bunks.

The doctor actually popped an eyebrow, "Shepard's taking you along?"

"I didn't give him much of a choice. I need to hit dirt." Kaidan said flatly as he pulled off his uniform shirt.

"And Shepard has signed off..."

"Yes." Kaidan interrupted.

"Kaidan, relax. She's just trying to help." Lycan said, softly placing her hand on his bare bicep to feel the clamminess that had started to build over his skin.

Kaidan sucked in a long breath to help calm his heart, feeling it thump hard in his chest, but the moment he felt Lycan's hand on his warming skin, he instantly felt calmed. He turned his gaze to her, feeling his eyes soften as he drank in her darkened face from the low lights and gently placed his hand over hers on his arm.

"You're right Ly. I just..." he sighed. "I just need to do this," he said quietly, glancing up to see the kind doctor gathering her needed supplies.

"I know you do. You have a score to settle with Saren and I know you'll do right by Wrex." Lycan said, slowly running her hand down his arm to thread her fingers through his, but the moment he glanced into her eyes, he saw the distant worry she was trying to repress.

Kaidan reached up with his available hand and gently cupped her chin, "You're worried." he whispered, trailing his thumb slowly along her jaw.

Lycan nodded as her eyes softened and her shoulders lightly shrugged, "Of course I am. You're about to go planet side were could possibly get yourself killed. Do you have any idea what would happen to me if you died?" she asked, her eyes beginning to tear up.

Kaidan sent Dr. Chakwas a short nod, silently asking for a few moments to talk alone with Lycan, which she silently agreed to as she slipped out of the Med Bay, nearly unnoticed. He looked back into Lycan's quickly glazing eyes and pulled her into him for an embrace that sent her into full tears. He rested his hand on the back of her head, threading his fingers into her hair as he cradled her head to his shoulder in comfort.

"Shh...honey...It'll be alright." he whispered, placing a soft and lingering kiss to her hair and finding that he had begun to rock side to side with her.

"Please come back to me Kaidan." Lycan mumbled into his neck, her tears dampening his skin.

"I will Ly. I'll come back, even if I have to fight off the devil himself." he whispered, loosening his grip on her so that he could look into her eyes.

"Isn't that Saren?" she joked, cracking a tear filled smile as she threaded her fingers into the raven hair on the back of his head and rested her forehead against his.

Kaidan's own mouth quirked a smile, "Like I said, even if I have to fight the devil himself," he closed the distance between them for a slow kiss while his thumb gently wiped away the tears that hadn't fallen off her cheek.

They stayed like that for a few moments, knowing that it was going to have to end far too soon for their liking. To Kaidan's mild surprise, Lycan broke their kiss and lovingly wiped some moisture from the corner of his lips that had leaked from their open-mouthed duel. He opened his eyes to look at her, gently grasping the nape of her neck as he lifted her hand to place it on his chest, over his heart.

"I love you Ly. You know that and I will do everything within my power to come back to you." he placed a soft kiss to her forehead.

Lycan slowly nodded, "I love you too and I trust you." she said as the doors to the Med Bay opened to allow Dr. Chakwas to return.

"I hate to interrupt, but I need to wrap your shoulder Lieutenant before Shepard gets even more antsy then he already is." Dr. Chakwas said as she returned to gathering supplies and prepared to work on Kaidan's shoulder.

Lycan stepped over to Kaidan's other side to give the doctor plenty of room to work on his shoulder, taking his hand and lightly holding it in both of hers; "I understand doctor." she kindly nodded.

Dr. Chakwas sent both a soft smile as she adjusted her gloves and began to peel away the layers of Kaidan's bandaging. It didn't take very long for her to remove the patch to see the extent of the wound's healing and she was rather happy with the results. Kaidan's wound resembled more of a bad sore then a bullet hole from the near constant application of fresh medi-gel that he was very good at staying on top of. The red ring of swollen flesh had calmed down, leaving clean edges that where beginning to mend itself and come together, slowly growing inwards towards the center of the wound. Most of the redness had vanished from Kaidan's olive toned skin and the red from the wound itself was faded into something more of a dull rose, like the color of Lycan's lips.

"This looks infinitely better Kaidan. You've been taking very good care of it." Dr. Chakwas smiled as she cleaned the wound.

Kaidan barely winced from the warm sting that was caused by the cleanser, "Lycan helped." he traded the cringe for a smile as he shot Lycan a quick glance and lightly squeezed her hand.

"Wonderful. This should be all healed up in no time Lieutenant." the doctor smiled once more as she reached for the medi-gel tube.

The rest of the time was spent in silence as Kaidan and Lycan watched Dr. Chakwas wrap his shoulder up tight. She didn't use the standard patch that he had been using, instead, she placed a patch over the wound before she instructed for Kaidan to take the white tank off. To keep the patch from getting jumbled, Kaidan let Lycan slip her hands underneath his tank and lift it up, taking care to move his arm slowly as she pulled the tank over his head. Once the tank top was removed, the doctor began to wrap his shoulder and torso in a thick bandage wrapping that hardly stretched, easily providing his shoulder with enough support for whatever waited for them on the planet's surface.

"Is that too tight Lieutenant?" Dr. Chakwas asked as she tucked the end of the thick wrapping in to secure it to Kaidan's body.

"No... It's just right," Kaidan provided a crooked grin. "I'm sorry for my tone earlier doctor. It wasn't directed at you," he said in a low calm voice.

"It's alright Kaidan. Just be careful out there. I know that's a tall order, but remember that there are people whom are close to you that love you and want you to return." Dr. Chakwas said with a soft pat to Kaidan's arm and stepping away before Kaidan could answer.

Lycan lightly squeezed Kaidan's hand, drawing his attention, "She's right. Just remember that when you're thinking about doing something stupid." she said quietly, taking a step closer to him.

"Yes ma'am," Kaidan smiled, placing one more soft kiss to her lips. "I have to go," he whispered as he slid off the bed and put on his shirt.

"I love you." she whispered, reluctantly letting go of his hand.

"And I you." he smiled as he gathered the supplies he needed to comply with Shepard's conditions.

Kaidan kept his eyes locked with hers for the briefest of moments before he turned and left, feeling a bubble of dread grow in his chest where his heart should be as the doors closed behind him. His heart physically began to ache as he made his way to the Cargo Bay to get changed into his armor, finding Shepard and Garrus were nearly ready and only needed to collect their load outs. He quickly got into his armor and gathered his weapons, taking a spare moment to check his med belt and make sure he had everything he was going to need should the situation arise that required his field medic skills before he headed for the Mako.

Inside, it was no surprise that Shepard was driving and Garrus was happily perched up in the gunner's turret, leaving him with the navigator's chair which he easily slipped into and began his checks. Everyone stayed silent as they conducted their checks while Shepard fired up their mega Mako, sending a roar of power through the Cargo Bay that caused everyone to cup their hands over their ears. Once the Mako was idling nicely, he reached for the comm on his console and flicked it on with more movement of his hand then was necessary.

"Joker...Bring us in. Right on top of Saren's head if you can." he said into the comm with a predatory growl, much like how a predator has just set its sights onto its pray.

"_Already on it Commander. Drop in sixty seconds." _Joker reported.

Shepard nodded and switched the comm channel to the external speaker, "Clear Cargo Bay. Bay door dropping in thirty seconds." he said with a faint echo of his voice outside the Mako.

He flicked the comm onto standby and stared at his screen, watching everyone clear out of the Cargo Bay just as the bay door began to open. The sight that greeted them was a twilight scene that more resembled an old painting then what was just on the other side of their hull. The sky was a soft orange cream swirl that left no space untouched, filling every nook and cranny that wasn't used by the many buildings that jutted out from the ground. The buildings themselves were dulled and shadowed with soft grays and sickly greens and the never ending vines clawed all the way up to their peaks. For an ancient ruin, it was remarkably beautiful, enough so that it took Shepard's, Kaidan's and Garrus's breath away.

However, no one said a thing as they realized just how steep an angle they were coming in at. The ship was nose down as Joker elegantly wove the _Normandy_ through the towering skyscrapers until the sight of small, ant sized people came into view. As the ship ceased its weaving, Shepard immediately knew that the small people were most likely Saren and his band of Geth as they were walking into some sort of tunnel. The ship's angle steepened and her speed seemed to pick up, telling Shepard that it was nearly time for their risky drop and it was confirmed by the countdown from Joker, coming through the comm.

"_Drop in three...Two...One...Mako go!"_

The moment Joker said his cue, Shepard jammed the throttle forward, thrusting the Mako nearly immediately out of the Cargo Bay and into the open air. The ship instantly vanished from Shepard's screens, far quicker then any other drop he had ever done. He wanted to know if the ship was alright but it was going to have to wait until they were on the ground because it was quickly coming at them and they were nose down.

Shepard jammed his fist down onto the thrusters, effectively slowing their decent, but if he couldn't get their nose up, they were going to plow head first into the ground. With the thrusters blaring, the Mako self adjusted their power output, easily lifting the nose to put her stern down before she hit the ground with a harsh bang that jarred everyone inside violently.

"Ow." Garrus groaned as he gently rubbed his head from its impact with the main cannon's interface.

"That was graceful," Shepard smirked as he shook his head free of the rough landing, taking a quick glance over to Kaidan whom was leaning back into his seat. "You alright Alenko?"

"Yeah...Just smack my forehead on the console." Kaidan answered as he rubbed said spot that was sure to bruise.

Shepard let a small laugh go as he reached for his comm and flicked it on, "Joker...We're dirt side and in one piece. How's the ship?"

"_Told you I could do it." _

"Reminded me never to doubt you again."

"_Oh trust me Commander. I'm not going to let you live this down." _Joker cut the link before Shepard could answer.

Once the link cut, that's when Shepard finally looked out of the drive screens to see that the large doors in front of them were closed up tight.

"Everyone out. We gotta get that door open." Shepard said coldly as he unbuckled himself and opened the rear hatch.

The three piled out into the open air, finding that it had a slight musk to it that was not at all unpleasant. The air itself was warm, but not to the point where it was miserable or tacky, it was mildly humid and had a light breeze that would be more at home on a beach, then in an ancient ruin. However, their admiration of the sight was short lived as Shepard jogged up to the set of large bunker doors that were sealed and he saw nothing to suggest that he was going to be able to open them.

"Dammit...We gotta get through these doors." Shepard growled, looking around for anything that would lead them in the right direction.

Kaidan and Garrus walked up to Shepard and examined the door, noticing that it wasn't plain by any means, it was decorated with intricate carvings of an alien race that none of them had ever seen before. They could only assume that they were images of the long vanished Protheans.

"I don't see anything that will get us inside." Garrus said, scanning their surroundings when a soft shuffle reached his highly sensitive ears. _Bah... It's probably just this breeze. _He thought, taking a few short sniffs of the air, just in case there was something in the air.

"There has to be something," Shepard groaned. "Run a scan of the surrounding area and see if there's any residual signals from anything," he ordered, bringing up his Omni-Tool.

Kaidan and Garrus quickly followed suit and opened their Omni-Tools to run the scans Shepard wanted. Initially, they didn't pick up anything to start out with, but soon, all three began to lightly ping with their findings in the form of little flashing green dots on generic and basic layouts of the complex.

"I'm picking up something not far from here. Maybe a quarter of a click or so." Kaidan reported, glancing from his Omni-Tool, to the surroundings to get his bearings.

"I got that too. Lets beat feat." Shepard quickly said as he closed his own Omni-Tool and pulled out his weapon.

Shepard took point with Kaidan behind him and Garrus taking up the rear as they started to make their way away from the door. They couldn't make out anything beyond where they had landed, due to the tall stone slabs that blocked off the open aired corridor. Each one pressed their backs into the stone as they creeped around the slabs, carefully stepping over the growing shrubs that littered the ground and peered down the corridor on the other side to find that Saren hadn't taken everything he brought with him into the sealed bunker.

"We've got Geth. Stay sharp and take 'em out as quickly as you can." Shepard whispered with quick glances to both his squad mates for their nods of acknowledgement.

Shepard wheeled out from behind the stone slabs with his pistol blazing, sending as many rounds as he could down range. As he fired, which was soon joined by the reports from another pistol, and the louder blasts of a close by sniper rifle, he noticed the kinetic barriers that were synonymous with the Geth. Those quickly winked out of existence as the far more powerful rounds from Garrus's sniper rifle plowed through them, leaving the Geth troopers that hid behind them fully exposed to the rounds and Biotics from the duel Sentinels as they ripped them apart and shot them down.

They jogged down the now clear corridor until it opened up into a wide open courtyard with another pair of stone slabs near the middle. More kinetic barriers were scattered about, accompanied with more Geth ground troops that opened fire as soon as Garrus cleared the corridor. Shepard, Kaidan and Garrus sprinted to the stone slabs for cover, taking a few brief moments to let their shields recharge before they leaned out and popped off their return fire.

As the courtyard drew quiet, Shepard slowly stepped forward, slipping in behind the second stone slab to get a better view of a large alcove that jutted out from the right side of the courtyard. Seeing nothing, he motioned for Kaidan and Garrus to follow, which they did without hesitation as they leaned up against the block. Just as Shepard was ready to lean out and scope out further down the way, the thudding mechanical foot stomps of something coming their way ricocheted off the surrounding buildings.

"What was that?" Garrus asked, looking around just in case this something was trying to flank them.

"Sounds like a bigger Geth." Kaidan whispered back, opening his Omni-Tool and preparing a disabling pulse so that it was ready should the need arise.

Shepard quickly poked his head out to see that Kaidan was right, as two large Geth Armaments stood just on the other side of their cover and they were looking right at them.

"Fuck. We've got Armaments," Shepard cursed as he laid flat against the stone block. "Focus fire on the closest one."

On Shepard's count of three, he and Kaidan wheeled out from behind the block, Kaidan sending the disabling pulse right towards the closest Armament and causing it to stutter and spark. Shepard immediately took stock of the second Armament as it stood tall and prepared to fire a large blue shot of plasma as he opened fire on the troubled one, riddling it with holes as its shields had been destroyed by Kaidan's attack. Just as the second Geth was about to fire its shot, Shepard and Kaidan ducked back behind the stone block, but they found that it was just the two of them behind there, as Garrus was missing. Without saying a word, they both glanced at each other, seemingly to know what the other was thinking as they both shrugged and peaked back around the corner.

What they saw was something they couldn't help but giggle at as Garrus was sitting atop the closest Armament like he was riding a steed. They watched as Garrus brought up his Omni-Tool and began tearing at the wires and cables behind the Armament's neck, all while his noble steed was stiffly turning in circles and trying to crane its head around to get at its rider. Once Garrus had a firm grip on a massive main cable that stretched from deep inside the Geth's body, all the way up to the back of its head, he jammed his Omni-Tool down into where the cable lead to send it into a violent fit of sparks and jerks as it fell apart. Just as the Armament hit the ground, Garrus hopped off and jumped behind the block as the last remaining Armament fired another shot.

"Cowboy up Garrus." Shepard smirked as he readied his pistol.

"Pardon?" Garrus asked, arcing a thick brow plate high above its partner.

Kaidan huffed a laugh, "It's a Human expression." he said, feeling some irritation rising in his shoulder but it wasn't anything he was going to take the painkillers or stims for.

"And what is a 'Cowboy?" Garrus asked, still with his brow plate raised.

"Easy description is what you just did." Shepard said with a crooked grin across his mouth.

"Oh." was all Garrus said.

Shepard and Kaidan both laughed as they stepped out from behind the stone and out into the open. Kaidan and Garrus kept watch as Shepard brought up his Omni-Tool again to check their position, getting his bearings straight so that didn't end up taking a wrong turn somewhere in the maze of ruins.

After a few moments, he shut down his Omni-Tool and took off towards a short tunnel that jutted out to the right from the courtyard. The tunnel was filled with more plants and vines and it was dominated by thick, ancient roots that arced out of the ground. The tunnel deposited them into a narrow hallway that looked exactly like the rest of the ruin and lead them to another, yet smaller courtyard with large support struts cluttering much of the space and blocking a decent view. They carefully crept around the struts, keeping their eyes peeled for anything hostile as they quickly headed for the other side of the courtyard. It turned right onto the top of an embankment, allowing them to see the myriad of crates and stone blocks that littered the clearing, as well as the small contingent of Geth that hid behind them.

Wasting no time, Kaidan's Biotics flared all over his body, casting a shimmering blue glow on the stone walls that reflected the flow of water from an aquarium. His shoulder began to pulse with ache the further he raised his arm, but he planted his feet and lifted both arms into the air, the raging flare erupting high over his head and taking every crate in the clearing with it to fully expose the Geth behind them.

As Kaidan kept the enemy cover suspended in midair, Shepard and Garrus opened fire, dropping most of the Geth troops while only taking a few rounds themselves to be caught by their shields. With one last Geth still standing, Kaidan brought his hands together, bringing along the crates he still held suspended to hang over the last Geth's head before he instantly reigned in his Biotics and let the crates fall.

No one said anything as they just continued along the embankment until it too, opened up into yet another courtyard with more Geth. The ground troops were easily taken care of, but the jumping Geth were a bit harder to deal with. All three ducked behind some more support struts for cover as the high powered shots from the jumpers ricocheted off the aged stone. Both Sentinels took the time to prepare some disabling pulses that would give Garrus a few moments where the jumpers weren't bouncing around the entire area.

Shepard leaned out first and targeted a jumper that clung to a strut on the other side of the courtyard and fired his pulse. His aim proved true as the jumper froze in place with random spurts of sparks flying from it's joints, giving Garrus his cue to fire a sniper shot in its direction. Garrus's shot hammered straight through the Geth's head, instantly shutting the unit down to be nothing more then a giant paper weight.

Before the corpse even hit the ground, Kaidan leaned out and targeted the last jumper with his Omni-Tool, but just at the last second, the jumper leapt to another strut. Kaidan didn't have the time to prepare another pulse so instead, his arm flared with Biotics and he Pulled it off its perch. With the jumper tumbling to the ground, Shepard and Garrus fired, blasting hole after hole through it's weak armor and spraying copious amounts of white liquid all over the stone pillars.

With the courtyard clear, Shepard opened up his Omni-Tool once more to get his bearings, seeing that the rather weak signal they were heading too seemed to be behind the large and ancient structure. He waived for them to follow as they headed for the building, taking stock of the statues of a strange, bipedal alien they had seen all over the ruin until they noticed, that there was no way inside the building.

"There's no doors?" Shepard's brows drew together hard as he looked at the towering face of the structure.

Kaidan looked around where he caught sight of a soft, glowing light of green, hidden in the shadows, "Shepard, looks like there's an elevator over there." he pointed, lightly wincing at the spike of pain that shot through his arm.

Shepard turned and followed Kaidan's finger, "Well, I'll be damned. Nice work Alenko." he smirked as he made his way over to the ancient car that somehow, still had power.

"How does a run down, overgrown and beyond ancient contraption like this still have power?" Shepard asked as he pushed the softly glowing button on the inside of the elevator car.

"There's gotta be some kind of backup power supply or something somewhere in the complex." Garrus said as he checked his sniper rifle and leaned up against an aged wall.

"That doesn't explain why it's still providing power after fifty thousand years however." Kaidan added, popping a couple painkillers into his mouth and dry swallowing them. _Those'll take the edge off._

"It would if that power supply was solar or geothermal." Shepard threw in with a smile.

"But if that's the case, then why does the rest of the complex look like it doesn't have power. Both those sources are inexhaustible." Kaidan countered with a gentle tilt of his head to one side.

"Tech malfunction." Garrus simply said.

Both Shepard and Kaidan arced their eyebrows as they glanced at each other, nodding their heads in agreement as the car finally slowed and came to a halt to let them out. The tunnel on the other side of the door was long, dark and covered with more of the same vines and foliage that had consumed the rest of the ruins. They jogged down the tunnel, weapons aimed at the ground with their keen eyes trained in the distance at what looked to be a large chamber. They slowed their jog to a walk and pressed up against the plant covered walls as they drew closer to the chamber, slowly scanning the area for sure fire signs that there was anything laying in wait for them.

As they crouched near the edge of the tunnel, they got a real, unobscured look at the large room which was overgrown with plenty of spine tingling statues and surprisingly well lit. The light is what concerned Shepard the most, as it made it much more difficult to spot any Geth with their flashlight heads, not to mention it rendered any sort of secret approach out of the question.

Without saying a word, Shepard told his squad to keep their eyes open as he started to step out into the open, but the moment he did, a rocket came sailing across the chamber from the other side to smack with explosive force into the wall of the tunnel.

"Duck!" Shepard barked as he sprinted to a close by statue for cover.

Kaidan and Garrus crouched along the walls of the tunnel at opposite corners, keeping their eyes focused down range for the source of the rocket. They all saw the small grouping of Geth on the far side of the chamber and fired, Garrus's sniper rifle picking off most of the Geth since it had the better sighting capabilities. After several bursts of fire from their pistols, Shepard and Kaidan both just decided to give up and let Garrus finish off their opposition.

"Taking a breather?" Garrus chuckled, pulling his taloned finger to fill the entire chamber with the boom of his sniper rifle.

"You're doing such a good job. I didn't wanna mess with perfection." Shepard smirked as he happily stayed behind his cover.

Garrus blew off one more high powered round to completely smash the last remaining Geth's glowing eye, effectively clearing the chamber for them to continue on. With Shepard at point again, they quickly jogged across the room, but as soon they passed a second statue, another Geth unit came into view and it wasn't just a normal one either; It was a Geth Prime.

They immediately skidded to a halt and darted for the nearest cover as the Prime began to blow off it's extremely powerful weapon in their direction. As Shepard regained his bearings, he finally noticed that Kaidan wasn't near him, let alone behind any cover. As it turned out, Kaidan was standing in front of the Geth Prime, Biotics aglow with power as he raised his arm, wrapping the Geth in an incandescent layer of blue and lifting it up into the air where it became useless. Shepard could only watch as Kaidan thrust his arms forward, sending the Prime crashing into what looked to be a second level observing area. Upon impact, the Geth broke apart and clattered to the ground in a downpour of white fluid and hardware.

Almost as quickly as Kaidan's Biotics appeared, they disappeared as he lowered his arms back to his sides and sucked in a deep breath, ignoring the steadily growing throb of pain in his shoulder from the widely arced movement.

"Clear Commander." Kaidan said after he exhaled.

Shepard stepped out from behind his cover, "Understood. We should be getting close." he said as he opened up his Omni-Tool to check their path.

"Are we?" Garrus asked, taking a quick scan of the room to make sure there were no more surprises.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. Looks like it should be in that control room up there." he said as he started towards that way.

They followed as Shepard swung right, coming around the corner of a wall to see that a narrow ramp lead upwards into the second room. They all quickly jogged up to enter into a long control room with a thick bed of plants covering the floor. Sitting in the center of the room was a console, not at all unlike the console they found on Therum all that time ago. Shepard carefully stepped up to the terminal and holstered his weapon to place his hands on the device.

After a few moments, the terminal produced a low groan and opened up, flickering to life a scattered array of coding and images that really didn't come together to form anything definitive. As the hologram settled somewhat, it began to produce a series of sounds and clicks that began to take on the voice of a different language, but Kaidan and Garrus could only stand and attempt to guess at what it was saying.

"I can't understand it Shepard." Garrus said with a glance over towards Kaidan, whom shrugged.

Shepard held up a hand and slightly tilted his head towards the terminal to listen carefully, as to him, the sounds and clicks were something he recognized and could understand, "You guys can't understand it?" he asked after a few moments of listening to the heavily broken message.

"No. It's just noise to me." Kaidan answered as he gently rubbed his shoulder.

Shepard stayed quiet for another moment, listening to the device again to try and catch something else, "It's a message. It's hard to make anything out because it's broken up pretty bad, but I can make out most of it."

"What does it say?" Garrus asked.

"It's a warning about an impending invasion force," he silenced himself again to catch a few more words which peaked his interest. "It's about the Reaper invasion. Jesus Christ...This is a Prothean message." he added as he made the connection.

"That makes sense. That Cipher thing must have given you some sort of...understanding of the Prothean language. Can you get anything useful off of it?" Kaidan asked.

Shepard tried to listen a bit more, but the more the message played, the more static his ears were met with, "No. It's too broken up...Wait a sec...Something about access to...aqueducts being open...Holy shit! Its gotta be referring to that blast door!" he yelped.

Before Garrus or Kaidan could answer, Shepard darted down the ramp, nearly tripping over his own feet with his companions close on his heels. As Shepard started across the chamber, Kaidan caught the faintest glimpse of something green in his peripheral vision that caused him to turn his head and look down another tunnel that they had missed initially. He opened up his Omni-Tool and studied their rough map, unable to determine it the elevator would help, or hinder their need to get back to the Mako in a hurry.

"Shepard!" he called out, causing the Commander to skid to a halt and look back at him. "There's an elevator here!"

Shepard spun and bolted back, "You think it could help?" he asked, needing his answer sooner, rather then later.

"I can't tell. We don't have a detailed enough layout for me to make a solid guess." Kaidan answered as he shut down his Omni-Tool.

"Shepard...I smell fresh air coming from the elevator shaft. I think it leads back up." Garrus chimed in, standing right next to the door with his nose close to its seam.

"You can smell that?" Shepard arced a brow.

"Yes. That musk in the air is distinctive. I think we should take it." Garrus suggested.

Shepard shrugged and right then and there, decided to take Garrus's advice. He quickly got into the car with Garrus and Kaidan and hit the button, tapping his foot on the floor as it slowly began to rise. That in itself gave him a sense of hope, as it meant that they were headed to the top, closer to the Mako. The car slowed and opened it's door, depositing them into the first courtyard they had traveled through which was only a quick run away from the Mako. They blasted out and at full sprints, ran towards the tall stone slabs that sectioned off the courtyard with their landing zone that hopefully still housed the Mako, upon which it did. They quickly climbed in and got seated, Shepard blasting the engines to life, shutting the door and taking off, all before Garrus and Kaidan were even buckled into their seats.

As the Mako traveled down the long, cavernous corridor, Garrus's acute sense of smell began to pick up something that he hadn't realized was there until just then. He sniffed a couple times, immediately wishing he hadn't as the scent stung his nose with a sharp tang.

"What is that?" he asked, huffing the air out of his nose in hopes to end the sting.

"What?" Kaidan asked, looking at his navigation screens as Shepard hammered down on the throttle.

"That smell? It smells like...mating related to be honest. What the Hell is that?" Garrus groaned with another puff of air.

Kaidan stiffened and gulped, glancing over at Shepard whom seemed to ignoring what was being said, "What? Come on...You couldn't smell that." he played, praying to God that Garrus wouldn't see the rising blush that felt like the center of a boiling hot sun.

"Yes I can. It seriously smells like someone mated in here. I'll have to go through it and see if something got left in here by accident." Garrus said, keeping his attention down the sights of the main cannon.

Kaidan silently gulped again, "That's probably it. Half the ship's compliment was working on this thing. There's probably a rag stuck somewhere." he said, forcing back the shakiness in his voice.

The rest of their drive remained silent, save for the cannon blasts as they came in contacted with a small contingent of Geth that stood guard in a large chamber. Shepard didn't even slow down as he rolled straight through them, blasting back into the corridor that had begun to develop a layer of standing water on its floor. They continued to drive until Kaidan spotted something off in the distance, appearing to be some kind of barrier, but he couldn't be sure, as it wasn't blue; It was orange.

Shepard ground the Mako to a halt, only a few meters away from the barrier and glared angrily out of his drive screens, "Son of a bitch. We're stuck." he growled, clenching his fists tightly around the controls.

"Maybe not Shepard. Looks like there's a passageway off to our right." Kaidan said without even looking up from the screens.

"Worth a shot. Let's move people. We don't have time to waste."

Shepard popped the hatch and followed the other two out as they all headed for the passageway to discover that it wasn't a passageway at all, but an elevator. They pulled their weapons just in case as they rode it down into a massive chamber with a pattern of ovals along the walls. They went on as far as their eyes could see and all they could do was gape in awe at the sight. They walked down the catwalk towards another terminal that appeared to be more of a main hub then just there to leave a message.

As they stepped up, the terminal hummed and opened up, exactly like the other had with the scattering of data and symbols, but this time, the sound that came out was understandable.

**"You are not Prothean, nor are you machine. This eventuality was one of many that was anticipated." **the program spoke clearly.

"Is that a VI program? It looks pretty badly damaged. The holographic display doesn't work." Garrus said.

**"I do not sense the taint of indoctrination upon any of you. Unlike the other that had passed through here recently. Perhaps there is still hope." **

"How come we can understand you?" Kaidan asked, his brows pulling together.

**"I have been monitoring your communications since you arrived at this facility. I have translated my output into a form that you will be able to comprehend. My name is Vigil and you are safe for the moment, but that is likely to change if you do not hurry."**

"I'm in a very big rush man. I need to get to the Conduit. Do you know what it is?" Shepard urged, placing his hands on his hips.

**"The Conduit is a device built by the Protheans, but you must understand what you are dealing with. The Citadel is the hub of your galactic civilization, as it was with us, but it is a trap. The Citadel itself is an enormous mass relay that links directly to dark space. When it is activated, the Reapers will fall through and all you know will be destroyed."**

The news caused all three men to shortly gasp in shock and stiffen.

"A relay? Are you telling me that the Reapers could wipe out the Council and the entire Citadel fleet in a single surprise attack?" Shepard asked, trying to keep from throwing his hands up into the air.

**"Yes. That is what happened to my people and before we even realized we were being attacked, the Reapers had assumed control of the Citadel and with it, the relay network. Everything across our empire was crippled and isolated to make the perfect pray for the Reaper invasion. We could do nothing to defend ourselves."**

"How did you survive?" Shepard simply asked.

**"When the Reapers assumed complete control over us, it isolated this facility, leaving those here to work and strive to find a way to defeat the Reapers. That is where the Conduit comes in. It is a scaled down version of a mass relay that my people built and it leads directly to the Citadel."**

"A backdoor? You mean Saren could use it to bypass the entire defensive fleet?" Kaidan asked, not remembering ever seeing anything that could even pass as a backdoor. _Wait a minute...A scaled down relay? That monument? That couldn't be it...Could it? _

**"Yes. Saren can use it to gain quick access to the Citadel relay's control unit, but the few Protheans that worked here, were able to develop an algorithm to keep the Keepers from activating the relay."**

Shepard's brows furrowed hard, "What in the fuck do the Keepers have to do with this?"

**"The Keepers did not evolve like you or us, they were engineered by the Reapers to maintain the Citadel during their absence. When it is time for their cycle of extinction to begin again, the Reapers send a signal through the relay that tells the Keepers to activate the Citadel relay." **

"Inside agents. How do we stop that?" Garrus asked, his prominent shoulders slumping as he felt a wave of hopelessness wash over him.

**"As I said, my people developed a program that will instruct the Keepers to ignore the signal. I have a copy here in my console. Take it before you go and stop the cycle."**

Shepard stepped up to the terminal and saw as a small tray popped open with an OSD nestled inside it. He took it and placed it into an empty pouch, double checking that the pouch was secure before looking back at the VI program.

"I've got more questions." he said, taking a step back.

**"Please ask, but remember, you do not have much time."**

"What are all these things on the wall?"

**"Those are stasis pods for the few scientists that developed the algorithm. However, none are functional." **

"Why?" Kaidan asked.

**"In order to escape the genocide through the galaxy, the Protheans here placed themselves into stasis until it was safe to come out. Sadly, the genocide of an entire race takes centuries and when the Reapers finally withdrew into dark space, there were too few Protheans to maintain a viable population. That is when they developed the algorithm and built the Conduit."**

"How did they all die? Disease?" Garrus asked.

**"No. I was charged with maintaining the stasis systems, but as time went on, various systems began to fail, forcing me to shut them down which consequently, shut off the stasis pods one by one. However, I was able to keep the top scientists alive until the right time." **

Kaidan opened his mouth to protest, but Shepard held up his hand to keep him quiet.

"You did what you had to do. This program will work right?" Shepard glanced at his squad.

**"Yes. Please go. You must hurry and break the cycle of extinction."**

Shepard and his squad remained silent as they tried to digest all they had learned, but they knew they didn't have much time. Shepard was the first to turn and head back to the elevator, followed by Garrus and finally, Kaidan as they stepped into the elevator with a somber feeling dangling in the air. When the elevator stopped, they picked up their pace and sprinted back to the Mako where they strapped in and settled in for their continued ride.

"I hope we get there in time Shepard." Kaidan finally broke the silence as Shepard cranked the Mako into a ninety degree turn and dropped it down a short drop into a water soaked canyon.

"We can only hope Kaidan," he smirked as he poured on the speed. "I guess you didn't need to keep up huh." he added.

"I was prepared to anyways Shepard. I just got lucky." Kaidan nodded with a soft sigh.

"Lets hope that luck sticks around."

They fell back into silence as Shepard ignored the small clusters of Geth that where scattered through the aqueducts and he didn't care if he ran any over or not. The entire time he drove, his mind reeled about all the information that the VI Vigil had told them. _The Citadel is a relay? We are literally sitting on death's doorstep? _He thought as he turned a left bank onto a gentle slope.

As he reached the bottom of the slope, the distinctive glow of blue from an active mass relay came into view but it wasn't the massive cores the relays around the galaxy had, it was much smaller.

"That must be the Conduit. It's active." Shepard said, feeling his anger begin to boil in his throat.

"That means Saren's gone through." Kaidan said with absolutely no emotion in his low voice.

"Shepard...There is half a dozen Armaments standing between us and the Conduit." Garrus interrupted, craning the main cannon around to sight it in.

"Fire the machine gun, but don't worry if we take any out. We're gonna make a straight run for it." Shepard said as he tightened his grip on the controls again, ignoring the nervous flips of his stomach.

"Understood."

Shepard felt his hands beginning to barely shake on the controls, "You ever pray Kaidan?" he asked, taking in a few deep breaths.

"Sometimes."

"Now would be a good time." was all Shepard said before he jammed the Mako forward towards the Conduit.

* * *

Joker, Ashley, Lycan and everyone else for that matter were all stuffed onto the bridge, watching the screens as they tracked the Mako's progress across the surface of Ilos.

"Where are they now?" Liara asked, trying to look over the shoulders of everyone else.

"Looks like they're driving down an aqueduct system, but it's hard to tell. The ruins are interfering with the signal." Joker said, fidgeting with the controls a bit to try and get a better signal.

"Wait Joker...Look," Lycan pointed at the screen, "They stopped. Why did they stop?" the worry was evident in her voice.

"Jesus...Again? Why did they stop this time?" Joker groaned.

"Are you worried Joker?" Ashley poked, kindly placing a comforting hand onto the pilot's shoulder.

"No!" Joker too quickly defended.

"They're moving again!" Lycan yelped, nervously biting her bottom lip.

They all shut up and watched as the little red indicator on Joker's screen blipped its way across the map in a straight line. When the red dot vanish however, the bridge was sent into a enormous uproar.

"Where did they go!"

"What happened!"

"Holy shit!"

"Oh my God!"

"Kee'lah!"

Everyone yelped and hollered at the same time until it started to hurt Joker's ears.

"Everyone quiet!" Joker bellowed, his hands beginning to float over his controls.

"What are you doing?" Lycan softly asked, biting back the intense worry that was beginning to develop tears in her eyes.

"Expanding the signal perimeters. They aren't destroyed. The signal would have reported it." Joker stiffly said as he continued to work the systems.

After a few moments, his screen panned out, pulling back away from Ilos and zooming across the galaxy to the Mako's new location.

"What the fuck?" he whispered, as did everyone else for that matter.

"They're on the Citadel?" Ashley's brows furrowed and her mouth was agape with shock.

"We've gotta get there and fast. Joker you have to get us to the Citadel." Lycan nearly begged, lightly tugging on his arm.

"I'm going! I'm going! I think now would be a good idea to give good old Admiral Hackett a jingle." Joker smirked as he whipped the _Normandy_ around and made a beeline for the nearest relay.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42: The End of the Beginning

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

**Author's note: This chapter may mark the end of ME1, but not the end of 'The Future That I See.' I will be continuing this into the ME2 arc and even into ME3 once I get my addicted little hands on it in March of 2012. It will be one, long cohesive story so sit back, relax and look forward to many, many more updates to 'The Future That I See.'**

Shepard's head felt like it was swelling up to exponential proportions and it was extremely warm, almost as if he had dunked his head into a bucket of warm water and left it there. He groaned as he placed his hand on his forehead and forced his eyes open, his eyelids protesting to the movement as they felt stiff and rigid, like someone had glued them shut. Once his eyes finally came into focus, he realized why everything felt so sluggish; He was upside down.

"What the fuck happened?" he groaned, forcing his arms to make their way to his harness that was keeping him pinned to the seat.

"We crashed." Kaidan deadpanned with a wince from the pain in his shoulder.

"No shit Sherlock." Shepard rolled his eyes, immediately wishing he hadn't as his head rushed into a painful whirlwind, his harness unbuckling right at that moment, upon which case, he landed on it.

"That must have hurt." Garrus groaned as he pushed himself out of the gunner's turret to sit on the ceiling of the Mako.

"Shut up." Shepard simply hissed as he rolled off his head and onto his side with a harsh thud before he fumbled for his helmet that had bounced around the cab during they're ride.

"Where are we?" Kaidan asked as he clambered out of his seat, somehow with a little more grace then Shepard.

"God I hope it's somewhere where I can get a stiff drink." Shepard said flatly through gritted teeth as he crawled on all fours to the side door of the overturned Mako.

"I highly doubt Saren would go through all this trouble just to get to some super secret bar." Kaidan laughed painfully, feeling his ribs already protesting the act as he grabbed his helmet and trust it onto his head.

Shepard scoffed a weak laugh as he manually activated the emergency egress systems and blew the side hatch off with a loud bang, sending the door skittering across a shiny floor that glowed with the faint light of orange. He waited a few moments for the puffs of smoke to clear from the detcord before he crawled out of the opening, finding that the roof of the Mako had been significantly crushed from their crash, thus making it more difficult to climb through. As he finally wiggled his shoulders through, the rest of him was easy until he was fully free of the wreckage to stand on his own two feet.

"Holy...shit." Shepard gaped as he finally set his eyes onto their unscheduled landing zone.

As Kaidan and Garrus pulled themselves out, they all took in the sight before them. The Conduit worked without a hitch, as the three were now standing on the Citadel, but the massive space station was ablaze with scattered fires, rubble crumbling from nearly every structure and the water that was normally crystal clear on the Presidium ring was more of the consistency of soupy mud. The air around them was filled with a smokey haze that not only made all their noses sting, but the smoke was laced with the distinctive odor of burning flesh of all races. The whole area was awash with the blaring sound of the station's alarms and the voice of the VI, Avina, could be heard all around them like it was coming from absolutely every direction.

"My God." Kaidan gasped as he kept a tight grip on his shoulder.

"By the Spirits." Garrus said, his voice low enough to make the double timbre much more prominent.

Shepard slowly started to shake his head, "We've gotta move. We don't have much time." he said as he looked around, noticing that they had landed near the elevator to the Citadel tower.

They all agreed as they pulled their weapons and started towards the Citadel tower, noticing the tall spikes that were strewn across the walk near a tall pile of debris. As they drew closer, the haze of the air gave way enough to let them see the small number of husks curled into balls on the floor.

"It's never easy," Shepard growled angrily as he aimed and opened fire.

The other two followed Shepard's lead and focused on the team of husks that had begun their clumsy charge. The first couple went down without too much trouble, but while Shepard and his squad were focused on the first two, the other two drew far too close for comfort. Before the last two husks could get any closer, both Shepard's and Kaidan's arms erupted into a raging Biotic layer that Lifted the husks into the air where they inadvertently started a round of skeet shooting for Garrus.

With two resounding bangs from Garrus's sniper rifle in quick succession, seeping holes were blown through their torsos to rain down blue synthetic conductive fluid all over them like they had gotten caught in a rainstorm.

"Disgusting." Shepard frowned harshly as he wiped away the fluid from his face.

Kaidan used his good arm to wipe away the goo, "Yuck." he agreed, giving his arm a shake to splatter the fluid onto the floor.

"Sorry." Garrus smirked.

Shepard rolled his eyes and provided a crooked grin as he started towards the elevator again, weapon aimed up as he took point and charged forward with the other two in tow. The corridor to the elevator was in disarray with large, burning holes sizzling through the normally shiny and sleek paneling. They darted into the glass paneled car with Shepard jamming a fist down onto the cracked, but still functional button. The car groaned as it started up the shaft, but the groan of the car was overshadowed by an earsplitting metallic howl that resonated in the car and made their heads thrum.

"What the Hell is that?" Kaidan winced as he pressed the heel of his hand into his forehead and between his eyes.

Shepard squeezed his eyes shut as the pressure began to build behind his eyes, "I don't fucking know, but I'm getting seriously pissed off!" he yelled as he slammed a fist onto the glass.

When Shepard's angry outburst hit the glass wall, the elevator came to a screaming halt, sending all three inside to the floor with harsh thuds. It only served to make Shepard even angrier as he sat up, having to force himself not to think that it was his fault that the elevator was no longer functioning.

"What the fuck!" Shepard hissed as he climbed to his feet, clenching his fists to try and dissipate some of his anger.

"Why did the elevator stop?" Kaidan asked, plastered up against the back of the car.

"That fucker must have locked down the Goddamned elevator!" Shepard roared up at the ceiling.

"So now what do we do?" Garrus asked as he picked up his sniper rifle that had fallen to the floor.

"The only thing we can do," Shepard simply answered as he sealed his helmet and flicked on the comms. "We're going outside," he added flatly.

Shepard waited a moment for the other two to seal their helmets as well before he aimed his gun and pulled the trigger, sending an accelerated round through the glass. The glass spiderwebbed in every direction, but didn't completely break which Shepard was hoping for. Before the air was completely sucked out of the car, he lifted his foot and thrust it forward, pummeling the heel of his boot into the significantly weaker glass and blowing it the rest if the way out in thousands of tiny pieces.

The three stepped to the edge of their frozen car and stepped out, floating weightlessly for a moment before they activated their magnetic boots that sucked them down onto the exterior of the tower. They took another moment to get their bearings, making sure that they weren't facing towards the ground, but the top of the tower. However, when they turned around, all the air in the lungs froze right where it was in their chests as they set their eyes onto the monolithic machine perched on the tower's peak.

All three were completely speechless as they laid their eyes on the massive underbelly of the ship they now recognized as Sovereign, causing them to nearly forget the amazing view of the Citadel with all the twinkling lights of the endless city all around them. The behemoth of a machine sat perched like an oversized bird on the top of the tower, its massive, squid like legs clawing and scratching at the tower and ripping off equally massive chunks that floated away towards the ward arms. As their eyes followed the pieces of Citadel, they realized that the ward arms were shut, sealing off the defensive fleet and locking Shepard and his squad inside the tank with the shark.

They moved as fast as the zero gravity would let them as they began to charge up the tower on the outside of the elevator shaft and towards the beast perched at the top. They followed the strut work and rafting of the tower until it ducked down into a short tunnel with one side being comprised of glass, allowing a view of the inside of the shaft. As they stepped further into the tunnel, another car went whisking by until it stopped with the same harshness as their's had, but the moment it did, the glass of the shaft blew out and filled the tunnel with a wall of razor sharp shards.

Shepard skidded to a halt, prompting the other two to follow suit as the elevator's passengers began to pour out into the tunnel. With little cover to utilize, they immediately opened fire at the Geth troops as they made for the dip to their right which would sheath half of them from the incoming rounds. They took full advantage of their cover, making sure that at least one of them was up shooting at the Geth at all times. They alternated down the line to let their shields recharge and their weapons to have a moment to cool.

Once the Geth were dealt with, Shepard took point and started forward again, pistol still aimed up as they came to a ramp, taking them out of the tunnel and back onto the outside of the Citadel tower. They wove around more support struts, seeing another Geth unit with the exception that this one, was a Destroyer instead of a trooper. Kaidan instantly froze the Destroyer in a Stasis Field without even a second thought, leaving it completely open to Shepard's and Garrus's weapons fire which allowed small globules of white fluid to spill from its wounds.

They pushed on and around another support strut where a Krogan stood in wait with its shotgun ready. It blew off a scattered shot, sparking Shepard's shields as they caught the projectiles. Without missing a beat, Shepard bounded forward, grabbing the barrel of the Krogan's shotgun and aimed it away from his team, spinning it around so that its back faced Kaidan and Garrus.

"Fire!" he yelped through the comms in his helmet as he scrambled away from the Krogan whom was trying to reach for the device on the back of its prominent hump.

Kaidan and Garrus both heeded Shepard's order as they opened fire as fast as they could, pumping shot after shot into the Krogan's back that bled in a constant stream.

"A little unorthodox, but it worked." he smirked as he lowered his weapon.

"Of course it worked. I am in no mood to pussy foot around anymore." Shepard growled angrily as he continued on his path.

Kaidan and Garrus shared a quick glance and shrugged before they hurried to catch up with Shepard whom was already nearing the end of their junction. They quickly caught up with him just as he rounded the corner, all skidding to a halt as they saw a field of kinetic barriers perched on another steep incline. The shimmering barriers did little to hide the Geth squadron behind them as they began to lean out and fire shots at Shepard and his squad. With little more then their shields to protect them, they all fired back, taking out a majority of the plain Geth that hid behind the barriers. Garrus's powerful shots made quick work of the portable barriers, rendering the remaining Geth vulnerable to whatever Shepard and Kaidan had up their sleeves.

Once the last of the Geth fell, they hiked up the incline into a large clearing of sorts with giant comm antennas pointing towards Sovereign whom was still ripping pieces of the Citadel tower off. They were immediately greeted with more Geth, but just like all the others, they were no match for Shepard and his team.

Shepard glanced to his left, towards Sovereign once Kaidan Lifted and Threw the last Geth trooper off the tower, seeing a short incline that might serve to get them closer to the top. He started towards it, having to angle himself nearly on his side into order to walk on it without fully sitting down and scooting along on his backside. They climbed up into a long corridor that was filled with more Geth; Shepard and his team not even bothering to stop, or even slow their pace as they just fired as fast as they could manage.

With Biotics and shots blazing, they were through the corridor and on the other side in no time flat. Even the Destroyer who was leading the opposing team didn't stand a chance against the two abled Biotics and a Turian crack shot. They pushed hard to the other side of the corridor where it banked right into another clearing that was much like the other they had been in. However, this clearing was different then the other, as it was littered with huge turrets, but they weren't firing at anything.

Just as Kaidan opened his mouth to speak, a Geth dropship descended onto the other side, right in front of their exit and thus, blocking them in.

"Why aren't these turrets firing?" Garrus asked as all three of them planted themselves behind a low hump.

"Probably malfunctioning because of Sovereign having a fucking hay day up there!" Shepard hollered up towards the mammoth machine that was only growing bigger the closer they got.

Just then, the very ground where they sat shook violently as the Geth dropship began firing shots and raining Geth down onto the tower.

"We gotta get those turrets online or we don't stand a chance Shepard." Kaidan said as he holstered his pistol.

"Garrus, take this one. I'll take the next one over there and Kaidan, you take the far one." Shepard rattled off quickly as he too, holstered his weapon.

"Why are you two taking those?" Garrus asked, bringing up his Omni-Tool and slinging his sniper rifle onto his back.

"Because we're the Biotics. We have a little extra to throw at those bastards." Shepard grinned as his body began to shimmer with blue.

Garrus only nodded as both Shepard and Kaidan wrapped themselves with their Biotic Barriers and darted across the open towards their assigned turrets. Loads of Geth shots sparked their shields as they ran but their hardsuit shields were none the wiser since they never felt an impact. Just as Kaidan reached his turret, the flash of Garrus's caught his attention for a brief moment. He brought up his Omni-Tool as he raced to access the turret's main systems, desperate to diagnose the problem and subsequently fix it so they could bring down the dropship as fast as possible.

"Got it! Try the second algorithm in the emergency protocol sensor Kaidan. It's corrupted." Shepard said as his turret joined Garrus's.

Kaidan immediately heeded Shepard's advice and found the needed system, having no trouble at all removing the corruption from the sensor and cueing his turret to join the fight.

"That was it. The turrets must have malfunctioned when Sovereign started ripping the place to pieces." Kaidan said as he shut down his Omni-Tool, wrapped himself in his Biotic Barrier again and made a beeline back to where Garrus and Shepard were crouched.

"Who knows why." Shepard groaned, popping off a few rounds at a closing Geth trooper.

Kaidan leaned out to Lift another Geth, noticing that the dropship was shot to Hell and engulfed in flames, "As long as they do the job, which it looks like they're doing."

Shepard poked his head out to take a quick peak for himself, "Burn baby burn." he grinned.

With another round of blasts from the newly activated turrets, the dropship's limit was reached. A silent explosion blew out from the ship's starboard side, blowing a ragged whole in its hull. It began to turn away from the battlefield, shuttering and sparking the entire time as it started to fly off, but with one more shot from the turrets, the dropship blew into a starburst of light and short lived fire.

With the dropship disposed of, Shepard, Garrus and Kaidan finished off the remaining Geth and headed for the opposite side of the clearing into another long corridor without the large support struts. A pair of Krogan however, filled this passage whom were instantly frozen with Stasis fields from the duel Sentinels. Once the Krogan were motionless and wrapped in blue, Garrus brought up his sniper rifle and took a knee for stability. He popped off two shots, both slamming into the same Krogan's head for a textbook double tap that dropped the alien to the deck.

Before Garrus could train his crosshairs onto the second Krogan, Kaidan forcefully Lifted it into the air where it sailed straight up to bounce hard off one of Sovereign's massive arms.

"Jesus this fucker is huge!" Shepard said, finally looking up at the sheer size of the machine that was now overhead.

"Huge doesn't begin to describe it Shepard." Kaidan scoffed as he caught sight of movement at the other end of the hall.

"Tangos!" Garrus warned, lifting his sniper rifle to aim at the Geth Destroyer that was charging straight at them.

However, both Kaidan and Garrus didn't have a chance to fire as Shepard's Biotics flared and Lifted the Geth into the air, its own momentum working against it to smash it painfully into the wall. While Shepard dealt with the Destroyer, Kaidan turned his attention to the second Destroyer, a Krogan and Geth Juggernaut that had come into play. Garrus's sniper rifle quickly took care of the Krogan while Kaidan's mix of Biotic and tech dropped the Destroyer to the floor.

The Juggernaut on the other hand, was going to prove a bit more complicated since it was outfitted with more defenses then the others, so Shepard and Kaidan decided to tag team it. With a raise of his arm, Kaidan Lifted the Juggernaut off its feet and held it just above the floor while Shepard's entire form sparked into a Biotic rage. He held his arms out in front of him at full extension like a crocodile's jaws with clawed hands, his Biotics only growing brighter and higher as he focused his full attention onto the Juggernaut.

"You look like you're gonna try one of my moves." Kaidan smirked, concentrating on keeping the Juggernaut suspended and unable to do any harm.

"I was thinking about it. It's about time I try to control that rage thing." Shepard smirked as he began to bring his hands together.

"It's not easy to do if you don't have your ground. Think about something that's immovable; Something solid and you can't live without." Kaidan said as he let just a bit more of his power out of its cage.

Shepard drew in a long breath as he concentrated on what he considered his ground. The dark locks of hair began to flutter in his minds eye, the tan skin and deep brown eyes burrowing into his very soul as he felt his Biotic power begin to surge through his body. He felt the heat of his skin beginning to bubble underneath his skin as the glow of the dark energy grew in its intensity. Once the buzz raged over his fresh, he began to draw his hands together, one on top of the other which constricted the newly formed Biotic field around the Juggernaut. The closer his hands got, the smaller the Geth became until it was nothing more then a crunched ball of metal, cables and white fluid.

Kaidan's Biotics vanished as he let the metal ball float off into the vacuum, "Still a little held back, but a good start." he laughed into the comm.

"Listen to you Mr. Biotic God. Never thought I'd live to see the day when you would be telling me how to use my Biotics." Shepard smirked as he started back down the passageway.

"You know who I have to thank for that. I never would have gotten to the point I'm at now if it wasn't for her." Kaidan said, the admiration in his voice blatantly apparent.

"I know." Shepard nodded as the three of them reached the end of the corridor.

As they turned left at the corner, they ended up in another wide open area that was full of Geth and a considerable amount of automated turrets that had been erected by said Geth. All three flopped to the deck on their bellies in a poor push up position, just as a gaggle of rockets sailed over their heads.

"We gotta take those out and I don't care how!" Shepard roared as he rolled into a ditch where he discovered it was already occupied by a Geth trooper.

Shepard wasted no time in tackling the Geth, bringing it down to the deck to begin thrusting its head up. He pushed as hard as he could, craning the Geth's head upwards to a point far beyond its range of motion. Sparks and white fluid began to bubble out from the thick cable that led from its head, through its neck and into its torso. He continued pushing upwards, just then noticing that Kaidan and Garrus had joined him in the trench.

Kaidan grabbed the front of the Geth's head, planting his feet onto its shoulders and pulled the head towards him while pushing away with his legs. The white fluid and sparks came faster and more violently as the hardware began to give way, splattering them both with white.

After a few more seconds of pulling, the head finally gave way to the stress and sprayed fluid all over Shepard and Kaidan.

"Ugh... I look like I got splooged on by an elephant." Shepard groaned as he attempted to wipe off most of the white fluid.

"I'm lost. What's splooge and what's an elephant?" Garrus asked, checking his rifle to make sure everything was in order.

Shepard couldn't hold back his laugh, "Never mind Garrus," was all he said before he brought up his Omni-Tool and started to rack his brain for their best course of action. "This is what we've got. Four turrets with a squadron of Geth. They're just normal ground units so they shouldn't give us much trouble. Stay tight together and keep your heads on a swivel." he ordered as he brought up his pistol and drew in a deep breath.

Kaidan and Garrus nodded as they prepared themselves for the battle that laid before them, but they didn't have much time since Shepard popped up and started popping off shots. Kaidan quickly followed and brought up his Omni-Tool, firing off an Overload at the closest turret to eradicate the kinetic shields that protected most of its structure.

With the shields gone, Garrus's rifle started to send its high powered Tungsten rounds into the turret's armor. The powerful shots from the sniper rifle plowed the way for Kaidan's rounds to finish the turret off with explosive results.

While those two shifted their attention to another turret, Shepard concentrated on the Geth troops to keep them off of Kaidan and Garrus. He rolled out of the trench and scrambled to the next not far in front of him, finding another lone Geth which was met with a pistol thrust into its face.

The squad coordinated their movements in such a way, that when a turret went down, Shepard cleared the next trench for Kaidan and Garrus to move forward. They worked together like a well oiled machine to clear the area as quickly and efficiently as possible. In no time at all, they reached the opposite side of the clearing in record time, leaving a landfill of dead Geth and shattered turrets in their wake. Shepard spun to admire their handy work before proceeding down a ramp into a short corridor that took them down into a tunnel, right next to the glassed elevator shaft.

As they quickly walked forward, two Krogans stepped out from behind the frames of the shaft. They charged at Shepard who was on point, aiming their powerful shotguns at his trunk, but he was a hair faster then their trigger fingers. His Biotics flared high, noticeably startling the Krogan as they most likely weren't expecting a Human Biotic, let alone two. Both Krogans were bet with powerful Throws that plowed them into the glass of the elevator shaft. The glass shattered, both Krogans being thrust inside to be clobbered by a passing elevator that went whisking by to carry them away. As Shepard and his team reached the other side of the tunnel, two more Krogans came down the ramp. Without missing a beat, Shepard and Kaidan froze them in constricting Stasis Fields before they both Lifted and quickly Threw them away from the tower.

At the top of the ramp, they entered another long corridor. Shepard charged forward as fast as the vacuum would let him, running passed a ramp that seemed to be abandoned, as it didn't have any Geth stationed on it. They skidded to a halt once they reached the dead end of the hallway where a door came into view.

"About damn time. This should drop us into the Council chambers." Shepard said, breathing a sigh of relief that they were most definitely getting close to Saren.

"That's the theory. We might have a few ducts to go through though." Garrus said as he collapsed his rifle in favor of getting the door open.

"Don't care. Either way, we're almost there." Shepard shrugged and took a step to the side to getting out of the way as Garrus started hacking the door.

It only took Garrus a few moments to crack the entry code for the hatch, commanding it to release its locks and open. Garrus grabbed ahold of the lifting handles and pulled, easily opening the way into a dimly lit and small airlock. They climbed inside, but the moment they did, they realized that the artificial gravity was still in affect and it caused all three of them to tumble inside the small space with Shepard on the bottom of their heap.

"Get... Off..." Shepard choked from the bottom of their pile.

Garrus made to roll off the top as he noticed the hatch closed and sealed, "Uh oh." was all he managed to get out before the door beneath them opened to drop them into the hallway.

Again, they tumbled onto the floor in a heap of bodies, armor and weapons, oblivious to their surrounds as Shepard, again, was crushed beneath five hundred pounds of dead weight. All he could manage to utter, was a series of wheezing breathes and groans. Luckily for him, the two on top rolled off fairly quickly.

"Ow." Kaidan deadpanned as he laid on his back and pulled a painkiller injection pen from a pouch.

Garrus pushed himself up from the floor and checked his load out to make sure that all his weapons made it inside with him, "I wasn't expecting..." he started to say until his voice trailed off.

Kaidan caught the way Garrus's voice quieted and vanished, causing him to sit up and look at him, "What's wrong?" he asked as he removed his helmet and pressed the injection pen to the skin on his neck.

Shepard, finally able to breath and speak, looked at Garrus with furrowed brows, "Um... Garrus? Are you ok?"

Garrus just remained silent and instead, pointed over Kaidan's head, causing both Human men to look in that direction. When they did however, their eyes set on a singular Geth Juggernaut, standing guard in the hallway they were now in. The Juggernaut stood, just staring at them like it was confused and holding its weapon against its chest like it wasn't quite sure what to do yet.

Seeing the Geth Juggernaut sparked the three into action. Garrus, sprang to his feet with his sniper rifle in hand, Kaidan's body awash with raging dark energy and Shepard lunged for its legs to bring it to the floor. With the Geth still bouncing from the impact, Garrus forcefully planted a foot into its chest and pulled the trigger. However, the Geth was more resilient then expected, so Kaidan Lifted the machine into the ceiling with enough power to shatter its front to pieces.

"That is way more excitement then I needed." Shepard groaned as he pulled his helmet off from the sudden feeling of claustrophobia that washed over him.

"I hear ya there Shepard. We've gotta be getting close." Kaidan sighed, plucking his pistol off his hip and priming it for more action.

"We've gotta be. We're in the tower. The main chamber is just on the other side of the door." Garrus said as he helped Shepard up off the floor.

"Lets move then. I need a stiff drink."

With Shepard on point, like always, they jogged through the door into the main chamber. They all had to force themselves to not stop and look at the destruction, the fires blazing all around them and the alarm blaring as loud as ever. They bounded up the stairs, but the moment they did, the shots from Geth on the top of another set of stairs on the opposite side came their way.

Without stopping, they all aimed and fired while they ran, dropping the Geth without trouble. They sprinted up the next set of stairs to encounter more Geth, dealing with them the same way they always have into the grand clearing before the Council platform. This clearing however, was filled with a large amount of Geth that immediately began firing at them. Shepard, Kaidan and Garrus ran to the nearest cover, chunks of the decorative concrete that had fallen during the battle and dropped behind it.

Each one on Shepard's team took their own space of the clearing, firing nearly nonstop at the Geth in their field of view. One by one the Geth units dropped, bringing Shepard and his squad one more step closer to getting to the platform. Just as the last Geth dropped, Shepard focused through the smokey haze, seeing a distorted silhouette standing by a large terminal that he hadn't seen there before and didn't remember ever seeing at all.

"Look! That's gotta be him!" Shepard pointed as he vaulted over his cover.

"What is that he's standing in front of?" Kaidan asked, trying to get a better look, but having a hard time because of the smoke.

Garrus brought up his sniper rifle and looked through its high powered scope, getting a somewhat decent look at the large, holographic terminal that the silhouette stood in front of, "That's gotta be the Citadel control unit that that VI mentioned. I can't make out what he's doing though." he reported.

"Hurry!" Shepard ordered as he broke out into an all out sprint.

Kaidan and Garrus ran after him, jumping over Geth bodies and debris as they reached the last staircase. They flew up the stairs after him, the smoke clearing a bit to give them a better view of what the figure on the platform was doing, but as they reached the top, they saw it really was Saren and he had a flashing device in his taloned hand.

"Fuck! Get out of the way!"

The amount of time that had passed between when Shepard ordered to take cover and the moment the grenade went off was faster then any of them was expecting. The concussion from the explosion sent all three to the floor, throwing Shepard against a large planter and the other two tumbling halfway down the stairs to the middle landing, both grabbing onto the handrail to keep from rolling down to the bottom of the stairs.

"You two alright?" Shepard called down to Kaidan and Garrus as they started to crawl back up.

"Yeah, we're fine." Kaidan answered as they reached the planter across from Shepard.

"Shepard... I was afraid you wouldn't make it in time." a double toned voice came fluttering down from the platform.

"Sorry to keep you fucking waiting!" Shepard called back, not leaning out from behind the planter, just in case Saren had another grenade.

"You've lost Shepard. All you have to do is admit it." Saren said, his voice ringing with ill placed confidence.

"No we haven't!" Shepard hollered, his anger beginning to reach its boiling point.

"Yes you have. In a few minutes, Sovereign will have full control of all the Citadel's systems and he will open the relay for the Reapers return." Saren nearly laughed.

"You're going to get out of my fucking way Saren whether you like it or not!" Shepard hissed through clenched teeth.

"You survived our encounter on Virmire Shepard, though not without sacrifice. The blood of your comrade is on your hands." Saren coaxed with the Turian equivalent of an evil grin on his face.

That statement in itself, ignited Kaidan's fury into something that outshone the brightest stars, "Wrex's blood is on your hands! He would still be alive if it wasn't for you! He died saving me!" he roared, his skin beginning to turn an irate red.

"So it is you that the Krogan saved. Then I suppose it is your hands that remain wet with his blood. If you and your race were worth what you say, then maybe he would still be here." Saren laughed out loud.

Kaidan's body began to glow with the raging power he was trying to keep from erupting, "It's not our fault! It's yours! You killed him!"

"Shut it Alenko! He's just trying to piss you off and you're letting him!" Shepard snapped, resisting the urge to throw something at the Lieutenant to shut him up.

Kaidan closed his mouth and sucked in a loud breath, forcing himself back under his control before things got out of hand. However, it proved harder then he thought, as the rage inside him was nearly overwhelming. Saren was within their grasp and all he was doing was taunting them. _I've gotta relax. I can't play into the trap. I've gotta stay calm. I have to be smart about this._

"You're still the same Saren! You still can't face me face to face can you!" Shepard barked with a quick check of his pistol.

"I'm different then last we met Shepard. Sovereign has... Upgraded me." Saren said with a deep thunder in his two toned voice that could shake the ground.

Shepard's brows furrowed hard and started to laugh, "You still can't see it! Sovereign is using you! You're only a pawn in its twisted little game!"

"No! It is you who refuse to see it! There can be a place for organics in the new order! The Reapers need men and women of action! People like you... and me! Sovereign recognizes your worth! Join us and you will be spared Shepard!" Saren drawled on, the laughter still playing at the edges of his psychopathic tone.

"You're delusional! The Reapers don't need us! All they're going to do is devour and throw us away like trash! The second this conquest is over, you'll be cast aside and forgotten!" Shepard shot back, glancing over at Kaidan who was no longer glowing with dark energy.

"I had no choice Shepard! You of all people should be able to understand! You saw the visions! You saw what happened to the Protheans! It is either surrender, or death! There are no other options!" Saren defended, his voice beginning to shake, but only mildly.

"Bullshit! There's always another choice! You could have fucking resisted! You could have fucking fought, but noooo... you quit! You're a fucking, Goddamned coward!" Shepard bellowed, his grip tightening on his pistol to nearly white knuckle standards.

Saren began to lowly growl as he planted a taloned hand to his forehead, "M-Maybe you're right... Maybe there is still a chance for... for..." his voice trailed off as his gargled with pain that erupted all over his body.

"Shepard... He's weakening. Keep doing whatever you're doing." Kaidan said just above a whisper.

Shepard nodded as he peaked around the corner to see Saren crouched on his hovering platform, "You know there is still a chance Saren! We can fight! We can still win!"

"T-The implants... Sovereign's too strong. I'm s-sorry. It is too late for me Shepard." Saren stuttered, seemingly having trouble standing on his own two feet.

Shepard decided to look Saren in his blue, mechanical looking eyes as he wheeled out from behind the planter and stood with an angry sneer across his face, "You can still end this Saren, but that's only if you've got the guts to do it." a small crooked grin began to tug at the corner of his lips.

"G-Goodbye Shepard."

As Saren spoke, he slowly raised a shaky hand, pistol in hand and brought the barrel to the side of his head. His blue glowing eyes were locked on Shepard for several moments, neither saying a word, but they both seemed to be understanding each other.

Kaidan and Garrus began to stand themselves, their eyes bouncing from one man, to the other as they tried to decipher what was possibly going to transpire, but before they had fully stood, a shot filled the entire chamber. They stood, somewhat stunned as a dark blue plume of blood blew out the side of Saren's head, the softly glowing blue immediately vanishing as his body started to go limp.

The three watched as Saren's lifeless body fell off the hovering platform, crashing into the last remaining panel of unbroken glass of the arboretum where it came to rest on the pristine grass beneath, covered in glass shards. Neither Kaidan, nor Garrus dared to say anything as they both saw the look in Shepard's eyes. He had known all along what Saren was going to do and that look even suggested that it's what he had been planning all along.

"It's over? Just like that?" Garrus asked, not really determined to get an answer or not.

"Almost. Come on." Shepard said with little emotion in his voice.

Kaidan and Garrus followed Shepard to the platform and headed for the large orange terminal that stood waiting at the end. As they approached it, they realized then just how large the control panel was and the same thought ran through their heads. Where had it been hiding all this time? Shepard brought up his Omni-Tool and reached into the pouch that he placed the OSD into, keeping his eyes on it as he removed it and plugged it into the terminal.

After only a few moments, the whole orange display flashed green, as did Shepard's Omni-Tool to indicate that he now had full and complete control of the entire, massive space station. Shepard was beaming.

"I've got it! I've got control. Hot damn! Vigil's datafile worked." Shepard tried to contain his flood of relief and emotions that had washed over him.

"Hurry and open the stations arms. Maybe the fleet can take Sovereign down." Garrus said, the thump of his heart pounding away happily in his deep chest.

"While you're at it, see if you can open a comm channel." Kaidan added, the mild throb of pain in his shoulder dulling as the painkillers started to take full affect.

Shepard tapped a couple commands on his Omni-Tool to open a comm channel, silently praying that someone was on the other side to answer it and what started to come through, was less then pleasing.

_"Destiny Ascension's shields are down to 40%. The Council is on board! I say again! The Council is on board!" _the panicking voice of an Asari came through, laced with static.

Shepard went to answer their call, however, he was cut off before he could speak.

_"Normandy to the Citadel. Normandy to the Citadel! Please tell me that's you Commander!" _Joker actually sounded a bit worried.

Shepard's grin grew, "Please. Were you expecting someone else?" he laughed.

_"We caught that distress call Commander. I'm sitting here in the Endura sector with the entire Arcturus fleet. We can save the Ascension, but you need to unlock the relays around the Citadel and we'll send in the calvary." _

"Shepard... Are you sure about that? Human casualties will be very high." Kaidan said, his stomach beginning to knot itself.

"We have no choice! Sovereign is a threat to every organic species in the galaxy! Save your fleet to attack it!" Garrus said with a roll of anger in his voice.

_"We need an order Commander. Do we come in now to save the Ascension? Or wait to attack Sovereign?" _Joker interrupted.

Shepard's mind was overflowing with thoughts and none of them brought him any solace. He was torn. He didn't know if he should save the Council, as all they had ever done is put up more red tape then was necessary. They hadn't believed him when he said that the Reapers were coming. They hadn't believed him when he said that Saren had betrayed them and yet, he couldn't get rid of the thought that maybe they deserved a second chance. After all, he had gotten one when he enlisted in the alliance.

"Fuck." he said under his breath, glancing at Kaidan and Garrus who were awaiting his next order.

"You have to decide Shepard." Kaidan said, seeing the conflict in Shepard's eyes.

"I know I do," he said, his hand hovering over his Omni-Tool. "I'm not a killer. Joker! Save the Ascension! Then go after Sovereign." he barked into his comm.

_"Aye aye Commander."_

"You sure that's what you wanna do?" Garrus questioned.

"We have to. I know they're royal asses, but we need our leaders. They have to see that the Human race can be an asset, not a hinderance." Shepard glared, placing his hands on his hips.

"Understood." Garrus nodded.

Shepard tapped a couple fingers over the larger terminal, commanding the Citadel to open its great arms. From where they stood, they couldn't see the arms begin to open except for what was visible outside the windows. He glanced down into the opened pit, seeing Saren's body still laying lifeless on the green grace and his anger started to return the longer he looked at it.

"Go make sure he's dead." he said in an emotionless tone that could send chills down anyone's spine.

Kaidan's brows pulled together hard as he wasted no time in walking up to the very edge of the platform to see that it was just about at the distance that their hardsuits could adsorb. He wanted to do a controlled descent like he had done on Noveria, but with his shoulder the way it was, he didn't have the fine control like he would normally have. So instead, he sat down on the platform and dropped down, letting his legs tuck in tight to his chest as they took a portion of the impact, while his hardsuit took the rest. He didn't wait for Garrus to drop down behind him as he marched right up to Saren's body, pulling his pistol from his hip and aimed it at the motionless Turian's head.

"Call it cliché, but this is for Wrex you blue blooded son of a bitch." Kaidan growled, his chest rumbling with anger as he pulled the trigger.

Garrus walked up next to Kaidan and lightly placed his hand on his shoulder, "You ok?"

Kaidan sucked in a long breath and lowered his weapon to his side, "Fine now. Really... I'm alright." he answered in a far less hostile voice.

Kaidan collapsed his pistol and placed it back onto his hip, but just as he did so, the Citadel began to shake.

"What's going on?" Shepard called down into the pit, trying to stay on his feet.

"Don't know!" Garrus yelled.

As Shepard looked around and the shaking got worse, red lighting began to spark all around them. The platform began to crack under his feet, long jagged cracks spiking in every direction to weaken it to the point of collapse.

Before Shepard could do anything about it, the platform gave way, falling into the pit and sending him to roll down it and land with a harsh thud on his stomach.

"Goddammit! What the fuck is going on!" Shepard growled as he pushed himself to his feet.

The lightning got worse as Kaidan and Garrus ran to Shepard's side, watching as Saren's body began to twitch violently and clumsily lift itself off the ground. The three of them were speechless as the flesh crackled and split, falling off in large molted pieces into a pile at its feet. Underneath the gray flesh, what should have been a skeleton was not organic material at all, but a frame work of metal and cables that more resembled a Geth, then what had once been a Turian.

"What the fuck?" Kaidan breathed, instinctively placing his hand on his weapon.

"No... Not now. I am done with this shit." Shepard growled with more anger then ever before.

With an unspoken order, Kaidan's Biotics flared and with as much power as he could spare, froze the metal Saren husk in place with the strongest Stasis Field he could muster from what he had left. Garrus's Omni-Tool winked to life as he overloaded the husk's shields with a bright flash of blue and white while Shepard ran forward, plucking a grenade from his belt. Shepard flicked a finger over the device, activating it and wrapped a hand around the frozen husk's thin neck, jamming the grenade into its half disintegrated mouth and clenched a tight fist. He dropped his arm to his side for a moment, lining up his shot before he sent it upwards into an uppercut that jammed the grenade into its head where it would stay.

"Get him out of here." Shepard hissed as he stepped away, letting Kaidan Lift the machine into the air.

As the husk reached the top of the arboretum, the grenade that Shepard had jammed into its mouth reached its countdown, exploding into a bright fireball that for a brief moment, took on the shape of a miniature mushroom cloud. After a few moments, their comms all crackled to life with what sounded like a very elated Joker and plenty of background yelping.

_"That's it! Sovereign's shields are down! Take him out!" _

"Give 'em Hell Joker!" Shepard barked, looking through the windows in hopes of seeing the _Normandy _at her best.

_"Make room! I'm going in!" _

With that, all Shepard and his team could do was wait and hope things would work out in their favor. The Citadel tower shook with what they could only assume was Sovereign getting hit with every conceivable warhead from multiple races and ships.

"Come on guys... Come on guys!" Shepard yelled up at the towering ceiling, just as a massive explosion racked through the tower, sending all three to the ground.

"Joker!" Shepard yelped into the comm, quickly getting to his feet and heading for the ramp that the platform now served as.

_"That's it Commander! We've won! Sovereign is down!" _

The mere words caused all of them to yelp and holler with excitement, jumping up and down with large and relieved smiles across their faces. The sheer amount of relief that washed over them was nearly enough to make collapse into tears, the emotions running high as they had beaten what was thought unbeatable. They climbed up the ramp, out of the pit where they sat on the stairs to take a well deserved break and partly because that they just wanted to sit.

"I am so taking shore leave." Kaidan laughed, slouching on the top stair and clasping his hands together with his elbows on his knees.

"Where you headed?" Shepard asked as he flopped down onto his back with his arms over his head.

"Back home. See my family and yes, I'm taking Ly with me." Kaidan shot a glance towards Shepard.

"I bet I know what you guys are gonna do." Shepard laughed out loud, finally sitting up and sending Kaidan a the type of grin that could only mean he was up to no good.

Kaidan arced a single eyebrow and smirked, knowing full well what Shepard was talking about, "Already done that." he admitted with a slight tilt of his head.

Shepard sat up a bit straighter and glared, "You didn't... Where? In the Med Bay?"

"Nope." was all Kaidan said as he slowly shook his head.

"The Cargo Bay?" Shepard tried again.

"Nope."

"I think I know." Garrus chimed in.

Kaidan hid his gulp. _Uh oh, _"Where?"

"The Mako."

Before Kaidan could speak up to fake his defense and lie about it, Shepard looked out of the window to see it was nearly blotted out by a giant, black chunk of what could only be a piece of Sovereign. His smiled faded as he watched the giant piece coming towards them, setting off his internal alarms that something very bad was about to happen.

"Oh shit," Shepard mouthed as he sprang to his feet. "Run! Move! Go!" he urged as the three broke into a sprint.

The three of them tore off into different directions, vaulting over the debris of crumbled Citadel, wrecked Geth and the ashes of the plants that had once decorated the chamber, but they didn't get far, once the chunk of Sovereign collided with tower.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Time for a Break

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! By the way, I love my beta.)_

The Citadel was in shambles, to put it mildly. Every place you looked, giant piles of debris covered the not so shiny floor and the fires had died down as those that had survived the battle began to put them out. The worst part of it all however, was that just like the debris, the dead were littered across the entire expanse of the station, everywhere you looked, there was at least one poor dead soul laying on the rubble. Those that called the Citadel home, searched for their lost and the wails of sadness and heartbroken people of all races could be heard from every direction.

The mood on board the _Normandy,_ however, was for less mournful and saddened, as her crew was relieved. They had finally gotten to dock at one of the only remaining intact berths left on the Citadel that hadn't been taken by any of the Citadel Defensive Fleet and had been there for the last day while three of her crew recovered from their ordeal.

In the Med Bay, Shepard lay in a bunk next to Dr. Chakwas's desk, wearing only a white tank and his spandex shorts that he always wore underneath his armor. His skin had a few scraps and bruises, but his most prominent injury was a broken wrist that had been wrapped in a fiberglass cast and a shoulder that had been wrapped in ice because of its dislocation. On the other side of the Med Bay, next to Lycan's bed, Kaidan lay the exact same way with only a few exceptions. Instead of his arm being wrapped in a cast, the lower half of his leg was, as his ankle had been hit by a piece of debris when he had pushed Garrus out of the way, thus making Garrus the least injured out of them all with only a mild concussion which allowed him to take it easy outside of the Med Bay.

Now, Ashley and Lycan sat next to their respective lovers, watching them while they slept and softly talking amongst themselves.

"I'm so happy they're alright Ash." Lycan said softly, lightly running her fingertips through Kaidan's limp, lifeless and dirty hair.

"Me too. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried out of my mind when the Captain went to go look for them." Ashley weakly laughed, brushing her thumb over Shepard's scuffed knuckles.

Lycan's lips lightly curled up into a barely there smile, "I was out of my mind. I'd be lost without Kaidan, I really would be." she admitted as she reached for the damp rag she had been using to clean the dried sweat from Kaidan's skin.

"He's really taken to you. I know I've only known him a hair longer then you, but I can tell. The way he looks at you... he's really loves you." Ashley said as she pulled the blanket a bit higher so that it laid across Shepard's chest.

"I know," she smiled. "Have you guys finally decided to take the risk?" Lycan asked, glancing at Kaidan who had lightly shifted in his sleep.

Ashley nodded, "Yeah. It's gonna be hard for both of us, but I think we're willing to work for it." her smile broadened.

"That's good. I'm happy for you both." Lycan returned the smile as she turned her to attention to the man she was sitting next to.

The Med Bay fell into silence as Lycan continued to softly run her fingers through Kaidan's hair, watching his eyes gently flutter behind his closed eyelids. She gently dabbed the rag across his forehead a couple more times before she rested her hand on his chest to feel his strong heart steadily thumping beneath her palm. His chest began to rise high as he sucked in a deep breath, causing Lycan to watch his eyes as they slowly began to crack open.

"Hey," Lycan whispered, brushing aside his limp hair to give her a better look at his tired face.

"Hey..." his voice started to trail off as he fought the fading sedative. "I ache... everywhere. How long have I been asleep?" he asked, his voice gravelly and hoarse from his exhaustion.

Lycan lightly shrugged, "I'd say a day or so. Dr. Chakwas wanted you guys off your feet and it was the only way she could guarantee it." she smiled, taking her hand off his chest to grasp his hand.

"Even if she didn't sedate me, I don't think I could be _on_ my feet." Kaidan huffed a sad laugh as he tried to adjust his casted leg.

Lycan, seeing him try to lift the dead weight, stood from her seat and took the pillow off her bed to carefully slip it under his broken leg, "Is that better?"

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. Hopefully that doesn't take long to heal. I hate being in a cast." he said with a shallow sigh as he watched Lycan sit back down.

"That implies that you've broken something before." she said softly as she clutched his hand and resumed her stroking to his hair.

"Yeah... I have. You remember some of what happened in BAaT right?" he asked, leaning into her touch as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"When you... um..." she stopped herself from saying what threatened to come out.

"I killed him. It's ok to say it hun." he reassured with a small crooked smile and a light squeeze to her hand.

"Alright. When you killed Vyrnnus." she shyly whispered, still feeling uncomfortable saying it.

"The beating he dished out broke my nose, fractured a tooth and I barely managed to avoid getting a broken jaw." Kaidan listed, his smile only fading slightly from the painful memory.

Lycan slowly started to shake her head, "Wow... You're lucky Vyrnnus didn't kill you." she said, her eyes conveying her sincerity.

"He didn't kill me because I killed him first. That's how I managed to avoid getting that broken jaw." Kaidan simply said and shrugged.

"It must have been hard for you since you were only seventeen." Lycan said, softening her eyes even more, still brushing her fingers through his hair.

"It was, but I was one of the lucky ones. My family was there for me the entire time." he said, his smile returning as he rested his unclasped hand on his chest.

"They must be wonderful people to stick by you like that." Lycan lightly smiled.

"They are," his smile grew even more when a thought popped into his still somewhat groggy mind, "You know what... I've gotta have some shore leave coming after all this. Why don't I take you to Earth and we can visit my family. I haven't been home in a long time." Kaidan said, tightening his hand around Lycan's.

Lycan sat, slightly stunned from Kaidan's suggestion and the fact that he was wanting to take her back to an Earth she didn't remember, but the look in his bourbon colored eyes was completely serious. It was a look that made her heart skip a beat the more she gazed into them, his eyes shifting from building excitement to expectantly awaiting her answer.

"Gosh... Already? I mean... I know that we're kinda... together. Ok, we _are_ together, but... don't you think it's a bit early to take me home to mom and dad?" she asked in an ultra low whisper with a deeply red blush growing just underneath her skin.

Kaidan couldn't help but lowly chuckle at the way she stuttered, "I think it'll be fine Ly. Plus, they already know about you. They just don't know that we're together." he grinned, placing his hand on the side of her neck in comfort.

Lycan lightly bit her bottom lip, "I think I'd like that. I really would. Though, I hope you're not going to introduce me to your parents with me wearing a plain pair of jeans and an Alliance blue t-shirt." she giggled, draping her arm over his chest.

Kaidan joined her in her low laughing with a low rumble in his throat, "We can hit up a couple shops before we go. I wouldn't make you do that." he smiled.

Lycan's blush heated up, "Kaidan... I'm starting to feel really bad that you keep buying me stuff."

Kaidan just held her gaze as he lightly tugged her towards him so that he could place a soft kiss to her lips, which was something he had missed while he was gone. He stayed there for a few moments, just relishing in the feel of her being so close and all the pain seemed to melt away from his aching muscles.

"You never have to worry about whether or not you're costing me too many credits. You're worth every one of them." he whispered to her, resting his forehead against hers.

"You're so sweet to me Kaidan. I love you so much." Lycan smiled, cupping the nap of his neck and letting her fingers graze over his amp jack.

"I love you too. More then I think you know."

Lycan's blush persistently continued to burn her cheeks, "I think I have a pretty good idea Kaidan," she lightly giggled, gently running her hand down his cheek. "So... What's your family like?"

"That's right, you don't know much about them. Well, what do you wanna know?" he asked, resting further back into his pillows as he kept his eyes locked with hers.

Lycan shrugged and rested her chin on his chest, "Anything really. What are your parents names? Do you have any siblings? What's their house like? All of it. I wanna hear as much as you're willing to tell me." she rattled off, that ever present smile across her face.

Kaidan started to think of where he could possibly start to answer her many questions, but he figured, for simplicity sake, that he would just start with her first one.

"Alright, uh... My dad's name is Gavin, which you got from the dog tag and my mom's name is Samantha. If my math is right, they've been married close to forty years now." he started, brushing his knuckles back over her cheek.

"That's a long time. I'm happy for them." Lycan said, just above a whisper as she leaned into his touch.

"Yeah. They're happy. I'd say, roughly five years after they got married, I came along and seven years after that, my younger brother was born."

"You have a younger brother?" Lycan sat up just a bit in her seat at the mention of someone she hadn't heard about.

Kaidan nodded, "Yup. His name is Nate, but he's a bit of a handful. He's been in and out of jail for like... six years now for low crime misdemeanors." he said with a fading smile.

Lycan's smile faded as well and her brows lightly furrowing, "Like what? If I can ask." she slightly hunkered down into her shoulders.

"Gosh... um... drunk driving, drunk in public, possession of narcotics... Things like that. He's got an alcohol and mild drug problem, but from what my dad has told me, he's trying to turn his life around. We just don't know when and how he's gonna do it." Kaidan said with a low sigh.

"My God. Your parents must be horrified." Lycan said with soft, expressive eyes

"Not as much as you might think. They're just happy he hasn't killed anyone and frankly, so am I. I haven't been there for him since I enlisted and I have a feeling it's only added to the problem." Kaidan said, glancing down at their still joined hands and slowly shaking his head.

"Is he still in jail?" Lycan asked as she moved her hand to brush through his hair on the side of his head.

"Not as far as I know. I know my parents bailed him out not too long ago so he'll probably be home when we get there."

"That's alright. He's still part of your family so I still wanna meet him." she smiled at him.

"He's not a mean guy by any means, he just dives into a bottle and when he does, he just gets... stupid." Kaidan sighed, slowly brushing his fingers through her hair.

Lycan nodded as she started to feel an awkward silence come over them, deciding it best to shift the subject off of Kaidan's brother and onto something a little more pleasant.

"Ok, so... dumb question, but uh... Do they have any pets?" she asked, seeing Kaidan's eyes light up and a smile cross his face, which immediately told her that he had a something good to say about that.

"They technically do. They're taking care of my dog." Kaidan smiled and took in a deep breath to let it out in a long sigh.

"You have a dog? Doesn't that make it tricky when you get stationed on a ship?" Lycan asked, highly interesting in hearing more about the animal.

"That's why my parents have him. I've had him since I was eighteen. My parents got him for me after I got back from BAaT to cheer me up. He was a rescue from the pound. Real bad shape. He was beaten and abandoned so he didn't trust people too much, but when my parents brought him home, it's like he just knew. We were two broken souls and we helped each other to heal." Kaidan explained, the look on his face softening into a happy reminisce down memory lane.

Lycan's brows furrowed again, "If you've had him since you were eighteen, then how old is he?" she asked, somewhat disbelieving that Kaidan's beloved pet was still alive and well.

Kaidan huffed a low laugh, "That dog is aging backwards, I swear. He's fifteen years old, but that doesn't stop him from wanting to play fetch till he drops."

"Fifteen years and he's still able to play?" Lycan breathed, trying to keep her amazement under control.

"Yeah. He's slowing down though. He's not the spritely little pup he used to be." he said, still with a smile as he knew that his beloved dog has had a good life.

"He sounds like a sweetheart. What kind of dog is he? What's his name?" Lycan asked, trailing her hand up his chest to lightly graze her thumb along his jaw.

Kaidan smiled, "His name's Chester. He's a mutt, but he looks so much like a chocolate lab, it's not even funny."

"I hope he's happy to see you when we get there." Lycan said.

"I can guarantee you that he's gonna be ecstatic. Jumping, barking, wagging tail, tongue slobbering all over the place. It's gonna be hilarious. You'll see." Kaidan smirked as the many memories of Chester's antics popped into the front of his mind.

"I can't wait to see it." Lycan laughed.

"Me neither."

* * *

Ashley watched as her and Lycan's conversation ended, seeing Lycan turn her attention towards Kaidan, as he seemed to be waking from his chemical induced sleep. She couldn't help the smile that graced her lips because despite the pain he was in, Kaidan still smiled at Lycan, even through the quickly fading sedative. She was drawn out of her quiet observation when the hand she was grasping began to tighten around hers, causing her to look back at Shepard to see that he was awake.

"It's good he finally admitted it." Shepard said quietly, taking his hand from hers, since it was the only one he had that he could use and wiped some sleep from his drowsy eyes.

"That's kinda how I feel about you Skipper." Ashley grinned, wiping away a small smudge of dirt from Shepard's cheek.

Shepard weakly smiled as he continued to fight the sedative that wanted to drag him back under, "Took forever, but I finally did it. I hope it was to your liking." he smirked.

Ashley lowly chuckled and softly jabbed Shepard in his shoulder that didn't have a mound of ice covering it, "It most definitely was Skipper. I wouldn't change it for all the stars in the galaxy."

"Good... because neither would I. That was one of the best nights of my life Ash. I never thought I would ever feel like this about a woman ever again." Shepard said with a hitch in his breath as he spoke.

"I'm glad it was me." Ashley smiled, taking a page from Lycan's book as she started to brush the back of her hand across his cheek.

"When I look back on it now Ash, there's no way it could have been anyone else." Shepard admitted, leaning into her touch and looking her in the eyes.

"You sound confident when you say that." she smiled lightly.

"That's because I am. I really did fall in love with you and if I had to go through all this all over again, I'd fall in love with you again... and again... and again. You were the only thing that got me through that and you were the only thing I thought about when I thought I was a goner underneath that piece of Sovereign. I think I can finally accept the things I've done because you accept me for who I am." he said with a slight trembling in his voice that told her he was speaking from his heart.

"I never would have thought getting assigned to the _Normandy_ would also end up giving me someone like you Skipper. You need to know that I've never broken the regs like that before. Not ever." she said, sliding her hand up from his cheek to trail her fingers over his amp jack, causing him to close his eyes.

"I know you haven't Ash and I never once thought that. I was scared to confront my feelings for you at first because you're an amazing soldier. One of the best I've seen and I didn't wanna be the reason your career ended in a blazing fireball. I'm not worth throwing everything away." Shepard sighed without the shake in his voice that had been there a moment ago.

"So you've said, but it hasn't deterred me or swayed how I feel about you Skipper. You're a good man with a shady past. We've all got our skeletons." Ashley said as she leaned forward to place her forehead to Shepard's.

Shepard drew in a long breath to fill his nose with her clean scent as he placed his hand on the side of her neck, "That means a lot to me Ash." he whispered.

They stayed quiet for a moment, foreheads still lightly pressed together as they just enjoyed their moment of well deserved peace. Ashley gently lowered her hand and just as gently, brushed her fingers over his barely exposed ones from the cast, giving them a light and tender massage to ease their stiffness. Shepard used his good hand to thread his fingers into her hair, letting them flutter over the nape of her neck to make sure she stayed exactly where she was.

The low hiss of an opening door however, forced him to look up to see Dr. Chakwas enter, accompanied by Captain Anderson and both seemed to be content with whatever they had to say. The entrance of people caused Ashley to stiffen up and sit up straight, whisking her hands away from Shepard just as Anderson walked into the room to save her from a good tongue lashing she was sure to get is she had been caught red handed.

"Wonderful... You two are awake. How are you both feeling?" Dr. Chakwas asked with a soft smile on her face.

"Achey, but otherwise, not too bad." Kaidan answered first, raking a hand back over his hair, which only served to remind him of how much he wanted to take a shower.

"And how about you Commander?" she asked just as kindly.

"Same." Shepard simply answered.

"Good." Dr. Chakwas nodded as she headed to her desk.

"I'm glad to see you two are finally awake. The Council has been asking for you Shepard." Anderson said, leaning back against an empty bunk and crossing his arms.

Shepard groaned and slumped back into his bed, "Do I look like I'm in any shape to go walking around? Well, I'm in better shape then Alenko over there, but ah well." he joked.

"Shut up Shepard." Kaidan shot back with a crooked grin.

"They want to see you and I figured you didn't wanna get up so, I've convinced them to come here." Anderson said with a low sigh.

"Fine. Get the crew off the ship. They don't deserve to have to deal with those morons." Shepard said flatly as he inclined the head of his bed a bit so he wasn't laying flat when the Council arrived.

"That's understandable Shepard. However, I'll have to ask the girls to step outside for the duration." Anderson said.

Ashley and Lycan both nodded as they said their quiet goodbyes and stood from their seats, leaving Shepard and Kaidan to their business with Anderson, the incoming Council and God knows who else.

"You really know how to put a damper on relaxation Captain." Shepard sighed, rolling his eyes as he pulled the blanket up to nearly cover his shoulders.

"I don't normally like to intrude on the injured's rest, but this time, I was forced to make an exception. The Council insisted on meeting with you as soon as possible and they wouldn't listen to reason. They should be here momentarily actually." Anderson said as he drew in a breath and rubbed the back of his neck.

As if on cue, the Med Bay doors opened to allow three people, all of different races to enter with smooth, nearly silent steps. With hands clasped together, they stood in a line in the middle of the room, much like they would if they were in the Council chambers, but since that area was in complete shambles, they had been convinced to meet on the _Normandy. _What Shepard and Kaidan hadn't been expecting however, was that following close behind them, was Ambassador Udina with a large, bruise colored welt sitting at the corner of his mouth.

"It is good to see you are resting and healing Commander Shepard. You as well Lieutenant Alenko." the Asari Councilor said with a short nod to both men laying in their bunks.

"Thank you Councilor. It's well deserved, that's for sure. Is there something we can help you with, or are you just here to hear yourselves talk?" Shepard spat, glaring quite evilly at the Turian councilor that was now rumbling deep in his throat.

"That's no way to talk to the Council Shepard. You owe us..." the Turian councilor started until he was cut off.

"I owe you? Ha! Bullshit. As I see it, you owe me considering I gave the order to sacrifice thousands of Human lives to make sure your sorry asses stayed in one piece." Shepard interrupted, resting his good hand on his bicep to gently massage it. _Ugh... I ache so much._

"You better watch your tongue Shepard or you're in real danger of loosing your commission." Udina threatened with a lopsided scowl on his face.

"I highly doubt you'd be able to do that Udina. He's a hero. His whole crew is and the Alliance brass isn't going to let you touch him, or Lieutenant Alenko with a ten foot pole." Anderson interjected as he subtly cracked his knuckles without making a show of it.

Udina straightened up slightly at the cracking sound, "He may be a hero Captain, but he still needs to remember who he works for..." again, another interruption.

"With all do respect, you can stop talking about us like we aren't here. What is it that you lot had to come down here so urgently for? I was really comfortable until just now." Shepard grouched, having a real hard time not sounding like he was ready to cut someone's head off.

"Several things Commander. First of which, is to thank you for saving our lives. It was a selfless act and one that will be remembered." the Asari councilor said, eager to get along with why they had paid Shepard a visit.

"So far, I'm not convinced that you are." Shepard said with little emotion at all.

"Regardless of how you feel Commander, there are far more things we need to discuss." the Salarian councilor elegantly said.

"Please, I'd like to hear it. Otherwise, I'd like to get back to sleep." Shepard said, halfway telling the truth as he really just wanted them all to leave so that Ashley could come back in.

"Of course. We'd like to discuss Humanity's overall place in the galaxy. They have shown great promise during this mission against Saren and we have seen that they can be a great asset. We believe, well, most of us believe, that Humanity has earned its place within the galactic community, but more specifically, has earned a place on the Council." the Asari councilor said with her usual grace and soft spoken voice.

Kaidan's and Shepard's brows both furrowed at roughly the same time.

"Why now? Why only after we save your lives that you're finally willing to consider Humanity as an equal instead of a liability?" Kaidan asked, locking gazes with all three councilors, Ambassador Udina and Anderson, all at the same time.

"You must be one of Shepard's crew. Alenko correct?" the Turian councilor said blandly.

"Staff Lieutenant Alenko, but yes." Kaidan corrected, keeping his eyes locked and his face blank so that the councilors couldn't read him.

"If my information is correct, you are a stabile L2. Is that right?" the Turian councilor asked, locking his fingers behind his back as he turned to face Kaidan.

"Yes." Kaidan simply said with a slow nod.

"Impressive that you were able to keep up with Shepard and his... overly aggressive style." the Turian said, shooting a quick glance in Shepard's direction.

"Aggressive is in the eye of the beholder Councilor. To the people on his crew, he gets the job done and does everything in his power to get everyone home." Kaidan said as he drew in a long breath and gently rolled his shoulder that was still healing.

"You have strong faith in just one man." the Turian councilor said, still showing very little emotion towards the Human Lieutenant.

"So do you."

Kaidan really had to fight to keep his lips from curling into a smug smile, especially since he was in no shape to run if someone's temper decided to explode. Luckily for him, it wasn't just Shepard and him having to hold their own against the Council and Udina, as Captain Anderson spoke up to take the growing heat off of Kaidan if the Ambassador's expression was anything to go by.

"I'll have to agree with Lieutenant Alenko. Why now, after we save the Council and the Citadel are you willing to consider giving Humanity a chance?" Anderson asked again.

"Humanity showed great promise and we have begun looking for candidates that would be able to handle the trials and tribulations of being a Council member and with the Battle of the Citadel weighing heavily on everyone's minds, we would like your recommendation Commander." the Asari councilor said with her hands clasped in the front, different from the other two councilors and the Ambassador.

"I believe it goes without saying that the Commander would choose the most qualified member here, which would be me." Udina said, standing up straight with a smugness to him that made Shepard wanted to just get up and punch him... again.

"Ambassador Udina... As much as you may wish to 'toot your own horn' as the Human saying goes, I highly doubt he would so blindly choose without weighing his options." the Salarian councilor glared out from underneath his hooded robe.

"He would be stupid not to choose..." Udina started until he was interrupted by three separate voices.

"Shut up Udina." Shepard, Kaidan and Captain Anderson all said at the same time.

"To be honest Ambassador, you're the last person I would choose. We're at war here if you haven't noticed and we need someone with a military background. The Reapers are still out there and frankly Ambassador, you know cock shit about what needs to be done to give us the best chance at victory. I know who I'm going to choose for the Human spot on the council and it's definitely not you. It's Captain Anderson." Shepard said with squared shoulders, despite laying down and having one arm strapped to his trunk.

"Commander... I need to inform you that Captain Anderson doesn't have the necessary experience to act as Humanity's representative on the Council." Udina quickly retorted.

"He's learned a lot from you Udina. What not to do. I've made my decision and I'm not going change it. No matter how much you bitch and complain about it." Shepard shot back without the slightest amount of hesitation.

"Thank you for your recommendation Commander. We will take it into account," the Asari councilor said smoothly. "However, if I may, there is one more thing I'd like to ask of you Commander," she added after a short pause.

"Please do. I'm on pins and needles waiting to hear it." Shepard said with overflowing sarcasm.

"I understand your hostility towards us Commander, but please remember that we must attend to matters that affect the whole galaxy and not just one race. We are trying to appease as many people as possible, your race included Shepard." the Asari defended with far more kindness then any of the other councilors would have.

Shepard stayed silent for a moment, looking at the Asari councilor the entire time as he quickly digested her words, "I appreciate your kindness Councilor and I'll apologize for my tone towards you and you alone. You wished to ask me something?"

"Yes. I wanted to know what you and your crew plan to do now, now that this... incident with Saren is over." she said, never wavering from the elegant tone.

"I'm not the one who could answer that for you. What I wanna do and what the Alliance wants me to do are most likely two completely different things." Shepard elegantly answered with little of the personality that the crew saw during their mission.

"Then tell me what you wish then." she urged.

Shepard huffed a low laugh, "What I want? I want some fucking shore leave. That's what I want." he quickly answered.

The Asari councilor nodded once, "Very well Commander. I will personally see to it that you and your crew receive it." she looked over towards Captain Anderson, "Captain, please do what you need to with your superiors to make sure that Shepard is properly rewarded and then report to me if you could." she added.

"Yes, of course." Anderson quickly answered.

"Then with that, we will leave you and your Lieutenant to rest and recuperate from your injuries. We thank you both for all you've done for us." the Asari councilor said simply.

With that, the Council, with Udina close behind, turned and left, leaving Captain Anderson the only one left standing in the Med Bay. He pushed himself off the empty bunk and uncrossed his arms, letting them dangle at his sides as he looked at both Shepard and Kaidan to gather his thoughts.

"I'll make the necessary arrangements. You two can make whatever arrangements you need for your shore leave and you don't need to wait for confirmation from us." Anderson said, seeing their faces begin to light up.

"Thank you Captain." Shepard and Kaidan said at the same time.

Anderson nodded before he turned and left, having to walk around Ashley and Lycan as they made their way back into the Med Bay and took their places by their lover's sides.

"What was that all about? Udina looked pissed." Ashley asked, trying not to laugh too loudly.

"The Council wanted my opinion on who I thought should be the Human Council member and I didn't pick him." Shepard answered, not holding back his laugh whatsoever.

"That must have gone over well." Ashley finally let the laughing start.

"He tried to fight it, but everybody just told him to shut up. On the light side though, we got shore leave." Shepard grinned.

Lycan sat up straight, "Really? When can we leave?" she asked with a little too much excitement that made Kaidan start to smile.

"Anderson said whenever. We don't need to wait for the ok from the brass." Shepard said, slipping his fingers between hers at his side.

"Awesome!" Lycan grinned from ear to ear.

All four turned their attention to the doctor as she stood from her desk, the low groan of the chair catching their attention as she leaned against the desk's edge and looked over them all.

"You two have had plenty of rest here and there isn't much I can do for you now. You're bodies are going to have to do the rest. However... I want you two to take it easy on your holidays and don't over exert yourselves. I'll give you some painkillers, but use them wisely my dears." Dr. Chakwas instructed as she headed for a cabinet to pull the necessary drugs.

"Do you have a set of crutches I could use by chance?" Kaidan asked as he fully sat up and pulled the blanket off of him.

"It just so happens that I do. One moment." the doctor said as she disappeared into the backroom for a moment.

Lycan helped Kaidan to swing around, wrapping her arm around his back and holding his hand to give him something to lean against as he carefully scooted around to sit on the bunk with his legs dangling.

"Thanks Ly." he smiled, controlling his breathing in order to keep the throbbing in his ankle from getting overwhelming.

"Of course. Are you gonna be alright walking around so soon?" Lycan asked, gently rubbing her hand up and down his back.

"It's already casted so there's nothing else we can do now," Kaidan said with a soft smile as his nose caught the strong scent of musk. "Is that me?" he cringed.

"Yeah. You haven't showered yet." Lycan winced herself as she lightly patted his healing shoulder.

Kaidan cringed again, "Yuck. I really need to take one before we go." he groaned as Dr. Chakwas walked up with a pair of slightly used crutches and instructions that he would be able to walk on his leg in a few weeks without aid.

"What do we need to do before we go?" Lycan asked as she adjusted the crutches to his height and held them stable for him position himself on.

"Uh... Just need to stop by my apartment, if its still in one piece that is, so I can get a few things and get you some nicer clothes, but other then that, we can just head to the spaceport and grab the first transport headed to Earth." Kaidan explained as he steadied himself, letting his right leg dangle just above the deck.

"Be careful out there Alenko. Don't trip." Shepard laughed as he slowly stood up straight.

"You too Shepard. See you after shore leave." Kaidan nodded as he started his way out of the door with Lycan at his side.

Kaidan carefully crutched his way towards the elevator, Lycan by his side the entire time as they headed down to the Cargo Bay. He tried to hide the rising blush as he hobbled passed the crew in a pair of black, skin tight, spandex shorts and a white tank top that did nearly nothing to hide the physique underneath. They headed towards his locker where he stood and waited for Lycan to pull up a stool, helping him up onto it before she headed for a nearby first aid kit so that she could find something to wrap his leg in.

"That thermal blanket should work Ly." Kaidan said quietly as he watched her search through the kit's contents.

Lycan nodded and pulled it out with a fresh roll of medical tape before she knelt down in front of Kaidan, unwrapped the emergency blanket and began to tuck the ends into the top of the tried and true fiberglass casting. After she had initially attached the blanket, she wrapped it several times around with the medical tape at his calf and around his toes, making sure that it wouldn't leak while he tried to bath himself.

"This good?" she asked after she gave the crude wrapping one last look over.

"Yeah. That'll work. Could you help get my clothes into the shower for me?" he asked, feeling slightly awkward asking her for help.

"Of course I'll help." she smiled as she got into his locker to gather his clothing.

After she had plucked a clean Alliance uniform from his locker, they headed into the showers where Lycan set her bundle down onto the bench and made to leave.

"Hey Ly... I'm gonna be a bit in here so if you wanna go pack your things, I'll meet you up on the Crew Deck." he smiled as he hopped up close to her and placed his hand on the side of her neck.

Lycan returned the smile, "Sounds good. Take your time." she smiled as she stretched up to meet his lips with her own.

The moment Lycan's lips touched Kaidan's, he inhaled a deep breath, filling his sinuses with her scent and clearing his sweaty one out. After only a few moments, Kaidan broke their kiss and lightly patted her rump as he coaxed her towards the door.

"I'll be out in a bit." Kaidan managed to get out before Lycan stepped through the door, leaving him alone in the showers.

Carefully balancing himself on one leg, he set his crutches aside, laying them down on the bench before he pulled his shower things from the bag Lycan carried in for him. Once he had gotten his thing into the shower, he peeled off his clothes, tossing them aside without a care as to where they landed and turned on the water to a little warmer then he usually had it.

How he had managed to wash the grit and grime off his body, all while balancing his six foot frame on one foot was beyond him, but he had managed without falling onto his ass. Once the last of his shampoo was gone and his body was cleaned of the dried sweat, he took a glance down at his body to take stock of the damage he had sustained. His body was covered in deeply seated bruises that had formed in his muscles while he slept and though they weren't rich in color, they throbbed with their own heartbeats and the lower half of his right lag was wrapped, nice and shiny thanks to the thermal blanket that had done its job perfectly in keeping his cast dry. He had to admit, all in all, his wounds weren't bad considering what he had gone through. Satisfied that he wasn't a complete wreck, he hopped out of the stall and quickly made it to the bench so he could sit down while he toweled himself off and awkwardly managed to dress himself.

Finally cleaned and feeling refreshed, he stood up with his shower bag clutched between his teeth while he grabbed his cumbersome crutches and headed out, stopping by his locker to drop off his shower gear before he headed up to meet Lycan.

"I am not used to these damn things." Kaidan groaned as he crutched his way out of the elevator where he found Lycan setting her bag down and Joker sitting in a chair with a cup of something hot.

"They fit you like a glove Alenko." Joker laughed, leaning back in his seat as he took stock of Kaidan's situation.

"Shut up smart ass." Kaidan joined in with his own laugh as he turned his attention towards Lycan, "You ready to go Ly? We've got a few places to stop before we hit the spaceport."

"Yup." Lycan beamed.

"Great. We'll take a cab to my place." Kaidan said as he nodded goodbye to Joker and headed off towards the stairs.

Lycan smiled at Joker before she followed him to the stairs and carefully ascended them to give him the most amount of time to get to the top successfully without having to rush. As they reached the CIC, Pressly's voice came over the intercom to pipe shore leave, earning an all around yelp of excitement from everyone on the ship. Kaidan was extremely grateful that the rest of the trip along the docks and down the elevator to C-Sec was flat, giving him a decent amount of time to get acclimated with the crutches before they reached an available cab that sat outside the academy.

"Are you available?" Kaidan asked as they walked up to the cab.

"Yes sir, I am. Anywhere in particular I can take ya?" the cab driver kindly asked as he pushed off from leaning on his cab and went to open the large overhead door.

"The 1500 block of Kadama Ward if it's not too much trouble." Kaidan said, carefully hobbling into the back of the cab with Lycan's help.

"It's no trouble at all. I just got word from a mate of mine who runs there. He said the place is pretty much untouched. There's a few places that have been damaged, but the 1500 block is still standing." the driver said as he took the crutches from Lycan and put them into the cargo bin of the car.

"That's good to hear. I was actually wondering if it made it through the battle." Kaidan said with a quiet sigh as he settled into his seat.

The cab driver smiled at both his fairs as he lowered the overhead door and lifted off, swinging the car around to head towards one of the massive, somewhat still smoldering ward arms.

"So what brings ya two out that way? Not many people of your type heading to that area unless they got reason to." the driver said, deciding to make light conversation with the pair in his car.

"Oh uh... I've got an apartment there." Kaidan simply answered, looking to his right at Lycan with a smile on his face.

"Military must be paying awfully nice to be able to afford duds like that man."

"I'm a commissioned officer." Kaidan again said with little attachment, but managed to not sound annoyed with the driver.

"That explains it. Well, good on ya sir. Did ya hear much about the ones responsible for saving the Citadel? I wouldn't mind being them right about now. Imagine the fame and fortune and the women. Lucky bastards if ya ask me." the cabby laughed, completely oblivious to the fact that he was talking with one such person.

Kaidan just glared at the back of the cab driver's head, deciding to stay quiet since the next thing to come out of his mouth probably wasn't going to be too kind. He just leaned over a bit to rest on his elbow, reaching next to him to grasp Lycan's hand as they both just enjoyed the ride and watched the scenery go by.

The trip turned out to be a bit lengthier then they thought, due to the amount of traffic from everyone either working on the recovery effort, or trying to find their lost loved ones. Kaidan perked up a bit as the cabby lowered the car down to the floor where he unlatched the overhead cover and cargo area to retrieve the crutches for his handicapped patron.

"Is there anything else you two would like before I go?" the cabby asked as he took the crutches out of the cargo bin.

"Um, actually, yeah there is. We've got a couple more stops after this. Could you wait?" Kaidan asked, situating himself on his crutches as Lycan stood close by his side.

"Of course sir. I'll be waiting right here." the cabby smiled.

Kaidan returned the smile and nodded as he headed towards the entryway to the building the cab driver had landed in front of. Lycan looked up as they drew close, taking in the building's ten story edifice that had been covered in dust from the battle and even had a number of scars that had been cut into the surface from God knows what. They walked up the short flight of stairs into the lobby, noticing that some of the light fixtures had fallen from the ceiling and crashed into the tiled floor. She followed Kaidan to one of the elevators that took them to the third floor where she continued following him down the hall to finally stop in front of apartment 305.

"Is this it?" Lycan asked, slightly fidgeting with her fingernails from her nerves of not knowing what to expect.

"Yeah. Don't laugh too hard ok?" Kaidan huffed a laugh as he brought up his Omni-Tool and dialed into the lock in order to disable the security measures.

"Why would I laugh?" she smirked, looking around at the hallway's gleaming, polished walls.

"It's definitely a bachelor pad."

Just as he had said that, the door beeped with disabled security and hissed open, giving Lycan her first view of Kaidan's apartment. She slowly stepped inside, her head constantly looking around as she drank in the sight, unable to stop the smile that graced her lips at his simplistic styling.

The large apartment was furnished with only the bare basics and there was very little personalization that reflected Kaidan as a person and an Alliance Marine. A singular couch sat in front of a large holoscreen display with plain end tables on either side and equally plain lamps on each top, one of which had fallen off onto the plainly carpeted floor. A plain coffee table rested in front of the couch with absolutely nothing on or under it, not even a rug and the walls were nearly completely bare, save for the tiny handful of pictures that hung at scattered intervals. The back wall of the living room was comprised entirely of glass and a desk that matched the rest of the décor, sat in front of the glass to give him a decent view of what was going on out on the Citadel.

"You weren't kidding. It's so basic." Lycan said kindly as she finished looking around and followed Kaidan to the kitchen which was surprisingly clean.

"Easier to pack up if I need to move. Plus, I don't spend much time here so basic is fine." Kaidan said as he poured himself a glass of water and downed it in one go.

"That's understandable. Easier to keep clean too I'm sure." Lycan chuckled as she took a gander and looked in the fridge, which only had bottles of water in it and was spotless.

"Much easier," he smiled as he set his glass into the sink and started the hobbling journey down the hall. "Come on. The main bedroom's this way," he glanced over his shoulder to see Lycan still following.

As Lycan walked passed, she glanced into the only bathroom, seeing that it was gleaming white, clean and organized and it made her smile knowing Kaidan was so clean. She saw Kaidan turn into the last room on the right, quickly reaching it and looked inside to take in his bedroom, finding that she was unable to keep herself from gaping in awe. She stood, stunned, as she laid her eyes on his enormous bed, as it filled nearly the entire space and there wasn't a dresser in sight, let alone room for one. The headboard was completely made of cubby holes and shelves that stretched up to cover most of the wall, each shelf having only one picture on it and the bedside tables were completely bare. She looked up at Kaidan, still not disappointed at what she was seeing to find that he had set his crutches down on the giant's sized bed and was bent over, digging around in a draw that was hidden beneath the huge and fluffy comforter.

"Where's the dresser?" Lycan asked as she took a couple steps inside the bedroom.

"It's a platform bed so it's underneath. There's six drawers on either side, plus the closet." Kaidan said, pulling out shirts of all types, various types of pants and set them on the bed to be packed.

Lycan, curious to see his civilian style, stepped up next to him and picked up a soft gray shirt, holding it up in front of her to see it was a button down made of a light and pleasing fabric that would breath in just about any weather.

"Simple, but I like it. It suits you." Lycan smiled as she refolded the garment and set it back onto the pile.

Kaidan stood up with a sigh, still balancing on one leg and closed the drawer before he sat down to take a breather, "Thanks. Like I said, my style doesn't really extend passed Alliance black and blue." he laughed as he started the process of removing his uniform.

"There's nothing wrong with that Kaidan. Do you need me to do anything?" Lycan asked as she sat down next to him and helped to remove his top since his muscles were screaming with already settled soreness.

"You're doing it." he smiled as he leaned over to lightly kiss her smiling lips that haven't stopped since she got there.

"You're sweet, but I was mainly wondering if there was anything I could do to help you pack." she lightly laughed.

Kaidan grinned, "Oh... well in that case, if you wanna empty that bag on the closet floor and put the clothes in as I take them out, that would be greatly appreciated." he returned the smile before he peeled off his tank and took the soft gray shirt that Lycan had held up to put it on.

"Of course."

With that said, Kaidan attempted to finish getting dressed, but the pair had gotten distracted when he stood up with his shirt unbuttoned and his uniform pants hanging low on his hips. After their quick romp in his jurassic sized bed, they were finally able to focus and get Kaidan's packing done before they headed back to the cab with Lycan carrying the hefty bag, including her own. The cabby loaded the bag, first Kaidan's, then Lycan's much smaller one before he slipped into the driver's seat and took them to their next destination of getting Lycan some nicer clothes to wear besides the jeans and plain t-shirts that Kaidan had initially bought her.

It didn't take Lycan long to pick out a couple of nice sundresses, a few shirts and even a swimsuit that Kaidan was all to happy to pay for, if at all to get her to beam with excitement for their coming trip. With their last errand completed, they returned to the cab driver who helped them load their luggage, much like always and happily took them to one of the still functioning spaceports that hadn't been destroyed in the battle. They were surprised a bit at just how busy the place was, but they weren't worried since they weren't in any sort of rush. With a cart for their bags and the cab driver happily paid, they walked to the counter and got their tickets for the next transport off the Citadel that was bound for Earth.

They didn't have to wait long since their transport was already at its berth, so they handed off their bags to the porter and got onboard to take their seats.

"Not very big for heading to another planet." Lycan said quietly as she held Kaidan's crutches for him to get into the rather large seats.

"It's one of the smaller ones that's for sure. I bet they're running every transport in the fleet to handle the traffic. It looks like people are fleeing the Citadel." Kaidan whispered to her, leaning over to press his shoulder into hers.

"I don't blame them. Isn't that kinda what we're doing?" Lycan asked, resting her temple onto his shoulder with a gentle sigh.

Kaidan lightly shrugged, "We have the intention of coming back though." he placed a soft kiss to her hair.

"I hope it's not anytime soon. I'm really looking forward seeing Earth." she grinned as she looked out of the large window at the Citadel.

"Me too. Do you remember anything about Earth?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her.

Lycan shook her head, still resting against his shoulder, "No. I know it's there, but I couldn't tell you anything about it. Not even the names of any cities."

"We'll change that. We'll have a time you'll never forget." he smiled, placing another kiss to her hair.

Their conversation silenced as the gull wing of the transport began to close and the dull thrum of the drive core filled the cabin, easing them into a calm that they settled into without hesitation and even drifted off to sleep as the transport turned towards the nearest relay to take them to Earth.


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Shore Leave: Kaidan and Lycan

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! Thank you so much to my marvelous Beta, Hewhoislost! Love you man! AN: This is not the only shore leave chapter planned. I am currently working on Shore Leave: Shepard and Ashley and will post as soon as possible. Thanks for reading!)_

Lycan was nearly in tears as she looked out of the window at the glistening blue-green marble, effortlessly suspended against a black backdrop. She couldn't believe she was looking at Earth, _the_ Earth that she couldn't remember anything about. The transport had begun its decent after a five hour flight from the Citadel and Kaidan and Lycan had slept nearly the entire time, usually with Lycan laying down with her head resting on Kaidan's thigh. She was nearly out of her skin with excitement when the transport broke through the planet's thick atmosphere and she had gotten to see the brilliant blue sky that was elegantly splattered with white, fluffy clouds for the first time. She kept her eyes glued to the glass as the transport swiftly flew in close to a city that boggled her very mind, its sprawling cityscape stretching to the horizon in every direction she could see.

"Is this Vancouver?" Lycan asked, managing to peel her eyes away from the window long enough to look at Kaidan who was watching and admiring her amazement.

"Yeah. Huge isn't it?" he grinned, gently leaning into her back so he could get a good look out of the window.

"It's massive! Does it even end?" she gaped, pressing her cheek against the window to try and see more of the giant metropolis.

"It does, but not for miles. It's one of the largest on Earth now. That's why it was so easy to get a ticket here." Kaidan said, placing a soft kiss to her shoulder as he continued to watch the scenery fly by.

"Jesus..." she breathed, slowly shaking her head. "How far do your parents live from here?"

"Um... About a two hour drive from where we'll land. They don't know we're coming so we'll have to rent a car." Kaidan said as the transport began to circle the spaceport below.

"I bet they'll be ecstatic to see you." Lycan smiled as she gently patted his thigh.

"I'm sure I'm not the only one they'll be excited to see." Kaidan laughed under his breath.

As the transport leveled out and slowed into a gentle hover, they stayed silent as it effortlessly lowered to its assigned berth, waiting only moments before it opened its large, gull wing hatch and allowed its passengers to disembark. Kaidan and Lycan waited until they were the last ones still on board, giving Kaidan ample amounts of time to get situated on his crutches before they stepped off into the warm summer air of Vancouver.

"So bright and beautiful. Looks at this! It's amazing!" Lycan beamed, having to squint to keep some of the sunlight out of her eyes.

"Isn't it? Let's go get that car so we can hit the road... well, the sky." Kaidan joked with another small laugh.

An awaiting porter led them to where they could rent a car, carrying their bags on his empty cart, but ended up waiting for Lycan as she took one of her new sundresses and darted into a bathroom to change and freshen up. Kaidan nearly fell over when she stepped out of the bathroom, seeing her in the flowing white dress that made her pale skin seem tan, even though it wasn't. The dress's straps were wide, but made of thin fabric that only covered up a small amount of her shoulders and the neckline smoothly plunged to just above her breasts. The dress's length came down to her knees, being slightly longer on the sides and the fabric lightly billowed with each step she took in her wedged shoes. She even let her hair down to let her natural wave come out to play.

"Wow Ly. That looks amazing on you." Kaidan nearly gasped, slouching down onto his crutches and letting the only leg he can currently stand on slump a bit for a rest.

"Thanks," she smiled at Kaidan. "I'm sorry for making you wait." Lycan said kindly to the patiently awaiting porter.

"It's no problem miss. First time visiting Earth eh? Only get that kind of excitement from first timers." the porter said with a smile as he resumed the trip to the rental car place.

Lycan slightly froze, not knowing what to say. She knew that she very well couldn't just come right out and say she had no idea where was from and the last thing she remembered was opening her eyes to see Kaidan looking back at her, but luckily, she didn't have to answer, as Kaidan did it for her.

"Uh, yeah actually. She's colony girl. Born and raised." Kaidan lied, extremely convincingly as he crutched along at Lycan's side.

Lycan glanced over at Kaidan, silently thanking him with a movement of her lips for his quick thinking and feeling far more relaxed now that she had a basis for a believable backstory.

"Yeah... I was visiting some old friends on the Citadel when I met him. We met in front of the relay monument." Lycan said, lightly wincing as she thought on her feet to come up with a believable reuse.

"Ah... Colonial girls are a rare find outside of their colonies. It's like trying to find a country girl here." the porter said with a soft glance over his shoulder at the pair.

"I got lucky to find one that actually moved away from hers." Kaidan answered with a kind glance towards Lycan.

Luckily for them, the porter just nodded and continued to walk in silence, pushing the cart with their bags until they reached a rental car booth stationed near the exit doors. The porter nodded his thanks to the reasonable tip Kaidan had left for him before walking off, leaving Kaidan to rent their car and Lycan to push the cart as they walked out to it. Their rented car was nothing extravagant, looking exactly like every other car it was near with the exception of being white, but it was all they needed for the couple hour drive. Lycan loaded their bags into the cargo bin on the outside of the car while Kaidan tossed his crutches into the back and slipped into the driver's seat to power up the vehicle. Once Lycan was seated and the navigation had been set, Kaidan carefully lifted off the ground and turned towards the ocean.

The drive was beyond anything Lycan could have ever imagined. The sky was crystal clear and the sun shone bright, casting beautiful shadows on the ground from the emerald green trees that littered the scene. Kaidan kept their altitude low so Lycan could admire everything about the city that was quickly thinning and giving way to a more countryside type layout, the buildings shrinking down to no more then three stories and the amount of open land broadened considerably.

After quite a bit of driving, the landscape had completely turned into lush forest with only a few homes of growing size scattered throughout the trees. Kaidan glanced over to see the soft smile still across her lips and he decided to let her see a little more, smoothly gaining altitude until they were high enough to see the trees break away to an enormous expanse of sun kissed blue.

"Wow." Lycan breathed, her eyes supremely glued to the sight in front of her.

"Breathtaking isn't it?" Kaidan smiled, gently banking the car to the right.

"It's absolutely amazing Kaidan. How come you don't come home more often?" Lycan asked, glancing over at him to see he mirroring her soft smile.

Kaidan lightly shrugged, "Just didn't have the time I guess. I got pretty wrapped up in work and duty that I just... forgot. I owe them a good, long visit though." he said as he lowered their altitude back down to skim just above the treetops.

"I bet they'll like that very much." she lightly giggled, interlacing her fingers together in her lap and gazing at the panoramic view in front of her.

They fell back into a companionable silence as they drew closer to the ocean, the trees thinning out and eventually giving way to small homes that were steadily growing larger the closer to the water they got. Before long, Lycan set her eyes onto the largest home she had ever seen, let alone remember. It stood a whopping three stories, but each story had its own wrap around balcony and large, luxurious windows that skinned nearly the entire facade. It sat on a perfectly manicured lawn with plants and flowers of nearly every color imaginable and climbing up the large, Roman columns at the front door were encased in bright green vines that were splattered with white flowers. It was awe inspiring.

"Look at that place! Don't tell me that's where your parents live?" Lycan gaped, unable to take her eyes off the enormous mansion.

Kaidan laughed, "No, that's not theirs. The Mallory's live there. They run Ocean Side vineyard and winery. See it behind the house?" he said with a quick point in the house's direction.

Lycan followed Kaidan's finger to see rows of latices work, covered in greenery from the thick and lush grape vines that had nearly completely cover them to form long, continuous lines of green walls.

"Oh yeah! Wow, it's beautiful. Doesn't the sea salt in the air make the grapes salty though?" she asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"Yeah, it does, but that's part of the charm. They make a cooking wine and give my mom and dad bottles whenever they turn a new batch." Kaidan said, sparing momentary glances at the estate as they flew by.

"It's absolutely breathtaking," Lycan breathed. "So, if you know who lives there, then does that mean we're really close to your parents place?" she added curiously.

Kaidan nodded, "We are. The Mallory's are their neighbors. That's my parents house there." he smiled and pointed to the house that dangled in front of them.

Again, Lycan followed his finger to look at the house he was pointing out and she'd be lying to herself if she said it wasn't just as amazing as the gigantic vineyard not far away from it.

The Alenko home wasn't nearly as grand as the vineyard home, but it was still grand in its own right. Instead of being a giant mansion, it was a sprawling, one story ranch home that stretched to an enormous forty five hundred square feet. It had been built on the edge of a modest embankment and reached out towards the water, supported by a series of thick, yet elegant looking stilts to keep the home up away from the water should it come further inland. Kaidan began a slow circle of the home to show Lycan the smoothly sloping staircase that descended to the beach from a massive deck that had a beautifully covered outside dining table sitting in its center.

"Oh my God Kaidan... It's amazing! Completely gorgeous in every way!" Lycan beamed, her face nearly plastered to the glass as Kaidan slowed their car and leveled out to lower it to the ground at the front of the house.

"They've definitely done some amazing things with it. When it matured to beachfront, they spent the credits to have it built up onto that stilt network. Most of the embankment got dug out from underneath the house." Kaidan smiled as he touched the car down onto the cleanly kept asphalt in front of the house and powered down.

"It's amazing. Oh my gosh, I'm so nervous." Lycan said, rubbing her hands together that had quickly clammed up as she realized they had arrived at Kaidan's family's home.

"It'll be fine Ly. Don't worry." he smiled as he opened the hatch and cargo area.

Lycan slipped out into the warm, mildly salty air and took a moment to stretch herself before she stepped up to the cargo space and began taking their bags out and set them onto the ground. She looked up as Kaidan crutched his way up to her, taking her far smaller bag from the ground for him to carry by slinging it over his shoulders, but when they heard an opening door, they both looked up towards the house.

"Is that you Kaidan?" an aged woman with olive toned skin and lightly grayed hair said from the entryway.

Kaidan stood up straight and sent the woman a wave, "Hi mom! Hope we aren't interrupting anything!" he called out with a smile across his face.

Kaidan's mother turned into the house to say something before she trotted down the pair of steps and rushed up to her son to wrap her arms around him.

"My goodness Kaidan! Why didn't you call? We would have picked you up from the spaceport?" Mrs. Alenko beamed as she unwound herself from her son and glanced over towards the woman he was with. "Oh... Who's this?" she sweetly asked.

Kaidan rebalanced himself on his crutches and inched closer to Lycan, "Mom, this is Lycan. I've told you about her." he smiled, lightly resting his hand on the small of her back.

"Oh gosh! This is her? She's beautiful sweetheart!" Mrs. Alenko squealed with glee as she wrapped her arms around Lycan. "It's fantastic to finally meet you dear! I can't believe I finally get to meet the woman my son has been so enamored with!" she continued to beam.

Kaidan and Lycan both started to blush.

"It's wonderful to meet you Mrs. Alenko." Lycan said sweetly as she returned the friendly embrace to Kaidan's mother.

"Oh please, call me Sam..." Mrs. Alenko started to say as she pulled back a bit, just as a distant barking started to rapidly come their way.

Kaidan and Lycan looked towards the door as a medium sized chocolate lab looking dog came bounding out of the house and headed straight for Kaidan with a tail that was going a million miles an hour.

"Chester!" Kaidan beamed as he carefully bent down to pay attention to the hyperactive pooch that couldn't keep his tongue inside his mouth. "Look at you big guy! Still as energetic as ever." he grinned, scratching the dog's backside which caused the dog to try and kick his leg whilst standing on it.

"He's been missing you a lot sweetie, but we still find time to play fetch on the beach." Mrs. Alenko smiled, watching the sheer excitement from the aging dog.

"That's good. Where's dad and Nate?" Kaidan asked as he stood up, giving his only working leg a rest.

"In the house... Ah... There they are." Mrs. Alenko smiled as she looked up to see her husband and youngest son standing on the porch.

The two men in question looked awfully similar, save for the obvious age difference. The older man stood roughly Kaidan's height, but his skin was far fairer then his eldest son's and his raven colored hair was salted with gray. _That's where Kaidan got his hair from. _Lycan thought before she looked to the younger of the two. This younger man was shorter then Kaidan, only standing about five foot eight or five foot nine if she had to guess and his build was not nearly as in shape as his brother. His arms were thinner, his stomach was pudgier, but his eyes matched nearly to a T. His hair however, took after Kaidan's mother and his skin matched that of his father, nearly appearing as Kaidan's complete opposite if it wasn't for the same bourbon colored eyes.

"Hey guys!" Kaidan waved as he started towards the porch.

"Well I'll be damned. This is a pleasant surprise. I hope you're healing alright." Mr. Alenko said, opening his arms to give his eldest a quick hug.

"I'll be back up and running in no time dad," Kaidan smiled, "Nate... Good to see you. How you been?" he added, extending his hand for a quick shake to the younger man standing next to his father.

"Hey gimpy. Who's the little gem you brought with you?" Nate asked, motioning with his head towards Lycan who was walking next to Mrs. Alenko with his bag.

Kaidan waited for the girls to reach the porch before he placed his hand on Lycan's back once more and smiled, "Guys, this is Lycan... My girlfriend."

When Kaidan said the word 'girlfriend,' Lycan's body froze for the briefest of moments before it was rapidly heated by a wash of searing heat. She leaned into him, her face beaming as she did her best to ignore the fiery blush that had completely painted her cheeks and neck thanks to him and to be honest with herself, she really liked hearing him call her that.

"Girlfriend huh? Where the fuck did you find her and how much was she?" Nate started to laugh, however, he was the only one until he was smacked in the back of the head by his father.

"Watch yourself Nate or I won't stand in the way when Kaidan goes to beat the crap out of you." Mr. Alenko glared angrily at his youngest, clearly not pleased with the way his son was acting.

"With that leg? Please pa, he won't be able to do..." Nate was stopped mid sentence when Kaidan's body sparked a bright bark of blue energy that blatantly reminded him that his brother, even injured, was no one to piss off.

"Don't start this off awkward Nate. I didn't bring her home to be scrutinized by you." Kaidan glared, tightening his grip around Lycan.

Lycan figured, that instead of letting this get tense, she would make light of the situation.

"Hello Nate. It's a pleasure to finally meet you and to answer your question, he did buy me all my clothes that I brought with me so if you wanna get technical, he payed a lot." she said with a crooked smile and extending her hand for a quick shake.

Everyone stood stunned for only a moment before they all broke out in a round of laughter, Kaidan joining in to provide the base as he lightly placed a gentle kiss to her hair as his mother kindly patted her on the shoulder.

"She's wonderful darling! Let's get you two inside and I'll show you the house. What would you two like for supper?" Mrs. Alenko beamed, coaxing Kaidan and Lycan to enter the house as Mr. Alenko took the larger bag from Lycan.

Before Lycan could even take in the entryway, which was a lovely space with a vaulted ceiling, Mrs. Alenko whisked her off on a tour of their home. First was the living room with its massive holoscreen display that dominated one wall and the rather comfortable looking, wrap around couch that filled the space beautifully. Sitting next to the vid screen, a modest fireplace sat built into a marvelous real brick mantle and its top was lined with pictures of her boys, ranging from small children, to into their late teen years.

Lycan walked up to the mantle and looked at the pictures, easily picking out a picture of Kaidan when he was, she was guessing, around eight years old.

"Oh my gosh... Is this Kaidan?" she asked, already knowing the answer, but hoping the question would spark a story from his mother.

"Oh yes. He's only seven there. It was a couple years before his Biotics started to manifest. That was his school picture back in 2158. He was so lucky there because the very next morning, his front tooth came out. It was loose when the holo was taken." Mrs. Alenko smiled as she gazed at the picture of her eldest son.

Lycan couldn't help but lightly giggle, "He's so adorable." she smiled, taking quick looks at the other pictures before following Mrs. Alenko to another room.

The tour was filled with more short stories of Alenko boys past, while Mrs. Alenko showed Lycan the rest of the house. She got to see their family room that had a marvelous pool table resting in an alcove entirely made up of crystal clear glass and overlooked the beach to provide a stunning vista. She got to admire the music room where Mrs. Alenko taught her music students and even got to press a few keys on the beautifully polished baby grand piano. She was shown the large pamper ready bathrooms and was even taken out to the large deck to listen to the ocean waves beating against the hard packed sand.

The last stop on Lycan's tour was the kitchen where Mr. Alenko, Kaidan and Nate had gathered and were enjoying glasses of various drinks and engrossed in their conversation.

"Ah... The ladies are back from their tour. How do you like the house Lycan?" Mr. Alenko smiled as he stepped up to his wife and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"You have a lovely home Mr. Alenko. It's stunning." Lycan smiled, standing next to Kaidan who was sitting on one of the bar stools at the large kitchen island.

"Please, call me Gavin." Mr. Alenko smiled as he got his wife something to drink from the large, luxury fridge.

"Alright... I particularly enjoyed the pictures of Kaidan when he was little. He was so cute." Lycan lightly giggle, watching Kaidan hang his head with mild embarrassment.

"He was. He could be a handful at times though, especially once his Biotics started to show. I've cleaned up more broken vases and replaced more broken windows in this house then I'd care to admit." Mrs. Alenko smiled, enjoying watching her eldest blush and squirm.

"Mom..." Kaidan started to laughed at his own expense.

Mrs. Alenko held her hands up in defense, "What? It's not everyday my son brings home a lovely woman for us to meet. I've been looking forward to telling someone your baby stories."

"Oh? I think I'd like to hear a couple of those. The antics of a young Kaidan Alenko. Should be pretty funny." Lycan chuckled, leaning into Kaidan as she cradled his head to shoulder, giving him somewhere to hide from the embarrassment.

"Most of them are..." Mrs. Alenko beamed until she was interrupted.

"Mom! Come on. Are you trying to make my life miserable?" Kaidan laughed, cueing everyone else to join in with their own.

"I'm sorry sweetheart. I'm just so excited that you both are here. I'm elated that you finally found someone you thought worthy to bring home to us." Mrs. Alenko smiled, gently placing her hand on Kaidan's clasped ones.

Lycan's head tilted slightly to the right, "That would suggest he hasn't brought anyone home before." she said.

"He hasn't my dear. You're the first. He's had his fair share of crushes and puppy loves when he was a teenager, but nothing on this scale." Mrs. Alenko said kindly, taking her hand back.

Kaidan started to blush again, "You guys are killing me here. I didn't think bringing her here was gonna spark 'tell every embarrassing story about Kaidan' time." he laughed, lifting his head off of Lycan's shoulder.

"I'm sorry honey. We'll stop. Are you two hungary? If we're gonna have dinner here, I should get started now so I can make enough food." Mrs. Alenko laughed.

Nate clapped a hand onto his brother's shoulder, causing Kaidan to lightly wince from the spike of pain from his bullet wound, "Yeah you do mom. You gotta feed the Human landfill here and we don't even know if his girl is a Biotic too."

Placing the question her youngest had just asked on the back burner, she noticed the mild wince on Kaidan's face, "Are you alright dear?" Mrs. Alenko asked with that kind of tone that only a mother uses when speaking to her child.

"Yeah, it's just another injury. I got hit through the shoulder a little while back." Kaidan sighed, lolling his head towards Lycan as she ever so softly rubbed his injured shoulder.

"Oh dear me Kaidan. Well, you came to a great place to truly relax and heal. Gosh, I hate it when my babies get hurt, especially now since I can't do anything about it." Mrs. Alenko sighed as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Samantha... Darling... The boys are grown. Someday, you're gonna have to remember that sweetheart." Mr. Alenko said kindly, still holding his wife close to his side.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. Tragedy of being a parent I guess," Mrs. Alenko sighed again. "Anyways, back to the matter at hand. Are you a Biotic as well Lycan?" she asked with absolutely no worry in her voice.

"No, I'm not." Lycan beamed, slightly tightening her grasp on Kaidan's shoulders and lightly placing her hand on top of his.

"Wonderful. Well, we'll get to making our celebratory feast. How about you two go ahead and take your things to Kaidan's room." Mrs. Alenko's smile returned as she reached into a drawer and pull an apron to wear over her dark colored sundress.

That's when Kaidan sat up, stick straight, "Uh... My room?" he arced an eyebrow at his mother.

"Yes... You're room." Mrs. Alenko grinned as she headed towards the fridge.

"Uh... Ok." Kaidan mumbled and blushed as he slipped off the stool and balanced on his crutches with Chester diligently at his feet.

Lycan walked slowly alongside Kaidan as they scuffled their way back into the living room, where she picked up their bags and followed him down the long, wide hallway. She took her time though as she walked, being completely distracted by the scores of holographs of Kaidan and Nate when they were younger. There was one where Kaidan, looking as if he was thirteen, was suspending a ball over his head with his Biotics while a far younger and shorter Nate was jumping as hard as he could to reach it. She lightly chuckled as she took in the younger Kaidan's features, seeing that they were far less defined and more rounded then they were now. Even his physique was that of an awkward teenager with ill proportioned arms and legs and a lanky form that hadn't filled out yet.

"Ly? You coming?" Kaidan called to her, standing in front of an opened set of double doors.

"Yeah... Sorry about that. Just got distracted by another picture of you." Lycan smiled as she hurried to catch up to him.

Kaidan hung his head again, "One of these days, she's gonna remember that Nate and I are grown up. I really think she's got empty nest syndrome." he huffed a light laugh.

"I doubt she's the only mother to..." she started until she caught up to him and looked into the room.

Lycan stood, nearly breathless as she took in the giant room before her. The soft yellow room itself was entirely square, but it was large enough to dance around in without worry of running into any walls. The queen sized bed sat slightly off center, more towards a french style set of doors that lead to a lovely balcony and looked over across the beach and the crashing water. A modest desk sat against the same wall as the bed with a small terminal, but the far right of the room was not solid. It had two more doorways cut into it, one leading into an enormous, walk-in closet and an equally large bathroom that was all his own.

"Good God Kaidan! This is your room?" Lycan gasped as she stepped inside.

"Yeah. Hasn't changed much though. Mom's left it exactly like it was when I went to BAaT." Kaidan said smoothly, hobbling into the room and heading for the bed.

"It's amazing. Are you sure you don't wanna sleep in here and I can sleep in the guest room?" Lycan asked, setting their bags down onto the floor.

Kaidan sat down with a sigh and let his crutches plummet to the floor with cheap, metal sounding clashes, "Naw... You can sleep in here. The guest room is right across the hall, so I won't be far."

"Alright. As long as you're sure," Lycan smiled as she went to get a better look at the bathroom. "You mind if I take a shower before dinner?"

"Sure, go right ahead. Take as long as you want. I'll probably just head back into the kitchen." Kaidan said with a smile.

He sat on his bed for a few minutes longer, still with a smile on his face as Lycan gathered a fresh pair of unmentionables and her shower things before she happily pranced off into the bathroom. As the door shut, he stood from his bed and gathered his crutches to begin his journey back to the kitchen, with Chester in tow, where his mother and father were cooking, while Nate sat on the couch and watched TV.

"So... What's for dinner?" Kaidan asked as he moved to the stool he had been sitting in.

"Just something simple and that I could make a lot of." Mrs. Alenko said with a quick glance over her shoulder towards Kaidan.

"Spaghetti?" Kaidan said immediately.

"Yup. With meatballs, garlic bread and salad." she grinned.

"Fantastic. I haven't had a decent meal in ages. Military food doesn't exactly impress." Kaidan laughed, glancing down at the floor as Chester planted his furry butt onto the floor and looked up at him with longing eyes for some attention.

"Don't we know it." Mr. Alenko chuckled as he chopped the ingredients for the salad.

"Did you show Lycan to your room dear?" Mrs. Alenko asked, this time without looking at him.

"Yeah. I told her I'd take the guest room." Kaidan nodded while he spoke.

"Why are you taking the guest room?" she asked as she dropped the entire contents of a large box of noodles into a large pot of boiling water.

Kaidan's brows lightly pulled together as he scratched the top of his dog's head, "Uh... Because... Um... Uh..." he severely stuttered, completely unable to come up with an answer.

Mrs. Alenko turned around and leaned against the countertop so that she could look at her lightly flustered son, "Kaidan... honey... If you want to sleep in your room with her, you can."

Kaidan nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Um... I... wasn't gonna push it, but... Are you sure?"

"Darling, I may be suffering from a severe case of empty nest, but I know my boys are men now and I can't keep thinking that they are as innocent as I remember. You're a grown man Kaidan and you are more then welcome to stay in the same room with someone you love." Mrs. Alenko said as she stepped up to the fridge to pull the needed ingredients for the garlic bread she was going to make.

Kaidan was robbed of any words that he could have possibly used to reply, thanks to all the oxygen in his lungs being damn near frozen solid. He never thought that his mother would let him sleep with his girlfriend under their roof and he sure wasn't just going to come right out and say it, but to his bewildered surprise, he didn't have to.

"Uh... Ok... If you're sure," he stuttered, still trying to fight back the blush. "Anyways, I think I've blushed enough for one day. What've you guys been up to?" he added, obviously eager to change the subject.

"Nothing terribly exciting except supporting your brother. He's got court next week." Mr. Alenko said without looking up from his work to the tomatoes he was cutting up.

"What did he get arrested for?" Kaidan asked in a much lower voice, causing it to rumble and lightly crack.

"Drunk in public and possession again." Mrs. Alenko sighed, looking towards the living room where she knew her youngest was seated.

"I'm gonna go talk to him." Kaidan sighed as he slipped off the stool, taking care to avoid Chester as he started towards the living room.

Kaidan's parents just nodded as he hobbled off, glancing down the hallway towards his room with the vague hope that Lycan would walk out soon, but he knew she was probably taking her time and relaxing from their travel. He crutched around the couch, clapping a hand on his brother's shoulder as he passed and plopped down next to him with a groan.

"What's up bro?" Nate grinned, halfway glancing at Kaidan with one eye and keeping the other on the holoscreen.

"Just came to see you. How are things holding up?" Kaidan asked, patting the couch next to him to invite Chester up, which wasn't wasted as the pooch jumped and laid his head down in Kaidan's lap.

Nate sighed heavily and set the remote down on the couch armrest, "I'm sure you've heard about my latest tango with the local authorities." he lightly scoffed.

Kaidan just nodded and remained silent, waiting for his brother to continue.

"A lot of good I'm doing the Alenko name huh?" Nate sighed, beginning to pick at his slightly dirty fingernails.

"You just need to find your way Nate." Kaidan said simply, lightly scratching behind Chester's floppy ear.

"That's easier said then done Kai. Who's gonna want a screw up like me?" Nate huffed, slowly shaking his head.

"I can think of a few places, but I'm sure mom and dad have already mentioned them." Kaidan said as he glanced over towards Nate.

"Yeah... They have. I just don't know if it's for me like it is you. You're the Biotic wonder boy... why wouldn't they want you, you know?" Nate actually found room in his mood to lightly smile.

"I'll admit, it did contribute quite a bit, but you have plenty to offer Nate. You're a wiz kid when it comes anything electronic." Kaidan said with a lopsided shrug.

Nate's smile began to grow, but only slightly, "A little late to be the big brother don't you think?" he meant it with good intentions.

Kaidan smiled and laughed, letting his arm hang limp over Chester's head, "I know I haven't been around a lot, but that doesn't mean I don't ask about you when I call home."

"I know I can't blame my shit on you man. That's not what I'm trying to get at. I just... I just don't know what to do anymore." Nate sighed, letting his head fall back to rest on the back of the couch.

"Maybe that's what you need." a female voice said from behind the two men.

Both Kaidan and Nate looked over their shoulders to see Lycan, freshly showered with her hair pinned back, standing barefoot in the same sundress as before.

"Oh... uh... Hey. Lycan right?" Nate stuttered with a quick glance towards Kaidan.

"Mmhmm. I didn't mean to barge in. I can give you guys some time." Lycan nodded, as she took a step towards the kitchen.

"No, you're fine. That was uh... it was good advice actually. I just need to clear my head I think before I can find my way. I'm just tired of all the same crap I keep managing to get myself into." Nate somewhat mumbled, hanging his head again as a rise of shame tightened in his chest.

"Those friends of yours aren't helping though Nate. You gotta learn to say no to those guys." Kaidan said, slightly readjusting himself so that he faced his brother on the couch.

Nate just sighed, "I know. I'm gonna go chill in my room for awhile and think. I'll figure something out sooner or later." he said lowly as he turned off the holoscreen and stood from the couch.

"Nate... I don't need to worry about you do I?" Kaidan blatantly asked, keeping his face neutral and his eyes locked on the younger Alenko.

Nate visibly stiffened and turned to look back at Kaidan, his eyes bouncing from his brother, to Lycan and back again, "I'm not gonna do anything stupid Kai. I know better. Plus, mom and dad would whoop my ass if I did that. They won't care if I'm dead or not, they'll just beat me until _they're_ tired." he easily smiled.

Kaidan lowly chuckled, "Yeah, they would. Alright. See you at dinner."

As Nate walked off down the large hallway, Lycan briefly watched before she came around to take a seat next to Kaidan where Chester attempted to crawl over his lap to get to her. Unable to stop the quiet chuckle, she placed both hands on either side of the happy pup's face and leaned down to place a quick kiss to the dog's forehead, which inspired him to go on a licking spree to Lycan's face.

"How was the shower?" Kaidan asked as he lifted his forty-five pound pooch and plopped him down between them so he had an easier time licking Lycan's face, or trying to as she was trying to hold him back.

Managing to get Chester to relax after a few moments, she coaxed him off the couch so she could scoot in closer to Kaidan, "Wonderful. That was an awesome shower." she beamed, leaning into his arm and lightly placing her hand on his thigh.

"I've always liked my shower. I used to spend as much time as possible in there after I got home from BAaT. It was the only place I truly felt alone." Kaidan smiled, pulling his arm out from between them to wrap it around her shoulders.

"I can see why. It was so relaxing," Lycan returned Kaidan's smile as she looked up at him, stretching her neck just enough to give him a soft kiss that lingered for just a moment.

"_We._.. can use it as much as we like." he rumbled lowly and brought the remote to him with his Biotics.

With remote in hand, Lycan in his arms and Chester at his feet, he turned the holoscreen back on and navigated his way into his Netflix Prime account so that they could begin watching a vid until dinner. Lycan easily fell into a comfortable slouch under Kaidan's arm, reaching up to lightly clutch his hand and tilted her head over to let it rest against his shoulder and chest. She smiled a little wider once she felt her hair gently press down from what she was sure was Kaidan's lips, causing her to lean further into him until she was very nearly laying in his lap. The pair happily sunk back into the plush couch as they got comfortable, perfectly content to remain silent with the occasional chuckle between them until a holler from the kitchen drew their attention.

"Kaidan! Lycan! Nate! Supper!" Kaidan's mother's voice fluttered from the kitchen.

Kaidan stopped their feature and clicked off the holoscreen, "Come on... You'll love my mom's spaghetti." he smiled as he pushed himself up from his well molded spot on the couch.

"If it tastes anything like how it smells, then I can't wait." Lycan lightly chuckled as she stood and handed Kaidan's crutches to him.

They carefully made their way back into the kitchen, Chester walking slowly by Kaidan's side and found, that Mr. and Mrs. Alenko had already set the table for five and were in the process of placing the copious amounts of food as the centerpiece. Kaidan took his seat while Lycan offered to get him something to drink, but was stopped short when his mother brought a bottle of wine and enough glasses for everyone. Lycan gladly accepted a glass of the deep red liquid, Kaidan kindly refusing to opt for a beer, along with Nate, once he had arrived from his room and took his seat.

With the family seated, the feast was dished out with Kaidan's plate easily being piled the highest with at least one helping of everything on the table. There was enough spaghetti to feed a small army, or one Biotic. There was warmed veggies, a basic salad with several different types of dressings and plenty of garlic bread to last through the whole meal. It was basic, but it was a hit.

After a small chunk of silence while everyone was taking their first bites, they easily broke out into pleasant conversation.

"So Lycan... Where are you from? Did you grow up on Earth?" Mrs. Alenko asked with a kind smile on her face.

Lycan held her breath for a brief moment as she rattled her brain for her answer. _Might as well be consistent, _"Oh uh... I grew up on a colony for a bit before I moved to the Citadel. That's where I was when I landed my contract to work on the _Normandy._" she said smoothly, thinking it best to stick with a version of their earlier backstory.

"Yes, that's right. What do you do on the _Normandy_?" Mrs. Alenko asked with genuine curiosity.

"I was a jack of all trades I guess you can say. I cooked, cleaned, helped in the Med Bay. Stuff like that." Lycan said, wiping the palm of her right hand on her dress while taking a small sip of her wine.

"Ah, alright. If I remember right, Kaidan said you were... seven years younger?" Mrs. Alenko asked sweetly.

"Yes I am, but it doesn't seem to bother us at all." she shot Kaidan a small smile as she continued eating.

"I don't see why it would. Age doesn't mean too much these days, not with the Asari around. There is exceptions though." Mr. Alenko said with a smirk.

Lycan smiled and tried not to blush.

"You said you spent some time on a colony correct? Which one?" Mr. Alenko asked with a smile as he took another bite.

Lycan's breath hitched, "Oh, it was a small one. Nothing ever interesting happened there." she said in a convincing voice.

"The small ones usually cave don't they?" surprisingly, Nate was the one who asked, however, it wasn't Lycan who answered.

"Yeah, they do. That's why she had to move I believe." Kaidan said, taking another bite.

Lycan nodded.

"That makes sense," Nate shrugged. "Hey, do you have a sister by chance?" he added with a wink.

"Nate!" Mr. Alenko tried to sound serious, but was having a hard time with the laughter that kept seasoning his tone.

Nate just playfully rolled his eyes and tore a small piece of his garlic bread off to chuck it as his father, which earned a loud round of laughter from everyone who saw it. Their laughter persisted as the small bread piece sailed right passed the Alenko patriarch's head to land on the hardwood floor of the kitchen where Chester sprang into action and went straight for it.

"Looks like you aren't the only voracious eater in the house." Lycan snickered, playfully jabbing a finger into Kaidan's shoulder.

Kaidan laughed, "That dog acts like he's never eaten a day in his life."

"So do you." Mrs. Alenko grinned at her eldest.

"I don't do that! I can at least make it from meal to meal." Kaidan defended with a smile on his face.

"Barely." Lycan mumbled, earning herself a playful glare from Kaidan.

After the hardy round of laughter, they fell into another brief stint of silence before they continued catching up with what Kaidan was allowed to tell, as well as listening and telling stories of what Kaidan had missed out on while he was away helping to save the galaxy.

Lycan felt completely comfortable with the people she was around. The food was fantastic, the conversation was entertaining and not full of despair like many of them had been back onboard the ship. Kaidan and his family were the only ones she knew now and the feeling of calm and safety she felt from just eating supper with them was nothing she had ever felt before, let alone remember. She couldn't help but watch the interaction between them all, unable to stop the smile that crossed her face as the four of them acted like they hadn't been apart for what was most likely years. She was perfectly content in just sitting back to watch and listen as they told stories about Kaidan's and Nate's younger years, which made her laugh. Nearly every story made her laugh.

After the daylight had given way to an orange and red twilight along the beach, all with the exception of Kaidan, cleared the table and cleaned the kitchen from the dirtied pots, pans and dishes from their feast. Once they were finished, they relaxed at the cleared table to finish off their wine and beer, enjoy some more stories and have some dessert before it grew late enough where Kaidan and Lycan began to feel their exhaustion.

"You're family is so nice." Lycan said quietly as she walked into Kaidan's room.

"Yeah, they're good people. They really seem to like you." Kaidan smiled, closing the door and hopping up behind Lycan to wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her into his body.

"I really like them too. Your mom definitely didn't waste any time telling me your baby stories." Lycan lightly chuckled as she leaned into him, tilting her head to the side as Kaidan lightly began to kiss her neck.

"It's like she said, I've never brought anyone home for them to meet before. You're the first for a lot of things Ly." he whispered against her skin.

Lycan turned in his arms to face him, slowly and carefully taking steps backwards as they moved towards the bed where the crutches hit the floor and Kaidan climbed up to cover her body with his.

"What kinds of things?" Lycan asked, running her fingertips through Kaidan's hair as her left leg slowly caressed up his body to hook itself onto his hip.

"The first woman I've been deeply, unwaveringly and completely in love with. The first woman I've brought home to meet my family. The first woman who Chester hasn't barked at continuously since you've been here. That's only a few of them." Kaidan whispered, supporting his weight on his elbow as he brushed aside a piece of her hair and leaned in just a bit closer to her.

"That's quite a few firsts. I wasn't... your... first first... Was I?" Lycan nervously asked, lightly biting her bottom lip.

Kaidan's throat rumbled low with a sultry laugh that spawned goosebumps along Lycan's skin, "No, you weren't. However, you're the only one I haven't regretted it with." he whispered, closing the distance between them for a slow, passionate kiss.

Lycan wrapped her arms around Kaidan's shoulders to hold him close as her lips danced with his, slowly moving against them like they were made of silk instead of plump flesh. Her body flushed with warmth as she felt Kaidan's callused palm softly drift up the skin of her leg to rest on the back of her thigh, effectively keeping her leg pressed against his hip.

The couple quickly gave into their desires, stripping each other of their clothing until the only thing they wore, were the covers of Kaidan's bed. Their slow and passionate lovemaking was accompanied by the powerful sounds of the ocean through the opened balcony French doors, the light of the large moon beaming into the darkened room to cast a soft, silver glow against the sweat of their skin. All time seemed to freeze around them, but it continued along its natural course for the rest of the world. The silver glow of the moon had dimmed inside the room to illuminate the beach like something out of an old photograph.

Finally spent of all energy and their desires sated, they collapsed into each other in a heap of heated flesh and tangled limbs. Their hearts still hummed in their chests, their breathes were still superheated and each one of Kaidan's exhales that trickled over Lycan's bare shoulder, a small layer of gooseflesh would appear for him to kiss. They stayed quiet while they just enjoyed laying in each other's arms, staring out of the balcony door as the waves crashed against the shore until both let their self induced exhaustion take over.

* * *

A cold breath of wind shivered Kaidan from his peaceful sleep, the bed sheet only draping over his lower half and leaving his toned torso exposed to the cool breeze drifting in from the balcony door. He slowly drew in a deep, sighing breath as he opened his eyes, seeing that he was alone in his bed and Lycan wasn't in the room. He pushed himself up and looked towards his balcony, seeing a lovely backlit silhouette of a woman he could never forget. She stood facing the beach, her body clad in only the soft gray, button up shirt he had worn when they arrived and her hair fluttered with the gentle caress of the ocean wind.

He carefully maneuvered himself to the edge of the bed and gently placed his casted leg onto the carpeted floor, happy to discover that he could walk on it, but with a strong and pronounced limp. Standing from the bed, he balanced himself on his good leg and pulled on a pair of sweats he dug out from his duffle bag before he slowly hobbled towards the balcony.

"Is everything ok Ly?" he quietly asked as he walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her in a warming embrace.

Lycan leaned back into him, pressing her back into his bare chest, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just have a bad headache." she said, still looking out towards the moonlit sand.

Kaidan leaned his head down to place a gentle kiss to her shoulder, "Do you need something to take the edge off?"

Lycan hung her head slightly, "No... It's because of the nightmares." she admitted, having no desire to keep anything from him.

Kaidan's brows lightly furrowed, "Nightmares? What about?"

Lycan sighed, "I don't really know. It was such a jumble of all kinds of things. Images, smells, sounds, feelings. it was just... everything. I couldn't make heads or tails of it." she sighed again.

"It's probably from all the stress. This is the first time you've gotten to truly relax so now you're more sensitive to them. They should go away in a couple days." he said lowly as he tightened his hold on her in comfort.

"I hope so." Lycan briefly smiled as they fell into silence and watched the ocean.

After a short moment, Kaidan started to hear something in the form of a hum, but he couldn't be sure where it was coming from until he felt the gentle vibration against his chest. His senses honed in to discover that it was Lycan who was humming, her voice soft and smooth as she fluidly changed notes to form the melody that hit him like a tone of bricks. He instantly recognized the song as the one she had taught him on the _Normandy_, the melody she learned from her mother when she still remembered her family and past life before she arrived in this one. He held his breath as he stood motionless, still holding Lycan in his arms as he forced back his gasp and the urge to interrogate her as to where she had learned the song.

After his initial shock, he calmed himself down as he decided to play it like it was the first time he had heard the song from her.

"That's a beautiful song Ly. Where did you learn it?" he asked, sighing a soft, warm breath across Lycan's neck.

Lycan just shrugged, "I don't know. I heard tidbits of it in my dream." she said, continuing her humming quietly to herself.

"I recognize it." he said in a voice that was just above a whisper.

"You do? Where?"

"My mother played it on her violin when I was a kid. It's called Scarborough Fair." he said with a soft kiss to her temple.

"Really? That's cool. I'd love to hear her play it sometime." Lycan lightly chuckled, leaning a bit further into him for warmth.

"I'm sure she'd be delighted to." Kaidan smiled as he stood up straight, still balancing his weight on one leg. "Why don't we go back to bed and I'll hum the song to you until you fall asleep," he added after a brief silence.

"I'd like that." Lycan smiled as she turned to head towards their shared bed.

They slipped back into bed as Kaidan pulled the covers up to shield them from the gentle ocean breeze, cradling Lycan in his arms as she faced him and rested her forehead against his chest as he started humming with his lips against her hair. The gentle vibrations of his deep, raspy voice lulled Lycan into a calm that erased all memory of her nightmares that had given her the headache and awoke her from her sleep. She melted into him as her eyes began to get heavy once more, her calm deepening to blanket her entire body, mind and soul until she was finally whisked off into a dreamless sleep that would last the rest of the night.

Kaidan however, was unable to immediately fall back to sleep, as his mind was racing with hundreds of different thoughts. He couldn't help but think that perhaps, Lycan was slowly getting her memories back through a series of nightmares, but he didn't want to assume that that was the case. He knew that if he allowed himself to think that she was, he would get his hopes up and that's that last thing he wanted. _Is she getting her memory back? Is she gonna have to get it wiped again? What's this gonna do to the timeline? What are we gonna do?_


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Shore Leave: Shepard and Ashley

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

Ashley had heard stories of the colony of Mindoir when she was girl, but she never thought she would ever visit the farming colony, let alone with someone who was from there. Now, thirteen years later, the colony seemed to be doing well. The damage had been repaired, the farms and homes had been rebuilt and the only reminders of that fateful day was the large monument in the colony square and the far too large church cemetery where the dead now rested.

However, Ashley hadn't gotten to see that part of the colony yet, as Shepard seemed to be having a good time showing her around the happier parts, as well as milling about in the many shops and farmers markets that littered the downtown square. They walked hand in hand, both elated to be out of their uniforms and dressed in civilian attire that made them look far more Human then the black and blue.

"This produce looks amazing Skipper. It's so fresh!" Ashley beamed, picking up a round, ripe Honeydew from the stand to look at its smooth, soft green color.

"That was always one of the perks of growing up in a colony. You couldn't beat the food." Shepard smiled as he opened his Omni-Tool and purchased the melon still resting in Ashley's hands.

Ashley smiled, "You didn't have to buy the melon Skipper." she said, trying not to act all giddy and shy like she was on her very first date.

"Are you kidding? That thing looks delicious. Come on, there's a park nearby were we can sit and chow down." Shepard grinned as he grasped her hand and lead her to that very park, overlooking the massive farm fields.

As they sat down on an empty bench, Shepard took the melon from Ashley's hands, pulling a folding knife that was had hidden on the inside of his jeans pocket and began cutting the thick, protective rind. As the blade slid through the melon, small drips of juice started to bleed from the slice that ringed the fruit until they turned into streams as Shepard twisted and pulled the two halves apart.

"This place looks like it recovered pretty well since... well... you know." Ashley said as she accepted her half of the melon, instantly feeling as if she had gone too far.

Shepard smiled to reassure her that it was alright, which was impressive considering that his mouth was stuffed to the brim with Honeydew and if he opened it, he was liable to drool melon juice all over his lap. After a few mashes on the sweet fruit, he swallowed and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his plain gray t-shirt.

"It's fine Ash. This is the first time I've been back actually. There was so little of us left that I was positive the colony would have folded, but this is the complete opposite. You can hardly tell what happened here." he said with a wink as he took another huge bite of melon and looked out at the field that was carefully being worked.

"Is your... family buried here?" she asked, still unsure if it was alright to ask that sort of question.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. They're buried in the church cemetery on the other side of town. I was thinking of stopping by there, but..." he stopped himself short, wiping his mouth with his shirt sleeve again and licking his lips to somewhat clean them of melon juice that had escaped his mouth while he chewed.

Ashley drew in a deep breath to steel herself as she lightly placed her hand on his thigh, "What's stopping you?" she asked quietly.

"The old priest that lives there is. After the fires were put out and the survivors were cared for, he took me in without asking anything of me." Shepard said as he set aside his melon half and leaned back into the bench.

"Why would that be stopping you?" she asked, scooting a bit closer to him and nestling into the crook of his arm.

Shepard sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "I was _not_ good to him. I was so... overwhelmed with grief and hatred for just about everything, that I made it a point to let him know how much I hated him and his beliefs. A day didn't go by I didn't do something to make him wish he had never taken me in." he stared at his lap instead of looking at her as the shame spiked hard in his chest.

Ashley's lips slightly parted in a quiet gasp as she rested her temple against his chest, "Skipper...Maybe you should see him... Tell him how sorry you are."

"I know that I need to apologize. I never even said goodbye when I left for boot." Shepard said, his face going blank as he stared off at the vista.

"Then perhaps we should take the time." Ashley suggested, settling into his touch as both nearly completely ignored the halved melon sitting next to them.

Shepard sighed with a slightly shaky breath, "You're right. Even if he doesn't forgive me, I still need to try."

Ashley just smiled as she stood, holding her hand out for Shepard to take so that they could start their walk to the other side of the colony. With the forgotten melon left sitting on the bench, they walked back onto the downtown strip and browsed more goods and shops as they made their way towards a large, gothic looking building towards the outskirts of the colony. They walked side by side as the bustling downtown gave way to more residential groupings of prefabbed homes until the full facade of the church came into view.

The church was an old fashioned, gothic styled cathedral that stood roughly an overall six stories, but it wasn't nearly as grand as the timeless centerpieces seen on Earth. It was far more modest and was completely at home in a colony with only one large, stained glass window that depicted a beautifully crafted cross, sitting in front of a brilliant sunburst of color. The front door was large and arched with round, metal door knockers that were simple to offset the intricate carvings of the real wooden door.

"It's a beautiful church Skipper. You lived here?" Ashley asked, taking in as many details of the building as possible.

Shepard nodded slowly, "See that window up on the second floor? The one to the far left?" he asked, pointing to that very window.

Ashley nodded as she threaded her arm through his.

"That was my room while I was here. I used to stare out that window for hours, just thinking about anything I could wrap my head around and even things I couldn't." Shepard said in a soft voice that clearly told Ashley that he was reminiscing.

"Do you think that the priest is still here?" Ashley asked as they started towards the door.

"I don't know, but I guess we'll find out." Shepard lightly shrugged as he reached out and started to open the door.

The door's massive hinges groaned as they moved, filling the chamber behind them with a resounding echo that started to sound more like a throated growl then an opening door. The inside of the church was surprisingly well lit with soft white lights overhead, as well as the sun of midday beaming in through the many windows. The ceiling towered overhead, peaking at the very top of the structure and the second floor was supported by a squadron of columns that were wrapped in browning vines. The air was slightly stale, but had a sweet, floral scent from the rows of softly burning incense sticks that sat in small sconces on the columns and fluttered gentle wisps of light smoke into the air. The alter at the end of the chamber, which sat in front of a giant cross, was draped in a cloth that completely covered it from what looked to be repairs being made to the trusses and it was completely bare of anything that would suggest that a service was in its future.

"Wow." Ashley breathed as she drank in kaleidoscope of colors swirling around every surface they touched.

"You haven't seen the inside a church like this before?" Shepard asked, his voice slightly echoing through the room as he watched the wonder on her face.

"Its been a long, long time. I didn't think that something like this would ever be on a colony." Ashley said, glancing at Shepard as she lightly ran a hand over the wood of a pew.

"The colonists wanted something traditional so they slaved to build this..." he smiled until footfalls met his echoing voice and another joined in with theirs.

"I apologize, but there are no services planned while the repairs are underway." a medium accented, Russian sounding voice said from somewhere near the baron alter.

Shepard and Ashley just stood and watched as an aged man with pale skin and grayed hair, walked towards the alter with a small armful of books. The man stood just shorter then Shepard and had a pronounced limp with his left leg, most likely from a previous injury and thus, his weight had suffered for it, as he had a bit of a gut that puffed out his shirt. They watched as he never looked up from the alter as he disappeared behind it to put away his load of books in the small cupboard underneath, nearly completely unaware of the pair standing by the door.

After a few moments of silence while Shepard battled his nerves and emotions, he finally gathered up enough courage to open his mouth.

"I'm not here for a sermon Father Nikolai... I'm here to see you." Shepard said loud enough so that his voice carried to the other side of the sanctuary.

The bark of a book hitting the hardwood floor, boomed inside the hall like a clap of thunder in the distance as the aged man stood up, somewhat stiffly and with look of pure shock coloring his face.

"G-Gabriel?" the old priest stuttered, his body stiff, his eyes wide and his lips parted in a gasp. "Is that you?" he managed to push out through his shock.

Shepard felt his throat begin to tighten as he nodded and began to walked forward, still tightly holding Ashley's hand, "Its been a long time Father."

Father Nikolai stepped around the alter, placing a hand on its top to use it as support instead of limping and completely forgetting about the books on the floor as he stepped down the couple steps. He placed his other hand on his chest, as it had tightened the moment he heard the unforgettable voice and his eyes were glazed over to shine from the light coming down from overhead.

"My goodness... Look at you... I didn't think you'd ever come back to this place." Father Nikolai said, still trying to find his voice through the persistent shock as he began to limp towards Shepard.

"You aren't the only one Father." Shepard said as he came face to face with the aged man.

The aged man, eyes still glazed, looked over Shepard as if he was looking at a dream before he placed his hands on either side of Shepard's neck and yanked him into a hug where he lightly wept.

Shepard's heart ached as the man who gave him a safe haven after the raid wept on his shoulder with undeniable feelings that he was happy to see him. After the initial shock of the heartfelt welcome, Shepard lifted his arms and embraced the aged man back, only causing the priest to weep a little harder which eventually began to make his own blue eyes ache with threatening tears.

After several minutes, the only sound being that of a weeping old man, the priest finally pulled back and kept his hands on either side of Shepard's neck while his mouth pulled hard into a beaming smile. That's when his mind clicked that the boy he had taken in wasn't alone.

"Dear me... This is quite a pleasant surprise for such an old man. Who is this fine young lady you have brought with you Gabriel?" Father Nikolai asked as he wiped his eyes clear of the tears that were left.

"This is Ashley Williams, Father. My... uh... Well, I'm sure you know." Shepard smiled, wrapping his arm around Ashley's waist to pull her to him.

Father Nikolai extended his hand, "It is an extraordinary pleasure to meet you. Please, come... Have you eaten?" he urged, coaxing them towards a door that was hidden behind a column in the back of the sanctuary.

"Just a snack Father. Nothing major." Shepard said, grasping Ashley's hand and following Father Nikolai into an old, well used kitchen.

"Then we shall feast. Please sit and relax while I go fetch a bottle of wine from the cellar." he said before he immediately disappeared through another door.

Shepard and Ashley sat down at an old, real wooden table that had seen many meals and heard many conversations if the scars in the table's top were any hint at all. Ashley traced a finger over a long knife scar as Shepard gave her a quick rundown on the relationship between the priest and himself, which was strained if she had to sum it up in one word.

After a few, short minutes, Father Nikolai returned with a beautiful bottle of rosy pink wine and three glasses, followed by a small group of Nuns with bowls of ingredients to be cooked into a spectacular meal. The Nuns immediately began to work on fixing the large meal as Father Nikolai sat across from Shepard and Ashley and poured them both glasses of the fine wine.

"I honestly do not know where to begin Gabriel. I never thought I'd see you again. You had left so angry at the galaxy, but now... you seem centered and calmed." Father Nikolai said as he took a rather long drag from his wine glass.

"That's partly due to Ashley Father. She helped me come to terms with everything that's happened in my life. I owe her a lot." Shepard said as he too, took a drink and sent a small smile towards the woman sitting next to him.

"That is wonderful to hear Gabriel. You deserve so many wonderful things whether you think you do or not. Have you gotten a chance to explore the colony?" Father Nikolai asked, his breath still coming hard and his heart still hammered from the surprise of seeing Shepard after so many years.

Shepard nodded, "Some. It looks amazing. It really bounced back and it seems like they never forgot." he said with a sip of wine.

"No one here is not aware of the raid. Whether they experienced it themselves like you and I, or heard stories, they all know what the monument is for," Father Nikolai nodded as he finally noticed Shepard's casted arm. "Is your arm alright? A recent injury from your work?"

Shepard laughed lightly, "Yeah... Something like that, but I'm fine. It's healing."

Father Nikolai nodded, "That is good. I do not mean to spoil the atmosphere, but I must know. What drew you back here my boy?"

Shepard sighed slowly, "I came to apologize for the things I did to you after you took me in. You didn't deserve that for what you were doing. I don't know were I'd be if it wasn't for you. I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry Father." he said, slowly shaking his head as he nervously licked his lips.

Father Nikolai smiled, "Gabriel... Let me tell you something. You do not need to apologize to me for anything. I probably understood better then anyone with what you were going through. You were lost my boy and I do not blame you for anything you did. I forgave you years ago Gabriel." he reached across the table and rested his hand on Shepard's cast.

Shepard sucked in a breath in hopes to hold back the tears, "Father... I still needed to. You did things for me that no one else would have, let alone take in an emotional scared teenager. We'd be up all night telling stories of the stunts I pulled." he placed his good hand on top of the priest's.

"We can look back on those moments and regard them as experiences now Gabriel. You turned out like a man should." Father Nikolai said as he took his hand back.

"It sounds like there's quite a few stories." Ashley said quietly, slipping her hand onto Shepard's thigh to help comfort him.

Father Nikolai nodded and took a sip, "There are my dear, but you must understand... What Gabriel had to live through was something I would not wish on anyone, even the Batarians who committed such a despicable act."

"I understand perfectly Father and they don't define who he is now. He's a good man." Ashley said sweetly as she pressed her shoulder into Shepard's.

"He had the makings to be a great one, but when he lost his family, he lost his way." Father Nikolai said with a saddened sigh as he looked down at the scared table.

"I lost more then that Father. I lost all ability to trust, love, empathize... everything. I was frozen solid emotionally and I couldn't have cared less about anything, or anyone. I thought I was out of the woods before I went to Akuze, but loosing everything again just shut me down. Some of the things I've done to not only you Father, but to others..." his voice trailed off as he shook his head and leaned into Ashley a bit more.

"How did you take him in Father? If... I can ask." Ashley asked, taking her hand off of Shepard's thigh to wrap her arm around his back.

"It is not a happy tale to tell, but one that started him towards the path to where he is now," he took a sip of wine and cleared his throat. "Once the Alliance had arrived and drove away the slavers, those that survived finally got a chance to take stock of what had happened. Families had been lost, our children taken and our homes had been burned, so you can imagine that the mood was not an enjoyable one. Those who were able bodied, including myself since it was before my injury, began to help the Alliance in the recovery effort by collecting the dead and placing them in body bags," Father Nikolai paused to take another sip of his wine.

"God... That must have been hard." Ashley gasped quietly.

"It was... Especially since most of the dead were people we knew and had come to care for. After some time, I came across a terribly shaken young man who was holding a young girl in his arms and both were covered in blood. The young man wasn't making a sound, I presumed because he had wept himself dry, but he continued to rock back and forth with her." Father Nikolai sighed.

"Was that him?" Ashley asked as she began to lightly caress the back of Shepard's neck as he stared at his wine glass.

The priest nodded, "Yes. He was holding his sister's corpse and if I had to guess, he had been for quite some time. His eyes were blank and lifeless when I knelt down to take the girl from him, but he pulled her away and stared at me. That's when I realized that it was Gabriel Shepard and I knew he wasn't going to just let me have her, so instead of forcing him to let her go, I sat down and simply placed my hand on his back."

"He was right though. I had cried myself dry so when I finally spoke, I might as well been a robot because there was no feeling behind it. I was on autopilot." Shepard said with a deep intake of breath and a glance up at Father Nikolai.

"It was heartbreaking. He had asked me where God had been when this had happened and why, if he loved us so much, would allow it." Father Nikolai said, looking at Shepard to see that his mouth had quirked into a barely there smile.

"He didn't say anything and honestly, it was probably the best thing he could've done. He just... let me be angry and by staying quiet, he gave me comfort. We must have sat there for hours before I finally set my sister down and let him take her." Shepard said, the clarity in his voice speaking volumes that he was able to talk about the memory without the flood of emotion that would consume him entirely.

"He allowed me to carry her back to town where both of us placed her into a bag and said a prayer. After that, I never let Gabriel out of my sight until it came down to where he was going to go. Many of the families that had survived, took in the children who had nowhere to go until only Gabriel was left." Father Nikolai said with a slow shake of his head.

Ashley's brows furrowed, "Why did no one want to take him in? He was clearly severely broken up about what had happened." she asked, her comforting grip on Shepard tightening slightly.

"It was because of his Element Zero exposure. He was the only Biotic in the colony and the people here didn't understand what he could do. They didn't go out of their way to make his life miserable, but they distanced themselves if at all possible." Father Nikolai said as he refilled his wine glass.

"After you took me in, that's when I started getting into trouble." Shepard said, keeping his eyes locked on the aged priest.

"You got arrested?" Ashley asked, gently continuing her caresses to the back of Shepard's neck.

Shepard shook his head, "No... Thanks to Father Nikolai... I never went to jail."

Ashley's brows simply furrowed as she lightly tilted her head.

"One of the things he had done... was he had set the church on fire during an argument." Father Nikolai said, smiling at Shepard despite the content of the tale.

Ashley reeled while Shepard nodded, "Yeah... We were fighting... well... I was fighting and he was just listening. I screamed at him as hard as I could just to get him to scream back, but he never did. All I wanted was for him to tell me that I was worthless and that I really was a murderer, but he never said a word. He just let me scream and eventually, I tried hitting him, but I fell short and every time I swung, my fists just... weakly plopped into his chest until I just gave up." he said as he downed the rest of his wine in one gulp.

"That was only a couple weeks before you turned eighteen and enlisted. You were still angry, but before you left, that was the first time you went and saw your family's resting place. I knew then that you would be ok." Father Nikolai smiled and lightly patted Shepard's cast once again.

"But... If the first time he's ever visited his family's grave was just before he left for Basic and he's never been back, then he's only ever been there once?" Ashley skillfully deducted.

Shepard smiled at her, "Bingo." was all he said.

"Perhaps you should pay them a visit, but only if you wish." Father Nikolai suggested as he smiled at the pair across from him.

At the mention of visiting his family's final resting place, Shepard's heart sputtered a bit in his chest and his stomach flipped as he leaned into Ashley for support. His lips ghosted a slight smile as he felt her forehead lightly rest against his temple, her hand still softly gliding over the nape of his neck and the sweet scent of her hair helped to calm his mind as Father Nikolai refilled all their glasses with the rest of the wine.

After moments of tumbling nerves on Shepard's part, he finally stood from the table with a low sigh, "Are they still there Father?" he asked as he placed a soft hand on Ashley's shoulder.

Father Nikolai nodded, "They are in the same spot they have always been." he smiled.

Shepard nodded, "Do you mind giving me some time Ash?" he asked, placing his hand on her cheek to trail his thumb over her jaw.

"Take as much time as you need Skipper." Ashley returned the smile as she leaned into his touch.

Shepard nodded his thanks as he softly slid his hand over her cheek, stepping away from the table and heading out of a door that lead outside and leaving Ashley seated across from Father Nikolai. The pair remained silent as they sipped their wine and listened to the cooking going on in the background, but it was short lived as Father Nikolai broke the slowly rising tension.

"Gabriel received a gift when he found you my dear. He had been lost for so long, that I worried he would never find his way again." Father Nikolai said with a kind smile at the woman sitting across from him.

Ashley started to blush, "You're too kind Father. He was really scared to pursue his feelings and I mean terrified. He would start to shake if we... got close." she started to blush harder.

Father Nikolai huffed a laugh, "I can only imagine. It seems that you have brought out emotions in him that have been long dormant. You have taught him to love and trust again which is something I could never do." he said kindly and with a smile.

"You gave his foundation back when his was ripped away. Who knows where he could have ended up if it wasn't for you." Ashley said with a soft, gentle sigh.

"You words are kind as well, but I had my work cut out for me. Do you wish to see exactly what he lost?" Father Nikolai asked, his face going blank.

Ashley felt her chest tighten at the thought, but she nodded and stood from the table, "I think I'd like to." she said softly.

Father Nikolai nodded and stood with one last sip of his wine before he limped around the table and headed for the same door that Shepard had disappeared through. As the priest opened the door, Ashley saw that the day was still bright as it slowly turned from late afternoon, to a twilit evening with a golden sky and long, smooth shadows striping the ground. The air was sweet smelling from the farmers market nearby, the edges of each breath ringed with the aroma of freshly picked flowers, fruit and handmade fragrances that the locals have passionately crafted with care. The gentle breeze rustled through Ashley's hair, softly fluttering it around her face in soft wisps that took on lazy waves and framed her features like a picture's frame.

They stepped outside into the perfectly groomed cemetery, the flowers painted with bright colors were resting in front of nearly every gravesite and the grass was cut perfectly without any browned or bare patches. However, the beauty was lost as Ashley took in the sight, her breath leaving her lungs in the form of a gasp at the size of the cemetery stole her breath.

The space was nearly triple the size of the church itself, encompassing over two acres of land of nothing but granite headstones of varying sizes at even intervals. Some were plane, most likely being all the surviving families could afford and others had holo images of those that were laid to rest. The ladder was where her eyes came to a lone man, standing with a casted arm hanging at his side while his other was stuffed into his pocket.

"He had no money to buy his family a proper headstone so I used churched funds to get them one. The Shepard's were good people and they deserved a headstone at the very least. It was a gift to Gabriel when he turned eighteen." Father Nikolai said quietly as he held the door so it wouldn't slam and disturb Shepard's peace.

"You aren't a typical priest are you Father." Ashley said with a matter-of-factly tone.

"I am a bit... unorthodox, but some say that it is part of my charm," Father Nikolai lightly smiled as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Go to him. He trusted you enough to bring you to his birthplace, I am sure he trusts you enough with his greatest bane."

Ashley looked at the kind priest for a moment, somewhat gathering her wits to go over to Shepard while weighing the priest's words before she nodded and carefully started towards Shepard. She carefully watched her footing, making sure to stay off the plots as she wove her way through the headstones until she stood right next to him.

They stayed silent as Ashley drank in the large granite piece, the letters elegantly carved into the ornate statue like they were handcrafted and the stone's wide girth that spanned the width of three plots. However, it wasn't the site's sheer size that took her breath away, it was the three still holo images on top that instantly drew her attention.

Standing like they were angels, was Shepard's family. The Patriarch, Wade Shepard stood with his hands in his pockets and his broad shoulders rolled back. His face was strikingly familiar, as several of the man's features had transferred to his son, including his height. Ashley shifted her eyes to the smiling woman standing next to him with her arm threaded through her husband's, her name being Hannah and she was a beautiful woman. Her lips were modestly plump, her chin small and her hair was shoulder length and her smile was intoxicating, Ashley being unable to stop herself from smiling back at the woman. The last figure was far shorter then her mother, but shared the smile and hair, but had her father's eyes, as did the last, living Shepard.

"That's your sister? Michaela?" Ashley said finally after studying the holos for several moments.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah... She's fourteen there." he sighed, never taking his eyes away from what was left of his family.

"She looks like your mom." Ashley whispered, resting her temple against his shoulder.

"That she did... No one could tell that Michaela and me were brother and sister except for the eyes. Dad's blue eyes ended up in both of us kids." Shepard said as he started to smile and looked over towards Ashley, taking his hand out of his pocket to rest it on top of Ashley's.

Ashley only smiled since she really had no idea what else to say, deciding it best to just remain silent and give Shepard the time he needed to pay his respects. The entire cemetery was silent with the only exception being the whisper of the breeze as it passed through the throngs of headstones. Not even the birds chirped in the trees. She quietly looked around at the neighboring headstones, admiring the spreads of floral bouquets, some fresh, some wilting, that added splashes of vivid color to the otherwise gray and green area, but when she looked back to the Shepard headstone, she noticed several pretty rocks resting on top, one over each name.

"What are those rocks for Skipper?" Ashley asked quietly, still resting her head on Shepard's shoulder.

"That someone remembers them. Father Nikolai probably put them there." Shepard said just as quietly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a palm sized, glistening stone with small, black letters carved into its surface.

"Why not a bouquet of flowers like the others?" she asked, taking the rock from Shepard's hand to look at the phasing hues of rosy pinks and creamy whites. _It sure is a pretty rock._

Shepard merely smiled and slipped the rock from her hand, taking a step forward and gently placing the polished stone at the holo image's feet before he knelt down and rested his hand on the granite base. He rested his other hand just under his chin as he read each of their names in his head, over and over again until he felt Ashley's hand on his shoulder as she knelt down next to him.

"Are you gonna be ok?" she asked quietly, seeing the torrent of emotion that washed over his face.

Shepard slowly nodded, "Y-Yeah... I'll be alright. Just saying a few words is all... well... trying to anyways. How does someone ask their dead family for forgiveness for not ever coming to see them?" he sighed.

Ashley lightly rubbed his back, "I'm sure you'll figure it out Skipper. Sometimes, I just talk to my dad's headstone and believe he's listening. That's all I can do is believe." she said quietly and placed a soft kiss to his shoulder.

Shepard blew out a slow breath through slightly parted lips, "I think that's all I can do." he said, leaning into her as a small smile spread over his lips.

"I think they'd be proud of you though Skipper." Ashley said, threading her fingers into his hair that had become somewhat shaggy during their mission.

"I hope so."

As the pair fell back into silence, Shepard reach again into his pocket, pulling out a small, velvet covered box with the symbol of the Alliance pressed into the pile. Still pressing into Ashley, he slowly opened it, the tight hinges cracking until they reached their limit and exposed the treasure inside.

With a light gasp, Ashley's lips slightly parted as her eyes scanned the glistening golden medal resting inside. She knew what it was, but she didn't remember seeing him receive it, as they are usually given during long, exhausting and boring award ceremonies.

"Your Star of Terra? When did you get that?" she asked, gently running her fingers over the cool and polished award piece.

"Anderson slipped it to me before I left the ship to meet you at the spaceport. Said he would try to forgo the ceremony, but I doubt that's going to happen." Shepard said without ever taking his eyes off the award.

"Wow..." Ashley simply breathed.

Shepard lightly smiled at her as he grasped her hand, bringing it palm up and placed the display box into it. He guided her hands towards the large headstone, just above the brass nameplate where he gently pushed her hands down to set the box next to the rosy stone.

"Are you sure Skipper? It's not everyday someone get's the Star." Ashley said, reluctant to let go of the velvet box.

Shepard just shrugged, "It's not everyday someone's son grows up to save the galaxy. Besides, I can just tell Anderson I lost it. It's in a better place here. It belongs here, not on my uniform." he tenderly took her hands away from the box.

"As long as you're sure." Ashley just smiled.

They both spent a few more moments staring at the grave before they stood and slowly started back towards the church where Father Nikolai still waited.

"Have you had enough time Gabriel?" Father Nikolai asked as he opened the door and let them walk in first.

"Yeah... I have. I think I'm ready to have a better time now." Shepard smiled as he headed for the scared table and retook his seat.

"I think we deserve it. Have you found a place to stay yet?" Father Nikolai asked as he helped the Nuns place the food onto the table.

"Uh... Yeah, we have. We're staying at the inn in the middle of town." Ashley answered, taking her seat next to Shepard and taking the new bottle of wine to refill the glasses.

"Wonderful." Father Nikolai beamed.

As the three sat down to their meal, the Nuns served themselves and left the kitchen, giving Father Nikolai and his guests the time they very much needed. Their conversations were far more joyful, spanning Shepard's career and even drifting into how he had met his best friend and the feelings he had to fight when he had met Ashley. They told stories about the antics they had gotten into during the mission, all while keeping the classified bits to themselves and they easily moved into how the colony had recovered.

Several helpings and four bottles of wine later, they had finally finished their meal and hadn't noticed that the day had progressed far into the evening. The moon shone just above the low mountain range in the distance, the stars flickered in the sky and the air was cool and sweet from the fresh of night. The sound of local insects chirping their songs quietly filled the air, shrouding the breeze that hadn't quit since midmorning and providing the night's lullaby.

Once the well used kitchen had been cleaned of the nights festivities, Shepard and Ashley said their goodbyes with the promise of getting together again the following evening. They each gave Father Nikolai a large hug before they started towards the inn. They enjoyed their slow pace through the small nightlife that really only consisted of one bar, and even that was only half full. They passed by the farmers market that had been packed, now baron and closed for the evening until they reached their destination which was the only source of constant light.

Finally able to relax and let their feet rest, both Shepard and Ashley flopped down onto the bed, which was the only source of somewhere to sit in their small room.

"I. Am. Full." Shepard groaned as he rolled to get the holoscreen's control from the bedside table.

"Probably you more so then me. I can't believe how much you ate tonight." Ashley tried to laugh, only able to produce a weak huff as she kicked off her flats.

"That's operation's normal for me Ash. I thought you'd be used to that by now." Shepard winked as he switched on the vid unit and began to browse.

Ashley sighed and rolled to her side, placing her head to rest in the crook of Shepard's shoulder and hiking her leg up to drape over his lap, "I am used to it," she sighed. "Father Nikolai seems like a really sweet man," she added after only a few seconds of silence.

"He is. He's got a heart of gold and would give you the shirt off his back. He really put it on the line when he took me in. I'm happy we came back here and I'm happy that you came with me." Shepard said, turning his head slightly so that he could look at her out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm happy you let me come. It means a lot to me that you trusted me enough to bring me here." Ashley whispered, placing a soft kiss onto his chest.

"So am I." Shepard smiled as he settled into the bed and wrapped his arm around Ashley to hold her closer.

They settled back into another restful silence as Shepard found something to watch, nestling into each other as they got comfortable and let the rest of their energy begin to drain from their bodies. It felt good just to lay there and relax after a long day of exploring and reminiscing, but after a while, Ashley started to feel the day's strain. She felt grimy and gritty, the pollen and dust clinging to her skin like glitter does to glue and her hair felt dirty, not nearly as silky as it could be when it was freshly cleaned. She push herself up as a yawn raked through her and stretched with her arms high over her head.

"I think a shower is in order before bed." she said after she was done stretching.

Shepard lightly placed his hand on the small of Ashley's back, his fingers softly slipping beneath her shirt to brush her skin, "That sounds like a great idea. Don't use up all the hot water." he smirked, slapping his hand onto her rump as she stood up.

"You know, there is a way where that wouldn't be a problem Skipper." she winked as she headed towards the bathroom with a bit of a swagger in her steps.

Once the door had slid shut, she pinned her hair back and went to the tub to turn on the water, taking a few moments to adjust it until it was a soothing and even warmth. She slipped off her clothes and just let them fall to the floor in a pile before she stepped into the tub, twisted the knob to shift the water to the shower head and closed the curtain.

The warm water felt great as it slithered down her bare skin, washing away the day's events and giving her a clean slate to enjoy an amazing night's rest in the arms of the man she had fallen in love with. She grasped the bar of soap she had bought while they were out and about, holding it underneath the steady stream to wet it before she began to run it all over her skin. The water rushed over her hair and down the sides of her head, crawling into her ears to block most sound with the only exception being that of the water itself, so she never heard the hiss of the bathroom door.

Shepard tiptoed as best he could, rolling his feet so that the steady thud of his heels didn't alert her that he was drawing close. He was thankful that he had wrapped his forearm in a waterproof, latex sleeve, as it made no sound at all as he quietly undressed and set his clothes on top of hers so that his belt buckle didn't clatter.

Free of clothing and stark naked, Shepard snuck up to the closed curtain, pressing himself into the wall as he grasped the curtain and pulled it aside to stick his head in. His lips curled into a mischievous grin as his eyes scanned over Ashley's naked backside, admiring how the soap foam had highlighted the curves of her body on its way towards the drain. His mouth began to water as he carefully slipped into the tub, all while keeping his wondering eyes glued to her to not only drink in her form, but to make sure that she hadn't heard him.

Gripping the tub with his toes, he just as quietly closed the curtain and turned towards her, slowly reaching out to touch her, but to his astonishment, Ashley walked backwards and brought her rump into his lap. She had apparently heard him, but how, Shepard had no idea and he didn't get much time to wonder since she kept pushing him backwards into the wall until he was pinned by her ample and pert cheeks.

"Decided you needed a shower too Skipper?" Ashley purred as she let her bar of soap slip from her hands to fall to the bottom of the tub.

"Not really, but the allure of taking one with you was way too tempting." Shepard grinned, running his hands over her hips and enjoying how they slid over her wet skin.

Ashley just chuckled as she bent over, pressing her rump into his lap further which only caused him to shiver with delight as she picked up bar of soap and placed it on the small shelve.

"And that?" she purred again.

By now, Shepard was very much deprived of having any Oxygen in his brain, thus making his response slow and delayed.

"Uh... Do I really need too tell you, or can you feel the answer?" he said, his heart humming in his chest from the physical excitement.

Ashley giggled, "I think the answer is pretty... um... obvious." she lightly nibbled on her bottom lip as she turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck and hiking a leg up to his hip.

Carefully, Shepard pressed his back into the wall and slid down, balancing Ashley in front of him until he was sitting with her straddling him in the large tub. His still somewhat sore muscles were in no mood to endure long periods of strenuous standing and rather enjoyed being in the large tub to be pelted with hot water. His hands continued to caress over her skin, reaching up for the bar of soap where he got it wet once more and began to run it over her skin.

By just watching the soap glide down her skin while she caressed his chest made him ache to have her all that much more. Her hands skillfully teased him, her fingertips lightly digging into his flesh and tangling into his smooth covering of hair the accented his pecks and navel.

"Ash... I don't think I can take much more of this." Shepard breathed as he discarded the bar of soap and brought her to him, pressing her body into his to coat himself with the white, satin suds.

"Aw... Really? But I was really enjoying you cleaning me." she cooed, letting her hands flutter down his skin to either side of his hips.

Shepard shivered again to raise goosebumps all over his nude body, "So was I." he growled, gripping her hips tightly as he hoisted her up and held her just above him, poised and ready.

Ashley lowly chuckled, but it was laced with a lusty growl, "We're gonna need more hot water."

"So is everybody else."

* * *

The sun began to break over the low mountains, bursting a bright array of yellow, orange and white throughout the sky that was still a darkened shade of blue. The trees and flowers glistened with a fine layer of morning dew, twinkling against the new light like millions of tiny diamonds. The air was still cool from the night, void of the previous days breeze, but it still slowly drifted through the small open window of a cozy, yet humbling inn.

The fresh scent of the morning air filled Shepard's nose as he drew in a long, filling breath of air, slowly coming to as it mixed with the delicate scent of a woman's hair. He opened his eyes to see his arm was draped over said woman's waist and his face was buried in the crook of her neck so that the short hairs of her neck tickled his nostrils. A small smile graced his lips as he placed a gentle kiss to Ashley's bare skin, tightening his grip around her waist to pull her bare form to him to feel her never ending warmth against his skin.

The night's events were still fresh in his mind. He could still feel her kisses on his skin from the shower, the light nibbles on his neck when they stubbled from the shower, to the bed and he could still feel the scratches she had left on his back when his name had graced her lips. He placed another kiss to her neck, letting it linger for a moment before he lightly dragged them along her skin to her ear, where he whispered.

"Good morning beautiful." he whispered and placed a kiss.

Ashley lightly hummed as she opened her eyes and snuggled into the source of warmth behind her, "Mmm... Morning Skipper." she smiled as she turned a bit to halfway lay on her back.

Shepard just smiled a bit more as he nuzzled her neck and made her giggle, "Ready to get up?" he lowly laughed.

"No, but I don't think I have much of a choice." she smirked as she sat up, holding the sheet to her naked chest.

"No choice at all." Shepard simply said as he stood up and reached for his bag to pull some fresh clothes.

The pair fell into a happy, yet still somewhat sleepy calm as they cleaned themselves up and got dressed. They took a few extra moments to rearrange their room, mainly just putting their clothes and things back into their bags so that it wasn't such of a mess before they headed out to grab something to eat.

Ashley was amazed that the colony woke up and came alive the moment the dawn broke over the horizon, people wasting no time since most of them had farms and stock to care for and families to feed. They walked hand in hand until they found a small bistro type place that was nestled between two electronic shops and looked promising if the young looking hostess with a warm cup of coffee in her hands was anything to go by.

Being the only ones there, they were quickly seated at a table next to the large window where they got to watch as the rest of the colony came to life. More shops and stores opened while they waited for their food and the streets soon began to receive some light traffic of both the foot and vehicle kind. Soon after the streets were lightly sprinkled with people, they received their meal and easily struck up a conversation.

"So what you have in mind for today Skipper?" Ashley asked as she started on her pancakes.

Shepard shrugged and smiled, "I don't know. I was just thinking we could play it by ear until tonight." he said, stuffing a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

"Oh, that's right. Father Nikolai wanted us to join him for dinner again tonight." Ashley lightly smile.

"Yup. So until then, how about we browse the markets some more, spend some time at the lake and do whatever else we can think of." Shepard smiled as he took a sip of his juice.

"Sounds fantastic Skipper."

With their day set, they dug into their meals, stealing soft, flirty glances at each other and even taking moments out to admire the way they ate. After they had finished, they sat, not being in any real hurry to go anywhere and both were content to just sit, enjoy the morning air and people watch as the crowds grew. They smiled at the families that walked by, enjoying the way the kids ran around, laughing and playing with whatever they could get their hands on. Shepard smiled at just how many people stopped at the monument to read the plaque, the families huddling together as they seemed to say a small pray for the fallen of Mindoir before going about their days. _It's good to see that people haven't forgotten. _He thought briefly before he paid their bill and stood from his seat.

Having nowhere to be quickly, they just wondered the square, browsing the shops that they hadn't already visited until the sun was high and the air was warmed. Once the heat of the day had set in, they headed back to their room to get changed into their swimwear, which ended up taking longer then they had planned because of a sating of their lusts once Shepard had removed his shirt. Finally ready to spend some time at the lake, they headed out into the early afternoon sun.

As they walked, Shepard caught sight of what looked to be a shortcut towards the outskirts of town where the lake was located. Deciding to take the chance, he grasped Ashley's hand and turned down a less traveled path that could have been an alleyway if it wasn't for the one shop entrance that was halfway down its length. However, Shepard skidded to a halt when he set his eyes on a trio of men in black sweatshirts and tattered jeans when he recognized them as people he knew when he was a kid.

One man had mussed brown hair, pale green eyes and a long, jagged scar running down the side of his face while the other two kept their faces somewhat hidden by having their hoods up.

"Well well well... If it isn't our old friend Luc. Didn't think you'd be coming back here at all." one of the men said when he recognized whom had walked up on them.

Shepard rolled his shoulders back just a bit as he seemed to step in front of Ashley, "Hi Jake. I thought you would've left the colony by now." he said flatly as he handed Ashley their day bag.

The one known as Jake smirked, "Why leave? It's prime feeding ground here with all the tourists coming to see 'The Colony that Rebuilt'." he spat, making air quotes with his fingers.

Shepard's eye slightly narrowed, "I see," he nodded as he looked at the other two men. "Troy, Mike... It's good to see you haven't changed."

The two men nodded their greetings as they leaned from side to side in order to try and get a better look at Ashley.

"Who do you have with you Luc? She looks like a lovely little flower, ripe for the picking." Jake smirked as he took a step closer to Shepard and Ashley.

"Look at her wrong, and you won't like what happens to you Jake." Shepard said with a bit of anger showing through his voice.

All three men threw their hands up in defense.

"Easy Luc. We aren't gonna touch her. We at least have some standards and we know that you would tear us apart with those mind powers of yours." Jake said, taking on the same flat tone as Shepard.

Ashley, watching from over Shepard's shoulder, tapped him to get his attention, "Why do they keep calling you Luc?" she asked in a low whisper.

Shepard kept his eyes on the three men as he answered, "It's short for Lucifer. They came up with it after people started calling us 'lost and fallen.' I'm named after an archangel, so it just seemed to fit." he answered in a low tone.

"We heard you're some big fucking hero now. I bet we could get away with some serious shit if you joined us for a bit Luc." Jake smirked, folding his arms over his chest and rocking back on one foot as his green eyes twinkled with mischief.

Shepard shook his head, "You can stop calling me Luc. My name is Gabriel." he said, lightly clenching his fists.

"Alright, alright. _Gabriel. _When did _you_ get all high and mighty? You were the worst out of all of us." Jake lightly laughed as he took another step closer.

"Yeah you were. You tried to burn down the fucking church. You're a lucky bastard that that old priest didn't rat on you the second he had the chance." Troy laughed and clapped Mike on the back.

"I wouldn't call it high and mighty. I just got lucky and found my way out of the hole we dug ourselves." Shepard said, holding his ground in front of Ashley while relaxing his fists.

"Oh... And I suppose you're gonna say it's because you found love." Jake mocked, his lips setting into a hard line.

Shepard stared back with a light sneer, "No. That's not the reason. It's because I found someone who accepts the things I've done and doesn't judge me for them. She showed me that no matter the past, someone can be a good man. She helped me forgive myself."

Jake started to get angry, "That's probably because you didn't tell her that you killed you own sister. Shot her right in the chest with your daddy's pistol. You're an honest to fucking God, teenage killer." he snarled.

Shepard's fists tightened hard, but he didn't get a chance to reply as Ashley stepped around him and stared them down.

"I know all about that and I don't care. He's done great things and I've seen them first hand and despite having his past, he cares for those under his command and was lucky, just like you three, to have someone who took him in after what had happened." Ashley defended as she pointed a finger at the trio.

"Well look at you... Jumping head first to defend your man. Listen princess... You have no idea what we went through when we were kids. We watched our families die and our friends were taken as slaves, so don't stand there and preach to me lady." Jake snapped, rocking forward on one leg and balling his fists.

"I'm not preaching to you and frankly, I don't care what you've done with your life, but all I see standing in front of me is three thugs who can't let go." Ashley spat back, still pointing an accusing finger.

Shepard gently grasped Ashley's arm and pulled her to him, bringing her back into his chest where he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "Easy Ash... We don't need to piss them off." he whispered into her ear and placed a soft kiss, all while keeping his eyes on the three men.

"She's a ballsy one you snagged yourself Shepard. She could get herself into some serious trouble she keeps that up." Jake said blandly as an eyebrow perked up.

"I'm pretty sure she could take care of herself Jake. Are you gonna let us by?" Shepard said as he released Ashley to grasp her hand.

"By all means... Don't let us stop you," Jake rolled his eyes as he stepped aside, letting Shepard and Ashley walked by. "By the way... Just because we know you, _Shepard_, doesn't mean you can't be robbed." he added once Shepard was in front of him.

Shepard stopped walking the second the subtle threat touched his ears. He slowly turned his head until he could glare at his old acquaintance squarely out of his right eye and allowed his body to subtly glow in a blue, smokey aura.

"Try, and you'll find yourself eating through a straw for the rest of your life." Shepard said with the upmost sincerity in his stone cold voice.

Shepard stood, rock steady, for a few more moments until he saw the slightest falter in the other man's eyes, seeing them flicker back and forth from Shepard, to Ashley and his too companions before finally coming round again to Shepard and his Biotics.

Nothing else was said as Shepard started walking again, still grasping Ashley's hand as they left the three behind and continued heading for the lake.

The lake was bright and inviting as the pair found an open spot on the small beach, laying down their blanket and stripping themselves of their clothes until they both stood in their swimwear. They bathed in the sun until it became too hot, deciding to take a quick dip into the refreshing water which quickly turned into a splashing fight that lasted hours.

Once they had realized the time, they gathered their things and headed back to their room where they cleaned up and prepared for their dinner with Father Nikolai. Again, they spent the night drinking wine, telling stories and enjoying each other's company over a delicious meal before they visited Shepard's family's grave where each said a silent prayer.

As their night drew to a close, they said their friendly goodbyes with more promises to see each other again before Shepard and Ashley headed back to their room. They took their time to enjoy the fresh stars and the crisp, cool air, snuggling into each other for a bit of warmth until they arrived at their destination and threw caution to the wind as they entangled themselves in heated flesh.

* * *

Shepard thought it was far too early for his alarm to be going off since he had just gotten to sleep no more then three hours ago. He was warm and content to stay laying where he was, Ashley resting on his chest with his arm around her and a soft, sweet smelling breeze drifting in from their window. It took him several moments until he was coherent enough to determine that the beeping wasn't an alarm, but was his Omni-Tool trying to get his attention.

With a groan, he unwound his arm from Ashley and rolled over, grasping his Omni-Tool from his bedside table to discover that he had an awaiting message. With a quick tap of his finger on the display, a vid link window popped up with the face of man he very much new.

"Captain? Do you know what time it is?" Shepard cringed as he rubbed his eyes, staying on his side now that he had to obscure Ashley from view.

_"Shepard... I'm sorry for calling you and by the looks of it, it's early, but this is urgent." _Captain Anderson said with a sigh.

"Urgent? What could possibly be urgent now? Is the Citadel under attack again?" Shepard groaned as he subtly reached behind him to keep a now awake Ashley from sitting up.

_"No, but something's come up. We've received intel that there could be pockets of Geth in the Omega Nebula and there have been two confirmed ships that have gone missing." _Captain Anderson said, the slightest hint of worry in his voice.

Shepard fully sat up into a sitting position and hung his head, "Jesus... Am I getting the hint that you're recalling me for a sweeper run?" he realized then, that he had sat up, exposing that he had someone in bed with him, but the Captain still couldn't see who it was.

_"I'm sorry, but I tried to talk the Council out of it and I'm afraid the Alliance brass is siding with them. There's nothing I can do now Shepard." _Captain Anderson said with genuine sounding sincerity.

"When do I need to be back?" Shepard sighed as his shoulders slumped.

_"As soon as possible Shepard. I've already sent the bang recall message out to the rest of the crew." _Captain Anderson said with his own sigh.

As if on cue, Ashley's Omni-Tool pinged with a new message, "We'll... I'll leave in the morning. There's someone I gotta say goodbye to here." Shepard said as he lightly scratched the back of his head.

_"Who are you with?" _Anderson asked with a light smirk across his face, having caught the slip up.

Shepard stiffened up slightly, "Do you usually make it a habit of asking me who I choose to spend a night with?"

_"I suppose it's none of my business. I apologize. I'll see you when you get to the Citadel Shepard." _

Before Shepard could say anything else, the vid link was cut from the other side, casting the room back into a silent darkness. He set his Omni-Tool back down onto the nightstand before he collapsed back into the bed with a heavy groan.

"I guess it was too much to ask for more then a weeks worth of leave huh?" Ashley sighed as she snuggled back into him.

Shepard wrapped his arm around her to hold her close and lightly brushed his fingertips over the skin of her arm, "I guess so. I'm sorry we have to cut this short Ash, but... whatever the Alliance brass says... goes."

"I can head back now if you want Skipper." Ashley said as she fluttered her hand over his strong chest.

Shepard shook his head, "No... You can sleep. I'll head out now. We'll have to plan a real vacation and next time, we'll go to a paradise planet." he smiled as he brought his hand to her cheek to brush his knuckles lightly over her skin.

"I'd like that." Ashley stretched her neck up to bring her lips to his for a slow, love filled kiss.

Shepard's hand migrated to the nape of her neck where he lightly clamped down to hold her in place. He held his breath as he felt her leg slowly glide up his body until it lay across his lap, causing him to roll over and trail his hand down her body until he gripped her thigh.

Their growing passion soon became too much for them to bear, their bodies quickly heating up until both where covered in smooth, slick layers of sweat. They both wished that their time hadn't been cut short, their feelings evident in their lovemaking, as their lips never broke contact and their hands caressed every inch of skin.

When both were satisfied that they could survive the time apart, Shepard slipped from the bed and took a quick shower before he started to pack, all while Ashley watched in bed with the sheet brought to her chest.

"I'll see you back at the ship Skipper." Ashley said as she watched Shepard zip up his bag.

Shepard sighed, "You too. I'm sorry about this Ash. I had better things in mind." he said as he walked over to the bed and sat down next to her.

"It's not your fault that our shore leave got cut. We'll make the best of it. We always do." Ashley smiled, leaning into him to place a soft, but short kiss.

Shepard rested his forehead against hers, "We will. Get some rest and I'll see you on the Citadel." he said quietly, standing from the bed and lifting his bag to his shoulder.

"I love you Gabriel." Ashley said just as he reached the door.

Shepard opened the door and paused for a moment as he looked back at the woman in his bed, "I love you too Ash." he smiled as he walked through the door and closed it, knowing that duty called.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46: It All Comes Crashing Down

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

Lycan couldn't get used to waking up to the sound of the ocean. For the last two weeks, she would open her eyes to the crashing water, embraced in the arms of her lover and best friend, Kaidan Alenko.

However, this morning was a bit different as she opened her eyes to see that she was the only one in the bed. The sheets were cold and void of his warmth, the sun already well into its course through the sky as she sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest and looked around in hopes that Kaidan was in the shower, but when she heard nothing, she slipped free and decided to get dressed.

After a quick shower, she dressed in a comfortable pair of jeans and a lovely flowing top before she pinned her hair back and headed to the kitchen of the Alenko home. As she walked in, she found Mrs. Alenko just finishing cleaning a few dishes and enjoying a cup of freshly brewed sun tea.

"Good morning Sam." Lycan said with a smile as she sat down in one of the bar stools at the large kitchen island.

"Well good morning dear. You slept in quite late today." Mrs. Alenko beamed as she offered Lycan a cup of the cooling brew.

Lycan nodded her thank you as she took the cup and took a sip, "I really didn't mean to. I like getting up earlier. Otherwise, I feel like I slept half the day away." she said, knowing the exact reason as to why she was up so late during the night.

"That's perfectly understandable my dear." Mrs. Alenko smile as she took a seat across from Lycan.

"Have you seen Kaidan at all?" Lycan asked with another sip of tea and not wanting them to fall into a slightly awkward silence.

"Oh... um... I believe he's outside on the beach practicing." Mrs. Alenko said, resting a finger against her chin as she thought.

Lycan's brow lightly furrowed, "Practicing? In his cast? On the beach?"

Mrs. Alenko chuckled, "Don't worry honey, he put something on to keep the sand out." she reassured.

"Good. Do you think he'd mind if I went out and saw him?" Lycan asked as she finished her tea.

"Absolutely not my dear. I think he'd be delighted to see you." Mrs. Alenko simply smiled.

Lycan returned the smiled as she stood from the stool and deposited her cup into the sink before she headed through the door to the beach. She walked to the railing of the deck, resting her elbows on the smoothly sanded wood as she stared out at the perfectly golden sanded beach. The sun was still behind her, so the she wasn't having to squint to look at the water and making it increasingly simple to spot the man she was looking for.

She saw Kaidan, shirtless and wearing nothing but a pair of loose fitting, light weight pants that hung low on his hips and easily drew her attention. His left leg had something covering it, but she couldn't determine what it was at that distance and he seemed to be balancing most of his weight on his right leg. She watched, her lips slightly parted as his body glowed with a light Biotic aura, his hands out in front of him as he controlled an object in the air. However, that wasn't the only thing he was doing, as he was also performing a slow speed martial art.

After watching him for a few minutes, she headed down the stairs onto the luke warm sand where she slipped off her sandals to feel the sand between her toes and walked towards him.

"How long you been out here?" Lycan asked as she walked up to him, standing a few feet away until he put down the ball he had and wiped his brow.

Kaidan turned and stepped up to her with only a modest limp, now that he was able to lightly walk on his leg, "Little over an hour I think. I thought I'd let you sleep some." he said in a low voice, placing his hands on Lycan's hips.

"Well... I did have a pretty late night last night." Lycan smirked as she stepped closer to him, wrapping her arms around his bare waist.

Kaidan lowly laughed as he drew Lycan into him and brushed the knuckles of one hand back across her cheek, "I bet you did." he smirked.

Lycan giggled as she pressed herself into him and stood on her tiptoes so that she could reach his lips for a loving, good morning kiss.

After only a few seconds, they broke their kiss with Kaidan lightly placing one more on her forehead before he picked up his shirt and threw it over his head.

"What was that martial art you were doing?" Lycan asked as she picked up the ball and slowly turned it in her hands.

"That was Tai Chi, but I'm not as good at that as I am in Aikido." Kaidan said, letting his shirt fall down his chest in smooth flows of fabric before he picked up the hand towel he used to wipe his forehead.

"I didn't know you studied any martial arts." Lycan smiled as she slowly walked at his side, giving him plenty of time to limp back towards the house.

"I did back when I was a kid. I just kept up with it over the years." Kaidan lightly shrugged, firmly gripping the handrail of the stairs as he slowly and carefully began to ascend them.

"That's neat. Maybe you can show me a few things once that leg of yours gets healed up." Lycan said with a gentle pat to the small of his back.

"Absolutely." Kaidan sent her a smile, but it was short lived when a yelling voice came down from the deck.

"Kaidan! Lycan! Come quick! Hurry! You need to see this!" Mrs. Alenko yelled from the door with worry and urgency in her voice.

Both Kaidan's and Lycan's smiles faded as they went as fast as they could up the rest of the stairs and into the house where she quickly lead them into the living room. Mr. Alenko and Nate were already sitting on the couch, both with blank expressions as they watched the news that had been muted.

"What's wrong mom? Is everything ok?" Kaidan asked with worry.

"An Alliance ship has gone down sweetie." Mrs. Alenko said, her eyes filled with concern as Lycan gasped and grasped Kaidan's hand.

Kaidan's heart immediately sped up, "What? Turn up the news." he halfway ordered as all turned their attention to the holoscreen.

_"And back to our breaking news story... The Systems Alliance stealth ship, the SSV Normandy has been shot down by an unknown assailant. Alliance officials are not releasing any information regarding the crew of the Normandy, commanded by the Savior of the Citadel, Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Shepard, and if any of her crew were able to evacuate the ship before it exploded. Stay tuned for more information as we learn it."_

Mr. Alenko switched the news feed back to mute and looked at Kaidan, seeing the stunned and dumbfounded look on his face and the terror in Lycan's eyes.

"That's your ship isn't son?" Mr. Alenko asked, setting the remote down with a shaky hand.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah, but... Why was it underway? I never got a recall message." he said, his voice growing angrier and more worried by the second.

"There was nothing sent here and you know that if there had been, we would have... Lycan? Are you alright?" Mr. Alenko's thoughts immediately shifted when he saw Lycan pressing her hand into her forehead.

Lycan's head was whirling and it felt like she had stood up too fast while under the influence of five or more beers. The edges of her vision were burred, but that wasn't what caused the pain as flashes of light and other shapes and images began to fill what little she could make out. The pain increased, the words from the holoscreen ringing loudly in her ears, over and over and she couldn't tune it out. Even when she shut her eyes, she couldn't make the whirling stop. _What's going on? My head hurts so much! What's wrong with me! _She thought as she pressed the heel of her hand into the center of her forehead and tried to look at Kaidan in hopes that it would help her balance herself.

Kaidan turned to look at her, seeing pain in her closed eyes as she leaned forward a bit to place her hand on the back of the couch to balance herself as she wavered. He reached out and lightly gripped her shoulders, pulling her to him so he could get a closer look at her.

"Ly? What's wrong?" He asked, trying to force back the frantic worry that was quickly building.

"I... My head... It hurts." she whimpered as Kaidan forced her eyes open to see the voided look they possessed.

Just as she finished speaking, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her body went limp, being caught by Kaidan as he somehow managed to lean against the couch and stay on his feet.

"Ly? Ly! Wake up baby... Come on." Kaidan said frantically as he held her unconscious form with one arm and cupped the back of her head with his hand.

"My God... Is she alright Kaidan?" Mrs. Alenko asked, frozen in place as she didn't know what to do.

"I don't know Mom." Kaidan said, his heart humming with worry and his mind running in every which direction as he tried to think of what to do next. "Here... Take her Dad. Do you still have friends at the Alliance base here?" he asked as he carefully passed Lycan to his father.

"Yes. Greg is still stationed there. He's CO of the medical sector for Vancouver." Mr. Alenko nodded, carefully cradling Lycan as he moved to lay her down on the couch.

Without saying a word, Kaidan, as quickly as his leg would let him, spurred into action as he darted down the hallway to his room. He went straight for his bag, frantically pulling everything out to find his dog tags before he went for the terminal sitting on the desk. He quickly brought up the screen, jamming a dog tag into the reader that allowed him access to secured Alliance databases and found the contact information he desperately needed.

_"Vancouver Systems Alliance Operator... How can I help you?" _a woman's disembodied voice said after only a few moments.

"I need you to put me in contact with Captain Greg Edwards. This is Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. Service number 5123-EC-2726. This is an emergency." Kaidan said, his voice giving away just how urgent the call was.

_"One moment please..."_

As Kaidan waited, he found his good leg idling rapidly underneath the table, his mind racing with hope that Lycan was ok and the need to get back to the Citadel were all front and center in his head. However, he didn't get much time to actually think about them as the person he was trying to contact answered.

_"This is Captain Edwards."_

"Greg... It's Kaidan. I need a massive favor." Kaidan said, almost demandingly.

_"Kaidan? I didn't know you were in town." _the Captain said with a fair amount of surprise in his voice.

"I'm on shore leave with my family and girlfriend." Kaidan blandly said, raking a hand back over his hair.

_"Girlfriend? My man! Congrats! What's this favor you need?" _the Captain was far too excited for the situation at hand.

"I need an emergency evac shuttle to the Citadel and I need it ASAP." Kaidan said with an official tone.

_"Med-evac shuttle? Why?" _the Captain questioned.

"It's a long, long story Greg. I really need that shuttle." Kaidan pushed, hoping he wasn't coming off as bossy to a much higher ranking officer.

_"Alright Kaidan. It's on its way. It should be there in about twenty minutes. Is that fast enough?" _the joy from the Captain's voice quickly vanished as the urgency in Kaidan's voice set in.

"That'll have to do. Thank you Greg." Kaidan breathed a short lived sigh of relief.

_"Of course. Tell your folks hi for me and good luck with whatever you're doing." _

"I will."

With that, Kaidan ended the call, but didn't exit out of the secured database as he rummaged through to find his next contact, which wasn't hard to locate since the person he was trying to find was at the top of his contact list.

_"Captain Anderson here." _the terminal squawked after only a few moments.

"Captain, it's Lieutenant Alenko." was all Kaidan said before the screen immediately turned into a vid conference.

_"Lieutenant... You must have heard about what happened to the Normandy." _Captain Anderson said, his face somehow blank.

"Yeah... On the news. In fact, it's all over the extranet. What the Hell happened?" Kaidan demanded as a hint of irritation began to show through his low voice.

_"I can't talk about it over an unsecured channel Alenko." _Captain Anderson tried as he shook his head.

"I'm logged in Captain. What... Happened?" Kaidan asked again flatly.

Captain Anderson sighed, _"Alright Lieutenant. You win. We don't know any details except for what we got from the distress beacon signal. They were shot down by an unknown ship and that they were abandoning somewhere in the Terminus Systems. We don't even know where to start looking for the escape pods... If, in fact, there is any."_

"Uh... Starting from where the _Normandy_ dropped out of contact might be a good spot." Kaidan sassed, not even caring anymore that he was talking with a Captain.

_"That's what we're going to do Alenko, but we haven't left yet." _Captain Anderson sighed again.

"What! Why not?" Kaidan barked, slamming a fist down onto his desk.

_"Relax Alenko. We've recalled the Kilimanjaro, but she hasn't arrived yet." _Anderson quickly explained in hopes of placating the agitated Lieutenant.

"Fine... Now for the million credit question. Why wasn't I recalled?" Kaidan asked, his brows pulling together.

_"We'll talk about that when you get back from your shore leave." _Anderson said flatly.

"Then that will be in a few hours. I've got an emergency med-evac shuttle coming to pick me and Lycan up." Kaidan said, still keeping his face blank of any of the emotions he was feeling regarding Lycan.

_"Why an evac shuttle?" _one of Anderson's brows quirked up.

"I'll explain when I get there." Kaidan glared.

_"Understood Lieutenant. See you in a few hours then." _Anderson sighed, which he had been doing a lot of lately.

Kaidan didn't bother with any pleasantries as he cut the link and logged out, yanking his dog tags out of the terminal, quickly slipping them over his head and headed back to the living room. When he entered, he saw his mother kneeling next to the still unconscious Lycan, lightly dabbing a damp rag to her forehead that had grown a thin layer of sweat in the short time he had been in his room. His father and brother where both standing, anxiously watching the silent news feed in hopes of finding out more about the _Normandy's_ fate.

"How is she Mom?" he asked quietly as he hobbled over to her side and knelt down, taking the rag from her to care for Lycan himself.

"She hasn't changed honey. It looks like she's having a nightmare, or a migraine." Mrs. Alenko sighed, her eyes softened with worry as she lightly placed her hand on her son's shoulder.

Kaidan's own bourbon colored eyes watched Lycan's face contort into an expression of pain, her brow still twinkling from sweat and her breathing was erratic from whatever she was dreaming about; if, in fact, she was dreaming at all.

"I don't know what to do," Kaidan slowly shook his head after a few moments of silence. "I have to get her back to the Citadel to see Dr. Chakwas and I won't have any answers until I can talk to Captain Anderson," he said, his voice almost robotic if it wasn't for the slight shake of worry as he watched Lycan's restless sleep.

Mrs. Alenko kept her caring hand onto her son's shoulder, "Carolyn is the only one who can see her?" she sweetly asked, startled at her eldest's reply.

"Yes!" Kaidan paused and drew in a long breath to bring himself back into center. "I'm sorry Mom, but yeah... she is. That's all I can say. Ok?" he added in a calmer, apologetic tone.

Mrs. Alenko nodded, "Alright... Alright. I'll go pack your things." she said as she stood and disappeared down the hall.

Mr. Alenko kept the holoscreen on mute as he sat down in an oversized chair next to the couch and leaned against the armrest with his head resting in the palm of his hand, "Son... I don't want to sound incredulous and don't think that I don't believe you, but... You don't think you received the recall message and just overlooked it do you?" he asked, slightly cringing as he expected his son to snap.

Kaidan shook his head, "No. My Omni-Tool is blank. Anderson won't tell me anything until I get back to the Citadel." he said, keeping his eyes on Lycan as he reached up and grasped her hand, lightly placing a kiss to her knuckles where he let his lips linger for just a bit.

"That's understandable." Mr. Alenko sighed, not knowing what else he could say, but he didn't have to since Kaidan decided then to purge his head.

"How could the _Normandy_ get shot down Dad? She was the most advanced ship in the fleet, with the most advanced stealth systems and she still got shot down! How..." Kaidan said, his voice trailing off as his mouth failed to get the words out.

"I wish I had an answer for you son. You'll have to be patient until you get to the Citadel." Mr. Alenko said quietly as he stood and headed down the hallway to aid his wife in packing Kaidan's and Lycan's belongings.

Kaidan refused to peel his eyes away from Lycan, even when he felt his brother's hand on his shoulder as he continued to hold her hand, dabbing the rag across her forehead until the logical side of his brain finally kicked in. He set down the rag and brought up his Omni-Tool to his medical scan program, slowly running his hovering hand over her to take scans, but the only thing that came back was an elevated heart rate and increased Oxygen intake from rapid breathing. With a heavy sigh, he shut down his Omni-Tool and wiped Lycan's brow once more before he tapped open a small light and forced her eyes open to shine it into them.

"What are you doing?" Nate asked as he watched Kaidan perform the checks.

Kaidan shut off the small light, "Checking her vitals. Her eyes still respond to light and the only notable things are an elevated heart rate and breathing. Any doctor would say that she's just having a strong reaction to a nightmare." he sighed, grasping Lycan's hand once more and holding it to his chest.

"I didn't think she was that attached to your ship." Nate said, not having the guts to look at the whimpering young woman on the couch.

"She is... More then you know Nate." Kaidan nearly whispered, brushing aside a lock of hair that had been dampened by sweat and clung to her forehead.

Nate glanced back at the silent holoscreen for a brief moment before looking back to his brother, seeing that Kaidan's eyes were saddened as he continued to lightly run his fingers through her hair.

"You really care about her don't you?" Nate asked, lightly running his tongue over his lips.

Kaidan huffed, "I love her Nate. I'm terrified that something is very wrong and I can't do anything to help her... That's why I need to get her to the Citadel as fast as I can."

Nate simply nodded as he let their conversation slip into silence just as a soft knock rapped against the front door that sparked Chester into a fit of barking and whining. The noise finally drew Kaidan's attention away from Lycan, forcing him to look up and see his younger brother answer the door to the military paramedics that wasted no time in coming inside.

As the paramedics came to his and Lycan's side, he relayed what little information he could about her condition as he worked his way to his feet with the help of one of the paramedics. His mother and father returned to the living room with their bags packed, taking them straight to the awaiting shuttle outside before they stood on the porch to watch as the paramedics pulled a hover stretcher from the back and wheeled it inside their home.

"I need her birthdate and basic information Lieutenant Alenko." one of the paramedics said as he helped his partner carefully move Lycan onto the stretcher.

"I can't tell you that information Sergeant. It's classified." Kaidan said flatly as he began to hobble towards to front door.

"Well, then we can't transport her." the paramedic said a little too emotionlessly.

That response didn't sit too well with Kaidan however, as he reached out, snagged a thick handful of the paramedic's uniform and yanked the Sergeant to him.

"You _will_ and you'll transport her all the way to Captain Anderson's office. I'm Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko andif you have a problem with that, then you can take it up with him." Kaidan snarled, not even blinking his eyes as he stared straight into the Sergeant's shaking ones.

"C-Captain Anderson? The human Council initiate Captain Anderson?" the paramedic slightly stuttered, sporadically waving a hand to keep his partner from interfering.

"Yeah... That's the guy." Kaidan's eyes narrowed as he released his grip on the Sergeant's collar.

The younger man just stood for a moment, seemingly sizing up the Lieutenant before he looked over his shoulder at his awaiting partner, "Load up. Set course for the Citadel." he ordered in almost a monotoned voice.

As the paramedics loaded Lycan into the shuttle and secured the stretcher, Kaidan hobbled over to his family, still standing on the porch with his mother and father standing in each others arms.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go." Kaidan said quietly as he gave his parents and brother a quick goodbye hug.

"Don't be sorry Son. Keep us updated on her... if you can. She's a wonderful woman for you." Mr. Alenko said with a curt nod.

"I will... and thank you Dad." Kaidan lightly smiled before he stepped into the shuttle and disappeared, determined to get his answers on the Citadel.

* * *

The nearly six hour flight from his parents home on Earth to the Citadel had not been a restful one. Kaidan had spent the entire time at Lycan's side, holding her hand and listening to her staggered breathing as her nightmares persisted for the entire flight. The only change in her condition had been when she had begun to quietly mumble, uttering what seemed to be random moans that Kaidan couldn't piece together to make any sense.

Now, he sat outside the human embassy with the same two paramedics and a stretcher with his girlfriend still laying on it. He sat in his nicest shirt and slacks, having changed while they were on approach to their assigned dock and took a few moments to make himself presentable since he had left his uniforms back at his apartment. As he waited, he took the time to compile all his questions into some kind of order, but it hadn't been an easy task since he was still worried for Lycan's well-being.

At the receptionist's ok to head into the embassy, Kaidan simply nodded and stood, taking a moment to straighten his tie before he motioned for the paramedics to follow him inside.

"Lieutenant... I'm glad you're here." Captain Anderson said as he stood from his desk and walked up to him to shake his hand.

"I came as fast as I could." Kaidan said, pointing to where he wanted the paramedics to stop the stretcher and then instructed them to stand and wait outside.

The two men waited a moment until the paramedics were outside before they began to conduct their business.

"What happened to her? Is she alright?" Anderson asked, stepping up to the stretcher and quickly glancing over Lycan.

"I don't know. Her heart rate and breathing are both elevated and she isn't responding to outside stimuli. She passed out after we saw the extranet report about the _Normandy._" Kaidan said, his hard expression softening as he turned his gaze towards her.

"Alliance Intel doesn't know how it leaked so quickly Lieutenant and they're still trying to figure it all out." Anderson said, slowly shaking his head.

"Well... It did and they certainly wasted no time in reminding people that Shepard was the Savior of the Citadel." Kaidan scoffed, wanting to get to the myriad of questions that were still bouncing around his head.

"The Alliance is doing everything they can to find and plug the leak, but they have a lot of other things to worry about." Anderson said as he walked back to his desk and sat down with a sigh.

"Like explaining why I wasn't recalled when you sent the _Normandy_ out on a mission." Kaidan said snidely as he lightly patted Lycan's hand before he hobbled the short couple steps to a chair and sat himself.

"There's something you should see." Anderson said as he stiffly drew in a long breath, reaching into a drawer and pulling a datapad that he slid across the table to Kaidan.

Kaidan's brows pulled together hard as he read, "What do you mean you've got intel?" he half snarled, locking gazes with the Captain.

Anderson sighed, "Alliance Intelligence has caught wind of reports mentioning someone codenamed the 'Time Jumper'. None of the reports mention any names and the way they read is pretty vague and suggests that they don't know who the person is."

"You think they're talking about Ly?" Kaidan asked, still with furrowed brows.

Again, Anderson sighed, "I don't know, but she's the only one who we know of that could qualify."

Kaidan sat up stick straight, "Wait a minute... You just said 'we'. Who else knows about Lycan, other then the people whom were on the ship?"

"Admiral Hackett. He's the only other one who knows about her." Anderson said evenly.

"How did he take that?" Kaidan asked, trying to keep from sounding angry.

"Shocked, to put it mildly. He's the one who forwarded me the reports. Just think about it Alenko... If whoever is looking for Lycan discovers her and gets their hands on her, they would become the most powerful entities in the galaxy. She is the most powerful weapon we have against the Reapers. Admiral Hackett and I are in agreement that she needs to be protected at all costs." Anderson said.

"She _was _the most powerful." Kaidan corrected with another glance over towards her.

"What do you mean?" Anderson asked with furrowing brows.

Kaidan sighed and slumped back into his seat, "The short version is that the timeline started to change. Things were getting harder, more unpredictable and it almost got Shepard, Ashley and Tali killed when Shepard drove the Mako off a cliff. The best thing we could think of that could halt the changes was to have her memory wiped so that's what we did. Liara cleared Ly's memory of all the knowledge she knew. She doesn't even remember where she came from, let alone her own birthday." he explained as best he could.

"You mean... she doesn't remember anything about what's going to happen?" Anderson asked as a sinking feeling dropped into his stomach.

"I'm afraid not Captain." Kaidan sighed and slowly shook his head.

Anderson blew out a long breath, "Well... regardless, she still needs to be protected because whoever is looking for her doesn't know that. She's still in danger." Anderson said.

Kaidan dropped the datapad onto the desk and pinched the bridge of his nose, "So, why make me think that I missed ship's movement?"

"That's just how he and I decided to play it. We're confident that you could keep her safe if anything came to pass." Anderson said, filling his tone with as much sincerity and empathy as he could manage.

"And if it does? What if we're encountered by those forces when trying to locate a rescue the _Normandy_ crew? " Kaidan asked, noticing that his good leg had started to bounce with his rising anxiety.

"That's why the Alliance recalled the Kilimanjaro. She's got enough fire power to destroy a large asteroid." Anderson slowly shook his head.

"Speaking of... Has she arrived yet?" Kaidan asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Not yet. She's due to dock in just under an hour." Anderson said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I wanna come along on the rescue mission Captain." Kaidan said flatly.

"I don't know if I can allow that Alenko..." Anderson was interrupted when Kaidan rose to his feet and planted his hands firmly on the desk.

"I have to come along Captain. If Dr. Chakwas onboard when the ship was shot down, then that's all the more reason. Lycan needs to see a doctor and Dr. Chakwas is the only one who can." Kaidan asked, forcing back his growing anger.

Anderson's shoulders slumped, "I agree... Especially with this intel that could possibly result in Lycan's capture and subsequent experimentation."

"How are we gonna make sure that no one has infiltrated the Alliance ranks in hopes of getting closer to Lycan if they do know who she is?" Kaidan asked, sitting back down in his seat.

"That's why Admiral Hackett and I discretely ordered that she stay in your company and with that said, that brings me to your new assignment." Anderson said, sitting up straight once more as he reached for another datapad.

"New assignment?" Kaidan asked as he accepted the new datapad and began to read.

"Your new assignment is to be Lycan's bodyguard until further notice." Anderson blandly.

Kaidan's went wide as he kept reading the datapad, but his eyes froze when they graced over his rank.

"Uh... Sir? I'm not a Staff Commander." Kaidan pointed with an arced eyebrow.

"You are now." Anderson simply said.

"What? You're promoting me?" Kaidan tried not to yelp or let his voice squeak.

"Yes." Anderson blandly said without even looking up from the datapad in his hands.

Kaidan forced himself to breath as he glanced over at Lycan, hoping in some way that her condition had changed for the better, "So... What am I supposed to do besides not let Ly out of my sight?"

"Live your life and keep her safe Alenko." Anderson said, pulling another collection of datapads from his desk.

"Just living... with Lycan... day to day... in my apartment?" Kaidan asked, arcing an eyebrow.

"Yes actually. You'll receive weekly intelligence reports from Admiral Hackett via your private terminal and I've taken the liberty of having your apartment swept for bugs and having the most up to date security installed. Is there any other security measures you can think of that you want?" Anderson asked as he spread out the datapads on his desk and began to scan through them.

Kaidan's head was spinning with all the information he was being force fed, "Uh... My dog would be nice. He's with my parents back in Vancouver." he just blurted out.

"Understood. I'll arrange for your dog's transport to your apartment," Anderson said without looking at Kaidan as he picked up one of the datapads. "Now... With that covered, we come to the subject of securing Lycan's identity. Are you opposed to forging her papers?"

Again, Kaidan's brows furrowed, "That's not my call to make Captain. It's her identity so you'd have to ask her if and when she wakes up. Right now, she is completely dependent on me, not like I have any problems with supporting her, but still... she can't even buy anything because she has no ID, let alone her own Omni-Tool and accounts." he said, finally managing to begin to absorb all the information.

"When she wakes up then, we'll have to address this. It'll most likely include a name change of some sort and basic information. We'll need to establish a background, legit birthdate and birthplace..." Anderson nodded as the comm on his desk chimed and interrupted him.

_"Captain Anderson... The Kilimanjaro is on approach." _the receptionist's voice quietly said.

"Thank you. Inform the dock that we're on our way." Anderson said as he cleaned up his desk and stood.

_"Understood Sir." _

"Anyways... We better go. We'll discuss this later."

With that, Captain Anderson and Kaidan prepared to leave, both men grasping the stretcher as they dismissed the paramedics and called for a private shuttle that would take them straight to the Kilimanjaro's dock where she would begin her search for the _Normandy_ and her crew.

* * *

The Kilimanjaro was a sight to behold. She was a ship of incredible size, being a full kilometer long and both sides of her hull were lined with an arsenal of one hundred and fifty-six mass accelerator cannons that could tear into anything that crossed her. However, she was not looking to shred through slavers or wipe pirates from the face of the galaxy, she was on a mission of much greater importance that she had been conducting for a couple days.

Kaidan had been sitting in his assigned room, working on the mountain of paperwork he had been handed by Captain Anderson for not just his promotion, but for his new assignment as well nearly the entire time. He quit counting at how many times he had looked over his shoulder at Lycan, still unconscious in the queen sized bed, but whatever nightmares that had been plaguing her had calmed and she seemed to be resting comfortably.

A gentle knock at the door ripped him from his mind numbing work, causing him to stand from his chair with a long groan and hobble over to answer it.

"Lieutenant Alenko." he said in a cracky voice, rubbing his eyes from the sting of overwork.

_"Don't you mean Commander?" _the familiar voice of Captain Anderson said through the intercom on the door.

With an exhausted laugh, Kaidan unlocked and opened the door to let the Captain inside, finding that he was pushing a small cart that was laden with food and would be plenty for a Biotic and his non-Biotic guest.

"Yeah... I'm still getting used to that." Kaidan said as he limped over to the small dining table where Captain Anderson had begun to lay out the spread.

"You'll get used to it. Hungary? I figured you could use a meal." Anderson said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Yeah... I could use some food. I've been plugging away on all that paperwork you buried me with." Kaidan huffed another tired laugh as he checked on Lycan before he sat down at the small table.

"I am sorry about that. How's it coming along anyways?" Anderson asked as he sat and passed out the silverware.

"It's slow. I keep checking on Lycan to see if she's changed at all." Kaidan sighed as he started in on his generic ship quality meal.

"How is she?" Anderson asked.

"Still unconscious. Her pupils still react to light and her heart and breathing rate have steadied, but other then that, nothing's changed. It reminds me of when Shepard was hit by that Prothean beacon actually." Kaidan said with another glance over towards the bed.

"Interesting... Do you think she's dreaming at all like he was?" Anderson asked, his voice trailing off at the thought.

"She might be if her rapid eye movement is anything to go by." Kaidan said, slowly shaking his head as he stuffed a large forkful of food into his mouth.

"Well... Maybe she'll wake up soon." Anderson said quietly and more as a friend, then a superior officer to a subordinate.

"I hope so," Kaidan nodded and sighed. "We've picked up the distress beacon's signal right?" he asked, curious.

Anderson nodded, "We have the signal, but not the trail."

"Was there any messages laced into it?" Kaidan asked with slightly furrowed brows.

Anderson's face went blank for a brief moment as he set down his utensils and sighed, "Yes... There was."

"What was the message?" Kaidan asked, having a knot begin to tangle in his stomach from the instant anxiety.

"Alenko... Kaidan... I don't think it's a good idea." Anderson said with the slight shake in his voice.

"Captain... Please." Kaidan locked eyes with the man sitting across from him and held it.

Anderson sighed heavily as he stood and walked up to the terminal that rested on a small, plain desk near the bed. He typed in a few things that Kaidan couldn't see, still seated at the table and watching as a small screen popped up on the terminal with the wavelengths of someone's voice on it.

_"Shepard!" _the voice of Ashley shouted through the speakers, clouded and distorted by what Kaidan could only guess was explosions, colored with static.

_"The distress beacon is ready for launch." _it was Shepard's voice.

_"Will the Alliance get here in time?"_

A loud, earsplitting explosion sounded, sending static through the room.

_"The Alliance won't abandon us! We just need to hold on! Get everyone onto the escape shuttles!"_

More static.

_"Joker's still in the cockpit! He won't abandon ship!... I'm not leaving either."_

_ "I need you to get the crew onto the evac shuttles. I'll take care of Joker."_

Another popping explosion, laced with more heavy static.

_"Commander..."_

_ "Ashley... Go... Now." _there was a lot of hesitation in his voice that Kaidan could clearly hear.

With more static, there was a long pause before the voice of Ashley returned.

_"Aye aye Skipper."_

Anderson cut the feed and shut down the terminal, pursing his lips together as he pinched the bridge of his nose and looked back at Kaidan.

Kaidan's eyes were shaking and glazed as he tried to swallow not only the thick lump that had grown in his throat, but the electric tingling of his Biotics that had begun to trickle over his skin. His heart thrummed in his chest like the drive core of the ship and his shaky breath seemed forced as he simply tried to remember how to breath. His hands had clamped down around his knife and fork so tightly, that his knuckles were white and his fingernails were digging into his palm hard enough to threaten breaking skin.

After several tense moments, Kaidan was finally able to reign in his power and wild emotions enough to actually speak.

"The beacon recorded their conversation. Shepard must have activated it before he launched it." Kaidan said, still with a shaky voice as he finally set his knife and fork down.

"That's what we think. Shortly after the message, the beacon reported as launched and the _Normandy's_ signature vanished off it's sensors." Anderson sighed, setting his eyes only to floor as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Jesus Christ... The ship must have been blown apart then." Kaidan said, blowing out a long and stale breath that had clouded his lungs.

Anderson slowly nodded as he sat back down, "I'm afraid you're probably right. Once we locate the _Normandy's_ crash site, we'll probably discover her in pieces."

"Those pods have got to be close." Kaidan asked, having very much lost his appetite.

"We have a ways to go yet. You should probably get some rest before our search really begins. You look like you could use it." Anderson said kindly, standing from the table and lightly clapping Kaidan on the back.

Kaidan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with both hands, "I know. I just don't think I'll be able to sleep with all this on my mind and if I don't stop thinking, my head is liable to explode into a solar flare of a migraine." he groaned as he slumped back into his chair.

"Do you need something to help you sleep?" Anderson offered, now looking at Kaidan as more of a son.

Kaidan's lips lightly quirked into a miniscule half smile as he looked up at Anderson, "Thank you, but no. I don't wanna be drugged up if Ly wakes up."

"Alright. I'll leave you to finish eating and get some rest. I'll let you know if anything comes up." Anderson said with another light pat to Kaidan's shoulder as he left his half empty plate and started towards the door.

"You didn't finish your food." Kaidan silently laughed as he turned in his chair to watch Anderson stop just as the door hissed open.

"To be honest with you, I ate something before I came down here. Feel free to finish it off." Anderson smiled and nodded before he left Kaidan in the silence.

Left with only the gentle, symphonic thrum of the drive core as company, he finished his meal, leaving the other and he decided that he at least needed to try and get some sleep before the real work began. He left the plates were they were as he stood and went to the small utility bathroom/shower to clean himself up a bit before scuffing over to the bed where he sat down and kicked off his shoe. Not even bothering to get undressed, he swung around to check on Lycan, sighing quietly as he found that she hadn't changed before he laid down close to her and fell to sleep.

* * *

Kaidan's dreams were plagued with uncertainty and confusion, half being dedicated to the worry of finding the survivors of the downed _Normandy_, while the other was of Lycan and his desire to see her wake. However, in the middle of the night cycle, his ears were met with mumbles and whimpers from the very woman who's eyes he wanted to open.

He came to as Lycan's breathing quickened and her throat rumbled with low moans of what he believed sounded like growing anxiety. He sat up, his tired eyes watching Lycan as she begin to lightly writhe and her head tossed from side to side as if she was trying to shake something away. He slipped his arm behind her neck and shoulders and pulled her to him, softly brushing aside a dreaded clump of sweat dried hair as he watched her eyes flutter like mad.

His worry for her, however, was shortly shot down when her eyes flew open wide and her hands grabbed fistfuls of his tank to help ground herself as she began to collect herself from what she had just been through.

"Ly? Ly... honey... Say something." Kaidan whispered to her, holding her to him as he gently nudged her head towards him to force her to look at him.

Lycan's head was still whirling when her eyes finally laid on the man she loved. Her body seemed weighted and her mind was aflame with different thoughts and images, but she found that much needed sense of calm when she stared into the caramel depths of her lover's eyes.

"K-Kaidan? W-Where are w-we?" she asked, her breath still coming fast as she kept her eyes locked with his to keep the whirling at bay.

Kaidan's heart leapt from his chest at the sound of his name coming from her lips and all he could think of at that moment was to pull her into a relieved embrace that he had to force himself to loosen.

"Are you ok? I was so worried about you." Kaidan quickly asked, at the moment, being more concerned about her then where they were.

"I'm... I'm ok... I think. W-Where are we Kaidan?" Lycan asked, her voice starting to shake as her eyes briefly searched around the bland room.

Kaidan swallowed the lump in his throat once more as he lovingly placed his hand along the side of her neck, "We're on the Kilimanjaro." he simply whispered, the joy from his ton slipping from his raspy voice.

A single tear leapt from Lycan's eye and slowly crawled down her cheek until it disappeared beneath Kaidan's hand. She took a deep breath, steadying herself and forcing back the sobs that played at the top of her throat.

"Have we picked up the pods yet?" she asked, snuggling into Kaidan's hold as she kept her eyes on his.

Kaidan's eyebrows pulled into a soft line as his breath caught, "W-What? How did you know we were out here to pick up the survivors?" his stomach started to flip.

Another sob threatened to send her into a fit, "B-because I remember. I remember everything. I remember that I'm from the year 2011. I was born September 14th, 1985... I had a younger brother... My parents were still married by the time I disappeared into that wormhole and I remember everything about... this. I remember it all Kaidan." her voice trembled.

Kaidan stopped breathing for a moment as he helped her to sit up and placed his hands on both sides of her neck, "It's all back? Everything?" he forced himself to say, his eyes, laden with shock and searching hers for answers.

Lycan nodded as she placed her hands over his, "Yes... Have we found the survivors yet?"

"No... Not yet. Do you know where they are?" Kaidan asked, not caring about the consequences that asking her could cause.

Lycan placed her hands over his, still resting on the side of her neck, "You remember what happened the last time I told you what I know. It nearly destroyed everything." she lightly shook her head.

Kaidan shut his eyes tightly and glanced down at the generic bed, "Ly... You aren't having your memory wiped again. I won't let it, but this situation... Our friends are out there in space and they have been for a couple days. We can deal with what happens." he said, looking back up at her with sincerity and love in his eyes.

Another tear plunged from Lycan's eye, "You can't let anyone know where you got the information from. This has to stay our secret." she whispered.

Kaidan nodded in agreement, "You're right. No one can know. Where can we find the pods." he asked, letting his hands drop from the sides of her neck.

"I'm... I'm not one hundred percent sure, but... try somewhere near Alchera. It's in the Omega Nebula." Lycan said, taking in a deep breath to steal her nerves.

"I know what to do then. Come on." Kaidan said as he crawled off the bed and grasped Lycan's hand.

They quickly left the room and migrated through the throngs of passageways and lifts until they came up to the large, guarded door of the bridge.

"Sir... She can't come in here." one of the guards said as he held a hand out to halt their progress.

"She's fine. I'll sign for her and she's part of this assignment." Kaidan said, slightly standing in front of Lycan to shield her from the sentry's.

"As long as you're willing to sign for her. One second sir... Let me get the sign in pad."

The guard motioned for his partner to fetch the datapad, which was sitting on a small table just on the other side of the door. The guard handed the datapad to Kaidan who filled out the required fields and accepted the badge that was to be pinned to Lycan's clothing.

"Keep her in your sights at all times sir." the guard said blandly as he stepped aside and let them pass.

Kaidan merely nodded as he grasped Lycan's hand again and headed inside, taking a quick moment to find and locate Captain Anderson who was standing by the holotable with a legion of navigators by his side as they tried to track and find signs of the _Normandy's_ survivors.

"Captain Anderson!" Kaidan called out as he nearly drug Lycan over to the holotable.

"Alenko? What are you doing up here?" Anderson gasped as he stood up straight, revealing that he was also standing next to Admiral Hackett.

Kaidan, still leading Lycan along, quickly closed on the large holotable and squeezed in between the Captain and the Admiral, "I think I know how to find them." he said, finally letting go of Lycan's hand.

Captain Anderson and Admiral Hackett both just stared at Kaidan and Lycan for a moment before both, simultaneously decided to let him have the floor.

"What do you have in mind Commander Alenko?" Admiral Hackett asked as he rested his hands on the edge of the table.

"The Captain said that we were tracking a signal, but he didn't say which. I just assumed it was the distress beacon's signal, but if that was the case, then we would have found the pods by now." Kaidan started as he brought up his Omni-Tool and start manipulating the navigation holotable.

"We're tracking the _Normandy's_ signature." Admiral Hackett clarified.

"That's what I started to think. What was the mission she was on?" Kaidan asked, looking over to Captain Anderson.

"Recon for any remaining Geth pockets still loyal to Saren." Anderson answered.

"She'd be doing search patterns then," Kaidan's mouth quirked into a crooked grin as the holotable highlighted the path they were taking.

The new image displayed across the holotable was a square that spiraled inward and there were two other patterns that had already been completely in corresponding grids that the sector had been dissected into.

"It's a standard search pattern. It's nothing special." one of the navigators said with a shrug.

"Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be, but we're under a search and rescue. If we keep cutting the same squares the _Normandy_ did, then all we're gonna find is a bunch of metal coffins floating in space." Kaidan said, scanning the small group who's eyes were glued to him.

"So what do we do then Alenko?" Hackett asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We ping the beacon." Kaidan simply said.

"We can't do that! We're deep inside the Terminus Systems! If we do that, then we could spark a war!" another, far younger and female navigator yelped.

"We have no choice. If we don't, then those survivors are as good as dead. What's our IFF reading as?" Kaidan asked.

"Systems Alliance SSV Dreadnaught Kilimanjaro. Why?" a third navigator answered with a furrowed brow line.

"We can change the IFF signature to read as Search and Rescue. No merc band, pirate or slaver is gonna attack if we fly under that banner. You don't need to list our name or organization, just have it register as SAR." Kaidan said, taking a deep breath as he saw none of the navigators moving.

"Carry out the order gentlemen." Hackett said with a strong glare.

"That was an order Admiral?" the young female navigator asked.

"It is now... Go." Hackett said flatly as he watched the navigators vanish, leaving the four standing by themselves at the holotable.

"Continue." Hackett ordered, eager to hear his plan.

"Signals always travel in straight lines, no matter what and the only way you can bend them, is to send them through comm relays and buoys. Once the ping gets back to us, we can backtrace the signal through the buoys it took to reach the Citadel." Kaidan explained, continuing his manipulation of the holotable by zooming out to show the entire Omega Nebula and the paths they have already taken.

"It's a viable plan Alenko." Captain Anderson nodded with a quick glance to Admiral Hackett.

"Admiral... The IFF is changed." the female navigator reported from another station not far from them.

"Send the ping." Hackett said blandly.

"Which direction sir?" she asked.

Hackett glanced to Kaidan.

"Omni-Directional Ensign." Kaidan ordered.

The young navigator nodded and carried out her order for those at the holotable as they watched the digital representation of their ping get sent out across the cosmos like a wave expanding in all directions.

The bridge remained silent as all waited for their ping to report back along its digital comm track, hoping that it would give them a positive response.

"Ping has reported back Admiral. Linking results to table." the Ensign relayed as she did just that.

The holotable's image shifted and turned to display the results that had been sent to it, highlighting a series of dots that indicated comm buoys that had been used by the distress signal they had been looking for.

Kaidan, using his finger, connected the dots in the reverse order they had been used until the line he was making ran right into a planet that he circled.

"That's the trail we follow. Those pods are gonna be near there and probably in orbit around that planet." Kaidan said, trying not to jump up and down with excitement and urgency.

"Well done Commander Alenko," Hackett nodded before he looked to the cluster of helmsmen. "Set course for Alchera. Lets get our people back."


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47: The Nightmare Begins

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

_ How could this happen? Who attacked us? Did Shepard make it off the ship in time? _Ashley's thoughts were running wild in the deep red lighting of the escape pod. The others were asleep, having curled up in spots on the floor, as well as their seats to try and catch some rest in hopes that it would distract them from their hunger. It had been a rough couple of days, not knowing if anyone was on the way to rescue them, or if something far darker had them in their sights and were looking to pick up some ransom rights... or worse.

Ashley and a few others had coordinated their efforts via the short range comms in the pods that still hung in space near a large, icy blue ball of a planet. They had rationed the small supply of emergency rations as best they could, but it hadn't been easy. They were all hungary and the low growl of rumbling stomachs was nearly a constant inside the pods now.

With nothing to do, Ashley sat in the singular chair at the front of the pod, staring out into the black of space through the small series of screens in front of her and letting her thoughts run amuck.

She had walked away from him, but she was ordered to. He had ordered her away and she had followed it with little more then an 'aye aye.' She had done what he asked though, she had gotten everyone she could into the escape pods, but there were still those that had gone down with the _Normandy._ She had calculated about twenty souls that the _Normandy_ had taken with her, having gotten the names of those that were missing from the other crew members that she had assigned as leaders in the other pods. Her emotions had long since dulled from the time of soundless and motionless drifting in space, but every now and again, flutters of worry and doubt would twitch. She didn't know if her friend, lover and Commanding Officer had made it out with their stubborn, sarcastic pilot, but she couldn't deny that if he hadn't stayed and done what he had done, they all would be dead and the Alliance would be looking for ghosts, if they were looking at all.

The soft scuffs of socked feet ripped her out of the dark whirlpool of thoughts and she sighed with a glimmer of relief as she glanced over her shoulder to see Dr. Chakwas stepping up to her with a blanket in her arms.

"How are you feeling?" Dr. Chakwas asked in a voice that was barely above a whisper, unfolding and placing the blanket over Ashley.

Ashley shrugged, "I wouldn't be able to tell you doc. I honestly don't know how I feel." she kept her eyes trained on the screens and the stars as the edge of the same planet came into their view for the umpteenth time.

"That's perfectly understandable my dear." Dr. Chakwas lightly smiled as she slid down the bulkhead to sit on the floor next to Ashley.

"I think I'm even into numb at this point," Ashley lightly gnawed on the inside of her bottom lip, her head slowly starting to shake. "Why is the Alliance taking so damn long? We aren't gonna last much longer out here." she added after a short moment of silence.

"We're in the Terminus Systems my dear. We just have to be patient." Dr. Chakwas said kindly as she reached out and lightly grasping Ashley's hand.

Ashley simply nodded as the two fell into silence and stared out of the view screens, watching the stars slowly spin as their pod, accompanied by all the others, slowly orbited the planet below. The sheer beauty of the vista was remarkable, even with the slight distortion of the screens. The stars were bright, the colors that swirled around the planet were stunning, but the serenity was nearly completely overshadowed by the deafening silence.

The silence only enabled Ashley's mind to wonder and it had been doing so much of it as of late, that every time any thoughts of Shepard worked their way out, she would near tears and she would pray that he was alright. Not knowing was tearing her to pieces, but she didn't have the luxury of breaking down, not with a job to do.

Both women felt their exhaustion creeping up on them as the stars mesmerized them, lolling them to start falling asleep, but the sudden beeping of the pod's short range scanner ripped both from the brink of rest. They leaned forward and checked the tiny radar to get their bearings before they both glanced at the screen, just in time to see the ship coming around from the dark side of the planet.

They stayed silent as they watched the ship slowly and fluidly maneuver into position, watching the massive cargo bay doors silently open as it prepared to devour them, which it did in one gulp. Everyone inside the pod was jarred awake as the pod touched down onto the cargo bay floor of the unknown ship and the sudden, yet muffled voices of the ship's crew outside began to work their way into the pod.

Ashley, Dr. Chakwas and those inside watched the door as the gentle rattling from the other side told them that someone was working on getting the door open, but they held their breath when the door hissed and opened to allow light that hurt their eyes inside.

Ashley shielded her eyes from the brightness, giving them a moment to adjust until the darkened silhouette of whomever opened the door identified itself in a clear and distinguishable voice.

"Ashley?" the silhouette said in a low, raspy voice.

"LT?" was all Ashley could manage as her eyes continued to adjust along with everyone else's.

The silhouette stepped aside as a few other crew members came in and helped the survivors out of the pod. Ashley slowly and rather clumsily made her way towards the door where the silhouette finally quit being a faceless shadow.

"LT... " Ashley managed to say as she looked around the cargo bay to see that it had been filled with all the other escape pods.

"Ashley... It's me. Are you hurt?" Kaidan asked as he quickly began checking her vitals and shining a small light into her stinging eyes.

Ashley winced at the light and shoved Kaidan away, still unsure if it was really him, or if she was simply dreaming that they had been rescued. She continued looked around as the other pods were opened and their contents stepped out, spurring her into clumsy action as she stumbled to search for the one she hoped was amongst them.

She started to quickly scurry through the growing crowd, looking at the faces she new well, but none were of the one she wanted most.

"Skipper!" she called out, nearly running through the throngs of people as she looked in every opened pod and every person around.

She kept frantically searching until she came up the last unopened pod, sparking her heart and hope into action as she ran for it. She rushed through the opening sequence, having to stop her hands from shaking with hope by pressing them hard into the pods side for a moment before continuing with the sequence.

After a frantic minute, the door hiss loudly and slowly creaked open, spilling light into the pod's interior and the remaining crew it held.

Ashley's lips spread into a wide, relieved smile as she steadied herself on the hatch's edges and stared, seeing the lone man laying on his side on the floor. He laid perfectly still, somewhat cradling his arm to his body, but still not moving and not even bothering to look and see whom had opened the pod. Her heart leapt from her chest as she darted forward and dropped to her knees, gently placing her hands on the man's shoulders as she carefully scooped him up into her arms and gazed at his face.

However, the moment she laid eyes upon the man she now held, her smile dropped from her face, erasing any emotion to reflect what just happened in her chest. Her heart froze, stopped beating beneath her sternum and rendering her a cold, breathing lump of flesh that would never thaw, as it was as cold as the deepest black of space. She was no longer aware of the man she held, nor was she aware of the people the came inside and took him away. There was no sound, no smell, no feel. There was only empty. A perfect, all encompassing void of empty.

"He's... Gone?"

* * *

Kaidan and Lycan had both watched as Ashley shoved Kaidan away and ran off, shouting out Shepard's name and searching every pod that she could get near until she reached the last one. They had quickly followed her, but she was far quicker in her urgency to find him as she left them in her dust and disappeared inside the pod they now stood near.

Now, they stood in each others arms and watched as the medics wheeled Joker with what they could only guess were dozens of injuries while the others were cared for and given food and water.

Kaidan was about to step inside the pod until he felt Lycan grasp his arm, halting his progress as Dr. Chakwas walked up to them with a blanket around her shoulders.

"Dr. Chakwas... You're ok." Lycan beamed, stepping up to the older woman and giving her a hug, playing off that she didn't already know that she would be.

Dr. Chakwas returned the embrace, "Yes dear... I am, but I'm afraid we lost some good people." she sighed, her face saddened.

_Presley and Shepard to name two, _"God... W-Where's Shepard?" Lycan feigned, forcing her eyes to sting which didn't take much considering that this time, she actually knew the man.

"He's gone." Ashley said as she stumbled out of the pod, her eyes grayed and her voice nearly completely emotionless.

All three turned to look at her just as her legs gave out and she began to fall to the deck. Fortunately, she was caught by Kaidan and he slowed her decent so that she didn't hurt herself when she hit the hard metal.

"Shepard's dead. He saved Joker, but he didn't make it." Ashley continued, her eyes set into a blank stare as she lay limp against Kaidan, having no energy to even bother sitting up on her own.

Lycan knelt down in front of the broken woman and gently grasped both sides of her neck, knowing that she couldn't tell her that in two years, she would see him again, so instead, she remained silent and pulled her into a hug that she didn't reciprocate.

The small group sat in silence as the news took root, only Lycan knowing the truth, but that still couldn't stop the tears and sobs from coming. This time around, she knew Shepard, was even a friend to him and was involved with the man's best friend. Her heart ached with the loss and she knew that Kaidan, Ashley and Dr. Chakwas felt it too, but it didn't help the fact that she had lost a close friend. She glanced up to see Kaidan maneuver in next to her and wrap his arms around them both, holding them as Dr. Chakwas knelt down and hugged Ashley's back.

This is how they were grouped for several moments until Dr. Chakwas realized that Ashley wasn't sobbing. She pulled back and dried her eyes before she gently pushed Kaidan and Lycan aside to look into Ashley's face, seeing that her eyes weren't red at all, not even ringed with threatening tears, but instead, they were blank and lifeless.

"Ashley?... Sweetie?" Dr. Chakwas asked quietly as she lightly grasped either side of Ashley's face to force her to look at her, but even then, they simply stared straight through her.

"Ashley... Say something dear. Are you alright?" Dr. Chakwas repeated as she started to check the comatose woman's vitals.

Watching Ashley not respond to her own name, Kaidan decided to try something in a desperate attempt at getting her to snap out of it and it wasn't comforting in the least bit.

"Chief Williams?" Kaidan asked, placing a hand lightly on her shoulder as he felt a pang of guilt for reverting to military terms instead of words of comfort and friendship.

Ashley's eyes finally blinked a couple times before they shifted to look at the source of the low voice, "Y-Yes LT? I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to derelict on my duties sir. I'll get to tending to the injured survivors."

As Ashley made to stand, all three pushed her back down, realizing then that the woman sitting in front of them was no longer Ashley Williams, but Gunnery Chief Williams and even she was just a shell.

"Is something wrong LT?" Chief Williams asked, looking at the three emotionlessly.

"Doctor... Take her to the Med Bay. We'll be there in a bit." Kaidan said, helping Dr. Chakwas rise with the frozen husk of a woman and gently nudged her on her way.

"LT? I'm fine. I'm not hurt." Chief Williams protested as she lightly struggled.

"That's an order Chief. Get yourself checked out like all the others." Kaidan said with an official tone.

Chief Williams merely sighed, "Aye aye sir."

As Dr. Chakwas lead the Chief away, Kaidan and Lycan could only watch, feeling the throbbing ache in their chests build as the truth about Shepard began to take hold, but Lycan forced it back as she threaded her hand into Kaidan's and lightly squeezed it which got his attention.

"I can't believe he's gone." Kaidan finally said in the lowest voice he could manage without it being a whisper.

Lycan leaned her head over to let her temple rest against his shoulder, "He's not." she mumbled, unaware that Kaidan had heard her.

At her quiet mumble, Kaidan looked down at her and lightly cupped her chin to tilt her head up and look at him, "What did you say?" he asked, trying not to sound judgmental.

Lycan lightly bit her lip as she took her head back and lead him into the back of the pod, away from the few crew that remained inside the large cargo bay, "You can't let this out... No matter what Kaidan. If anyone else knows and they interfere with the timeline, then it could be..."

"Detrimental. I know Ly, but are you sure you want to be telling me this? Even if I'm the only other one who knows, it could still change things." Kaidan interrupted in a harsh whisper.

"At this point, I don't think it will." Lycan said, choking back some lingering tears that hovered in her throat.

"Ly..." Kaidan tried to argue, but found he was silenced by a delicate hand.

"Look... I'm not a hundred percent sure about this, but just hear me out. Ok?" she pleaded, keeping her hand gently over his lips.

Kaidan simply nodded.

"Remember back on Virmire when Shepard was torn between you and Ashley?" Lycan asked, slipping her hand from his mouth and allowing him to speak.

"Of course I remember. I'll never forget that day." Kaidan said as he ignored the returning pang of guilt that struck in his chest.

"I know babe... Neither will I." she sighed.

"So what about Virmire? Why did you ask if I remembered it?" Kaidan asked as he leaned back against the bulkhead and lightly clutched Lycan's hand.

"Well... Virmire stayed true to the game, but Wrex coming back for you wasn't part of it." Lycan said, struggling to find the right words to use as she took a step closer to him.

"How so?" Kaidan asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to understand what she was saying.

"In the game, Wrex never goes back for the person Shepard doesn't choose so either you, or Ashley are always left behind. Shepard went to save Ashley, but you lived because Wrex came back for you and died in your place. He subsequently filled the roles of two people with his death." she said in a low whisper.

"How?" Kaidan asked, following her thought process as best he could.

Lycan sighed, "Wrex always had a chance of dying on Virmire, just not how he did. Remember when Shepard went to go talk to him on the beach?" she asked, staring into his eyes and seeing the recollection in them.

"Yes..." he was interrupted again.

"Normally, Wrex and Shepard would have had a standoff and it was a possibility that Wrex would have died then if Shepard couldn't talk him down, but the confrontation never happened. Wrex's loyalty was never in question." Lycan quickly answered, standing close to him so she could keep her voice low.

"So how does that mean he fulfilled two roles?" Kaidan asked as he started to have trouble following her.

"He fulfilled his _and_ yours. Shepard went to save Ashley and that meant, that you were supposed to die." Lycan said, glancing towards the pod's hatch to make sure no one was listening.

Kaidan's brows lightly furrowed, "Let me see if I got this straight... Because Wrex died for me, you think that I'm really not supposed to be here?" he lightly cringed.

Lycan lightly bit her bottom lip, "Exactly!" she yelped before she immediately lowered her voice. "We both aren't supposed to be here... not in the timeline's eyes that is. You and me, we're... loose cannons and I seriously think that you _and_ me can know what I know and it won't affect anything." she said, glancing over towards the pod's hatch again, paranoid that someone could overhear them.

Kaidan, however, was still a little bit skeptical, "Ly... It's a sound theory, but we have no one that can collaborate it. It's not like having people launched into the future is a normal occurrence."

"You're right, we don't, but after I had my memory erased, I remember that things stopped shifting and mostly stayed the way things were in the game... for the most part that is. Virmire was the only major difference." Lycan said, feeling more and more confident the more she discussed her theory with him.

"Ly... Virmire happened because I..." he was getting slightly irritated that he kept getting interrupted.

"You, Shepard _and_ Liara all knew what was supposed to happen. They are still part of the timeline. If I'm right, then the surviving crew of the _Normandy_ is gonna be recalled to the Citadel and things are gonna begin to fall apart, but you and me, we're gonna be overlooked." Lycan said, lightly running her hands up and down Kaidan's chest.

Kaidan lightly sighed as he gently grasped her hands and held them over his heart, still looking into her eyes as he ran back through what she was trying to say. The theory made some sense, but he didn't have anything to compare it too, let alone someone that could provide some sort of insight on the matter. He had learned some time ago to trust in what she was saying and right now, she was saying that things progressed as they should have without her knowledge of the events and would continue to do so, so long as only her and he knew what was going to happen. He decided to trust her.

"Alright Ly. We'll go with your theory, but if things start to change, you have to promise me that you'll stop telling me anything... Ok?" Kaidan asked, pulling her back to him.

"I promise." Lycan said as she pressed into him for a comforting embrace.

"So... what did you say before we came in here?" Kaidan asked, threading his fingers into her hair.

"That Shepard isn't going to stay dead." Lycan simply whispered.

Kaidan's breath stopped short and his eyes stared blankly at the bulkhead across from him in stunned shock for a moment before he gently pushed her away from him so that he could look into her eyes.

"What? How? Did someone find him?" he asked, still in a whisper as he brushed aside a piece of her hair.

Lycan swallowed hard to continue to ward off some of her remaining sobs that now had more strength, "No one finds him, but we're gonna start hearing rumors of his survival here pretty soon I think."

Kaidan's brows began to draw together as he forced himself to breath again, "But... that doesn't make any sense Ly. People just don't come back from the dead after that long. I can see it if he was picked up and resuscitated, but..." he said, his voice trailing off as he was somewhat unbelieving of what she was saying.

"Normally, you'd be right, but this isn't a normal situation. This is Shepard we're talking about and there are some very, very rich people that are going to find his body and pull it off." Lycan said.

"How do they pull it off? If he was spaced, then there... won't be much of him left to work with." Kaidan said, his gaze softening into one of sadness once more as the reality of Shepard's death began to hit him.

"I don't know the particulars, but I know that a lot, and I mean a lot of cybernetics are used because he made planet fall. I'm sure there's gonna be some files or something, but I'll be damned if I know what they say." Lycan scoffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve before she leaned into him again to let the sobs finally come.

Kaidan wrapped his arms around her and cradled her to him, resting his cheek on the top of her head as he comforted her, knowing that she was upset about Shepard's death. They both were upset, but the one that worried him most, was sitting in the Med Bay and hadn't shown any emotions at all. She had instantly turned cold and he knew that she was trying to protect herself by shutting herself off from the rest of the galaxy, but he also knew, that if she didn't mourn her loss, it would eventually crack her.

"We should go check on Ashley. I'm worried about her." Kaidan said quietly after a few, sob filled moments.

Lycan nodded against his chest as she pulled away and dried her eyes with her sleeve, "Me too. She just seemed to shut down." she said as she headed out of the pod with Kaidan's hand lightly resting between her shoulder blades.

"She's in shock. I don't think any of us expected for him die on a routine scouting for Geth pockets." Kaidan said, leading her along as they started the journey to the Med Bay.

"It wasn't the Geth that killed him. The _Normandy_ was destroyed by the Collectors."

That caused Kaidan to skid to a halt, grasping Lycan's hand and halting her as well as he pulled her to the side against the bulkhead, "What? Are you sure?" he asked in a whisper, stiffening up as he shot a nod towards an enlisted Marine that greeted him on his way passed.

"Of course I'm sure. They destroyed the ship to get rid of Shepard because they're working for the Reapers." Lycan whispered, trying to be as quiet as possible without pressing against him.

Kaidan glanced around, looking for a place they could talk a bit more, but seeing none, he decided to take her back to their room. It was a chore to stay quiet during their quick trip, as Kaidan desperately wanted to know what Lycan knew, so the moment the door hissed closed, he let go of her hand and let his questions fly.

"The Collectors are working for the Reapers? You're positive about that?" he asked, resting his hands on his hips and supporting most of his weight onto his good leg.

Lycan just glared at him and lightly folded her arms.

"Right... Of course you're sure. If the Reapers are moving again, we just can't sit by and watch it happen. We have to do something." Kaidan pushed, walking over to the bed and sitting down on its edge.

Lycan's face saddened as she walked up to stand in front of him, gently wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling her to him, letting his head rest against her ample chest as she threaded her fingers through his hair.

"Kaidan... You know we can't do anything. As much as I don't like it, we can't interfere." Lycan said quietly as she held him.

Kaidan wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her closer, "We can't just let people die Ly. We have to do something." he nearly whimpered, tightening his grip on her.

"We can't. We have to let things progress Kaidan." Lycan repeated.

Kaidan sat up on his own and looked up at her, "You're right... I'm sorry. I just don't like the idea of standing on the sidelines while innocent people are hurt. There's got to be something we can do." he sighed as he stood up once more.

"I'm sure we'll think of something, but right now, there's a friend of ours that needs us in the Med Bay." Lycan softly reminded as she went for Kaidan's bag to find his mild pain medications for his leg, seeing that he had begun to favor it and decided to give him one.

Kaidan took the pill and chased it with a quick drink of water before he grabbed one crutch to aid him, "You're right again babe. I am really worried about her."

"Me too. Let's go see show he's doing."

The Med Bay was far quieter then any of them thought. The survivors had all been laid up and allowed to rest, some having been given some sedatives while others were able to fall asleep without them, but there was one survivor that was still awake, staring blindly out into oblivion with no emotion across her face. She didn't even look up when the quiet hiss of the door rang through the large space.

It didn't take long for Kaidan and Lycan to see where Ashley was sitting, propped up in a bed closest to one of the doctor's desks with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. They stayed quiet as they walked up to her side, keeping their eyes on hers as she didn't even bother to acknowledge that she had company.

Lycan slowly reached out and softly grasped Ashley's hand, carefully slipping it out from under the blanket and placing her other hand over it.

"Ashley... Are you ok?" Lycan softly asked, silently hoping that Ashley would finally snap out of the waking coma she was in.

All Ashley did was slowly nod, but she didn't say anything.

"Ashley... Please... Say something. We're worried about you." Lycan pleaded.

Again, Ashley stayed quiet, but instead of nodding, she finally tore her eyes away from the molecule that had held her attention for so long and glanced at her friends.

"I... I... I don't know... if this is real, or if I'm just having a bad dream." she finally spoke, her face staying completely neutral.

"I'm afraid this is all real Chief." Kaidan said.

Ashley shifted her eyes over towards him and popped a singular eyebrow, "It's ok LT... I'm me again."

"I don't think any of us will ever be the same." Kaidan said as he lightly place his hand onto her blanketed shoulder.

Without anything more to say, they fell into a silence that was mournful, yet somehow comforting as they watched Ashley's bottom lip begin to barely quiver. She slowly shook her head as her eyes glazed with a thick layer of liquid glass, staring back at the bulkhead that had been her focus for so long as the tears finally came. Lycan drew her into a gentle hug, letting Ashley's forehead rest against her shoulder as the sobs and the large, uncontrollable tears plunged from her tired eyes.

"I know it's not Joker's fault, but I can't help but replay it all... over and over again in my head, just looking for a way it could have been different, but... it just couldn't have been. Joker is just as much responsible for saving our lives as Shepard is, but Shepard paid the price for it! This isn't fair! Why did he have to die!" Ashley cried, keeping her head buried in Lycan's shoulder as Kaidan slowly and comfortingly rubbed her back.

Sadly, both Kaidan and Lycan knew why Shepard had to die and it hurt them to know the truth. Ashley's pain was so powerful that Lycan's eyes began to swell with tears once more, as did Kaidan's, but he wiped them dry before they could shed their moisture. They were somewhat relieved that Ashley had finally started to show her pain, but at the same time, it only sparked theirs that they had lost a close friend, even if he was going to be back in two years time. Their hearts tightened in their chest as they comforted the weeping woman, both leaning over just enough to rest their own heads on her and again, were relieved when she finally wrapped her arms around them both and held them close.

"I'm so sorry Ashley. I wish I knew what to say to make it all better, but I don't." Kaidan said quietly as he stood up straight again, leaning a good portion of his weight on the singular crutch.

That somehow shifted Ashley's pained eyes into an angry sneer as she sat bolt upright, staring Kaidan down with tear streaked skin and balled fists.

"And where were _you?_ We were both part of Shepard's crew, but _you_ weren't there when the ship blew apart round us! Where the Hell were _you_ when everything was going to shit? Why weren't _you_ onboard?" Ashley hissed, jabbing a finger into Kaidan's chest.

"Ashley... It wasn't his fault. He didn't get recalled. We didn't find out about the ship until we saw it on the news." Lycan quickly interjected in Kaidan's defense, however, that only put her in Ashley's crosshairs as well.

"The news? What did you do then? Go running to the Citadel to try and save your sorry ass from getting court martialed for missing movement? Is that it? You went crying to Anderson just hoping that he wouldn't drum you out of the Alliance for being a slack ass!" Ashley spat, her voice full of acid and hate as she continued to fire shots at the pair.

Kaidan, for his part, didn't react to Ashley's attacks, instead just stood silent and let her vent with the knowledge that she didn't mean what she was saying and that it would pass soon enough.

"I wasn't recalled. Anderson has me on special assignment and I didn't find out about it until we got back to the Citadel." Kaidan said evenly, taking the hits from Ashley, almost like they didn't hurt, but they did.

"What special assignment? What was so damn important that Anderson let you think that everything was hunky dory and didn't even bother to tell you that the ship _you _were assigned to was destroyed!" Ashley fired as she swiped an open hand across Kaidan's cheek.

With a loud, painful smack, Kaidan's head snapped to the side, his eyes closed as he bit back the stinging pain that now hummed in his cheek. He opened his eyes to Lycan, her hands cupped over her mouth in shock at what just happened, but he knew that getting angry at Ashley wouldn't help. Having another angry person wouldn't help their situation and he knew he had her on a number of broken regulations, but right now, with so much hurt and pain, he decided to let the slap, as well as everything else, slide.

"I can't tell you that Ashley. Not right now. You know that." he said as he glanced down at the bed she was laying on and lightly rubbed his cheek.

Ashley pursed her lips together as her anger grew even hotter and scoffed, "Of course you can't. How stupid of me to think that you trust me enough to tell me those things."

"Ashley, you know trust has nothing to do with it..." Kaidan tried to say, but silenced himself when Ashley began to shake her head.

"You could have fooled me LT. If you would have been there... Shepard might have had a chance at surviving the attack." Ashley said with a strong crack in her voice and thick welling in her eyes.

Kaidan blinked away the hurt in her words, forcing his eyes to stay dry for as long as possible, "I can't keep ships together Ashley."

"Well... I guess we'll never find out now will we," Ashley said as she leaned back into her small collection of pillows and tightened the blanket around her. "Now leave me alone. Both of you." she added without looking at them.

As the tears returning, Lycan lightly grasped Kaidan's arm and started to guide him away from Ashley and back towards the door. Neither said a thing as they slowly made their way back to their room, both trying to stay the pain from Ashley's words, but the closer they got to the sanctity of the assigned room, the harder it became.

Lycan tried to hide the hurt she felt, watching the way Ashley's anger was directed towards Kaidan in a way that her words could have burned through the hardest of resolves, but when she had hauled off and slapped him, she truly knew the extent of just how angry and devastated she was. She knew they were all in mourning at the loss of their friend and Commander, having no way to find him and coming to the realization that there wouldn't be a body to bury and she could see in Kaidan's eyes that he was trying his hardest to keep his grief hidden.

As the door shut behind them, Lycan had no time to react as Kaidan dropped the one crutch to the deck, wheeled around with surprising speed and wrapped his arms around her to bring her into a desperate and comforting embrace.

Lycan's tears began to pour from her eyes to plunge onto Kaidan's shirt as she finally released the emotions she was struggling to keep at bay. She clung to him, much like she did when he had saved her life, sobbing into his chest and clawing her fingers into his back as she followed him towards the bed, still in each others arms and sat down with him.

"It's alright Ly... It's ok. I know she didn't mean any of it. She's just grieving... we all are." Kaidan comforted, cradling her head to his shoulder.

Lycan quickly wiped her nose again before it could drip onto Kaidan's shirt, "I know she didn't mean any of it, but it hurt to see her slap you the way she did." she sobbed, taking in a deep breath in hopes of stopping the tears.

"I know honey, but it's alright. I'll be fine." he whispered to her, threading his fingers into her hair.

Lycan sniffled and nodded, "Alright." she mumbled as she snuggled a bit further into him for more comfort.

Kaidan held her for a bit longer until he started to shift them both further up onto the bed and laid them down with Lycan's head nestled in the nook of his shoulder. He kept his arms around her, lightly stroking her hair as he let her weep her pain and hurt away. The tears he had been fighting to hold back for as long as possible finally became too strong as his eyes sent drop after drop cascading down his cheeks. The realization that he had lost a friend struck him in the heart like the weight of the galaxy was caving in on him. He told himself over and over that Lycan was right, that Shepard really would be back in two years time and that little thread of hope is what kept him from the brink of collapse.

It was still going to be hard when the funeral came and when the debriefs came at them in full force, but he felt a small amount of comfort in knowing that the crew of the fallen _Normandy_ would join together. For right now however, there was nothing else they could do, but wait to return to the Citadel were the nightmare would truly begin.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48: Political Hurricane

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! Thank you SO much to my Beta for being there for me and keeping me in line! I couldn't have done all this without him! LOVE YOU!)_

Ashley was numb. She felt no warmth. She felt no emotion. The pain had dulled and left her feeling only emptiness inside where her heart had once been; The icy void consuming everything that remained like a black hole and there wasn't even enough tears left to make a single, soft and delicate drop. There was nothing. Simply, nothing.

She was oblivious to the fact that the Kilimanjaro had docked with the Citadel and she wouldn't have even moved if it wasn't for Dr. Chakwas, along with Captain Anderson and Admiral Hackett, coming to get her and the rest of the survivors. She stood motionlessly on the dock with no sound meeting her ears, only the steady breathing coming in and out of her own lungs as she watched the various groups of medics and other personnel care for the survivors.

Her eyes shifted to a group of nicely dressed men, standing off to the side and talking amongst themselves and she recognized most of them. There was Captain Anderson and Admiral Hackett, standing in front of another man who strongly resembled Ambassador Udina who was next to a man she didn't recognize, but she figured he was a man of importance if the finely crafted suit was anything to go by. She numbly watched was Ambassador Udina began to appear angry, his face distorting into a modest sneer as he pointed a finger into Admiral Hackett's chest, but the Captain and Admiral seemed to be holding their ground.

After a minute or two of soundless arguing, Ambassador Udina and the other man pushed passed Anderson and Hackett and made their way to her and unaware to her, Dr. Chakwas, whom was standing right next to her.

"Gunnery Chief Williams, Dr. Chakwas... May I have a word with you?" Ambassador Udina said as he approached them, his tone discerning that they really didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

"I suppose we don't have a choice Ambassador, so why ask?" Dr. Chakwas answered with a flat tone that suggested that she was ready to go toe to toe with the snide man.

Ambassador Udina merely furrowed his brows as he glanced to his side at the other man and decided to ignore the doctor's comment, just as Captain Anderson and Admiral Hackett caught up to them.

"This is Major Caleb Antella with the Department of Internal Naval Affairs. He is looking to ask a few questions of the both of you. In fact, he is looking to find out information from the whole crew of the _Normandy._" Ambassador Udina said in an official tone as he clasped his hands behind his back.

Dr. Chakwas slowly began to shake her head, "Don't you think it's a bit soon to be grilling us for information Ambassador? We just got back from a severely traumatic experience and in my professional opinion, are not fit to be answering anyones questions." she crossed her arms, tightening the blanket around her torso.

"I highly agree with the doctor Ambassador Udina. You're jumping the gun on this one." Admiral Hackett said, doing a loose job at hiding his growing aggravation.

"That may be so Admiral Hackett, but the sooner the department acquires our needed information, the sooner we can close the book on this." Major Antella said with a diluted English accent.

"They're still in shock Major and you won't be asking anyone anything until I say so. Is that clear?" Admiral Hackett fired back as he squared his shoulder.

"With all do respect Admiral, you have no clout in this matter. The Major is going to get his questions answered..." Ambassador Udina interjected, his angry sneer hardening as he was interrupted.

"He has plenty of clout Ambassador and considering that I'm your boss, what he says, goes. There will be no questions asked until he and I see that the crew as fit to do so and that will only be after a full psychiatric evaluation." Anderson snapped, staring down the Ambassador with a rather stern stare.

Ambassador Udina stood up just a bit straighter as Major Antella typed something out on his datapad.

"Understood Captain... Admiral Hackett, I will be eagerly awaiting your word for me to conduct my investigation. Sooner rather then later would be nice. We don't want any details to become... fuzzy. Good day gentlemen." Major Antella nodded at everyone before he motioned for Ambassador Udina to follow.

Once the two men were gone, Anderson and Hackett looked back to Dr. Chakwas and Ashley who were just standing silent while they ran defense against the political storm that was looming in the distance.

"I apologize for that you two. That was uncalled for." Anderson said as he softened his gaze and relaxed his stance.

"It's alright Captain. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but we appreciate you holding them off for now." Dr. Chakwas said kindly and sighed.

"Unfortunately, we won't be able to hold them off forever. Everyone will eventually have to go through the inquisition and there won't be anything we'll be able to do about it." Admiral Hackett sighed as he clasped his hands in front of him.

"As long as the survivors get some time to recover and rest." Dr. Chakwas nodded and lightly placed her hand on Ashley's shoulder, seeing that she was still stunned and staring off into nothingness.

"I agree Carolyn. I'll get as much time as I can for you, but I can't guarantee that you'll be able to leave the Citadel. I'm afraid the crew is grounded until all this is over." Anderson apologized, his eyes shifting back and forth from Ashley, to Dr. Chakwas.

"We understand Captain." Dr. Chakwas nodded and again, sighed.

"I... I d-don't have anywhere to go Captain. D-Do you want me to get a hotel?" Ashley lightly stuttered as she slowly came out of her stupor.

"I suppose... If that's what you want to do Chief..." Captain Anderson said, just as Kaidan and Lycan walked over to them, which interrupted his thoughts. "Commander Alenko... Lycan." he greeted.

Ashley seemed to perk up a bit at the mention of the 'LT's' rank, "C-Commander? Y-You got promoted?" she asked quietly with the aura of a little girl about her.

"Yes, I was Ashley. Did I hear right that you need a place to stay?" Kaidan asked as he glanced around their small group.

"You heard correctly Commander." Admiral Hackett answered with a curt nod.

"She's more then welcome to stay at my place. I have an extra room at my apartment. It's hers if she wants it." Kaidan offered as he briefly smiled down at Lycan.

Ashley's eyes stiffly shifted towards Kaidan as she seemed to be contemplating his offer, quickly running through the benefits which piled up quite high. She would have a free place to stay while everything went down. She would have a meal multiple times a day and she would be with friends that would understand her, even if she did have a mountain of apologizing to do.

"T-Thank you. I'll stay with Commander Alenko... If that's alright... Sir" she nearly mumbled as she snuggled down into the blanket.

"That's perfectly fine Chief. You guys are free to go for right now. We'll contact you when we get things settled out with the DINA and the Council. Just... rest and take the time to collect yourselves." Admiral Hackett said rather kindly as he gently patted Ashley's shoulder.

Everyone nodded as Captain Anderson and Admiral Hackett walked away, leaving them in the small, out of the way corner that Ashley had chosen to stand in and people watch. Once the two high ranking officials were gone, Kaidan motioned for Ashley and Dr. Chakwas to follow as the four made their way to a skycar call terminal that was close by where he called for cab to take the lot to his apartment.

"Is there somewhere you'd like to get dropped off doctor?" Kaidan asked as he quietly sighed and wrapped an arm around Lycan's shoulders as they waited for the cab to arrive.

"My condo if it's not too much trouble Kaidan. It's near the Presidium, on the Kadama Ward." Dr. Chakwas said with a barely there smile and a quiet sigh as she too, had an arm around Ashley in support.

"Oh... I didn't realize that we lived on the same ward. I'm in the 1500 block." Kaidan said without the normal smile that would have adorned his lips in this situation.

"Perhaps a get together is in order then... Once things have calmed down a bit of course." Dr. Chakwas nodded with another slow sigh and a glance towards Ashley.

Just then, their cab arrived and opened its hatch to let them in; Dr. Chakwas taking the front seat while Kaidan, Lycan and Ashley filled the back. None spoke while the cab rose into the air and zoomed off towards the Kadama ward, smoothly weaving in and out of traffic as it drew closer to its first destination, which turned out to be Kaidan's apartment building.

The cab slowly lowered to the floor of the 1500 block and opened its hatch once again to let Kaidan, Lycan and Ashley out. They all said their goodbyes to the kind hearted doctor as Kaidan paid the cab driver before he lead them into the building.

As they reached Kaidan's front door, he noticed that the holopanel hovering over it was red which wasn't anything out of the ordinary, except that it also had a secondary screen over the top of it that indicated aftermarket security that had been installed.

"Huh... This is new. I didn't think the new security measures would already be installed." Kaidan said with a popped eyebrow.

"New security measures? What new security measures?" Lycan asked as she glanced at the holopanels.

Kaidan groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yeah... Anderson had a whole bunch of new stuff installed for my new assignment, which reminds me that Captain Anderson needs to talk to both of us and didn't give me anything to get into my home." he rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Both Ashley and Lycan groaned.

"So what do we do? Hack in?" Lycan suggested, realizing then that that's exactly what Kaidan was thinking about doing.

"Well... That's the plan. Lets see how this goes." Kaidan said lowly as he brought up his Omni-Tool and started to work the code.

His Omni-Tool bleeped as he began to work the programs, a small series of screens popping up that displayed rows upon rows of coding that was a completely different language to Lycan and Ashley, but you didn't need to understand code to know that when every screen went red and a gaggle of small alarms began to go off, that that was a bad thing.

"Um... I don't that's supposed to happen." Lycan lightly cringed.

"Shit... No it's not." Kaidan pursed his lips together as he quickly started to work the coding again.

Lycan watched as yet another screen appeared, asking for a password that only made Kaidan's face contort into a soft grimace as he lightly cringed. She started to rack her brain for any idea that could help them get into Kaidan's apartment, all the while wondering why Captain Anderson hadn't given them the needed information to bypass their apparent new security, but as she looked around, her eyes laid upon something that caused an idea to pop into her head.

She reached forward and softly moved Kaidan's hands away so she had a clear area to work the holographic keyboard, typing in only two letters and a number that silenced the alarms and turned all the holopanels their favorite shade of green.

"Really..." Kaidan deadpanned as he shut everything down and opened his door.

"Not the most inventive password, but I guess it was a good thing that it was easy to figure out." Lycan shrugged as she stepped aside to let Ashley pass into the apartment.

"Speaking of... How did you figure it out?" Kaidan raised an eyebrow at her as he lead her inside and shut the door.

"It was written on the door." Lycan simply grinned.

Before the door closed, he found the grease pen markings and erased the as he stepped inside and locked it. Once locked, the low grumbling of a grumpy animal sounded from Kaidan's bedroom, causing all three to stop and wonder what in the world it could be. The sound grew louder into a series of huffs and half-assed woofs, Ashley looking over at Kaidan with question written all over her face just as the noises' source came trotting into the living room.

"Chester! You old boy... You got here quick." Kaidan lightly smiled as he carefully knelt down and began to comfort his dog who's tail was wagging furiously.

"Cute dog." Ashley said lowly, snuggling the blanket a bit more around her as she looked at the dog.

"Thanks. He's a good boy... Old, but good." Kaidan barely smiled as he lightly scratched behind Chester's half floppy ear.

Ashley's lips mirrored the half, lazy smile that graced Kaidan's face as she looked around the apartment, taking in its bland, yet warming décor, "Minimal, but nice." she said with a slow sigh.

"It needs a more personal touch, but it's home. I'm gonna check my mail and take care of a few things, so Lycan will show you to the spare room." Kaidan said with a motion with his head down the hallway before he limped over to his desk.

Ashley nodded as she felt Lycan gently place her hands on her shoulders, ever so soft subtly coaxing her towards the hallway. She barely paid the few pictures any mind as she walked passed, briefly glancing into the gleaming white bathroom and the large shower, which didn't sound like a bad idea before Lycan stopped her and opened a door on the left of the hallway.

"Here's the spare room. I hope this'll be ok." Lycan said quietly as she stepped aside to let Ashley in.

"It'll be fine. T-Thank you," Ashley sighed and lightly bit her lip as Lycan turned to walk back down the hallway, but stopped her by lightly touching her arm. "Lycan... I'm sorry for all the things I said on the ship. I... I was angry... but not at you guys. You didn't deserve that and I'm really sorry for smacking the LT." her eyes saddened.

Lycan gently patted Ashley's blanketed shoulder as she softly smiled, "That's something you should say to Kaidan, but thank you. We were never mad at you. If anything, we're right there with you. We miss him too and we'll be here if you need anything."

Ashley found that it was just a fraction bit easier to adopt a soft, barely there smile, "Thanks. I'll probably end up taking you up on that a lot. Will you let the LT know I need to talk to him whenever he has time?"

"Of course. I'll get you something to drink." Lycan patted Ashley's shoulder once more before she headed back down the hallway and into the kitchen to rummage through the cabinets for something to make.

She discovered that the cabinets were sparse, having very little in the way of anything that could spoil within her lifetime. She checked the fridge, only to find the same situation, as the only thing in there was a pitcher of cold water to drink, which caused her to groan in disapproval.

"Kaidan?" Lycan called out as she shut the fridge and went to lean on the counter that looked out into the living room where he sat at his desk.

"Yes?"

"There isn't a speck of food in this place that I'd be willing to let a varren eat." she pursed her lips together, glancing down at her feet when she felt the snoot of Chester poking into her leg for some attention.

"Alright... Come on over and we'll get some groceries delivered." Kaidan sighed.

Lycan sighed herself as she stood up straight and made her way over to the desk, having to somewhat dance around Chester as it seemed he was trying to trip her up so she'd fall and have to pay attention to him in order to get up.

"Chester! Go lay down!" Kaidan ordered the pooch as he saw his antics.

The mutt immediately stopped being crazy, sulking his way over to Kaidan's feet and followed the order, resting his head on his master's casted foot with a heavy sigh.

With Lycan's path no longer obstructed by forty-five pounds of brown fur, she walked up behind Kaidan and rested her hands on his shoulders as he brought up a long listing of items they could have delivered. They spent quite some time picking out things they would need for the three of them, everything ranging from a variety of things to drink, as well as a myriad of food and ingredients that would fill every cabinet in the kitchen with anything they would ever need.

Once their massive order was completed and acknowledged, their doorbell rang which prompted Kaidan to answer it to discover that their belongings from the Kilimanjaro had arrived. He signed for them and moved the bags inside with little more then a simple movement of his arm before he closed the door and began to unpack.

With the simulated day progressing, the three settled into a silence that wasn't companionable, nor was it tense. It was completely neutral, no one really having the energy to do much else other then getting things put away from their large amount of groceries that were eventually delivered.

Lycan made a simple supper, nothing more then heating up some soup and having some sandwich makings out for those who wished to have something a bit more solid, upon which Kaidan made three to go with his rather large bowl. Ashley ate in her room while Kaidan and Lycan ate at the small dining table, simply enjoying each others company with Chester continuing to lay down at Kaidan's feet.

With dinner finished and cleaned up, Kaidan went to finish a few things on his terminal while Lycan went to check in on Ashley to find that she had fallen asleep, thankfully with an empty bowl. She carefully snuck the dishes out and silently closed the door, quickly cleaning and drying them before she headed back into Kaidan's bedroom to get ready for bed.

Just as she pulled back the covers to climb into bed, Kaidan limped in with Chester close at his heels and a datapad in his hands.

"Still working on things?" Lycan asked quietly as she slipped under the thick comforter.

"Just a few last minute things. We'll have to go meet with Anderson soon about some paperwork he wants you to fill out." Kaidan said, cracking a brief smile at her as he set the datapad aside to change into his pajamas.

Lycan sat in the bed, tucking the comforter just underneath her arms as she reached for the datapad and glanced over it, "What kind of paperwork? I didn't think I was all that important."

Kaidan tossed his shoe aside and looked over his shoulder at her, "You're very important... Just not in the same light in everyones eyes." he smirked and winked.

"Ha ha. What kind of paperwork?" she asked again as she crawled to his side of the bed to put the datapad onto his night stand.

"Well... In short, it's for your papers. Proper birthdate, birthplace, background... those kinds of things. He's also looking at getting you a name change." he sighed, stealing a glance at Lycan who's eyes had shifted from one of humor, to mild shock.

"W-What? He wants to doctor my papers?" Lycan asked, unsure if she had heard him right.

Kaidan sighed once more as he rid himself of his shirt and replaced it with a far more comfortable, loose fitting t-shirt before he pulled his pants off to stand in his boxers and slipped into bed next to her.

"I'm afraid so Ly," he said lowly as he wrapped an arm around her and brought her to him, slowly running his hand up and down her exposed arm.

"I don't want to change my name. I like my name. It's unique without being off the wall crazy. I don't want to learn how to respond to a new name." Lycan said with a light crack in her voice as she snuggled into Kaidan's embrace.

"We'll talk more about it in the morning. Maybe we can just change your last name. We'll see what Captain Anderson says." Kaidan reassured as he placed a light kiss to the top of her hair.

Lycan nodded as she sat up and lightly wiped her eyes of the miniscule moisture that had built up, "Isn't it Councilor Anderson now?"

"Not yet I don't think. His anointment should be coming up soon though." Kaidan said as he flopped down onto his pillow and held his arm out for Lycan to join him.

Lycan simply nodded her understanding as she scooted in close and laid down, nestling her head on his chest as she sighed and forced her brain to shut off. She closed her eyes and just concentrated on the steady, bass thumping of his heart beneath her ear, the warmth of his skin against hers and the way he held her close was comforting enough to put her mind at ease, giving her the perfect opening to find peace and fall asleep.

* * *

The few days off that the residents of the Alenko apartment had had, were not ones that were filled with rest and relaxation. Not only was it a chore learning the layout of the security systems for all three, the nights were always interrupted by blood curdling screams of Ashley's persistent nightmares.

She would spring up in her bed, bolt upright with wide eyes, tears and sweat pouring down her face and would burst into a nearly uncontrollable sobbing fit when Lycan would come in, closely followed by Kaidan as both would comfort her. There had been many nights that Kaidan would give her a sedative to force her into a dreamless sleep, which all appreciated the night of uninterrupted rest.

The psychiatric evaluation had come and gone for all the crew of the fallen _Normandy_ with the doctor giving all cases of mild post traumatic stress syndrome and had given them only a week to rest before the Major's investigation was given the go ahead to begin.

Now, that day was upon the three of them as two dressed in their Alliance dress blues, while the other dressed in a pair of black slacks and a nicely flowing shirt.

"This isn't gonna be pretty Kaidan. That Major Antella is gonna do his damnedest to smear Shepard's name all over the wall." Lycan said quietly as she straightened Kaidan's blues jacket on his broad shoulders.

"I had a feeling that's what he was planning. He doesn't sound like he's willing to consider any other possibility other then that Shepard is crazy." Kaidan growled, forcing himself to keep his voice low so that it didn't carry through the rest of the apartment.

"The Council is just gonna discredit the Reapers and sweep it all under the rug and the Alliance is gonna smear him the best they can." Lycan said, slowly shaking her head as she picked a few Chester hairs from his uniform.

Kaidan's mouth adorned with a crooked grin as he affectionately patted Lycan's neck and shoulder, "I know... It's just going to be super hard to keep my mouth shut." he sighed.

"It's gonna be hard for all of us. Don't be surprised if Major Antella doesn't even bother to ask you questions, but it's a possibility that he will consider you as a character witness to Shepard's mentality." Lycan said, glancing over his uniform one last time and satisfied with its appearance.

Kaidan sighed and nodded, "Alright. Also, after everything is done for the day, we'll talk with Anderson about your papers. We just can't put it off anymore."

Lycan nodded, "Ok."

With that, Kaidan and Lycan headed into the living room to find Ashley was already waiting for them, sitting on the couch as she gave Chester the attention he was constantly begging for by scratching behind his perky puppy ears. She gave the happy mutt one last, good scratch before she stood and joined them as they headed out, the remaining dog hair getting blasted off by the decontamination beam that decided to keep the stuff in the apartment instead of letting it out onto the Citadel.

Nerves were high on the cab ride to the Presidium where they were to be met by the newly minted Councilor Anderson and would, for lack of a better word, escort them to the Human embassy where the 'inquisition', as they have come to call it, was to be held.

As the cab slowed and lowered to the much more grand looking Presidium ring, Kaidan glanced out of the window to see that that very man was standing by the arrival platform with a trio of heavily armed C-Sec officers standing behind him. He had foregone his Alliance uniform for the garbs of a Councilman. They were dark in color, having black, Alliance blue and splashes of red that actually gave the man an aura that was regal, as well as intimidating and demanded respect.

"Congratulations Councilor Anderson." Kaidan said once he had stepped out of the cab and gave the man a handshake.

"Thank you Commander. I hope you all are holding up alright with all that's going on." Anderson said with a gentle nod and handshakes to Lycan and Ashley.

"As well as can be expected Councilor." Ashley said blandly as she took a deep breath to somewhat calm the tight somersaulting in her stomach.

"I've been getting that answer a lot today. The interrogations are about to start so we better get to the embassy before Major Antella calls out a search for us." Anderson sighed as he motioned for them to follow.

The group made short work of the walk to where the embassies resided with the guards standing their posts at one on either side and one in the rear as they walked. The scattered clusters of onlookers wasted no time as they got out of the groups way, hiding their whispers as best they could and watching them until they couldn't see them any longer.

They reached the embassy with little more then a look of acknowledgment from the receptionist as they walked by and disappeared through the door into the hallway.

Sitting outside of the embassy, quite a number of chairs had been set up for people to wait until they were called in for their turn at questioning. Roughly half were filled with crew from the _Normandy_ with Dr. Chakwas sitting next to a very casted, very wheelchair bound Joker who didn't even bother to look up from his lap as they sat next to them, while Councilor Anderson vanished through the embassy's doors.

Kaidan sighed and lightly winced as his ankle began to mildly protest from all the walking, its steady throbbing making the cast that he was very much tired of having, seem far too tight for his leg. No one wanted to speak, instead, deciding to sit and wait for their turn which couldn't arrive fast enough as one by one, the crew of the fallen _Normandy_ was called in.

After what seemed like ages and with no one else sitting in the chairs, the receptionist called out Ashley's name and kindly directed her to enter the embassy. She stood and smoothed out her uniform before nodding at her friends and headed off through the doors.

As she stepped through, she couldn't help but notice that the lights had been dimmed slightly and a singular chair sat across from the large, main desk where Major Antella had seated with a sprawling array of datapads. She hesitantly walked to the chair that the Major had silently indicated she sit in, while Councilor Anderson and Ambassador Udina sat on either side of him with terminals sitting in front of them.

"Please take a seat Gunnery Chief Williams." Major Antella said without looking up from his datapads.

Ashley nodded, doubtful that the man had actually seen it as she tugged her jacket down and sat with a long sigh of nerves.

"State your name and birthday for the record please." Major Antella said, still blandly and emotionlessly.

Ashley's brows lightly furrowed, "Um... Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, April 14th, 2158."

Major Antella took a moment as he entered a few things into one of the datapads before he finally looked up and scanned her appearance.

"How are you feeling?" the Major asked as he took a sip of whatever was in the cup that sat next to him.

"I... uh... I'm fine... Best as can be expected I guess." Ashley said, blowing out another nervous breath.

"Very well. I suppose you are aware of why you are here?" Major Antella asked as he began to get right down to business.

"For the most part, yes." Ashley sighed.

"Good," he nodded and swiped a finger across the screen of a datapad. "Now... You were not originally assigned to the _Normandy_ correct?"

"No. I was originally assigned to the 212th on Eden Prime." Ashley answered.

"The 212th was ambushed by Geth forces, was it not?"

Ashley nodded, "Yes. Once I noticed that we didn't stand a chance, I ordered a fall back, but... everyone was already dead... so I ran."

"So you abandoned your post in the true manner of a Williams then." The Major stated a matter of factually.

Ashley's anger spiked high, "I didn't abandon my post!" she barked back, capturing the attention of Anderson.

"Major! Stick to your questions or I'll have you removed! Is that clear?" Anderson snapped, glaring angrily at Major Antella.

"Understood Councilor," Major Antella made a note on his datapad before continuing. "That is when you encountered Lieutenant Commander Shepard and, at the time, Staff Lieutenant Alenko correct?"

"Yes... They saved my life. I was being chased by some Geth troops and they shot them down." Ashley glanced at her hands that had begun to fidget with their fingernails in her lap.

"At which point were you informed that you had officially been assigned to the _Normandy_?" Major Antella asked as he too, sighed.

"After we had saved the colony when we were en route to the Citadel. Councilor Anderson informed me." Ashley answered, deciding not to go into too much detail.

"Had you ever served with Lieutenant Commander Shepard before then?"

Ashley shook her head, "No... I'd heard of him from news feeds, but..." she was interrupted.

"Please watch this footage Chief Williams." he ordered as he brought up a small screen with the hardsuit footage of when Shepard was hit with the Prothean beacon. "Had you ever had contact with alien technology such as this?" the Major asked blandly.

"N-No. That was my first time with anything like that." Ashley's brows furrowed a bit harder as she got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

The Major flicked a finger over the screen to pause it when the beacon took hold of Shepard, after he had tossed Ashley free of its grasp, "Were you aware that the Prothean beacon could do this?" Major Antella glanced up at her briefly.

"No... I had no idea it would..." again, she was interrupted.

"Do you make it a habit of approaching unknown tech?" the Major asked, leaning back into his seat and taking another sip of his drink.

"Of course not!" she barked.

Major Antella raised a hand to halt her boiling fury while he played the footage once more, allowing it to play until the beacon exploded and tossed Shepard back to land hard on his back, "Were you aware that this was going to happen?"

"N-No..." she pursed her lips together when she was interrupted... again.

Again, the Major tapped a few commands into his datapad to bring up a series of stills from the footage of not just Shepard's hardsuit, but hers and Kaidan's as well. The stills were of Garrus, Wrex, Tali and Liara as Shepard had first met them.

"Do you know these aliens?" the Major continued.

Ashley was getting angry and very much didn't like his tone, "Y-Yes. They're part of Shepard's crew."

"Had you ever served with non-humans before this mission?" he asked with a slow sigh and with more typing.

Ashley shook her head, "No... That was the first time. It took some getting used to, but they are really good individuals."

The Major arched an eyebrow, "Right... Was Lieutenant Commander Shepard adverse to allowing non-humans onto his vessel?"

"No... They wanted to help, so he let them come." she tightly gripped her knees in order to keep her hands occupied for the time being.

Major Antella didn't say anything as he swiped a finger across the stills to bring up another clip, this one of Shepard and Liara during their first mind meld, "What was going on here?"

"Liara joined minds with Shepard to see what he saw when he was under control of the beacon." Ashley answered, drawing in a breath to stay a flip of her stomach.

"What was the purpose of 'joining minds'?" Major Antella asked with a snide spike in his voice.

Ashley's brows furrowed again, "Liara is a Prothean expert and since Shepard was gripped with a Prothean artifact, she was our best bet of understanding what he saw."

The Major made another notation on his datapad, "The age of one hundred and six is awfully young for the Asari, so she's hardly a Prothean expert don't you think?"

"She knows a Hell of a lot more about the Protheans then we do, so yeah, I'd say she's an export." Ashley shot back, her grip on her knees tightening.

"Hmm..." the Major lightly scoffed as he let his voice trail off for a moment. "So... If the only reason was to... share his... vision with this Asari, then why did he 'join minds' with her more then once?" he asked, actually glancing up at Ashley this time.

"Because the Skipper got hit with a second beacon which completed his vision and acquired the Cypher from a captured Asari back on Feros. We really needed Liara's help to translate it all." Ashley said.

"And that Asari on Feros was under the influence of the late Matriarch Benezia correct?" the Major asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"Yes." Ashley said emotionlessly.

"Why would Lieutenant Commander Shepard trust any information given to him by a pawn of an Asari under the thumb of a Turian?" Major Antella asked with the slightest hint of disgust in his voice.

Ashley lightly licked her bottom lip, "We had it on good faith that she was being honest and we had no other way of getting the Cypher."

Again, the Major arced an eyebrow, "Good faith? Would you say that Lieutenant Commander Shepard made it a habit of going on 'good faith' when regarding non-humans?"

Ashley's brows furrowed to lightly wrinkle her forehead, "Shiala's intentions were noble ones. We all saw it and we needed her information to continue our mission." she sighed again.

Another notation on his datapad, "So, by the time the _Normandy_ reached Virmire, Lieutenant Commander Shepard had been... in intimate contact with quite a few aliens and alien technology correct?"

"Yes." she said flatly.

More notations, "And had allowed a Quarian, a non-Citadel race, into Engineering?" he asked, his voice giving away that he was not enthused with this fact.

"Y-Yes." Ashley said, again, tightly gripping her knees to help keep from punching the Major in his jaw.

"Interesting..." he hummed to himself. "Tell me about Virmire." he halfway ordered.

"I'm sure you've read the reports... So why ask?" she asked, interlocking her fingers together.

"I want to hear your accounts of the events." the Major said, still without even bothering to look at her longer then a second.

Ashley sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment before she looked at the Major with a sigh, "We were infiltrating Saren's research facility on Virmire and Shepard and the Lieutenant had just placed the nuke in its strategic position. I was with the Salarian STG team at the AA tower when we got pinned down by Geth forces, so I radioed for some help." she started while she left out the massive amounts of detail, deciding to just keep things short and sweet so she could get out of there sooner.

"You radioed for Lieutenant Commander Shepard?" Major Antella asked, his finger hovering over his datapad as he readied to make a notation.

"Yes." Ashley sighed.

"Continue."

Ashley drew in a long, slow breath to steady herself, held it and blew it out in a long, nerve filled sigh, "He told me to sit tight and hold on for as long as I could and that he was on his way, but when he was about halfway to the tower, a Geth ship flew over and headed towards the bomb sight."

"That is when Lieutenant Commander Shepard was forced to chose between you, or Staff Lieutenant Alenko correct?" Major Antella asked with a brief glance towards her.

"Yes."

"As I understand, the report said that he was unable to make a choice, upon which a one... Battlemaster Urdnot Wrex took it upon himself to go back and protect the bomb sight." Major Antella paraphrased as he read off of the datapad's screen.

"Yes. Wrex went back to help the Lieutenant while Shepard came to the AA tower to help me. After a confrontation with Saren, Shepard helped me and the surviving STG team onto the _Normandy._" Ashley said, her voice quieting down as she glanced at her hands that had loosened their tight clench.

"Shortly after, Staff Lieutenant Alenko arrived at the AA tower, injured, but very much alive, but alone... Correct?" Major Antella asked.

"Yes... He almost didn't make it but L... one of the other crew members ran out and helped him to the ship before we took off." Ashley said, staring at the man across from her for any indication that he had caught her near slip.

He didn't.

"So... Wrex stayed behind to protect the bomb from encroaching Geth forces and gave the _Normandy_ adequate time to get away before the bomb detonated?" Major Antella asked with a long, drawn out sigh.

"I wouldn't call it adequate time, but yes." Ashley corrected.

"Did the ship get away from the blast, or not?"

"Barely..."

"It's a yes or no question Gunnery Chief." Major Antella antagonized.

Ashley's anger spike again, "Yes." she said harshly.

"Adequate time then." he said stiffly as he made more notations on his datapads. "So... Lieutenant Commander Shepard left a non-human member of his crew behind to die. Did he display any distraught tendencies towards the loss of a non-human? Did he retreat into solitude or otherwise cease to talk much to any of his surviving crew?" he continued.

"We were all in pain over losing Wrex. He was our friend." Ashley said, trying to run damage control as she started to understand what was happening.

"That didn't answer my question Gunnery Chief... Did Lieutenant Commander Shepard retreat at all, physically or mentally? Yes, or no." Major Antella repeated snidely.

Ashley's heart began to hammer in her chest, knowing that she couldn't lie, especially to someone from the Department of Internal Naval Affairs. She didn't want to say yes, but she had to. There was no way around it and if she tried to argue, he would only interrupt her again. Her chest ached, knowing where this was headed and her mind reeled as the sudden and terrifying realization sunk in, that the Alliance was looking to smear Shepard's good name over a cheese grater.

"Y-Yes."

"So Lieutenant Commander Shepard showed remorse over loosing a non-human member of his crew? Yes, or no?" the Major was going to limit her ability to answer.

"Y-Yes." her eyes started to sting as she stared at a potted plant in hopes that it would help to ground her for a bit longer.

"To the best of your knowledge, could Lieutenant Commander Shepard's mental state have been altered in any way by the excessive amounts of contact with aliens and alien tech?"

Her bottom lip started to quiver as her eyes slightly narrowed, "I... I have no way of answering that..."

The Major began to type on his datapad, causing Ashley's anger to spike as her fury began to boil over towards the investigator that was unraveling everything.

"What are you doing? You can't accept that as an answer! I'm not a medical officer!" she barked, standing from her seat with balled fists.

"It was a valid question Chief and you answered it... 'To the best of your knowledge'." he air quoted his own words to highlight the tiny, little loophole.

Ashley grew even angrier, "That's not fair and you know it!"

"That's enough Chief Williams! Sit down before I will take your chevrons off your sleeve!" the Major threatened as he slapped his hands down onto his desk.

Ashley sucked in her bottom lip as she forced back her anger, giving room for the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. She sat down after only a moment of hesitation, her fists tightening even more to dig her nails into her skin that threatened to cause her palms to bleed.

"Very good Chief Williams. One more question... Were you romantically involved with Lieutenant Commander Shepard?"

At that, Councilor Anderson shot up from his chair, "That's enough Major..." he started until Udina piped up.

"It is a valid question Councilor..." Udina tried, but quickly shut his mouth.

"You'd do best to remember who you're working for Donnel and I say that that's enough." Anderson shot back with an angry sneer and strongly furrowed brows.

"With all do respect Councilor, the Department wants to know if Lieutenant Commander Shepard's exposure to alien tech, the melding of a novice Asari, as well as a melding with a former disciple of Matriarch Benezia could have altered the Commander's mind to such a degree, that his loyalties no longer held the Alliance, or her allies in any regard." Major Antella said snidely.

"He would never betray the Alliance! Not ever! How dare you assume that Shepard would do anything besides fight for the Alliance! He would never sell us out like you and Udina would!" Ashley yelled as she stood up again and clenched her fists for the second time.

"Calm down Chief... You're done. The Major has everything he needs." Anderson said calmly as he gently placed his hands on Ashley's arms.

"As a matter of fact, I do. The Department of Internal Naval Affairs will get back to you with our findings Councilor." Major Antella said as he began to pack up his grouping of datapads.

"Huh? W-What about the LT? You aren't gonna question him?" Ashley asked, still livid.

"Staff Commander Alenko is a Biotic with the L2 implants correct?" Major Antella asked without stopping what he was doing.

"Yes he is, but..."

"Then I see no need to question him regarding the sanity of someone else, when his is own is under the watchful eye of Alliance medical officers and governing officials." he said blandly.

"The LT isn't crazy! He's Shepard's best friend! He can tell you that the Skipper isn't crazy!" Ashley barked, her voice bleeding out into the hallway as the moisture in her eyes began to build into real tears.

"My inquiry is finished Gunnery Chief. Now, leave before I decide to charge you with Disrespect to a _Superior_ Officer and Insubordination." the Major threatened.

Pursing her lips together again, Ashley wheeled around and headed straight for the door, erupting out into the hallway where only Kaidan and Lycan sat.

Seeing the near tears in Ashley's eyes, Lycan stood up and immediately took the shaking woman into her arms, hearing the sobs that wasted no time in trickling from her throat and the warm splashes that dripped onto her shoulder.

"Shh... It's ok Ashley. What happened in there?" Lycan asked softly as she gently stroked Ashley's hair.

"That buddy fucker in there is trying to make Shepard look like he's crazy." Ashley sobbed, covering her face in both her hands.

Kaidan lightly rested his hand on Ashley's shoulder as he stepped up to the pair and placed his other on Lycan's back, "We had a feeling that that's what they were gonna do. All we can do is answer the Major's questions in a light that doesn't show that." he sighed.

"I tried to LT, but he forced me to answer with either yes, or no. I couldn't explain anything. They don't even want to talk to you." Ashley wepped as she stood up straight and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Kaidan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, not really acting surprised since he knew that it was a good possibility that they wouldn't bother talking to him, but he still didn't like it. He wanted the chance to speak his mind, to tell that officer from the Department of Internal Naval Affairs that his investigation was nothing more then a desperate witch hunt.

"Great... They're trying to railroad Shepard." Kaidan sighed, glancing towards the door as it opened to allow Ambassador Udina and Major Antella out, paying them no mind as they disappeared out onto the Presidium.

As the door closed, it was stopped halfway as Councilor Anderson stepped out with an exhausted look on his face and his hands on his hips.

"I apologize for that Chief. The Major was out of line." Anderson said as he reached into a pocket and pulled a tissue for her to use.

Ashley took the tissue and dabbed the lingering moisture from her eyes, "It's alright Councilor... Nothing we can do about it now." she blew out a breath.

"I wish there was something I could do to stop them from dragging Shepard's name over the coals, but I'm tapped." Councilor Anderson said as he glanced down at the floor.

Kaidan's brows lightly furrowed, "How can you be tapped out? Can't you get the Council on our side?"

"Unfortunately, no... I can't. The rest of the Council doesn't want to recognize that the Reapers are a real threat and have dismissed any information that you guys have given them as the delusional ramblings of a delusional man." Anderson said, slowly shaking his head in disbelief.

"Have you found him yet?" Kaidan asked, letting Lycan care for Ashley as they sat down.

Anderson shook his head, "Not yet and I'm afraid we never will. We haven't found anything that could lead us to him, or his body." he said quietly.

"You sound like you're about to give up." Kaidan said, leaning most of his weight onto his good leg as his broken one started to protest.

"I'm afraid that the Alliance is ready to declare Shepard as KIA." Anderson confirmed, glancing over at Ashley as her quiet sobbing immediately stopped and she looked up at him.

"After only a week?" Ashley asked, wiping a tear from her cheek.

"It would different if we had found traces of him, but there just isn't. I'm sorry Chief, but I'm afraid it's official." Anderson said, more as a father and as kindly as possible.

Ashley's eyes began to build more tears, but she sucked in a breath to keep her composure as she leaned over and rested her head on Lycan's shoulder. She didn't say a thing as she silently let the tears fall from her eyes, dripping off the side of her chin to pat onto her friend's shoulders.

"I guess it was too much to hope for that he was alive somewhere. I just didn't wanna believe it. I still don't want to." Ashley mumbled as she dabbed the tissue to her eyes again.

Lycan rested her cheek against Ashley's hair as she gently grasped her hand in comfort, "We all hoped hun." she whispered before turning her attention towards the two men standing. "Will there be a funeral?" she wasn't sure if there would be, but had a strange feeling that one was in the works.

"Most likely... Though, I don't think it'll be your typical service. Just be ready for the storm that's coming." Anderson said with the same, caring tone.

Kaidan watched a moment as Lycan nodded and turned her attention back to the weeping woman next her, still grasping her hand in comfort, "We will be Councilor. On a separate note, do you have time so Lycan and I can get her paperwork squared away?"

"Yes... I've been meaning to talk to you about it actually. Please, come inside." Anderson motioned for the trio to follow as he turned and headed back into his office.

Lycan stood with Ashley and continued to hold her as she followed Kaidan into the office where she lead the still weeping woman to a table near the door and sat her down. She took a moment to make sure that she would be alright, upon which she received a nod and a thank you before she crossed the office to the main desk on the far side where Anderson and Kaidan awaited her.

"Is she doing alright?" Anderson asked as he sat down behind the desk and nodded for Kaidan and Lycan to do the same.

"As well as can be expected. She's hurting... we all are." Lycan said quietly and with a quick glace over her shoulder.

Anderson nodded as he began to pull a small collection of datapads from a drawer at the bottom of the desk and splayed them out in front of them, "These are the different files that need to be... amended for Lycan's background and basic information. Go ahead and take a quick look over them."

Lycan hesitated a brief moment before she reached out and took a datapad to give it a quick once over. She skimmed over where her new name was supposed to be, a birthdate that made sense and all the other standard information like height, weight, hair and eye color. There was a space for her family's information, as well as a brief history that would cover her birthplace and the rest of her life that remained.

"My whole life has to change? Everything from what I knew?" Lycan asked, her eyes saddening as she glanced towards Kaidan for a short lived smile of reassurance.

Anderson's brows furrowed as he turned his gaze towards Kaidan, "I thought you said that she didn't remember anything of her past life?"

"That changed. She woke up and remembered _everything._" Kaidan said, placing a bit more emphasis at the end of his sentence to convey that Lycan was once again someone that needed to be protected.

"I'll need to get the details from you later then," Anderson said as he reached out to take the datapad from Lycan. "Anyways, lets get this taken care of. What do you want your name to be Lycan?"

"Uh... Do I have to change the whole thing? Can't I keep my first name?" she asked, beginning to ring her fingers together in her lap.

"I suppose that'll be alright, but you have to change your middle and last name." Anderson nodded.

"Ok... um... I... I really have no idea. I never thought I'd have to change everything about my past." Lycan sighed, her stomach knotting itself hard as Kaidan reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I'm afraid that you'll have to. There's no way around it. I'm sorry." Anderson said, his hand hovering over the keypad, waiting to enter the information.

Lycan blew out a short lived breath as she started to think. She repeated her name over and over again in her head, trying out how different names would sound with her very unique one. She tried other unique sounding names, but they just didn't fit right. They sounded forced and that's something she didn't want.

Eventually, she began to think of her sister and brother. It gave her the idea that she could still hold on to them, even if she had to rewrite her own history.

"How about Lycan Rose Morris?" she asked, lightly biting her bottom lip as she looked towards Kaidan for his input.

"I think that sounds great Ly." Kaidan reassured with another light squeeze of her hand.

Anderson nodded as he began to enter the new name into its required field, "How old are you Lycan?" he asked.

"Twenty-five."

"When's your birthdate?" Anderson ask.

"September 14th, 1985... Well... not 1985 anymore I guess." she sighed and squeezed Kaidan's hand in return.

"That would put her birth year at 2158." Kaidan filled in, able to crunch the numbers far quicker in his head then she could.

Anderson typed that into its reserved field before he moved on to the next piece. The three spent a fair amount of time coming up with the new information for Lycan, changing her background and everything they could get away with that wouldn't be obvious. They streamlined the information to insure that there no were no holes and that the continuity of the papers was solid before allowing the now, Lycan Rose Morris to read through it one last time.

"It looks good to me. I just have to get used to it all now." Lycan said, the corner of her lips briefly spiking up into a half smile.

"I'm sure you won't have too much difficulty. We'll let you know if any new intel comes in. Otherwise, take care of Chief Williams. She needs you guys's support." Anderson said, lowering the volume of his voice as he looked passed the two sitting in front of him to the silent woman slouching in a chair.

"We will Councilor. I don't mean for this to sound disrespectful, but I hope we don't hear from you with intel." Kaidan said as he tried to hide the scoff that laced his voice.

Anderson briefly smiled, "Don't worry... I hope I don't have to contact you for that. You're all free to go. Have a good night."

With that, Kaidan and Lycan stood from their chairs, giving Anderson a quick handshake before they headed over towards Ashley and motioned for her to follow. They all stayed quiet as they called a cab to pick them up, spending the ride engulfed in their minds as they were dropped off at their destination and migrated up to Kaidan's apartment.

Having remembered the entry code, Kaidan quickly entered it to open the door, letting the girls enter first as he spent a few moments to change the pass code before he headed inside.

Once the door shut and sealed, he saw that Ashley's blues jacket hadn't even made it to into her room, as it now lay limp over the back of one of the chairs at the small dining table. He slowly shook his head as he moderately limped his way down the hall to his bedroom, finding it empty and taking the opportunity to change into something far more comfortable then his uniform.

Once changed into a pair of pajama pants and an old t-shirt, he took a mild painkiller and hobbled to the slightly ajar door that had become Ashley's room. He lightly rapped a knuckle against the hard surface, announcing his presence and awaited his cue to enter, which came in the form of a quiet 'come in' from Lycan's voice.

He cautiously pushed the door open and poked his head in to see that Ashley and Lycan were seated on the bed, both sitting cross legged and facing each other.

"Is everything alright?" Kaidan asked as he found it to be ok for him to enter and walked up to Lycan's side.

"I really don't think it is LT... I think I royally screwed up." Ashley said, her voice cracking from the sobs that clung to her throat.

Kaidan lightly sat, perched on the edge of the bed, "How so?" he quietly asked.

Ashley sniffled and dabbed a well used tissue under her nose, "I said something I don't think I should have... He asked about why Shepard trusted Shiala and I said that we 'had it in good faith' that we could trust her." her sobs thickened.

Kaidan held his breath for a brief moment as what she said sunk in before he blew it out in a long, drawn out sigh and hung his head.

"I didn't think... I couldn't tell him that we had someone onboard that was telling us what was going to happen. That wouldn't have helped anything." Ashley defended, hoping to placate any anger that might have built up from her admission.

"No... no, it's alright Ashley. You did the right thing by not telling him about Ly." Kaidan reassured, relaxing his shoulders and softening his gaze so that he didn't portray that he was angry, which was wasn't.

Ashley briefly glanced up and nodded as she drew in a slow breath, dabbing the remnants of her tissue beneath her nose before she stared back down at her lap.

After a few moments of silence from the three of them, Lycan scooted off the bed and stood, placing a light hand on Ashley's shoulder to reassure her that she wasn't alone.

"I'll go make something for dinner before it gets too late." she quietly said as she took her hand back and started for the door where Kaidan closely followed.

"I'm not hungry, but thank you anyways." Ashley momentarily smiled.

That made Lycan's heart crack with sadness as she and Kaidan stopped at the door. Lycan could only stand, having nothing to say, but wishing that she did to help make their friend feel better. There had to be something that she could do to help, but nothing seemed adequate enough, short of telling her that she would see Shepard again in two years time. It felt wrong and cruel to be intimate with her lover when their friend, laying only a room away, had just lost hers. She knew that Ashley needed support and it was good that she had agreed to stay with them, but she couldn't help but think that there was more she could do to help Ashley cope. That's when she thought that some girl time would do her some good, as well as make Lycan feel that it wasn't so taboo to be enthralled in Kaidan's arms at night.

"Would you be up to a girls day out? Just you and me?" Lycan asked, leaning close to the door so Kaidan could step out into the hallway.

Ashley looked up from her lap and glanced at her friend, feeling the corners of her lips lightly tug upwards at the thought.

"Y-Yeah... I'd like that. Thank you... both of you... for being amazing friends. I don't think I'd make it if wasn't for you guys..." Ashley said, her smile growing a bit until Chester came trotting into the room and jumped up onto her bed, which made her smile beam.

"Chester!" Kaidan barked, his face contorting into a strong frown at the dog's liberty of jumping up onto someone else's bed.

Ashley lightly giggled as she scooped Chester up and flipped him over onto his back so she could scratch his tummy, "He's fine LT." she giggled more when Chester's back leg started to kick.

Both Kaidan and Lycan lowly laughed as both slowly shook their heads at the aging, yet happy pooch's seemingly desperate need for constant attention.

"Alright... Just kick him off if he gets too demanding." Kaidan nodded as he started towards the kitchen with Lycan close behind.

Once they reached the kitchen, Lycan began to search the cupboards and refrigerator for something to make, not really wanting to spend a lot of time preparing and cooking their meal and decided something simple would be their best bet.

She smiled a bit when she felt a pair of strong hands on her hips, lightly pulling her into their owner that snaked his arms around her waist and let his hands rest on her stomach.

"I think that'll be great for you and Ashley to spend some time together, but... You gotta let me get the ok from Anderson to let her in on my special assignment." Kaidan said quietly as he lightly rested his chin on her shoulder, slowly rocking them both from right to left.

Lycan continued to smile as she leaned her head over to rest her temple against his, "Alright. Will we be able to go out tomorrow maybe?" she asked as she placed her hands over his.

Kaidan lightly sighed, letting his breath trickle over across her neck as he stood up straight and held Lycan's back against his chest, "I'd feel better if you waited until I can brief Ashley on what's going on." he placed a gentle kiss to the base of her neck.

Lycan simply nodded as she watched Kaidan's hands gently grasp her scared wrist, trailing his thumbs over the slightly darker marks that striped her skin before tapping his finger on her borrowed Omni-Tool to activate it. He easily navigated his way through the programs, still pressing his chest into her back as he found what he was looking for and opened the program.

"What are you doing?" Lycan asked as she watched Kaidan's hand work the program.

Kaidan stayed quiet for a moment while he finished what he was doing, bringing up a small screen that displayed one green dot, standing in the middle of a kitchen layout next to the pantry.

"What is it?" she asked, watching the dot slightly blink back and forth from right to left, just like they were doing with their swaying.

"It's a tracker. I know it sounds like a babysitting thing, but if I'm not with you, I want to be able to know where you are at all times." he said as he grasped her hands and held both his and hers against her stomach.

"I promise we'll stick to populated places and I'll check in often ok?" Lycan asked, wanting his ok as she turned in his arms to face him and placed her hands on his chest.

Kaidan nodded, "That's fine... Also, remember that you aren't Lycan Dareden anymore... you're Lycan Morris and you can't let on that you know what you know. We have to protect you from whatever's out there." he said, tightening his arms around her and cradling her head to his chest, just under his chin.

"I understand." was all she said until she briefly and lightly kissed him before she proceeded to make their simple meal in hopes that it would calm everyone down and give them a temporary moment of peace before the political hurricane reached them again.


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Finally at Rest

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! I'm so sorry for such the late update! I've been out of town on a vacation and my beta has been in the process of moving so things kinda froze. I'm so sorry and hope this makes up for it. Thanks for reading!)_

The Alenko apartment had remained a safe harbor for many of the survivors of the fallen _Normandy. _She had seen many visitors, like a healing Joker and Dr. Chakwas, Admiral Hackett had paid a visit and when Councilor Anderson found the time, he would stop by to see how her residences were doing.

But for the moment, things were relatively calm inside her walls. Ashley and Lycan had spent many a nights out, just the two of them and they had both kept to Lycan's promise of staying in populated areas and had contacted Kaidan often while he spent his nights playing with Chester, or hanging out with Joker.

None had expected the weeks to turn into months, but once they noticed how fast the time was going, Kaidan and Lycan had extended an offer to Ashley that frankly, she couldn't refuse. For a couple of months now, Ashley had officially moved into Kaidan's spare room, having been added to his lease and was paying a third of the fifteen hundred credit a month rent.

They hadn't heard much of Major Antella's investigation and figured that he was still compiling his findings. They hadn't pushed though, as Kaidan and Lycan didn't want to know what was inevitably coming, and they wanted to keep Ashley's spirits up. Hearing that her lost lover was dragged over an open flame would be detrimental to their goal.

But on this particular day however, there was nothing they could do to keep anyones spirits high, as today was the day that they were to put their lost friend and in one person's case, lover, to rest.

Lycan stood next to Kaidan's desk, staring out of the large bank of windows at the expanse of the Citadel ward. She stood with her hair down, freshly cut from the middle of her back, to shoulder length and straightened to calm her natural waves. She wore a new dress that she had bought specifically for the occasion, being of knee length, flowing and black with a black shawl delicately wrapped around her shoulders and a modest heel on her feet to give her slightly lengthier legs.

The sound of footfalls against carpet caught her attention as she looked over her shoulder in time to see Kaidan come into her view. His leg had finally healed and the cast had been removed, allowing him to wear two of a shiny, black corfram loafer that had been kept in a box in his closet. His dark blue trousers were perfectly pressed, following the lines of his legs as a bright, golden stripe cascaded down from his hips, all the way to his shoes. His jacket was the same shade of blue, having been decorated with golden piping along its seems and the buttons shone with every glint of light that touched them. His chest was adorned with his top three medals over his left peck, while the other, lower grade ribbons had been moved over to his right. His hands were covered with white gloves and shoulders displayed his rank and specialty, but his left shoulder was draped with a long cord of black, braided fabric with silver highlights that traveled underneath his arm to pin back with itself, underneath the shoulder board. His hair had been perfectly styled with just enough product to keep his raven locks in place and his face had been freshly shaven without a knick in sight.

"Wow..." Lycan breathed as she turned to fully face him, captivated by how his uniform seemed to be handcrafted, just for him.

"It's been awhile since I've had to wear this... How do I look?" Kaidan asked, forcing himself not to touch the dark blue jacket with his white gloved hands.

All Lycan could do was smile in awe as she stepped up to him, carefully plucking a piece of white lint from his shoulder board that had his Staff Commander ranking on it before she tenderly tugged his jacket down to insure that it lay perfectly against his body.

"You look amazing..." Lycan beamed, her voice trailing off as she drank him in, wanting to burn the image in front of her into her mind forever.

Kaidan felt his cheeks beginning to burn hot at the way she was looking at him and he couldn't stop the soft smile that began to spread over his lips.

"Thank you Ly." he said as he tenderly touched her arms.

"You're very welcome." she smiled for a moment longer until it slowly started to fade.

Kaidan's brows lightly furrowed as he watched her smile shrink, willing a hand into action as he brushed his knuckles back across the skin on her cheek. He thought that she too, looked amazing, the black of her dress making her skin look paler then it was, but her hair, as a dark auburn, helped to offset it and made her delicately fair like a fragile figurine.

However, the wonder was soon lost in the knowledge of why they were both dressed up so superbly, as both became very much aware that today was to be Shepard's funeral. It had been months in the making, the politicians and Alliance brass taking their sweet time with the unnecessary details so that it was ready for the press in every way. He knew that their first thought was not that they were laying a friend, a lover, a savior and an Alliance officer to rest, their first thought was how it all would appear to the masses. The brass wanted things to paint them in a positive light, only Admiral Hackett and Councilor Anderson protesting to the nonsense that the rest of the Council and those in charge of the investigation were pulling.

With the knowledge that Shepard's supposed funeral was going to be less about him and more about the Alliance promoting itself, Shepard's closest friends had decided to do something of their own by having a get together at Dr. Chakwas's condo and remembering him, instead of mourning him.

Kaidan and Lycan were ripped from their thoughts, as they stood in the middle of the living room, from the sound of a third person approaching, both turning to see Ashley wearing the female version of Kaidan's uniform, which was just as flattering, stunning and surprisingly feminine, and with the same, black and silver cord around her shoulder.

They both lightly smiled at their friend, happy to see that her demeanor was slowly, but surely shifting into something far more stable then it had been. She had begun to eat her meals with Kaidan and Lycan at the dining table and had even helped Lycan cook from time to time. She seemed to be coming out of her mournful shell, which to all whom were close to her, were happy to see.

"I'm really not ready for this LT." Ashley said lowly as she slightly adjusted the cuffs of her black and red piped jacket.

"None of us are. This isn't gonna be about laying a great man to rest. We know it, they know it." Kaidan sighed as he stepped around Lycan and headed towards his desk where his cover rested beside his terminal.

"I can't wait till this dog and pony show is over with. I can't believe that Anderson and Hackett are letting the Major have the reins one this. All he's been doing is ruining everything we've worked so hard for." Ashley scoffed, sucking in a long breath through her nose, hoping to keep her anger from exploding.

"I know Ashley. All we can do now is try to limit the damage." Kaidan said, hoping to head off her anger at the pass before she got too hot.

Ashley sighed, "I know. It doesn't mean I have to like it though." she grouched as she did her best to keep Chester from dragging himself across her uniform to litter it with chocolate brown fur.

"None of us do." Kaidan provided his own sigh as he nestled his cover just underneath his arm.

With everyone dressed in their finest and Chester taken care of, Kaidan placed his available hand on Lycan's shoulder and headed for the door with Ashley close behind. They navigated their way down to the building's foyer where they were met by a C-Sec officer, also dressed to impress with a sleek, black limo waiting outside.

The officer opened the rear door for them to slip inside, Kaidan and Lycan taking the long bench seat while Ashley sat across from them and stared out the window. The limo smoothly and quietly rose into the air, heading down the massive ward arm towards the Presidium where the funeral service was to be held.

As they approached the Presidium, the crowds thickened into a mass of individuals that were definitely not simply out for a lovely day's stroll. They all seemed to be migrating towards a section of ring that had been designated the site of the funeral, having been minimally decorated, but was strewn with rows upon rows of seating that could house hundreds of sentients, large and small.

The limo slowed and lowered once it had come around to what looked to be a canopy that had been set up, but for what, the three of them couldn't be sure. The C-Sec officer opened their door for them, giving them each a curt nod as they stepped out and straightened their clothes, upon which Lycan helped by gently tugging both Kaidan's and Ashley's jackets down to hang perfectly.

They thanked the driver and headed for the tent, having been directed by the officer to meet with the other VIPs that included Councilor Anderson, Admiral Hackett, the crew of the _Normandy_ and the two men that were the least favorite of everybody.

As Kaidan, Lycan and Ashley stepped up to the entry point, a narrowed, roped off pathway that was used to funnel people into the tent, the guard, standing his post with datapad in hand stopped them from continuing.

"Names please?" the guard asked as he quickly swiped a finger across his datapad.

"Gunnery Chief Williams, Staff Commander Alenko and guest." Kaidan answered, arm in arm with Lycan with his cover perched delicately on the top of his head.

The guard took a few moments to search through what was sure to be a massive list, and eventually found the two names he was given, upon which he marked off.

"Name of your guest please sir?" the guard asked, addressing Kaidan as he looked up at the handsomely dressed Alliance officer.

"Oh um... Lycan Morris." Lycan answered quietly, lightly sucking on her bottom lip as she glanced up at Kaidan, whom smiled back at her in reassurance.

"Thank you. You're clear to enter."

With a curt nod, Kaidan lead the two women into the tent where nearly everywhere they looked, they saw someone they recognized.

"Alenko, Williams... Glad you made it." Councilor Anderson said from a few feet in front of them as he made his way over.

Kaidan quickly extended a hand and shook Anderson's, "You knew we wouldn't miss this. As much of a crock that it's gonna be, we wouldn't let Shepard's memory be laid to rest by people he didn't know, let alone like." he said, taking his arm from Lycan to lightly place his hand on the small of her back.

"I agree whole heartedly Commander. Are you guys still on for this evening after the service?" Anderson asked as he quickly shook Ashley's and Lycan's hands in greeting.

"As far as I understand, we are. You aren't going?" Kaidan asked as he quickly scanned the clustered crowd for said doctor.

"I'm afraid I can't. I've gotten hammered with work that requires my immediate attention. It's up to you to truly remember Shepard how he should be remembered." Anderson said with a short nod as Dr. Chakwas walked up to them with Joker, whom was aided by a pair of crutches and leg braces.

"Jeff... You're looking better." Lycan smiled as she stepped to him and gave him a gentle hug.

"I'm feeling a bit better, but these bones are taking their sweet time." Joker said as he returned the hug with his casted arm while using his 'good' one to somewhat support his weight.

"At least they're mending." Lycan lightly smiled as she release her delicate hold.

"Always the optimist." Joker huffed.

"You still planning on being at Dr. Chakwas's place tonight?" Kaidan asked as he clapped a light hand on Joker's shoulder.

"Yeah. Wouldn't miss it." Joker simply nodded before he braved to glance at Ashley. "Hey Ashley," he forced a smile.

Ashley quietly sighed, standing with her fingers ringing together before she stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him, "Hey Joker. It's good to see you."

"I'm sorry. I know that it doesn't make up for what I did, but I'm really, truly and honestly sorry." Joker said quietly into Ashley's shoulder, using the same casted arm to return the embrace.

"We'd all be dead if you hadn't done what you did. It's not your fault... It's whomever attacked the ship." Ashley whispered back as she placed a light peck to Joker's cheek.

The plight of holding back the tears that she had invoked was far more difficult then Joker could have imagined. The past few months had been devastating for him in the thought that he had been the reason for Shepard's now official death. He had spent countless nights up to his eyebrows in liquor from multiple bottles and ranging from colors from the caramel brown of a cognac, to the slightly luminescent blue of an Asari rum. The sheer number of nights that he didn't remember, far outweighed the ones that he could, but now, the alcohol didn't do it for him anymore. One of the nights that he could remember, he realized, sitting in the dark of his tiny, cheap hotel room, that it wasn't the alcohol he desired; It was the desire to forget and be forgiven for what he believed he had done.

As Joker came out of his mental torrent, he released his grip on Ashley and stood up as best he could to look in her eyes.

"You... You don't blame me for what happened?" he asked, briefly smiling at Lycan as she gently rubbed his back.

Ashley slowly shook her head, "No... You did what you had to do Joker. You know who I blame and one day, they'll get what's coming to them." she lightly smiled.

"All of us believe you did the right thing Jeff." Dr. Chakwas kindly smiled as she threaded her arm through Joker's.

As silence descended upon the group, they began to notice that the crowd was thinning, as the VIPs filtered to their reserved seats towards the front, closest to the small stage that had been set up for those chosen to speak. There was a large photo of Shepard, skillfully framed in an ornate, golden housing and sat on a large tripod stand to face the crowd. A collection of beautifully grown flowers from not just Earth, but Mindoir and throughout the galaxy had been crafted into lovely bouquets and had been placed at the pictures base in Shepard's honor.

However, that only held their attention for a moment before they looked to the left of the podium at the large, polished silver casket with the Alliance symbol embossed on it that rested on an equally polished and wheeled display. They saw both lids we sealed shut and they all knew that that casket was empty, as the Alliance ship that had searched for Shepard hadn't found anything that could have lead them to his body.

With the realization as to where they were settling in, they quietly made their way to their seats, all clustered together with the rest of the _Normandy_ crew and sat towards the inner side of the row, nearest to the wide center aisle.

As the large crowd died down, Councilor Anderson stood slightly off center of where the podium sat, as he waited for the crowd to finish settling in, which didn't take long once he stepped up to his mark.

With a quiet clear of his throat and a slow sigh, Councilor Anderson squared his shoulders, placed his hands on the podium's top and began.

"Thank you all for coming, though, I'm afraid that this isn't a joyous occasion. It's no secret that this ceremony is so that we can have the opportunity to pay our respects to one of the men responsible for preserving our way of life. He and his crew risked their lives to save this station from the Geth attack and thwart a plot that could have potentially involved the entire galaxy. Today... we lay to rest a true hero, deserving of a permanent place in our hearts. Today... we say our final goodbyes to Commander Gabriel Shepard." Anderson said, his shoulders rolled back and his head held high as he spoke with a clear and prominent voice.

As Anderson spoke, Lycan threaded her arm back through Kaidan's and grasped his hand while she took a moment and looked around at the sizable massing. She saw many Humans and Asari had already begun to tear up, gracefully dabbing their tissues barely beneath their eyes so that they didn't mess up their copious amounts of make-up for those that were wearing it, and even those that weren't. The aliens in attendance, and there were quite a lot, all appeared sad, though it was hard for her to tell since she couldn't read their body language like she could with a Human, or a race that was physically similar.

After a few moments, she turned back to the podium to see that Councilor Anderson had already stepped away from it, to be replaced by the Asari councilor.

"We have lost a great agent... No... a great man. Agent Shepard was a shining example of what Humans can not only achieve, but what they can contribute to the galaxy as a whole. The Geth have taken Commander Shepard away from us, but we are not deterred. We will stop the Geth menace and insure that Spectre Agent Shepard did not die in vain..." she was interrupted.

Everyone in the crowd all turned around to look at the source of the interruption, being a man with red hair and a moderate scottish accent that was slurring a good portion of his words as he stood up and yelled for all to hear.

"Ye don't know what ye are talking about! Shepard saved us all from the Geth and the Reapers! Ye know it's true! The Reapers are real! Damn you for being too ignorant to see it for yeselves! We have to prepare to fight back! That is the only way that we can make sure that Shepard didn't die in vain!" the man yelled as loud as he could, pointing a furious finger at the small stage.

Kaidan and Lycan watched as a pair of C-Sec guards and a woman with shortly cropped brown hair all converged on the yelling man and urged him away from the service to eventually disappear altogether.

Once the yelling had vanished, Kaidan looked to Lycan, seeing her face was not of shock, but looked more like amazement and he figured, she knew what just happened, or had a pretty good idea.

"Ly... You look like you know what just happened." Kaidan whispered, unable to stop the light smirk from growing across his lips.

"Yeah... That was Kenneth Donnelly." Lycan said in a whisper, leaning in close to Kaidan so she could keep her voice low.

"Who's he?" Kaidan asked.

"He and that woman who left with him were on the SSV Perugia during the battle. They'll end up leaving the Alliance and serving Shepard on the new _Normandy._" she said, her smirk still in place.

Kaidan's brows furrowed, "New _Normandy_? She's gonna be rebuilt?"

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. Cerberus rebuilds the ship at the same time they're working on Shepard. I guess they both get resurrected." she blew out a slow breath in the form of a sigh.

Kaidan tightened his grip on Lycan's hand, his lips slightly parting as he looked back for any remaining sign of the outburst. His curiosity sated, he looked back to the small stage as the Asari councilor attempted to calm the crowd. His anger was sparked, seeing a lot of the people in attendance forcing their tears at not just the outburst, but the loss of Shepard as well. It ground on his nerves to the point of bleeding that most of the people there only knew of Shepard, instead of knowing him intimately like his crew did. The rest, they only knew his name and had no idea of the man behind it.

His thinking must have been visible on his face because he snapped out of his head when he felt the gentle rubbing of Lycan's hand on his upper arm, her affection causing him to briefly smile and forget his little spark of anger.

Their attention was drawn back to the stage as the other Council members said their vastly over prepared speeches, all running along the same lines as the Asari councilor's had. Lycan could hear the crew of the _Normandy_ finally beginning to weep, leaning on each other for comfort and support while the politicians rambled through their words. It was clear that the crew wasn't going to be allowed to speak as every time someone took the podium, it was another politician or someone who claimed they knew Shepard.

Kaidan knew they were being silenced from telling the truth about the Reapers and the attack that nearly destroyed everything. He knew the Council was sweeping everything they had done under the proverbial rug in hopes of keeping the masses from turning the Citadel into one, gigantic riot.

Just as Kaidan was reaching the limit of bullshit that he could take, Councilor Anderson drew the service to a close, dismissing everyone with the stress clearly written all over his face. Kaidan and Lycan stood and headed for the VIP tent, closely followed by Ashley, Joker and the kind doctor and all together ignored the shouting questions from the reporters that were demanding answers.

Once inside the safety of the guarded tent, Kaidan and Lycan, still arm and arm, watched as Ashley angrily raked her hands over her hair to muss it up and pull locks from their place.

"I can't believe they just used his 'service' to call him crazy and mentally unstable to the whole fucking galaxy!" she growled, her anger bleeding through in not just her tone, but over her face as well.

Lycan gently placed her hand on Ashley's shoulder, "It's ok Ashley. The people who matter know that he wasn't and there's nothing they can do to make us forget that."

"Yeah... Except have our brain's scrubbed clean by a squad of Asari." Joker scoffed, accepting the wheelchair that Dr. Chakwas brought over for him to sit in and give his mending legs a much needed rest.

"That may be true, but they wouldn't. If they did that, then they would have to explain why the entire crew of the _Normandy_ doesn't remember a thing. They can just gag us on a blanket order and be done with it." Kaidan said as he stepped up to Lycan's other side and gently grasped her hand to thread it through his arm again.

"That still doesn't mean I have to like it LT. I still think that entire thing was bullshit. It was a waste of time." Ashley grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and curling her lips into an angry frown.

"We all agree with you dear. Tonight should be good for us all I think. Hopefully, it'll help give us all a bit of closure." Dr. Chakwas said, standing behind Joker's wheelchair and lightly resting a portion of her weight on her hands that gripped the chair's handles.

"That's the hope. We'll see you at your place in about an hour doctor." Kaidan said, a smile grossing his lips as he gently tugged for Lycan to follow, which cued Ashley to follow as well.

The three said their temporary goodbyes as they headed for the line of cabs that had been summoned to transport the attendees to wherever they wished to go. They climbed into theirs and waited in silence as it whisked them off, back to the Alenko apartment so they could change into something far more comfortable, and get to the private event that was just for them.

Once they arrived, they hurried up into the apartment where Chester was eagerly awaiting their return with a furiously wagging tail and a squeaky, high pitched whine coming from his throat. Ashley took a moment to pay the pooch some attention while Kaidan and Lycan headed down the hall towards their room. She quietly giggled as Chester followed her into hers and jumped up onto her bed to lay down as she rid herself of the very form fitting uniform. She pulled on a pair of new jeans and a nice shirt, loosening her hair and running her fingers through it to give it some body before she threw it up into a messy bun to keep the long brown locks out of her face.

Satisfied with her look, she turned to give Chester a bit more attention, catching sight of the lone picture frame with her and Shepard happily embraced in the high afternoon sun of their shore leave on Mindoir. Both their faces beamed with wide, toothy smiles, their eyes covered with their sunglasses as their cheeks were pressed together, Ashley's arm wrapped around his neck to hold him close. Ashley's other arm was extended out in front of them, indicating that she was the one whom had taken the picture.

She hadn't had time to get it developed before the _Normandy_ was sent off on her fatal mission, and had done so on one of hers and Lycan's outings. She was grateful that Lycan was there, Kaidan too, but it was Lycan that had helped the most to cope.

Once she heard the voices from Kaidan and Lycan emerging out into the hallway, she sent one more smile towards the photo before she opened the door to draw their attention. She lightly smiled when she saw that they were wearing something along that same lines as her; Kaidan wearing a button down shirt that fit his frame perfectly and a pair of mildly worn in slacks, while Lycan had slipped into a flowing top and nice pair of jeans from one of their many girls days out.

"Ready to go?" Kaidan asked as he gave Chester a quick scratch before he threaded his fingers through Lycan's.

"Yeah... Are Tali, Garrus and Liara going to be there?" Ashley asked, stepping through the door and around them as she headed into the living room.

"As far as I know, they will be. I didn't see them at the service though." Lycan answered as she went for her coat, hanging on the back of one of the dining room chairs.

"Neither did I." Kaidan said as they left the apartment, this time, taking Chester along.

When their hailed cab arrived, it took a moment for the Turian driver to realize that he was looking at a domesticated animal, and not some wild beast that was following them around for no apparent reason. After a minute of petting the animal that the Humans were calling a dog, the Turian came to the conclusion that he liked said animal and let the lot pile in.

The ride was quiet, just like all the others with Chester contentedly laying on Kaidan's lap in the back seat. They had arrived at the front of Dr. Chakwas's building before they had even really gotten comfortable, but none had any problems with that since Chester's rancid breath was filling up the inside of the cab. They couldn't help but chuckle as the Turian driver huffed, trying to clear his sinuses from the stink, and breathing a sigh of relief when he opened the hatch to let them out.

"Interesting beast." the Turian driver said, extending his hand out one last time to pet Chester, whom happily accepted the attention.

"He certainly keeps us on our toes, but he's family." Kaidan said with a smile and a glance down at the happy pup.

"I'll have to look into such a creature. They look like fun." the Turian said with a clank of his mandibles.

"They take work, so don't let Chester fool you. It took me some time to get him to behave like this." Kaidan said, tapping a finger onto Chester's butt to cue him to sit.

"Thank you for the warning. I'll do some research."

With that, the Turian closed the hatch and flew off, leaving the trio to enter the higher end condo building and make their way up to the kind doctor's abode that was on the top floor. They lowly giggled as Chester sniffed his way through the hallways, all around the elevator and stopped at each door to make sure it passed his inspection before moving onto the next.

Upon reaching Dr. Chakwas's apartment, Kaidan tapped the holopanel to cue the arrival chime, smiling as the muffled sounds of laughter trickled through the seam where the doors came together until it hissed open to let them inside.

Much like every apartment on the Citadel, it looked much the same as Kaidan's, Lycan's and Ashley's, having the same coloring on the walls, the same layout and floor plan with the exception of the décor and being significantly larger. Dr. Chakwas had added scores of photos of friends, family and various units she had served at over the years. There were photos of the _Normandy_ crew, what the three assumed was family, maybe siblings and their kids, cousins or friends with their children and all were smiling as if they were laughing. The couches and chairs were large and overstuffed, looking like they could swallow whomever sat in them whole and were centered around a large holoscreen that had been brought up to display a large picture of Shepard, all dressed up in uniform and sitting in front of the Alliance flag with a fresh Ensign insignia pinned on his shoulder boards.

"Wonderful timing my dears. Liara, Tali and Garrus just arrived." Dr. Chakwas said with a smile, giving each a quick hug as they walked through the door.

"Oh good. I wasn't sure if they were making it or not." Kaidan said as he headed for the kitchen to find the others sitting at the doctor's large dining table and drinking beverages to suit their digestive makeups.

"You have made it Commander. Is the Chief and Lycan with you as well?" Liara asked as she stood from her seat and gave Kaidan a quick and welcoming hug.

"Yes. They're in the living room with Dr. Chakwas. I didn't see you guys at the service." Kaidan said, giving Tali a quick hug as well and shaking Garrus's taloned hand.

"They wouldn't allow us to sit with the _Normandy_ crew. Said we weren't officially part of Shepard's crew so we had to sit towards the back of the crowd." Garrus explained, the disgruntled groan laced into the lower octave of his two toned voice.

Kaidan's brows furrowed as he slowly shook his head, "Well, that's crap. I'm glad you guys made it here though. Is Joker here yet?"

As if on cue, the pilot in question came around on the corner on his crunches, "I've been here. The doc gave me a place to stay after the 'blue falcon' grounded me. Good to see you guys."

"You too. I guess everyone's here then." Kaidan said with a sigh as he sat down in the empty chair next to where Joker was currently and carefully lowering himself into.

They all looked up as Dr. Chakwas, Ashley and Lycan walked in to get their drinks, the women helping to set the table with the lovely, ornate and real porcelain dishes that she had collected. The men, with the exception of Joker brought the many different types of food, some having been brought my Tali and Garrus for their consumption, while Liara decided to try a taste of the human cuisine being set out.

"Well... Now that everything is ready... I would like to make an announcement." Dr. Chakwas said, taking her seat at the head of the table with a wine glass in hand.

Everyone froze.

"Oh... Don't look so scared my sweets. It's not a bad thing." she lightly laughed.

They all relaxed a bit.

"I... am... being transferred. To MCRD Mars as the lead doctor." she said, her lips sort of quirked into a half assed smile, almost as if she wasn't too thrilled with the position.

"You're leaving the Citadel?" Joker asked, leaning on his elbows with his hand clutched around his drink.

"I have to Jeff, but don't worry, I've entrusted the upkeep of my home to you. I'll pay the rent, but all I ask is that you take care of it dear." this time, her smile was genuine as she looked at Joker.

Joker's own mouth returned the smile, "No wild parties. Got it."

"Joker? Not throwing any parties? Why do I not see that happening?" Ashley joked, sitting on Joker's right side as she lightly jabbed her elbow into his side.

"Hey now... Doc is the one person I listen too. She gives me drugs, a place to live and all she wants from me is to keep her place from getting destroyed. I think I can do that without the wild and crazy sex parties." Joker said with a snicker that was joined by everyone else.

"So, when do you leave?" Kaidan asked after a sip of his drink.

"The brass wants me to leave in about a month so that I'm there for the newest turn of fresh recruits." Dr. Chakwas said as she began to dish out their sprawling feast and passing it around the table for the others that wished that particular dish.

"That soon huh?" Ashley asked sigh a saddened sigh.

"I'm afraid so dear, but please... feel free to call me anytime. I'm only an extranet away." she smiled.

The group continued to dish out their helpings in a mild silence, none really thinking about much unless it involved diving in head first into what now was smothering their plates. They began to eat, of course Kaidan and Liara having the largest portions considering they were the only two Biotics at the table until Ashley lightly cleared her throat, drawing the others attention.

"I know, that we're all here to honor the Skipper, and I think we are, but I've got an announcement too, well, a couple of them. I'm being shipped off to N training and getting promoted." Ashley said, slightly cringing from the looks that now bore down on her.

"Seriously? When were you going to tell us that?" Kaidan asked, not at all sounding angry, but more excited about that fact.

"I wasn't sure how to tell you guys. I mean, you were so nice to sign me onto your lease and gave me a place to call home, I just wasn't sure how you would take it. I'm gonna be an Operations Chief when I graduate N training." Ashley's smile grew just a bit as she took a sip, but seemed to be avoiding everyone else's gazes, as if she was embarrassed.

"Operations Chief huh? Next thing you'll be telling us is that your going officer." Joker said, clapping Ashley on the shoulder with a grin, as she was the only enlisted in the room.

Ashley couldn't help, but chuckle, "Please... I like working for a living."

All the officers in the room started laughing, Kaidan's, Dr. Chakwas's and Joker's being the most prominent amongst them.

"Nice jab Ashley. Joker needed to be knocked down a peg." Lycan snickered before taking a bit of her meal.

"Someone has to do it. If Shepard were here, he would have done it." Ashley said without having trouble say his name like she had been in past months.

"Please... Shepard would have joined in!" Joker fired back with a smile.

More laughing around the table.

"That man wasn't your ordinary officer. He cared about his people, but boy... he sure did love acting like a numbskull with the enlisted. He'd go out drinking with them every time he got the chance. He could outdrink any of them." Kaidan said, being the one who knew the most about him.

"Oh God... Don't remind me. I thought I could hold my liquor, but Skipper drank me under the table." Ashley chimed in with her own sip of wine.

"That's not the only thing he wanted to do under the table." Joker snickered with a wink.

Again, the table erupted into laughter.

"What? Oh come on! You can't tell me that no one else knew about you two! We all knew!" Joker teased.

"I'm afraid we did Ashley." Kaidan agreed.

Ashley hung her head, laughing, "All of you knew?"

"Yes!" the whole table responded.

"Come on... How many times did you two deflower the _Normandy_?" Joker asked, taking a bite of food and quickly looking around at everyone, whom were eagerly awaiting Ashley's answer.

Ashley leaned back in her chair and let her head loll backwards to look at the ceiling, "Ok! Fine... It was a couple times." she admitted as she rubbed her neck.

The table erupted into a chorus of _I knew it_ and boisterous laughter.

"Hey! But we weren't the only ones! Why don't you ask Kaidan and Lycan how many times they christened the Mako!" Ashley pointed with a devious smile as both Kaidan and Lycan began to blush.

"You didn't! I sat in those seats!" Garrus said through his laughter, trying to sound angry, but failing.

Kaidan threw his hands up in defense, "It wasn't in the seats. It was on the floor."

"By the Spirits... I knew I smelt something bitter in that thing. Thanks for that by the way. I really enjoyed smelling your mating scent the entire Ilos mission." Garrus said with a growl and heavy with sarcasm.

"Hey, I'm not gonna apologize for it and I don't think Ly would either." Kaidan said, which earned him a playful smack to the bicep.

"Don't drag me into this! Ashley started it!" Lycan said through her laughter, hoping to shift the focus away from her and back to Ashley.

Their jabs of joking and laughter faded away as they took a few more silent moments to eat and catch their breath before, they did indeed shift their conversation.

"So... What are your plans now Tali? Now that your Pilgrimage is complete." Lycan asked, wanting to keep the joy coming.

"I'll head back to the Migrant Fleet. The Admiralty Board is still coming through the data I brought back and they say I'll be able to choose any ship to be on." she said, the excitement evident in her tone.

"Which ship are looking at choosing?" Liara asked.

"The Neema. I've had my eye on that ship for some time. I'm really looking forward to getting to choose." Tali said.

"I bet her captain is excited too. Does he know that you're wanting to join his crew?" Kaidan asked, unsure if said captain was aware, but figured he ask the question anyways.

"Oh yes. He's is very impatient with the Admiralty Board at the moment. He wants them to hurry up so I can make my choice." Tali answered, clipping her meal straw back on to continue her meal.

"I bet. What about you Garrus?" Kaidan asked, shifting focus over towards the Turian and genuinely curious.

Garrus just shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure. After serving with Shepard, C-Sec just doesn't seem to fit anymore. I know Shepard doesn't... didn't want me to quit just because of the red tape, but... I don't know..." his voice began to trail off, but he looked over at Lycan when she grasped his taloned hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

"Don't let them get you down Garrus. There's plenty of bad guys out there for you to deal with." Ashley said.

Garrus's mandibles flapped a couple times, "Yeah... That's true. I'll figure something out. There's no need to worry about me." he said with sincerity.

"Liara?" again, Kaidan shifted focus of the conversation.

"Oh... uh... I've got something lined up, but I'm not sure if it's really gonna happen." she said, looking down at her plate as she spoke.

"What is it? Something to do with the Protheans?" Lycan asked, taking a sip of wine.

"No. It is something that just kind of... found me I guess. Like I said, I'm not even sure if it's solid or not, so I don't want to get any of yours, or mine, hopes up." Liara said, this time looking up at them.

"I suppose that's fair. No worries Liara." Lycan smiled.

With that, their conversations continued, jumping from subject to subject and ranging from how Liara was enjoying the food, to distant stories from Kaidan about Shepard and his exploits during Sentinel training and beyond. Ashley described, while leaving out the steamy bits, of how shore leave was for her and Shepard, as did Kaidan and Lycan with theres. They all polished off several wine bottles, beer and harder liquors, each taking it slow so not to become too drunk and lose the ability to remember the night.

After the food had been obliterated, the dishes cleaned and dessert gone, they noticed that the time had gotten later then they had expected. Their goodbyes were said, hugs and kisses to cheeks were shared as they all departed back to their humble abodes.

Kaidan, Lycan and Ashley arrived home, tired, a bit tipsy, but feeling relieved and uplifted from the stories they told and remembering the man they were all still mourning.

"I don't know about you LT, but I'm toast. I'll see you guys in the morning." Ashley said as she waived good night and vanished down the hallway with Chester in tow.

Lycan and Kaidan flopped down onto the couch and watched as the pair walked into Ashley's room and shut the door.

"I thought Chester was your dog." Lycan said quietly, leaning over and resting her head on Kaidan's shoulder.

"I thought so too, but apparently he's taken a liking to Ashley." Kaidan said as he leaned his head over enough to rest his cheek against the top of her head.

"I think he's helped her a lot. A lot like he helped you." Lycan said as she gently pressed her hand on his chest.

"Yeah. He's good like that." Kaidan sighed as he pushed back some exhaustion. "By the look on your face at dinner, you looked like you knew what everyone was gonna say." he added after a short pause.

Lycan nodded, still resting her head against his shoulder, "More or less, but yeah. Liara's helping Cerberus recover Shepard's body, if she hasn't done it already. Garrus is gonna disappear on Omega and wreak some havoc on the major merc bands and Tali is gonna end up as a squad leader before she joins Shepard." she listed off.

"So, Cerberus is gonna start rebuilding Shepard soon then?" Kaidan asked, slumping down further into the couch as he draped his arm around Lycan.

"Yeah. By now though, they've probably already started, but I doubt Shepard is anything more then overcooked ground chuck at the moment." Lycan said, cringing at how morbid she just sounded.

Kaidan's low chuckle rumbled in his chest, "Nice visual that I didn't need. How about you and me go get ready for bed, lay down and you can fill me in on all the stuff that's gonna happen. I wanna know it all."

Lycan sat up and looked deep into his caramel colored eyes, a smile slowly gracing her lips, "Everything huh? We might be up all night. There's a ton of it."

Kaidan tightened his arm around her, pulling her closer, "I'm up for it, so long as I get a happy ending to this little tale you're gonna tell me." he winked and rested his forehead against hers.

"Alright there big boy. Time for your bedtime story." Lycan laughed, rolling her eyes as she stood and headed for their bedroom with Kaidan close behind.

* * *

Joker sat on the large couch in the living room of Dr. Chakwas's apartment, staring at one of the many pictures of the _Normandy _crew that she had scattered around. He still remembered that night when everyone was over, the stories they told, the laughter they shared; He remembered it all like it was yesterday.

Of course, that had been a couple months ago and everyone had gone their separate ways with the exception of Kaidan and Lycan, whom he still talked to regularly. They always brought over supper for him, something he was grateful for considering it was a pain in the ass to make his own meals. Tali had gone back to the Migrant Fleet and no one had heard from her, not even Councilor Anderson whom was sparse these days. Last Joker had heard, Liara was on Illium, an Asari trade world and was working as some... professor or broker of some sort, but Joker had no idea.

He was mostly worried for Garrus however, as he had vanished shortly after the dinner and not a soul had seen, or heard from him. Kaidan had said he had sent messages after messages, hoping to make contact, but he had made none.

Joker was ripped from his mental reminiscing when the chime sounded at the door, forcing him to pull himself to his feet and painfully hobble over to answer it.

When the door hissed open, he stood in shock at the woman on the other side. She was tall with dark brown hair, smooth features that bordered the most amazing thing he had ever seen and a chest so full, that it made her skin tight catsuit stress around her torso. Her body was rocking and for a moment, all Joker's mind could do was howl and scream for it to be pressed against him, minus the catsuit.

"I didn't order a call girl." Joker said flatly, figuring it best to avoid the creature and keep to his promise he had made with Dr. Chakwas.

The woman arced a dark eyebrow, "I'm no a call girl." she said with an Australian accented voice.

"How can you not be in that outfit?" Joker snickered as he rubbed the back of his neck and balanced on his crutches.

The woman just stared for a moment before she pushed her way passed Joker and into the living room where she stood with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Hey! I didn't invite you in!" Joker said with a strong growl.

"Does it look like I care? You are Alliance Flight Lieutenant Jeffery Moreau correct?" the woman asked.

Joker stood up as straight as he could, forcing back the wince from the pain in his legs, "Yes, I am, and don't call me Jeffery. No one calls me Jeffery except my mother and you... are not my mother."

"Very well Mr. Moreau. My name is Miranda Lawson, and I would like to speak with you regard a special project of mine." the woman now known as Miranda said, a small quirk curling up at one corner of her lips.

"Depends on the project. I'm gonna need a lot more then that to capture my attention princess." Joker said, rolling his eyes as he made his way back to the couch.

"Alright. How would you like to fly again?"

A pair of crutches hit the floor as Joker sat with undivided attention.


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50: A Grimm Hope

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

It had been a full year since Shepard was officially laid to rest.

Kaidan sat on his couch, feet propped up on the coffee table that Lycan had just cleaned, reading through some news feeds on one of the many datapads that littered the apartment. The holoscreen quietly played its program in the background, neither Kaidan, nor Lycan paying it much attention as they just as quietly did their own thing.

He couldn't help the smile as he subtly watched Lycan work about the apartment, straightening up his desk, wiping off the coffee table, or getting rid of Chester's copious amounts of dog fur that seemed to coat everything around them. He could tell something was on her mind by the way she sighed every few minutes, but she didn't appear upset, or bothered by anything in particular. She just seemed like she was off in her own head.

He sent her a smile, hoping to make her feel better from whatever was bothering her as she glanced at him, somewhat coyly as she finished with her quick straightening up and headed into the kitchen to begin making dinner. She had gotten quite good at making enough food to feed his voracious appetite, and had even gone and bought a small collection of cookbooks, so that they weren't eating the same few dishes over and over again.

Upon hearing the gentle clanking of pots and pans, he turned back to his reading, letting the sound of chopping vegetables drown out the low mumbling of the holoscreen. He was so relaxed and content, that when he heard a yelp and a curse from the kitchen, he nearly jumped off the couch.

"Goddammit!" Lycan's voice rang from the kitchen, quickly followed by a long hiss of what sounded like pain.

Quickly forcing back his surprise, Kaidan sprang to his feet and all but ran into the kitchen to see what had happened.

"Ly? What happened? Is everything ok?" Kaidan asked as he approached her, seeing her tightly gripping the pointer finger of her right hand.

"Oh... I sliced my finger open cutting the carrots." Lycan said with a strong wince, stepping up to the sink to run cold water over the fresh wound.

Kaidan sighed with a low click of his tongue as he came beside her and gently took her hand to inspect the damage.

She had, indeed, sliced her finger open, as the pad now had a half inch long gash, cut deep into the flesh. It bled with no signs of slowing down, the large crimson drops plopping into the sink where they were washed down the drain by the cold water.

He tenderly held her hand under the water as he reached for a small med kit, tucked in the back of a drawer, and set it down onto the counter.

"I don't know baby... We might have to amputate." Kaidan joked, hoping to earn himself a grin, which he did.

"Go right ahead. I've got nine more." Lycan said with a weak laugh, letting Kaidan care for her finger as she slightly hung her head to hide her mild embarrassment.

Kaidan added his own, raspy laugh, watching as her small smile slowly vanished back into the same, blank expression she had been wearing for most of the day.

"Are you ok hun? You seem like something's on your mind." he asked sweetly, grabbing a clean towel to dab around her wound with.

Lycan sighed, "Yeah... I've been thinking a lot about those rumors going around." she sighed again.

"What about them? We know they aren't true... at least not yet anyways." Kaidan said as he carefully pressed the towel down onto her finger to apply some pressure.

"Well... They're just reminding me that Shepard's gonna wake up soon." she said, looking down at her hand instead of looking at him.

Kaidan's lips quirked up into a crooked and lazy smile as he placed a light kiss to her temple, "He's still got just under a year. He's probably still pretty rough looking at the moment."

"I know... It's just..." she sighed, "I want to do something to help him. I don't care what it is, so long as it's something that let's him know he's not alone, and that we haven't forgotten him." she said, leaning her head over to rest it against his shoulder.

"Ly, you know we can't interfere. As much I as would love to help him too, we just can't." he said, gently lifting the towel to check her finger.

"I know, I know. It's just... all those families in those colonies Kaidan. We know what's happening to them right now, and we're just sitting here like nothing's wrong." she said, lifting her head from his shoulder with another sigh as she fought back her building emotions.

Kaidan gently cupped her chin and forced her to look at him, "I wish there was something we could do too Ly, but... there just isn't." he returned his attention back to caring for Lycan's finger.

Lycan softened her eyes and looked at him, "You don't understand babe. Shepard is gonna wake up, alone, in a lab with gunfire whizzing by his head. He's gonna find out that he's in Cerberus custody, and I'm pretty sure he isn't gonna wanna work for an organization that killed his entire unit." she said, managing to sound calmed.

Kaidan's lips slightly parted with a slow sigh as he set the towel down and picked up the medi-gel to apply it to her cut. He knew she was right, about everything. How Shepard was going to wake up cold and alone, trapped in a hail of gunfire and surrounded by people he couldn't trust. His heart wanted to help as much as he could, but his head was telling him that he couldn't tempt fate more then they already were. It's too bad his heart just beat the crap out of his head for the top spot.

"I just don't think there's anything we can do though. Everything you've told me just seems too air tight for there to be any loopholes." Kaidan said as he finished up with the medi-gel and wrapped her finger in a bandage to finish his care.

"Thanks babe," she briefly smiled before she continued with making dinner. "There's gotta be something. This entire universe is based on making choices that affects things on a grand scale. It was in the game, and it's the same here." she picked up their conversation where they had left off.

Kaidan cleaned up the med kit and took a seat at the dining table, "That's true, but all those choices are present here and thus, if we tamper with them, then it could affect the course of the timeline, and we don't want that."

Lycan slowly shook her head as she finished chopping the vegetables and dumped them into a pot where she had brought a broth to a boil.

"But that's only if we push Shepard to make those choices. Remember what I said when I first dropped in on the _Normandy_?" she asked, placing a lid on the pot after she tossed the squared cuts of varren meat in with the rest of the thickening stew.

"Which part?"

"I told Shepard that I wasn't a fortune teller, but I could tell him the consequences of his actions. What if... we could somehow lay a trail of bread crumbs that Shepard could _choose_ to follow?" Lycan suggested as she let the stew simmer and sat down across from Kaidan.

Kaidan grasped her hand, "Like how? Clues for him to find, or something?"

"I don't know. I was hoping you'd have something." she huffed a short lived smile.

"I can't say I do Ly." he sighed as he ran a hand back through his hair.

Lycan just sighed, having nothing left in her head that could possibly help lead her to the answer she was desperately looking for. She looked into Kaidan's eyes, seeing that he was in the same situation, but it didn't help in the least bit. Through all the knowledge she knew, it was almost as if she couldn't recall the finer details, the ones she was convinced hid the solution, but when the holoscreen's current news feed bled into her thoughts, those details flooded every fiber of her mind.

"A paragon of virtue?" Lycan repeated, catching Kaidan's attention.

"What?" he arced an eyebrow.

"The Paragon and Renegade actions. Remember those? From the second game?" Lycan asked, forcing her heart to maintain its steady rhythm.

"Yeah. Why?" Kaidan asked, trying to follow her train of thought.

"What if... What if we go to all the places that we know Shepard is gonna be and leave the markings for him to find? He could choose to take them, or leave them, but it would ultimately be his choice." Lycan said, standing from her seat to check the stew.

"We can't just go galavanting around the Terminus Systems leaving Paragon wings and Renegade stars all over creation. Anyone could see them and track them." Kaidan said, standing as well to set the table for dinner.

"Then we tag them in a way that only Shepard can read. You and him have a friendship bond that runs deep enough to manifest itself. Can't you positively, or negatively charge the symbols to reflect what they mean?" she asked with a quick stir of the stew before she handed Kaidan the dishes to be laid out.

"I don't see why I couldn't, but we have one, very big, very tall hurdle to jump. We don't have a ship." Kaidan said with another crooked grin.

"We can't just steal another one can we?" Lycan said as a joke.

Kaidan huffed a laugh, "No, we can't. My new assignment doesn't exactly give me opportunity to serve on one either. I can't leave you here unattended. Not with that intel about you." he said with no hint of humor in his voice.

"I know, but I'd have to go with you if we managed to put this together." Lycan said, checking the stew once more and satisfied with its consistency to begin serving.

Kaidan poured two bowls and set them down on the table while Lycan poured their drinks and sat down.

"That's gonna be some feet Ly. The last time, we were able to keep you a secret from the brass because you were already on the ship. I don't think it'll be that easy this time." Kaidan said as he started in on his meal.

"I know. Maybe we could talk to Anderson? He still seems like he's willing to help us. At least for now anyways." Lycan said with a crooked shrug and a spoonful of stew.

"It's worth a shot I guess. Nothing we can do about it right now though. We can go talk to him in the morning. Until then however, we'll both have to think of how we're gonna pull this off."

With that, the pair settled into their meal with Chester happily munching away on his kibbles. For the moment, they let their task drift into the background as they enjoyed other topics, talking about Ashley's assignment to various colonies out in the Terminus Systems, as well as wondering out loud how many mercs Garrus had killed that day. Lycan spent some more time quizzing Kaidan on the events of the games, making sure he knew them just as well as she did until they reached the break where the second game and its add ons ended.

As they finished up with dinner, they put what was left of the stew away in the packed fridge and washed the dishes, letting them dry in the air dryer that sat on the counter before they headed back to bed.

* * *

To say that Kaidan and Lycan weren't nervous about meeting with Councilor Anderson, would be a gross misinterpretation of the way they were dressed and patiently awaiting outside the embassy to be called in.

Kaidan's right leg idled with nerves, as he was unsure if their plan was going to work. They were somehow going to convince Anderson to assign Kaidan a ship, nothing big, but something he could discretely take into the Terminus Systems without drawing too much attention. They would hopefully get their own crew, preferably one that had at least one N7 graduate on it if things got hairy, and they figured they could have Lycan be their contracted cook, since a good portion of Alliance ships were doing that now.

"Staff Commander Alenko? Ms. Morris? Councilor Anderson will see you now." the receptionist said, ripping both Kaidan and Lycan out of their nervous stupor.

They stood and blew out long breaths before they headed inside the embassy, finding Anderson seated at his desk with the largest cup of coffee that Kaidan had ever seen sitting next to him.

"Councilor Anderson... Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice." Kaidan said as he extended a hand in greeting.

Anderson gave it a quick shake, "It's no problem. The message sounded pretty urgent. Is everything alright?" he asked, motioning for Kaidan and Lycan to take a seat.

"Well, that all depends on if we can convince you to let us go along with our plan." Kaidan said.

"Yes... I read the write up you sent me. It's interesting, to say the least, but I can't just assign you a ship out of the blue. We've got nothing that could compare to the _Normandy_." Anderson said, pushing aside a datapad to give the pair his full attention.

"The _Normandy_ never had a sister ship?" Lycan asked, sitting up straight instead of slouching like she normally did.

"I'm afraid not. It would have been too expensive. The _Normandy_ project was over budget as it was." Anderson said, sipping his monster cup of coffee.

_No sister ship, no available ship... No problem, _"Does the Alliance still have a DRMO? Like, for old ships, equipment and such that they mothball?" Lycan asked, her foot starting to tap again.

"Yes. It's a bit more organized then the one I'm sure you're used to." Anderson nodded.

"What about pulling an old ship from mothballs and refurbishing it?" Lycan asked, lightly biting her bottom lip in anticipation for the Councilor's answer.

"I'm not sure what you'll find there. None of the ships that are currently in DRMO are younger then thirty years old." Anderson said with a sigh.

"It's worth a look though, isn't it Councilor?" Kaidan asked.

"I guess so. Here... have a look." Anderson shrugged as he spun his terminal around and let Kaidan have it.

Kaidan nodded as he quickly logged into the DRMO's database and began to skim through their listings of equipment and ships. Anderson had been right, not a single thing was younger then thirty years and most of it was in such disrepair, that it would be cheaper just to build a new ship. The category for ships alone was full of mostly parts, and not whole vessels, but there was one that caught his eye.

The ship was whole, for the most part, and strongly resembled the _Normandy_, but with hard, edgy and sharp lines, instead of the smooth, whale like body that the _Normandy_ had had. Her hull was long and flat, starting at a point, and widened towards her stern where her wings were. Her wings were fixed, blending into the lines of the vessel to give her a flying T profile and her tail section sleekly rose and hovered just above her dorsal line. Her engine pods were hidden into the lines in her aft section, hardly visibly at all if you weren't looking for them and she didn't appear to have any weapons of any kind, which would change if they chose her as their valiant ship.

"What about this one? This... _SSV Concourse_?" Kaidan asked, pointing out the different aspects of the ship to Lycan.

"The _Concourse_... I've heard of her. She was commissioned to be some Admiral's private flagship until he got into a bit of trouble. Managed to get himself drummed out of the service and she was scrapped before she was finished. She holds the record for the shortest career in Alliance history." Anderson said, turning the terminal so he could take a look.

"How long?" Kaidan bluntly asked, just wanting to satisfy his curiosity.

"Three months. She got her commissioning pennant, and then went to the yard. She never saw space." Anderson said, sighing as he briefly studied the ship.

"What's finished on her?" Kaidan asked, intrigued by the ship and her possibilities.

"Her hull is space worthy and as far as I know, her engines are complete. She doesn't have any amenities though. She's about as bare bones as they come." Anderson said.

"I like her. She's got a low profile and you'd miss her if you weren't looking directly at her. We could paint her black to make her harder to see. Make her a ghost to the visible eye, but I doubt there's anything we could do to make her invisible to sensors." Lycan said, looking back at the ship on the screen to admire what could very well be their new ship, well, new to them.

"There isn't anything we can do about that, but black is something we could do. With the _Concourse_ being nearly complete, refurbishing and bringing her up to snuff won't be much. I think you've got yourself a ship Commander, and you have Lycan to thank for it. I never would have thought to look in DRMO." Anderson said as a smile creeped across his lips.

Lycan smiled and shied a bit as her cheeks began to burn.

"Then lets get started on bringing her back to life. How long do you think it'll be before she's ready?" Kaidan asked, unable to stop his own smile from growing.

Anderson lightly shrugged, "A few months I'd say. I'll order her refurbishment immediately and let you know when she's ready. If you're serious about this Alenko, then you're gonna need a crew, and you'll need to consider what you wanna do about your current assignment."

"I've already given that some thought sir. Sign Lycan on as a contractor. She can be assigned to the _Concourse_ as her cook. I can still perform my current assignment while... investigating Cerberus." Kaidan's smile faded a bit as he pulled their lie out of his ass.

"You think Cerberus is behind these colonies getting abducted?" Anderson asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me. I know you have Operations Chief Williams out in the Terminus, but you could use eyes on other sectors. To keep an eye on the other hand, as it were." Kaidan said with a straight face.

"It's a good plan. The more we can discover about Cerberus, the better chance we have at taking them down. As far as Lycan being signed on as a contracted cook is concerned, I think I can arrange that. We'll have to set up bank accounts for her, but that shouldn't be a problem. She'll be fully integrated into our society." Anderson said with a fatherly smile towards Lycan.

"Until they're set up though, can you have my earnings deposited into Kaidan's account?" Lycan asked, ignoring Kaidan's shocked and wide eyed look.

"Lycan! What are you doing?" Kaidan yelped.

"Contributing to our home is what. You've spent over a year paying my way, and I've just about had it. Not that I don't appreciate all you've done for me Kaidan, but I really need to not feel like a mooch." Lycan defended, still with a smile across her lips to show her lover that she wasn't actually upset with him.

"Ly... You don't have to do that..." Kaidan tried, but was interrupted.

"Kaidan... Please. Let me do this. I'm not changing my mind. I'm too stubborn." Lycan said with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Ly..." he tried to continue his protesting, but the look in her eyes sucked the wind straight from his sails. "Alright, but the moment your accounts are established, take it. I don't want you to feel indebted to me. That's not why I take care of you."

"I know Kaidan..." Lycan started, only to be interrupted.

"I hate to break up your moment, but there are a few more things we need to discuss if we're gonna make this happen." Anderson kindly interrupted as he tried to hold back his laugh.

"Sorry Councilor." Lycan said, her head sinking down into her neck as her cheeks began to burn hot again.

Anderson let a small bit of laughter rumble in his throat as his hands floated over his terminal, bringing up a number of pop up windows that all clearly referenced the _SSV Concourse _in some way. One window had the ship's detailing of stats, another was covered in her commissioning papers that had long since been mothballed and others contained a miniscule amount of articles that were directly about, or merely mentioned the forgotten ship.

"Now, due to the ship's size, her compliment is only gonna be about half the size of the _Normandy's. _Have you given some thought as to what you want on your crew Commander?" Anderson asked, briefly glancing over his terminal at Kaidan.

"I want a crew with N training if it's possible." Kaidan said in a tone that showed no fear.

"A full squad of N trained Marines? How many are we talking about Alenko?" Anderson mildly reeled at the request.

Kaidan slightly shrugged, "I'm looking at three sir. Separate from the pilot, engineering personnel, Lycan and myself."

Anderson's eyes went wide, "Jesus Alenko. That's a serious compliment for a ship this small."

"I know that Councilor, but with us being up to our necks in the Terminus Systems, we're gonna need them if things start to crumble." Kaidan said, slowly blowing out a breath in a quiet sigh.

"How many of these N7s are you wanting to be Biotics?" Anderson asked, slowly shaking his head in disbelief.

"None Councilor. My Biotics are more then enough." Kaidan sighed.

So did Anderson"It might take some time, but Admiral Hackett and I will see what we can do. We'll send you the files once we make our decision. However, getting you an engineer with any decent knowledge of the older engines is gonna be harder to get our hands on. Those engines are thirty years old, and anyone who would have known them, is either retired, or on the verge of." Anderson said with a groan in his voice as he entered some information into the required fields.

"What about Chief Engineer Adams? I can guarantee he'd be more then willing to take on the assignment." Kaidan suggested with a shift in posture.

"I'm afraid Chief Engineer Adams submitted his retirement paperwork just over a month ago." Anderson shook his head.

"Damn." both Kaidan and Lycan said simultaneously.

"We'll find someone. If we have to specifically train one, we will. Finding out what Cerberus is up to is priority number one right now. If they are behind our disappearing colonies, then I want you to be ready to make a strike." Anderson said, bringing up another pop up window with what looked to be a long listing of names.

"That's the plan Councilor." Lycan said with a crooked smile.

Anderson returned the quick smile as he thundered through some of the paperwork, but Kaidan and Lycan couldn't read the wording fast enough, since it was backwards, before he changed to another window to fill out more information.

"Councilor? Is it possible to change the ship's name?" Lycan asked after a moment of silence.

"You're trying to bury me in paperwork, aren't you..." Anderson deadpanned with a glare towards the pair of them.

"Well... sir... I kinda had something in mind. I'm worried that if we keep the ship's original name, she'll always be viewed as... black listed, I guess." Lycan said, only Kaidan seeing that her hands were fidgeting in her lap.

"Ly... Try not to push our luck. We're lucky enough he's considering this as it is." Kaidan said through clenched teeth as he placing his hand over both of hers.

Anderson sighed, "You've got yourself one quick thinker Alenko. She's right. A ship name can soil, or bolster a reputation, and I'm pretty sure you don't want a soiled one." he started to grin.

"An untarnished one would be preferred, yes." Kaidan returned a crooked grin.

Anderson sighed, "Alright then... What did you have in mind Lycan?" he asked, interlocking his fingers, resting them on the table and waited for her response.

Lycan lightly rubbed the back of her neck, "Well... I was thinking... the _SSV Grimm._" she seemed to cringe and cower into her shoulders.

However, the looks on Councilor Anderson's and Kaidan's faces, were blank with zero recognition.

"You guys don't know what that is... Do you." she deadpanned with an annoyed look on her face.

"Uh... I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that it's something from your time." Kaidan said as the corner of his lips perked up.

"Not quite. The Brothers Grimm. They wrote folk tales." Lycan said, feeling slightly self conscious.

"So why the _Grimm_?" Anderson simply asked.

Lycan seemed to stiffen, but Kaidan was the only one who noticed, since Anderson had only seen her a handful of times.

"Um... Because most of their folk tales were darker. Not always happy go lucky. I mean, we're going into a dark place, we can't very well have a bubbly, happy name, now can we." she shrugged, sending a quick glance over towards Kaidan, which he understood.

"It's a good point Councilor. We can't roll up to various Terminus locations with a ship name like _Valiant Light_ or _Righteous Avenger_." Kaidan joked, pulling the most heroic name combinations he could think of out of thin air.

Anderson chuckled, "Yeah... I guess you're right. I'll submit the paperwork for a full recommissioning when I put in the refurbishing order, and expect your crew files in the next couple of days Commander."

"Understood Councilor. We'll be in touch." Kaidan said with a nod, standing from his chair and lifting Lycan's light jacket from the back of hers.

The pair said their goodbyes and left Anderson to his renewed mountain of paperwork, heading out the door and down the stairs to where a cab was already awaiting their arrival. They headed straight back to the apartment, very much wanting to change their clothes, but Kaidan had to keep from asking Lycan more questions until they were back in the safety of their home, which he did the moment the door hissed closed, and sealed.

"So, I gotta ask Ly. What's the real reason behind wanting to name the ship the _Grimm_?" Kaidan asked as he followed her back into their bedroom to change.

"Well... One of the folk tales that the Grimm brothers wrote was called _Hansel_ _and_ _Gretel, _and every time they went walking through the forest, they left a trail of breadcrumbs so they could find their way home. Just seemed kinda fitting to me since we're gearing up to lay a trail for Shepard to follow back to us." Lycan said, a soft smile tugging at her lips as she began to change.

Kaidan smiled and tossed his uniform jacket onto the bed before he stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her midsection and sinking his head down to nuzzle his face into her neck.

"It's perfect." he sighed into her skin. "You ready to go traveling the stars again? You haven't gotten too used to being in one place?" he asked, tilting his head up to rest his chin against her shoulder.

Lycan lightly smiled, "I don't know. It feels wonderful to live every day together like we have been, but at the same time, it'll be nice to travel again. Even if it is into the Terminus." she leaned her head against his.

"Speaking of... You do realize that you won't be allowed off the ship when we're out there. I can't have you wondering around where anyone who's looking for you can nab you before I have a chance to intervene." Kaidan said, still keeping his head perched on her shoulder like a pet bird.

"I know. I figured that's how things were gonna have to be." she said, unweaving herself from Kaidan's arms to finish getting changed.

With that, the pair quickly fell back into their daily lives. Kaidan would spend a little time each day to work on various things, whether it be sending a message home to his family to find out how his younger brother, Nate, was doing, or working on his daily check-ins regarding his bodyguard duty assignment to Lycan. Lycan would keep the apartment in order, never going into Ashley's closed room unless it was to drop off any packages that happened to arrive for her. The pair would often cook their meals together, Lycan taking the time to show Kaidan a few of the tricks, the few that she knew, to make cooking a little easier.

It wasn't until three days after their meeting with Anderson, that Kaidan's terminal began to chime, shortly after midday while they were enjoying yet another film from Lycan's era.

Kaidan stood from the couch, and with a swipe of his finger, the orange screen broadened and opened up a small window with the awaiting face of Admiral Hackett, and another window with a long, tiny scripted page of writing. Kaidan's heart sped up.

"Admiral. I hope you're contacting me with the list of N7's to choose from." Kaidan said, honestly hoping that that was the reason for the call.

_"We'll get to that, but I'm afraid I've got some intel for you." _Admiral Hackett said with a voice that was actually showing concern.

Kaidan hung his head and sat, "Damn. What have you got?" he started to read through the script as best he could.

_"It looks like the people looking for Lycan are narrowing it down. The report I just sent you says that they believe the 'Time Jumper' is on the Citadel." _

Just as Kaidan finished reading the first paragraph, Lycan's quiet footfalls sounded just over his shoulder. He gave her a quick glance that told her what the call was about, the concern blatant in his features.

_"Lycan... Good to see you're doing well." _Admiral Hackett quickly greeted.

"I am, thank you Admiral. You're looking well yourself." Lycan smiled while she read, but at that moment, she recognized a term that she didn't think was actually used. "Oh my God. Look!" she yelped, thrusting a finger forward to point at the report.

Kaidan quickly looked at what she was pointing at, "What's T.I.M?"

_"Lycan knows. Don't you?" _the admiral blandly asked.

"Yeah. If I'm right... it's The Illusive Man. He's the brain behind Cerberus." she answered without taking her eyes off the report.

Both Kaidan and Lycan watched as Admiral Hackett nodded his head, _"Bingo. Unfortunately, their reach is extensive and when I say extensive, I mean, to the point where they have politicians of nearly every race in their infinite pockets."_

Lycan nodded in agreement, "Yeah they do. They've even developed a multitude of drugs that they've used. Like that instance with the Asari matriarch who was boasting that Biotics were superior, and they used their Biotic hindering drug to take hers away. She backed off after that."

Kaidan looked at Lycan with a raised eyebrow.

_"You're talking about Omega-Enkaphalin, and yes, that's exactly what they're known for. You seem to know your fair share about Cerberus." _Admiral Hackett arced an eyebrow as well.

"Only what... I acquired from various sources." Lycan choked out and lightly cleared her throat that Kaidan took as Hackett was not to be told much.

Admiral Hackett's eyebrow hung for a moment longer, "Right... I take it your sources don't include telling me _how_ you know all this?"

Lycan rubbed the back of her neck nervously, "Um... No... Not right now admiral. I hope you understand." she tried not to cringe.

_"I'll have to by the sounds of it. With this new intel Alenko, your request for a full squad of N7's has been granted. You should be receiving the personnel files for the three Marines shortly. I've gotten you a tech specialist, a sniper, a heavy weapons expert, and pilots." _Admiral Hackett explained in a monotoned voice, with an expression that was just as bland.

However, Kaidan caught the plural.

"Pilots?" Kaidan asked, seeing a small green indicator flash at the bottom of his screen.

_"Yup. You should have just received the files from Anderson on your crew. Open it up and I'll give you a quick rundown of whom you're dealing with." _

Kaidan nodded and opened the message and subsequent files as asked. Separate windows for each crew member immediately appeared all over the screen, showing their basic information printed below their generic, mugshot type photos.

After a few moments, as if by themselves, but actually under the direction of Admiral Hackett, two files came front and center, but their photos were identical, right down to the color of their eyes.

The two young men in the photos were caramel skinned, but with a slight, sickly green tinge to it, like it hadn't seen sun in a considerable amount of time. Their eyes were the same shade of golden yellow and their hair, being cut the exact same way in a short, military crop, was jet black. They weren't at all toting the body of someone who kept in shape, but were a bit on the gangly side, with just enough bulk to hide their skeletons underneath their skin.

"They're identical?" Kaidan asked with a quirked eyebrow.

_"Identical twins. Meet Flight Lieutenants Jake and Jerry Johnson. Italian born, but they took their mother's new surname when she remarried. They're good alone, but great when you put them together. That's why they've had the same units since they graduated second and third in their class from flight school." _Hackett explained, the corner of his lips tugging a bit as he fought back his snicker.

"Why second and third?" Kaidan asked, curious.

_"First place was held by Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau." _the admiral snickered.

"Ah... The runner-ups." Lycan smiled.

_"Pretty much. The best way to handle them is to force them speak one at a time. They have a tendency to be a bit on the hyper and squirrelly side. They have a knack of finishing each other's sentences, or talking at the same time which sounds weird if you're not expecting it." _Admiral Hackett continued.

"So make sure they slow down. Got it." Kaidan nodded.

_"Exactly. Other then that, they'll fly the Grimm into wherever it needs to go." _Hackett drew in a long breath as he glanced down and forced the windows in front of Kaidan and Lycan to switch to another file.

This time, it was just the one, but with a woman who's face was slightly on the angry side. Her hair was scrapped back into a vice tight bun, making her head appear bald if it wasn't for the fact the locks were the brightest shade of red any of them had ever seen. Her eyes were a glowing green and her skin was alabaster and creamy, with a sprinkling of light brown freckles over her cheeks. She was pretty overall, and could stand to smile a bit more if the lack of laugh lines was a hint.

_"This is your sniper, Lieutenant Sarah 'Deadeye' Callaghan. She's... a handful, to say the least, but I'll be damned if she couldn't hit anything with that rifle of hers. She's the best damn shot I've seen in a long time." _

"She looks pissed." Lycan nonchalantly pointed out.

Hackett huffed a laugh, _"To say the least. She's so fucking driven that she has to be ordered to slow it down. She got promoted to Staff Lieutenant in just over two years, and graduated N7 faster then anybody else. It was blazingly fast and we had to put a freeze on her promotions until she fulfilled her time in grade for all the other promotions she skipped through. She wasn't happy about that." _

"Who would be." Kaidan said with a quick snort.

_"Apart from her fierce attitude and abrasive personality, she'll get the job done and drop anything that graces her crosshairs."_

Kaidan nodded as the window changed again, displaying a young man that could very well have been just out of boot. He was short, much shorter then Kaidan and would look Lycan eye to eye, but he was as thick as a brick house; They had to strain just to see his neck. His skin was an unimpressive caucasian with a pair of small, slightly dark moles along his jaw, like he had been bitten by a blind vampire that thought it had gotten ahold of his miniscule neck. His eyes were a pale, cloudy blue and his hair, hanging slightly longer then regulation, was a golden blonde.

"Who's this?" Lycan asked, also curious to meet their crew.

_"Private First Class Brad 'O3' Hanson. He's your heavy weapons expert and heed my advice when I say, stand out of his way when he has a gun in his hands. He's a fucking pit bull when he has one, but otherwise, he's a big softy. His knowledge of heavy weapons is extensive, so trust him. He can demolition his way through just about anything. But, he tends to... overdo it sometimes with the explosives. If it seems like it's too much for the job, it probably is." _again, Hackett chuckled, almost as if he was remember a situation where he had had to do that very thing.

Kaidan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "He's not gonna blow up the _Grimm_ is he?" he laughed.

Hackett huffed, _"No... He knows to keep it in check. He follows orders without question, but __will voice his opinion if he thinks things can be done a different way. He's pretty easy to handle, but he doesn't believe in being subtle,"_ he laughed, _"His favorite line is 'The only way to kill, is to overkill."_

Kaidan and Lycan both quietly snickered.

"Oh boy. He looks young." Kaidan said after a moment.

_"He is. He's twenty." _Hackett bland stated.

Kaidan facially reeled, "A heavy weapons expert at twenty? Jesus Admiral... I wasn't looking to get the crème de la crème."

_"Well, considering this new intel and discovery that Cerberus is the organization looking for Lycan, we wanted you to have the best we could get our hands on. This is it." _

"Apparently... So there's one more?" Kaidan asked, bringing up the last file front and center.

The last photo was of another young man, possibly even younger then the last with somewhat shaggy, earthen brown hair with no luster. His eyes were on the narrow side, but not squinted, swirled with hazel that reflected silver metallic flecks and seemed to go on for eternity. His skin was plain, not being any special shade to speak of, but it had a slight tint of golden tan that alleviated the need to check for a pulse. His build was nothing spectacular, but at least he had some meat on his bones, but that's not what drew Kaidan's and Lycan's attention the most; It was the duel Omni-Tools he wore on his wrists.

"I take it this is the tech expert?"

Hackett nodded, _"Meet Lance Corporal Brock 'Cyber' Ellison..." _that's as far as he got.

"Ellison? Is that Gunnery Sergeant Ellison's kid?" Kaidan asked in shock.

_"Yup. No relation in trade, but they have the same personality. It took Gunny a bit to get used to his son not being a soldier, but once he did, the kid went far. All it took for him to get out of the starting gate was his father's approval. He halted at private for awhile, and we were considering drumming him out for being in time and grade too long, but the second Gunny said he was proud, it was like the kid turned on the afterburners." _the admiral smirked.

"Wow..." Kaidan deadpanned.

_"No shit. He's the best damn human techie I've ever met. He's the closest thing we could get to an engineer for the Grimm. He learns fast, AI fast, and he can hack his way through anything we could throw at him. He has a bit of trouble with anything of Geth relation, but that shouldn't be a problem considering what you're mission is." _

"I have experience with Geth tech, so I can help him out if it comes to that." Kaidan said, keeping his long sigh quiet, so not to be heard.

_"Very well. I recommend getting familiar with the files before you and Lycan report to the Grimm. She's been pulled from DRMO, and restoration and refitting has begun. She was brought to the __Citadel, and is at the yard. Berth 127 if you wanna go see her."_

"Understood." Kaidan nodded.

_"I think that's everything Commander. I'll be in touch." _

Before Kaidan could say anything more, Admiral Hackett cut the link, leaving the files to hover on the terminal in front of Lycan and Kaidan for them to study.

They both took a moment to scan the files, not really taking in any of the information right then and there, but mainly trying to memorize their faces.

"That Sarah Callaghan isn't too bad looking." Lycan said nonchalantly.

Kaidan's brows furrowed a bit as he turned his head, elbow resting on the desk as he glared, "Am I detecting a hint of jealousy?" he teased, arcing an eyebrow.

Lycan straightened up slightly, "I'm not jealous. I'm just saying." she shrugged, and started rubbing his shoulders.

"Are you hinting at something?" he asked, keeping his eyebrow popped.

Lycan leaned down to bring her mouth closer to his ear, "I am in no way, shape or form, worried about you wondering if that's what you're getting at." she whispered.

"Well, to alleviate any tiny, minuscule thoughts of any such thing, I wouldn't do that. Not to anyone, and especially," he turned in his seat to place his right hand lovingly on the side of her neck, "not to you." he stretched his neck up to bring his lips to hers.

Lycan smiled against his lips before she pulled them just out of his reach, "That's good to hear, or you'd regret it." she poked a finger into his chest.

Kaidan laughed in his private, low raspy rumble that he reserved only for her as he took his hand away from her neck, and turned back to the terminal.

"Is that so? You think you could take me?" Kaidan joked as he saved the files onto his terminal.

Lycan chuckled as she placed her hand on the back of his neck, covering up his amp jack, and started to gently pet the nape of his neck that caused Kaidan's throat to rumble even lower with a sound that could only be related to the growl of a hungry animal.

"Ok... So maybe you could take me." he nearly purred as he hung his head and enjoyed the feeling of her touch.

Lycan smiled a bit wider as she leaned down and planted a light peck to the very place she was caressing, "Told you. You are weak against my charms."

"Or just your massages." Kaidan joked as he stood and took the playful punch to his side like a champ.

Lycan chuckled for a few more seconds while she sat and read through the files herself, while Kaidan went into the kitchen to get something to eat.

"You know, we're gonna have to brief these people on what we're doing." Lycan said, standing from the chair, and headed into the kitchen to help make some lunch for them both.

"I don't think that's gonna be an option Ly. I doubt they'll have the clearance level, which is most likely scores above top secret." Kaidan said, taking a bite of the sandwich, letting it hang in his mouth as he pulled the rest of it, and the fixings to make more.

"That may be so, but if they can't trust us, then how much good are we gonna do?" she asked as she placed a pair of bread slices on two plates.

Kaidan sighed, "That's a viable point Ly, but we still have to be careful because we just don't know who's working for Cerberus or not."

"I doubt Hackett would assign anyone to us that he thought was working for Cerberus, but in any case, we should still consider telling them." Lycan countered.

Kaidan sighed, "He wouldn't intentionally, but we all know how deep they run, and they're experts at infiltration."

"Believe me, I know." Lycan said with the hint of a snarl in her voice.

"Then you know we have to keep things to ourselves until we know for sure. Just... trust me on this. Ok?" Kaidan said, the plea in his tone helping to convince Lycan of his sincerity.

"Alright, but if you're worried about causing the timeline to shift, I think we'll be ok. It's been a year since I've told you everything I knew, and everything's followed as it should. Liara moved to Illium to be an information broker, Garrus vanished to Omega, Tali went back to the Migrant Fleet, and Joker and Dr. Chakwas both left the Alliance." Lycan said as she finished making the batch of sandwiches for their lunch.

Kaidan lightly laughed, "You're right... It's something I worry about, but I trust you, and when you say you believe it'll be alright to tell them, then we will, but not until we're sure they aren't affiliated with Cerberus. I don't trust Cerberus."

"Believe me, neither do I. But I trust Shepard." Lycan assured as she sliced the sandwiches in half, and placed a couple handfuls of chips onto Kaidan's plate before she moved them to the small dining table.

"I do too. To be honest, if you hadn't told me that Cerberus was actually behind bringing Shepard back, then I wouldn't have believed it." Kaidan cringed, "Damn... Ashley's gonna pissed when she sees him again. I wish I could do something."

Lycan lightly smiled, gently patting his arm as he sat down next to her to start his meal, "I've been thinking about that actually. I wanna tell her, even if it does shift the timeline a bit. She deserves that much."

Kaidan nearly choked in his mouthful of food, "She'll be livid with us, and I don't know about you, but I don't wanna be on the receiving end of her anger."

"I'd rather her be mad at me, then at Shepard. He'll have enough to put up with when he gets to Horizon. He doesn't need the woman he loves angry with him too." she said, her face a bit sad.

"Are you sure you wanna risk the consequences?" he asked, chasing his sandwich with a swig of soda.

"At this point, Ashley deserves a chance at love too. She put up with us for all that time she was here. It's her turn." Lycan said, the corner of her lips tugging upwards.

Kaidan reached out and lightly clutched her hand, "Then I support your decision."

Lycan smiled as they fell into silence to enjoy their meal, taking the time to think of how she was going to phrase the message she was going to send. She knew that it wasn't going to be easy news to accept, let alone believe, but she had to try to convey her sincerity, and absolute apologies for keeping it from their friend.

With the kitchen and dishes cleaned up, Kaidan went to take a nap on the couch, while Lycan headed for the awaiting terminal. She sat quietly, smiling down at Chester as he rested his head against her leg, wagging his tail in hopes of nabbing some attention before she started her daunting task. She took a second and scratched his head, allowing her brain to shift into the right mind set, but once she felt ready, she opened up a new message, entered Ashley's contact information, and began to write.

_Dear Ashley,_

_ I have something to tell you, and it's not going to be easy..._


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter 51: At Heaven's Gate

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! Thank you a bunch to my beta Hewhoislost for helping out with the vision of the Grimm. He designed her after all ;P)_

The air felt weird. It didn't feel like the air one would breath in a hospital. It didn't smell of antiseptic, or have that thickness of being filtered and re-filtered, over and over again to make sure it was germ free. This air was fresh, light even. The gentle breeze brushed over his skin like a lover's touch, cooling him from head to toe from the apparent fire he felt like he was laying in. This air was filled with the subtle scents of lingering flowers, familiar in their aroma, as if they were from back home. It all felt like a dream.

Shepard didn't want to open his eyes, afraid of what he might see. He wasn't sure where he was, as the air was not what he was expecting, not after being thrown into the blackness of space, alone and dying. At least he thought he was dying.

That thought forced him to open his eyes, but what greeted him was not the gleaming and blinding lights of a hospital, or the blackness of space with a spinning planet over his head; it was a vast, open and lush field of green.

He slowly sat up, bracing himself against his hands and looked around. The grasses flowed and ebbed with the changing breeze, glistening under the soft sunlight overhead. The endless line of dark colored trees swayed on the horizon, surrounding everything in a ring of tall guardians to form a meadow that rolled with subtle hills, each topped with a single, billowing willow that he realized, was the very thing he was laying underneath. The sky was a powdery blue, cloudless in every way and faded into a snow white the closer it drew to the sun that hung perfectly over his head.

But there was something strange about this peaceful meadow he found himself in, as there was no sound at all. It was as if he had plugs in his ears, blocking out all sound, and the wind, still able to feel its touch, was absolutely silent. The rustling of the vines from the willow over his head should have been producing a soft rustling, but they were just as silent. In that kind of silence, he should have been able to hear his own heart beating, but even that was silent.

He swallowed, a bit nervously, as he made to stand up, his body nearly screaming in protest from soreness, or whatever was causing the fire that seemed to be persisting. He looked up at the massive willow, its long lanyards barely gracing over his face in their silent dance, mesmerizing him until the girlish clearing of a throat caused him to wheel around with a start, fists clenched and ready, to see a girl with strikingly blue eyes, happily sitting on a bench that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

The girl, possibly fourteen in age, had soft, delicate brown hair that hung to her shoulders, and her skin was light, hardly kissed by the sun at all, but her eyes, her eyes glistened the same, crystalline shade of blue that his own eyes had.

"M-Michaela?" Shepard's breath formed as it left his lungs in a gasp, the only sound that he had heard since he had woken up in the meadow.

The girl lightly giggled, "Hello dear brother. You're looking well." she said, her voice being just how he had remembered it.

"I-I... I must be dreaming." Shepard said, his voice scratchy, hoarse even, and in a stutter.

"No... Not dreaming. This is really happening, I'm afraid." Michaela said sweetly, folding her hands in her lap.

"Am I... Am I..."

"Dead? Very much so. Burnt marshmallow comes to mind." the girl laughed.

"How come you're not an adult? Why are you still a kid?" Shepard asked, studying the girl in a way that made her giggle even more.

"Because this is how you remember me. You wouldn't have recognized me so quickly if I appeared to you as a woman. I'm trying to lessen the shock, not add to it." she said, rolling her eyes, and smirking.

"I doubt there's much you could do to lessen whatever's going on here. If I'm dead, then why do I still look..." Shepard started until he looked at his hands.

Instead of being his hands, the hands that could take a life, just as much as they could be a gentle, comforting lover, were black, and charred. Every time he tried to bend his fingers, the blackened layer would crack, sprinkling the grass with a dusting of lifeless bits. The flesh beneath the char was robbed of all its moisture, looking more like jerky then the meat that should be there. In parts of his palms, his bones were visible, but they weren't white, or covered in healthy flesh and blood, they were scorched black and lined with stripes of brown, freeze dried blood.

Shepard couldn't breath as he watched his hands heal, nearly instantly mending the broken and decrepit limbs until they where just as they should be. Healthy, and alive.

"I... I didn't make it off the _Normandy_ did I..." he said, still looking at his hands in disbelief.

"Oh... You did, just not how you were hoping." Michaela said, patting the empty spot on the bench, next to her, for him to sit.

Shepard hesitated a moment before he decided it safe to accept the invite, and sat down stiffly, somewhat scared to look at the image of his supposed to be dead sister.

"I... I remember we were under attack... I ordered abandon ship, but Joker wouldn't go. He flew the ship as best he could, but there was no way he was gonna be able to fly out of that... that power beam. The last thing I remember was throwing Joker into his escape pod, then..." he hesitated, unable to finish.

"You were spaced. If it helps, you blacked out before you hit that planets atmosphere, so you didn't feel anything." Michaela said with a light chuckle in her voice.

"It doesn't really help, but thanks." he shrugged and stared at his hands. "Did..."

"Ashley survive? Yes. Most of the crew did actually. Only twenty or so of them came up here." she smiled.

Shepard's brows furrowed, "Up here?" he finally willed himself to look at the girl.

"Well, not here here. The Golden City here." Michaela corrected herself.

"Where is _here_, by the way?" Shepard asked, taking another look at the sprawling meadow.

Michaela shrugged, "It's not really anywhere. This is a projection. Something we came up with to help keep you calm once you woke up."

"We?" Shepard arced an eyebrow.

"Us... Mom, Dad, me and the Big Man. We knew this was gonna be a shock to you, so we hoped this would help lessen it." Michaela said, placing her hand on Shepard's shoulder.

"Mom and Dad?" Shepard asked, his eyes beginning to sting and his throat feeling as if it was going to close up with emotion.

"Yes, Mom and Dad. What? You don't think they didn't have a hand in this did you? It was their idea." Michaela said with a light jab to Shepard's shoulder.

"I'm way more confused then I'd like to be." Shepard sighed, rubbing the back of his head and trying not to gasp when he didn't feel his amp jack where it should be.

"I can understand how all this can be confusing Gabriel, but this is all for real. You are really dead, and you are really at Heaven's gate." Michaela said, looking back out at the gleaming meadow.

At that, Shepard drew in a long, lung filling breath and blew it out, "How are they then?"

"Mom and Dad? They're fine. They're proud of you, you know. We all are." Michaela said, letting her hand fall back to her lap.

"They don't hate me?" Shepard asked, glancing at her familiar blue eyes.

"Oh good lord. They couldn't hate you... _I_ couldn't hate you. They wanted me to tell you that they love you, and that you did what they never could." Michaela said, her face saddening at the memory.

"Sometimes it doesn't feel like I did." Shepard sighed, hanging his head.

Michaela gently placed her hand on his, and gave it a light, comforting squeeze, "Believe me... You did the right thing Gabriel. Everyone knows it. You wouldn't be here if we thought otherwise."

Shepard stared at the grass, his eyes filling with tears that silently plummeted to the marvelously green blades, "I didn't think God would have accepted me after the things I've done." he said, choking back a sob.

"That's one of many names, but yeah... he did. Even when you were screwing up, the Big Man knew you'd come around." she said, taking her hand back.

"That's a lot of faith to have in just one man." Shepard said, gnawing on his bottom lip a bit to keep it from quivering.

"The living say that about the Big Man too, but even He has faith. You prove that He was right about humanity. We can do great things." Michaela said encouragingly.

"Why does it have to be me Michaela? I didn't ask for this!" Shepard said, trying not to snarl at his sister.

Michaela gently placed her hand over his again, causing him to look up at her for a moment before looking back at her hand that was warm, just how he remembered it.

"No one asks to be great Gabriel, but sometimes, when it seems like there's no hope, someone takes the reins and drives us as a whole to rise above our eleventh hour." Michaela said with a poetic flare in her tone.

"What does He want with me?" Shepard asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

Michaela shrugged, "Well, it's not what He wants with you, it's what He wants you to do. I'm tasked with convincing you to go back."

Shepard wiped his eyes and looked up at her, "Convince me to go back? To what? An inquiry as to why the _Normandy_ was destroyed?" he scoffed.

"No. To go back and finish saving the galaxy..." she started, but someone else finished it.

"And to my daughter young man." said a man whom had appeared, and was leaning against the large willow with crossed arms.

"I was wondering when you were gonna pop in Mr. Williams." Michaela snickered, staying seated next to her brother.

"Mr. Williams? Ashley's father?" Shepard asked, forcing himself to see the resemblance, which was there and standing.

"The very same. So you're the man my eldest daughter has fallen head over heals for." Mr. Williams said, taking a moment to study Shepard.

"I am Sir. I didn't mean to get spaced. I didn't wanna leave her behind like that. I didn't mean to die." Shepard rambled, still disbelieving his own words, and how they sounded. _I... am going crazy._

"Few men intend to die Mr. Shepard, but no man, has ever been given an opportunity such as the one that is being presented to you. This is... the grandest second chance that I've ever seen. You'd be wise to take it." Mr. Williams said, rather eloquently, and still leaning a shoulder against the trunk's girth.

Shepard retook his seat, "How can I go back? I thought this was a one way trip?" he asked, the gut tightening feel of dread filling every inch of him.

"Nothing is ever a one way trip Gabriel. Dead ends only exist because you let them. These are special circumstances, and the Big Man is releasing you from the obligation of death. But just this once I'm afraid." Michaela said, leaning back in the bench to take a moment to enjoy the meadow.

Hearing that, Shepard willed himself to look at his sister, her slightly smug little smile hanging on her lips like it was permanently there.

"Why me?" he asked, holding his gaze on her.

"I think you're more then capable of answering that question on your own Gabriel. You're the hero." Michaela said, her smile broadening.

"I never asked to be the hero." Shepard nearly mumbled, picking at his fingernails.

Mr. Williams pushed off the tree and walked to the open space on the bench and sat down on the other side of Shepard.

"Look... The fact is, is that you are the hero. You're the one who the galaxy has turned to, and when you died, it crumbled." Mr. Williams said, his voice lower in volume then it had been.

"Ashley was devastated when I died, wasn't she." Shepard deadpanned, somewhat already knowing the answer.

"You have no idea Mr. Shepard. My daughter was lucky to have friends that took her in like they did." Mr. Williams said with a sigh.

Shepard's brow furrowed, "How long have I been here?"

"By living time? Two years, and that's just since you woke up." Michaela said.

"How can that be? I've only been here for... what... maybe an hour?" Shepard reeled.

"Seconds to us is hours for the living. Time will have flashed forward for you." Michaela said simply.

"You mean I've been dead for two years already?" Shepard asked, stunned.

Michaela and Mr. Williams both nodded.

"It may not seem fair Mr. Shepard, but the Abominations, and those that help them, have done terrible things during those two years. But I'm not going to put the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders. I only care what happens to five people, and I think you know who they are." Mr. Williams said, earning a glance from Shepard.

"Ashley and her family." Shepard mumbled, continuing to pick at his fingernails.

"Exactly. I only care what happens to them, and Ashley... she needs you. If you choose to go back, do it for her, and no one else." Mr. Williams said in a low voice.

"What happens if I don't go back?" Shepard asked, his chest feeling tight enough to cause him to lightly wince.

"Then your body remains soulless, and the Lazarus Project would have failed. Of course after that, then the Abominations will most likely succeed in harvesting all life in the galaxy. You and Ashley will be reunited, but in The Golden City." Michaela said, seeing the wince on her brother's face.

Shepard forced back the wince, "I don't want her to die. She deserves a chance to live a full and happy life."

"You're damn right she does, and I'll give you one guess who she wants to spend that full and happy with." Mr. Williams said with a light snarl in his voice.

Shepard huffed, "You're not actually expecting an answer are you?"

Mr. Williams chuckled, "No... I'm not. I know you already know the answer. I won't disagree that the galaxy needs you, but my daughter needs you more."

Shepard clutched a hand to his chest as the tightness grew even tighter, feeling as if his heart was straining to pump a single beat, "Why does my chest hurt?" he asked, swallowing hard and glancing at both people seated next to him.

"You don't have much time Gabriel. You have to choose." Michaela said, her tone lightly pushing Shepard to make a decision.

"I miss you guys Michaela. I've always wondered if you guys were happy." Shepard choked out, still clutching his chest.

"We miss you too Gabriel, but we are happy. We're always watching, and we'll always love you. We couldn't be more proud of you." Michaela said, just above a whisper as she wrapped an arm around him and gave him a hug.

Shepard returned the hug, "I love you guys."

Mr. Williams clapped a hand onto Shepard's back, drawing his attention, "Tell my daughter, when you see her, that I love her, and that I'm proud of her."

Shepard nodded, "Anyone can say that Mr. Williams. She might not even believe me."

"True... So tell her this. When you tell her that I love her, use my first name. She never told you what that was. My first name's Grant." Mr. Williams said, a smile playing at one corner of his lips.

Shepard nodded as a wave of tension racked his chest, forcing him to groan and clutch even tighter. His vision started to blur, surrounding Michaela and Mr. Williams in a shroud of cloudy white and the meadow began to swirl like ink in a cup of water.

"W-What's going on? W-Why is everything distorting?" Shepard breathed, each breath causing more pain.

"You're body is restarting. Your heart is beginning to beat again, and it's starting to breath on its own. Without your decision Gabriel, it will never wake up." Michaela said, the urging in her voice.

Another tear began to roll down his cheek, his breath coming short, "I... choose... to... go..."

"Good enough." Michaela smiled, being the last thing Shepard saw before the meadow went black.

What happened next was a whirlwind of confusion, and shock, coupled with more pain then he had ever felt before. Being shot hurt less then what he was feeling at that moment. His breath burned in his lungs, each pump of his heart stuttering in his chest, and felt like someone was beating on a drum with a hammer. His head was swimming in an ocean of a drug induced hysteria as he forced his eyes to crack open to nothing but blurs of drab color and voices that sounded as if he was listening to them underwater.

He could barely hear anything over his own, harsh breathing, his eyes refusing to focus to the harsh lighting of wherever he was. The more he tried to concentrate, the more confused he got and the more pain he was in.

After what seemed like eternity, his eyes finally allowed the briefest of clarities that distinguished the form of a woman. Her hair was dark, flowing to just passed her shoulders and her skin was light, but any detail he couldn't make out. Her voice was too muffled to make anything of it, as his ears were still refusing to function as they should.

He listened to the woman, her muffled tone sounding urgent to someone out of range of his cloudy, blurry and half blackened vision. His breath came harder, his heart slamming in his chest as whatever was going on around him barred down to crushing force. The muffled voices harshened until they were nothing more then noise to his ears, and the incessant muffled beeping persisted to the point where it seemed never ending.

When he was near screaming, from the pain, the confusion, the disorientation, his body numbed, easing his breathing and slowing his heart rate to a point where he felt relaxed. The small part of his brain that somehow managed to stay coherent through the panicked haze, knew that it was another drug induced euphoria, and most likely wouldn't last.

His eyes began to droop, growing far too heavy for him to keep open and the voices vanished, thankfully taking the beeping with them as he fell back into blackness.

* * *

** Location: Citadel, Dock# 127**

** Time: 0800 CST**

The ship was finally ready.

Kaidan and Lycan stood on the dock, Kaidan in his BDU uniform, and watched the scurry of workers as they applied the finishing touches to the ship. Their smiles grew as they read the freshly painted name and hull number towards the bow of the ship, the gleaming crimson letters against the matte black finish still sparkling with wetness from the artificial lighting overhead. The blackness of the hull was about as absolute as you could get, hiding the ship's lines and making it vastly difficult to make them out, which made the ship appear as a shapeless, black entity.

The newly minted _SSV-914 Grimm _was scheduled to depart first thing the following morning, giving Kaidan and Lycan the day to pack their things and have them loaded into the captain's quarters, which they did already. Kaidan had already arranged for Chester's pick up, and flight back to his parents. That task was difficult considering he had become accustomed to having the happy, older pooch around to always make them smile.

This particular morning however, Kaidan and Lycan were on pins and needles as they waited for Admiral Hackett to arrive, so they could get the official tour of their 'new' ship. They hadn't seen the inside yet, and were quite anxious to see what had been done to bring the ship up to snuff. They wondered to themselves if the inside had been refinished, giving the ship a fresh look, or if the quarters were redone to be somewhat more comfortable since they were going to be underway for a considerable amount of time.

Just as their curiosity was becoming too much, the heavy ticking of dress shoes drew their attention to the very admiral they were waiting for.

"Good to see you two are here. I hope I didn't keep you waiting long." Admiral Hackett said with an extended hand to both.

"We were actually pretty anxious to see the ship, so we've been here for about an hour already Admiral." Kaidan said, returning the handshake.

Hackett nodded, "Well, what do you think? That's about as black as we could make it. In open space, she'll be damn near invisible." he said as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"I think it'll work just fine. I'm anxious to see the improvements that've been made inside." Kaidan said, glancing at Lycan for a moment before looking back to the ship.

"There's been extensive work because it was unfinished when she was pulled from the yard. Ready for the tour?" Hackett asked, followed by a low sigh.

Both Kaidan and Lycan nodded as they followed the admiral around the dock to a temporary dock extension that lead to the open cargo bay door. The large door itself was something noticeably different, as instead of opening up, or down, it did both by being split into two halves with one section opening up, while the other opened down.

"Where's the airlock?" Kaidan asked as they stepped into the cargo bay that had several large crates strewn about with various tools and equipment that the workers were using to finish the ship.

Hackett pointed to a hatch, just to their right, "Right there, but I doubt you'll actually use it as an entry point. It's easier to just enter and exit through the cargo bay. The mass effect field has been calibrated to also decontaminate, so you're better off just using this."

Kaidan nodded as he started to look around the cargo bay. For a ship the size of the _Grimm, _it was quite large, sitting just back from midship with the door facing the bow, just like the _Normandy. _It was one similarity that persisted. The lighting overhead was much the same as well, being recessed into the ceiling and dimly lighting the whole of the bay. Towards the back of the cargo bay, a large door was stenciled with the words 'Engineering' across it, and the centerline was clearly visible, indicating that the door opened sideways.

"It's pretty big considering the _Grimm's_ size." Kaidan said, looking up upon Lycan's requests to see a grated balcony, and a wrap around ladderwell that lead up to it.

Hackett lightly shrugged, "There's nothing spectacular about it, other then it's just shy of being big enough for a Mako. It would be if it wasn't for the Med Bay over there.

Kaidan and Lycan both looked in the direction of Hackett's hand, finally seeing that a portion of the cargo bay on the starboard side had been sectioned off. Admiral Hackett lead them towards it, tapping a hand on the holopanel that wasn't on the door, but next to it, and took them inside.

The Med Bay was narrow, but long, and everything inside was new; the supply cabinets, the two beds, and even the walls that had been built to create it.

"Was the Med Bay originally here?" Kaidan asked, pointing nonchalantly at the walls with his thumb.

"Nope. The ship was built to be a flagship, and after that admiral got drummed out, the brass tangoed with the idea of repurposing the ship to insert troops. All available deck space was cleared. The ship wasn't scrapped until some accountant somewhere crunched the numbers and discovered that when all was said and done, the ship would have cost more then the _Normandy_ project. We added it in specifically due to the risks of your mission, so everything in here is state of the art. It'll take care of whatever you need." Hackett said with a sigh.

"Fully stocked?" Kaidan bluntly asked.

"Yes... With everything we could fit in here. It's fully capable." Hackett nodded.

"Was there a doctor assigned to the ship?" Kaidan asked.

Hackett hesitated a moment, "Well, that's the thing. There wasn't enough crew space, so we installed an auto-doctor. It'll be able to take care of whatever you can't."

Kaidan and Lycan both stood up a bit straighter.

"Uh... That should make things interesting." Kaidan said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"If there's a serious injury that occurs, the auto-doctor should be able to take care of them, but anything either you, or it can't handle, you'll need to hightail it back to Alliance space and we'll have a ship with an actual doctor waiting for you. Should be no more then a relay jump away." Hackett added in reassurance.

"That makes me feel a bit better, but I'm a bit uneasy about not having an actual doctor onboard." Kaidan said, a roll of his stomach telling him that the thought made him nervous.

"It's the best we could do Commander. I'm sorry." Hackett said with actual sincerity.

"We'll have to make it work. My medical training can handle the basics, gunshots, broken bones and things like that, let's hope the auto-doctor can handle the rest." Kaidan sighed.

"I've had experience with these, and it should be able to cover a wide range of injuries. Those robotic arms there..." he pointed at two such arms, hanging motionless over a bed and attached to rails that extended the length of the Med Bay, "will do the work. You should be fine." Hackett reassured, placing his hand on Kaidan's shoulder.

Kaidan nodded his understanding and turned to leave the Med Bay, stepping aside so that Hackett could resume the lead once more and continue their tour. He showed them the small gym that had been built directly across the way from the Med Bay, making the cargo bay even smaller, but still maintaining its ability to hold a decent amount of cargo.

On their way towards the ladderwell, Lycan noticed that a grated panel was tilted, and slightly askew from a seated position. She stopped and peaked inside, seeing that behind the grate, was a small compartment that could be used as additional storage.

"What's this?" Lycan asked, aloud and over her shoulder to catch Kaidan's and Hackett's attention just before they ascended the ladderwell.

"Ah... I forgot about those. The ship is littered with a ton of secret compartments, ranging in size from a couple of cubic feet, to several cubic meters. Hell, damn near every deck plate can be lifted and used as storage." Hackett scoffed.

"I thought you said the ship started as a flagship, then was turned into a troop carrier before going to the yard? You didn't say anything about being a smuggler's ship." Kaidan said, a crooked grin playing at one corner of his mouth.

"The guy who designed this bird was a bit off his rocker. He made all the compartments scan proof to any casual scans, and the larger ones can be used as panic rooms if the ship gets boarded. The guy must have been a huge fan of that popular vid series from back in the 20th... Star Wars or something like that. I'm surprised he didn't name this thing after that flat, disc shaped ship." Hackett said with a short lived laughed.

"The Millennium Falcon." Lycan nonchalantly filled in, sliding the panel back into place.

Hackett arced an eyebrow, "Right... That one. The guy was a goofball, but he at least designed a decent ship."

Kaidan lightly laughed and secretly sent a wink to Lycan, "Good to know Admiral."

"Anyways... Lets continue to the first deck." Hackett said as he started up the ladderwell.

"First deck? There's only two?" Lycan asked, following behind Kaidan.

"Yeah. The cargo bay, Engineering, medical and the gym are the second deck. The first deck, contains everything else." Hackett said.

Kaidan lightly reeled, "Jesus, this must be a long ship."

"Six meters longer then the SR-1, but not as wide." Hackett deadpanned as they reached the balcony at the top of the stairs, which gave them a fantastic view of the cargo bay.

At the top of the stairs, the catwalk narrowed into a long corridor, serving as the ships neck, that was lined with doors until it reached a short flight of stairs that looked to open up into the bridge. Luckily for anyone assigned to the ship, all the doors were stenciled with which rooms they lead to.

Hackett headed down the catwalk and opened a door on the starboard side, stepping aside so that Kaidan and Lycan could take a peak.

The space was quite large, having two, large mess tables on the left, next to the co-ed crew head, and a decent looking home theater type set up to the far right. The bulkheads were lined with various stations, some being recreational terminals, while others were basic terminals that could be used for not just work, but to send messages to friends, or relatives. The home theater had two rows of somewhat comfortable looking chairs, sitting in front of a good sized holoscreen that hung dormant on the wall. It was the crew's common room and mess.

They moved onto the room across the hall, Kaidan and Lycan both quietly gasping, as it was the captain's quarters, and it was beautiful, considering it was on an older ship.

The room was just as large as the crew common room, but set up as a lovely living space with a small dining table and holoscreen across from the bed. A low bookshelf sat directly to the right of the door, already filled with Kaidan's and Lycan's old paper books and datapads. The pictures they decided to bring were sitting on the two nightstands on either side of the bed, which had a very large window that looked out at the Citadel and acted as the bed's headboard. Their private head dominated the left corner of the cabin, being a glass wrapped, tile lined bathroom and shower unit that looked like a wonderful place to relax.

Still in awe of their quarters, Hackett lead them back across the hall, to the room next to he common room that was the armory. The armory was rather out of date, but was cleaned up and refurbished to fully functioning order. The racks were already dressed with the best weapons Admiral Hackett could get his hands on, and the workbenches were already loaded with the equipment needed to care for the weapons. In the back corner, a rack and locker had been installed for the armory officer to call home, so they choose to stay in the armory.

Directly across from the armory, was the comm room and captain's office, with an adjoining door that connect to the captain's quarters. After that, Hackett showed them one of the six crew cabins, all looking the same with a rack, locker, a desk and overhead storage for its occupant's belongings.

When they reached the end of the catwalk to the open area, it turned out that their guesses had been right; it was the bridge.

"And finally, here's the bridge. This is your chair Commander," Hackett said, patting a hand onto the back of the centrally located chair that sat atop a short platform to raise it up, "and those two sunken stations up front are the helms for your pilots. These two stations back here," he pointed to the two such areas in each corner, behind the captain's chair, "are for tactical and science initiatives." he finally finished.

"This ship is deceiving large." Kaidan said, taking a seat in the captain's chair and looking out of the forward viewports at the dock.

"That it is. Like I said, the guy who designed the ship may have been a nut job, but he knew how to optimize space." Hackett nodded as he stepped down into the sunken pilots area and sat in one of the chairs.

"I'd say so. The design is remarkably efficient." Kaidan agreed.

Just as Hackett opened his mouth to say something, one of the workers stepped onto the bridge.

"Pardon me Admiral... I'm sorry for interrupting, but the crew has arrived. They're in the briefing room." the worker informed, his nerves plainly written on his face.

"Thank you mister..." Hackett started, and waited for the worker to fill in his name.

"Oh uh, John... John Barnabee." the worker said.

"Thank you Mr. Barnabee. Carry on." Hackett stood from the chair and stepped out.

The worker nodded and scurried off, leaving the three to head back down the neck to the door stenciled with 'Briefing Room', and entered to find five people seated in the round of chairs, across from the large captain's desk.

The second the door hissed open, the five crew, dressed in their blues and all with large duffles resting on the deck beside them, sprang to their feet at the position of attention.

"Take a seat." Hackett ordered, stopping in front of the captain's desk, hands clasped behind his back and facing the crew.

The five crew immediately took their seats.

"Welcome to the _SSV-914 Grimm. _This is your commanding officer, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko..." it didn't take long for someone to interrupt him.

"The same one that served with Commander Shepard?" a short young man with a nameplate that read 'Hanson'.

"The very same." Hackett glared.

"You must be PFC Brad Hanson." Kaidan spoke up, straightening his posture and lightly resting his hands on his hips.

"Yes Sir. Pleasure to meet you Sir." Hanson said with a curt nod, and standing from his chair, display his short stature.

"Welcome aboard. As I understand it, your my heavy weapons expert. I've never seen one as young as you." Kaidan said, crossing his arms.

Hanson nodded, but seemed to stiffen a bit, "Is that gonna be a problem Sir?" he seemed nervous.

"Not at all. It's just rare." Kaidan said, his tone light in hopes of easing the boy's nerves.

Hanson seemed to lighten up a bit, "I kinda have an affiliation for things that go boom. I've had it ever since I was a kid, so I decided to make a carrier out of it."

"You're still a kid." a woman with fiery red hair, pulled tightly back into a bun, scoffed from her seat next to him.

"And you must be Lieutenant Sarah Callaghan." Kaidan said, giving the young man a nod to retake his seat, which he did.

"Yes Commander. Need something taken care of from a long distance, I'll take of it. I'm the best damn sniper there is, and I graduated N7 training faster then anyone..." she started, but Kaidan held up a hand to silence her.

"At ease Lieutenant. I've read your file, so I'm well aware of your achievements. They're what got you here in the first place." Kaidan said, placating the Lieutenant.

Lieutenant Callaghan sat stick straight in her chair and nodded, her eyes bouncing back and forth from Kaidan, to Lycan and back again.

"Now, I understand things are a bit vague right now, but just be patient. When we shove off in the morning and get away from the Citadel, I'll brief you on our mission." Kaidan said, scanning each person's face.

"Why the wait? Why not brief us now?" the twin pilots asked in unison, which indeed caught Kaidan off guard a bit.

"Our mission is highly sensitive, and with all the workers around, it'll be safer to wait until we're self contained and underway." Kaidan answered.

"Understood." the pilots nodded, again in unison.

_That's gonna take some getting used to, _"Until then, liberty is granted so go ahead and get settle into your quarters and get familiar with the ship's layout. Dismissed." Kaidan said, dropping his arms back to his sides.

With that, the crew stood, grabbing their bags and headed for the door to find their assigned quarters, leaving Hackett, Kaidan and Lycan in the briefing room to finish what they started.

"It looks like you've got a good handle on things Commander, so I'll leave the briefing to you." Hackett said, clapping a hand onto Kaidan's shoulder as he walked passed.

"You weren't kidding about that Lieutenant Callaghan. She's brash alright." Kaidan smirked.

"I warned you she was, but you got a good bead on things," Hackett stopped just short of the door and sighed, "If I come across any new intel, I'll send it your way. Just... Be careful out there Alenko. The Terminus is nothing to play around with." he sounded more like a father, then an admiral.

"We will be Admiral. Thank you." Kaidan said as Admiral Hackett stepped through the door, and left the pair to their own devices.

Once the door shut, Kaidan turned to Lycan and grasped her hand, leading her towards the secondary door that connected the briefing room and captain's office to the captain's quarters.

"I can't believe we're leaving tomorrow. Seems so unreal." Lycan said, exploring their cabin a bit on her way to the bed and sat down.

Kaidan lightly smiled, "I know." he sighed, "So where are we headed to first you think? We gotta stay ahead of Shepard." he asked, walking up next to her and taking a seat.

"Omega I think. The Illusive Man'll 'encourage' Shepard to go there first, but whether he follows it or not, is up to him." Lycan said, scooting closer to Kaidan until they were shoulder to shoulder.

Kaidan placed his hand on her knee, "Omega it is then." he said quietly.

The two sat quietly for a few minutes, Kaidan delicately cupping Lycan's chin and turning her to face him so he could ever so lightly brush his lips against hers. He felt her lips stretch into a light smile, willing him to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her closer, but just as the heat began to build between them, the door chimed.

Kaidan's brows furrowed as he groaned and stood, hurrying it up when the chiming became more urgent and opened the door to see the other young man on his crew, LCPL Brock Ellison.

"Sorry to disturb you Sir, but Hanson and those twin pilots are going at it." Ellison said, not really sounding too concerned, but his eyes shifted to look over Kaidan's shoulder towards Lycan, now standing with her hands behind her back next to the small dining table.

Kaidan sidestepped to block the Marine's view into the cabin, "Going over ration manifests..." he deadpanned. "And that sure didn't take long. Where are they?" he asked, his brows pulling together a bit harder and eager to shift focus back to the matter at hand.

"The bridge. Hanson thinks those two took his det cord." Ellison reported, taking a step back from the door to let Kaidan pass.

Kaidan's throat growled low as he hurried passed, Lycan and Ellison following close behind on their way down the long corridor to the bridge where the angry sounding voices filtered from.

"What the Hell is going on here!" Kaidan snapped just as he took the short flight of stairs in one stride.

"Those two freaks took my det cord Sir! That stuff cost me and arm and a leg! I have to buy it myself because it works better then the Alliance electronic triggers and they don't cover it!" Hanson said angrily, pointing his short, stubby finger at the twins already sitting at their stations and checking out the controls.

"We don't..." the pilot on the left started.

"Have it." the one on the right finished.

"And that! They constantly finish each others sentences! How the Hell did you two even get into the Alliance!..." Hanson started, rocking forward on one leg, which wasn't the best move to make.

Thinking that Ellison was making a move on the pilots, Kaidan's body erupted in an angry envelope of swirling blue Biotics that forced everyone on the bridge to shut their mouths.

"Enough! This is a Hell of a way to start out your brand new assignment! How do you know they took your det cord Private!" Kaidan demanded, pulling his Biotic aura back in.

"I saw 'em coming out of my quarters Sir." Hanson said, his voice far calmer.

"We thought it was ours. We made a mistake." the twins said in unison.

Kaidan pinched the bridge of his nose, "Ok you two... first things first. Which one is Jerry, and which one is Jake?"

"I'm Jake." The pilot on the left said, raising his hand.

"And that means you're Jerry. How do most people tell you two apart?" Kaidan asked, his brows still furrowed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

The two pilots turned their chairs around and both looked up at Kaidan, which allowed him to see that Jake, on the left, had a small tattoo just under his right eye that was a number one, while Jerry, on the right, had one just under his left, and was a number two. He had missed them at first because they were quite old, the ink being a brown color instead of black and faded from age.

"We're mirror twins Commander. I'm left handed, Jerry's right handed. We put these here so people could tell us apart." Jake said, tapping a finger on the old, faded tattoo.

Kaidan had to take a moment to not start laughing, "You tattooed your face?" he asked with mild shock.

"Seemed like the easiest thing to do at the time." Jerry said with a chuckle.

"Mom was pissed." Jake snickered.

"Yeah she was." Jerry agreed.

"Ok, ok," Kaidan sighed, "Do you guys have his det cord?" he asked, the anger near gone.

"No." they said.

"Yes you do!" Hanson barked.

"Knock it off Private. I'd expect this bull headedness from the Lieutenant, but not you." Kaidan's anger was starting to return.

"I apologize Sir, but if they don't have it, where is it? I know I packed it last night." Hanson said with a growl.

"You do. It's in your pocket." Lycan interjected, pointing at Ellison's cargo pocket of his BDUs that had a slight bulge to it.

Hanson, looking shocked at Lycan for a moment, opened his cargo pocket and reached inside, pulling out a tightly rolled portion of det cord.

"Um... I must have slipped it into my pocket." Hanson sighed, looking down at his hands to hide his embarrassment.

"There you have it Private." Kaidan said, glaring.

"Look at that... The civilian might be useful after all." Lieutenant Callaghan said with a smirk as she stepped up onto the bridge.

Kaidan rolled his eyes, Jake and Jerry wincing as they both turned back around to face their consoles.

"Meet me in my office in five minutes Private." Kaidan said lowly, motioning with his head to get off the bridge, before he turned around to look at the Lieutenant.

"She'll be more useful then you think if you ever wanna eat something other then what comes out of that auto-chef." Kaidan said, straight faced and crossing his arms over his chest.

Lycan noticed the Lieutenant's eyes briefly scan Kaidan up and down. _Really?... Bitch better watch it, or she'll get it. _Lycan thought, lightly sighing and deciding to remain silent and let Kaidan handle it.

"So she's the cook? Didn't know the Alliance was making a habit of assigning civilian cooks on special... classified... missions." Callaghan said snidely, glaring at the shorter Lycan.

"Her security clearance is higher then yours Lieutenant, and she cleared the extensive background check with flying colors." Kaidan said, almost staring Callaghan down.

"And I assume you know this first hand Commander?" Callaghan asked, clasping her hands behind her back.

"I did the background check myself. Are you doubting my ability to choose a crew?" Kaidan blatantly asked.

Callaghan's shoulders seemed to slump slightly, "No Sir... I'm not."

"Good. Whatever you've heard about me, throw it out the airlock, because I'm not gonna let bullshit like this slide. Our mission is far too important to be constantly at each others throats like this, so if I were you... Lieutenant... I'd think twice about starting anything." Kaidan said, dropping his voice low so it was almost a growl.

Callaghan drew in a long breath, "Understood Commander. By your leave?"

"Go." Kaidan simply said.

With that, Callaghan spun on her heel and all but marched down the corridor, disappearing into her chosen quarters without even a second look back towards the bridge.

"You're dismissed Corporal. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I hope there's no issues you want me address?" Kaidan said with no anger, but not looking at Ellison.

"No Sir, I'm good. When's chow Ms. Morris?" Ellison asked politely.

Lycan smiled, "You can call my Lycan. Um... I'll be starting lunch now, and dinner will be around 1830. Alright?"

"Very well... Lycan." Ellison sent a curt nod towards her before turning and leaving.

"This should be an interesting mission." Jake snickered.

"Don't you two start." Kaidan huffed a weak laugh and pinched the bridge of his nose again.

The pilots snickered to themselves as Kaidan and Lycan started back down the neck of the ship until they reached the briefing room door.

"I'll be there in a bit. I've got a private to talk to." Kaidan said, quickly glancing down the long catwalk to make sure they were the only ones there before leaning it to place a quick peck to her cheek.

Lycan smiled, "Good luck. I'll have to reteach myself to be discrete." she placed a hand on his bicep.

"I'm sure you'll be just fine. I'll be there shortly." Kaidan said, straightening back up.

Lycan nodded and headed to the mess to start making lunch for the crew, leaving Kaidan to his task of letting Private Hanson in on a few things. He cracked his neck before stepping into, now, Kahisidan's office to find the private sitting in a chair and staring at his hands that were spinning the coil of det cord until he glanced up, saw that it was Kaidan, and sprang to his feet.

Without saying a word, Kaidan sighed as he headed for the desk and took a seat, letting Hanson stand at attention for a moment as he collected his thoughts.

"At ease Private. Take a seat." Kaidan sighed again, pointing to a chair that sat in front of his desk and faced him.

Hanson did without saying a word.

"I'm not gonna have to keep an eye on you this entire mission am I?" Kaidan asked, leaning back in his chair and folding his hands in his lap.

"No Sir. I apologize for earlier." Hanson said, sitting up stick straight.

"It's not me who you need to apologize to. You hardly know them, but you were quick to blame them for taking your det cord. Is there something I should know?" Kaidan said, his voice far calmer then earlier.

Hanson sighed, "This isn't the first time I've been stationed with them Sir. The last time, they got on my nerves because of their whole, finishing each others sentences, and talking at the same time crap. They got irritating." he briefly glanced up at Kaidan.

"Look... I know you're'll waiting to be let in as to why you've been assigned here, but trust when I say that it's vastly important. I can't be babysitting everyone, so I need you all to act accordingly. Am I clear?" Kaidan asked.

"Yes Sir."

"Can I count on you to at least tolerate them?" Kaidan asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the desk and clasp his hands back together.

"Yes Sir."

"Very well. I'll hold you to it Private. No go on... Chow is coming up."

With that, Hanson stood with a nod, and headed out to finish settling in, leaving Kaidan, slowly shaking his head as he rubbed the back of his neck with both hands and stared at the ceiling with a sigh. _I really hope this isn't a sign of things to come... Otherwise, this is gonna be a long, ass mission. _He thought as he stood and headed to get something to eat.

* * *

** Location: Cerberus Station**

** Time: 1330 CST**

Freedom's Progress was gone. Everyone who called it home had vanished without a trace, almost as if they had just gone while they were eating supper.

Shepard sat in one of the rows of chairs at the Cerberus station that the dark haired woman with an accent had brought him, after he had woken up in that lab. When his eyes had focused, he had realized that the station was under attack by the very mechs charged to protect it, and he had to suit up in an advanced hardsuit that apparently was awaiting him in a nearby locker to fight his way out, meeting a man by the name of Jacob Taylor along the way.

That had been an interesting conversation to say the least, and Shepard wasn't even sure if he believed it or not, but the vid logs that the dark haired woman he had come to know as Miranda Lawson, were very compelling evidence. He didn't trust either one of them, especially after Ms. Lawson had shot the man known as Wilson straight in the face, and said that he had been the one who turned the mechs loose on the station.

He had tried to get some answers once they had fled the station on the shuttle, but he couldn't get a straight one from either one of them. They had said he had been dead for two years and twelve days, that Anderson had indeed been accepted as Councilor and the _Normandy's_ crew had been split up. He had gotten a little something from The Illusive Man, but nothing detailed or concrete. Garrus had disappeared after his apparent funeral, while Liara had moved to Illium and started working as an information broker. Tali had gone back to the Migrant Fleet, something he kind of already knew and when he had seen her on the colony, he was excited, but out of all of his questions he wanted answers to, he wanted to know where Ashley was. He didn't get it.

_Surprisingly well classified... What a hunk of bullshit. _Shepard thought, picking at the ceramic plates of his gauntlets and resting his elbows on his knees. _He knows where she is, but he doesn't wanna tell me. He wants to isolate me. _He continued to think to himself. At that thought, he remembered asking Tali to join him, but when she refused, it only made his isolation that much more absolute. His thoughts wondered until the clicking of high heels captured his attention.

"The Illusive Man is asking to see you Commander. It would be wise not to keep him waiting." Ms. Lawson said, standing in front of him.

"I'll go see him when I'm damn well ready. He can wait." Shepard said dully, not even looking up from his hands.

"With all do respect Commander, we have a job to do and it can't wait." Ms. Lawson countered with the same tone, flat and cold.

Finally, Shepard looked up from his hands and glared at the woman, "Don't you think I'm a bit entitled to take a breather and gather my own thoughts of being resurrected, missing two fucking years and everything else that I've missed! I'll go and see him when I'm ready to!" he snapped.

Ms. Lawson drew in a slow breath, but remained silent and continued to stare at Shepard, watching him angrily stand from his seat and rake a hand back over his buzzed hair.

Shepard angrily paced back and forth, clawing his hands on the top of his head as he passed by a window, catching sight of his reflection for the first time. He stopped and turned to face the window, letting his hands drift down his face over the series of softly glowing scars that littered his face. His left eye was ringed with the same scars, stretching over his forehead until they finally disappeared, and the blue of his eyes had faded, giving way to the subtle glow of red that made him look like something other then human.

"What happened to me?" Shepard asked, glaring at the monster looking back at him.

Ms. Lawson slowly walked around the row of chairs until she came next to him, "We had to regrow most of your skin, and in order to repair your skeletal structure, we had to use extensive cybernetic implanting."

Shepard didn't bother to look at her, "Why aren't these healed?" he lightly touched a painless, glowing scar.

"Because we had to wake you up early. They haven't had a chance to fully heal." Ms. Lawson said, still coldly.

Shepard took another minute to memorize the image in front of him, his gut tightening hard enough he wanted to throw up, but he didn't want to look anymore. He didn't want the reminder of what he had just lived through.

"I'll go speak with him." Shepard finally blinked his eyes a couple times and turned to look at the dark haired woman. "Thank you... for what you did... For bringing me back." he said, but without much emotion in it at all.

"There's a job that needs to be done Commander. You've kept The Illusive Man waiting long enough." she said, stepping aside to let Shepard pass.

Instead of heading for the comm room, Shepard stood and glared, "Alright... I get it. You don't wanna be friends, and that's fine. I figured that if we were gonna be forced to work together, we might as well get along, but I guess not. Now... if you'll excuse me... I have a deceiving overlord to talk to."

With that, Shepard walked off, heading back across the row of chairs towards a set of stairs that lead down to a door. As Shepard drew close, the door opened, allowing him entry into a darkened room with a short pedestal in its center. He stepped up onto it which activated it, cueing a holographic grid to erected around him and display a giant, blue and red glowing star behind a shadowed man, sitting in a chair with a smoldering cigarette in his hands.

_"Shepard... Good work on Freedom's Progress. The Quarians forwarded their findings from Veetor's debriefing, but there wasn't any new data. However, considering our history, it was a surprising olive branch. You and I have different methods, but I can't argue with the results." _The Illusive Man said, taking a drag from his cigarette.

Shepard crossed his arms, "You should try making friends once in a while. They come in handy sometimes." he leered.

_"That may be so, but you got what we needed. You confirmed that the Collectors are __responsible for the abductions." _The Illusive Man said like he had just ordered a pizza.

Unfortunately for him, Shepard caught the lack of emotion.

"You don't seem all that surprised, which tells me that you already had an idea that these Collectors were behind it." Shepard said, keeping the growl at bay as he rocked back on one foot.

Another puff of cigarette, _"I had my suspicions, but I needed proof. The Collectors are enigmatic at best. Once in a while, they travel to the Terminus Systems, looking to gather seemingly unimportant items, or specimens, and it's usually in exchange for their technology. When their transactions are complete, they disappear as quickly as they arrived." _

"Where do they go?" Shepard asked blandly.

_"Back beyond the Omega 4 Relay."_

Shepard's brows furrowed, "Should that be important?"

_"It's very important Shepard. The Omega 4 Relay is unmapped and no one who's traveled through it has ever returned." _The Illusive Man said, followed by yet another drag.

"Seems like a good place to hide to me. Why have the Collectors shifted their focus to humans? What do they want with us?" Shepard asked, deciding it best to get as much information from The Illusive Man as he was willing to tell.

_"Isn't it obvious? Humanity played a significant role in Sovereign's destruction, and that could have very well been what drew their attention towards us. So far, they've abducted hundreds of thousands of humans from colonies around the Terminus Systems." _The Illusive Man said, crossing a leg.

Shepard narrowed his eyes, "You know more then you're letting on. Why are the Collectors abducting human colonists?"

The Illusive man sat up a little straighter, but his face remained blank, _"I believe the Collectors are working for the Reapers."_

Shepard's anger spiked, "Wonderful. How do you know that?" he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

_"Their focus shifted to humanity after you and the human fleet destroyed Sovereign. These abductions are related, even if the Alliance and Council refuse to believe it. I, for one, won't wait for the Reapers to march. We need to take the fight to them." _The Illusive Man said, taking a draw from his cigarette, but this time, blowing it out in a long, unbroken stream of smoke.

"If the Reapers really are behind this..." _I'm gonna hate myself for this, _"then I agree, but I can't do it alone. I didn't stop Saren and Sovereign by myself." Shepard said, inwardly kicking himself for agreeing with a man he detested.

_"Then we are on the same page. I've already compiled a list of soldiers, scientists and __mercenaries. You'll get dossiers of the best of them, but finding, and convincing them to work with you could be challenging. However, you're a natural leader. In the mean time, I'll continue to track the Collectors. The next time they reappear, I'll inform you and your team, so be ready." _

Shepard's anger continued to get closer to boiling, "The Hell with your list. I had a good team." he snarled.

_"That was two years ago Shepard. Most have moved on, and allegiances have changed."_

Shepard had a feeling he wasn't gonna get very far, "Where's Ashley? You know."

_"As I said before Shepard, she continued work with the Alliance, and her file is..." _

Shepard interrupted him.

"Surprisingly well classified. I get it. You don't wanna tell me. I can probably get more help from the Council anyways." Shepard hissed, uncrossing his arms and placing his hands on his armored hips.

The Illusive Man adjusted slightly in his chair, _"If you think you can convince them, then by all means Shepard, but remember... You've been gone a long time, and things have changed."_

"I know." Shepard said, glancing down at his feet.

_"Good. Two things before you go... First, head to Omega and find Mordin Solus. He's a brilliant Salarian scientist. Our intelligence suggests he may know how to counteract the Collectors paralyzing seeker swarms." _

Shepard scoffed, and rolled his eyes, "I've been awake for, what... a day or so and you're already giving me orders. What's the second thing?"

_"I found a pilot I think you might like. I hear he's one of the best." _

Before Shepard could even ask who, The Illusive Man cut the sophisticated comm link, thrusting Shepard back into a dark room as the holographic display slowly fell away. He stared at the back wall, hands still on his hips as the rough footballs of someone descending the stairs caught his attention, but it wasn't until the person spoke, that he turned around to see whom it was.

"Hey Commander. Just like old times huh?"

Shepard stood, stunned for a moment at the voice he very much recognized until he had gathered enough courage to turn around and look.

Once he had, he saw the last person to see him alive; The very man who most likely had been responsible for buying most of the _Normandy's_ crew enough time to escape before the ship was blown apart, but there was something different about him. Not only was his uniform emblazoned with the golden logo of Cerberus, he stood up a bit straighter, and without the aid of crutches.

"Joker?" Shepard gasped, at first disbelieving that he was looking at one of the people he considered a close friend. "Is that you?"

Joker nodded, "Yeah... It's me Commander. It's been a long time." he said, mirroring Shepard's posture by placing his hands on his hips.

"I hear two years and twelve days." Shepard said with a huff, his eyes starting to glisten more under the dim lighting.

"Sounds about right. It's good to have you back." Joker started to smile.

Shepard swallowed back his growing emotion at seeing someone he could trust and started towards the pilot, dabbing the back of his hand against his eyes to make sure they wouldn't overflow. He stopped in front of Joker, his nose slightly sniffling as he extended a hand.

"I'm glad it's you. Means I have someone I can trust. I can't believe you're here." Shepard started to laugh as the men shook hands, which got drawn into a brotherly type hug by Joker himself.

"Looks who's talking. I saw you get spaced." Joker started to join in the laughter.

Shepard took a step back and let go of Joker's hand, "I uh... I got lucky, with a lot of strings attached. How'd you end up here?" he asked, starting up the stairs behind Joker.

Joker limped, but very much under his own power, leading Shepard towards another series of stairs, "It all fell apart without you Commander. Everything you stirred up, the Council just wanted it gone. The team was broken up, records sealed, and I was grounded. We tried to keep things rolling, Ashley, Alenko and the others," he winked at Shepard to silently mention Lycan, "mostly, but even the Council gagged 'em. The Alliance took away the only thing that mattered to me, so Hell yeah I joined Cerberus." he said with a snarl, leading Shepard up even more stairs that seemed to lead to a giant row of darkened windows.

"You really trust The Illusive Man?" Shepard asked, placing the mention of Ashley, Kaidan and Lycan on the back burner for later, and out of the ears of the very man they were talking about.

Joker scoffed and rolled his eyes, "I don't trust anyone who makes more then I do, but they aren't all bad. Saved your life... Let me fly." he stopped at a large window that looked out into an open, but darkened berth, with a blackened silhouette. "Then there's this." he started to smile. "They only told me last night."

Shepard glanced at Joker for a moment before he looked out the window, just as the brilliant flood lights began to light the bay.

The blackness withdrew from the form of a ship Shepard thought he would never see again, his emotions rekindling ten fold as the glistening, unnamed vessel became fully visible. The ship was long, having the near identical profile of the original _Normandy_, except she was visibly larger. Her hull was an unblemished white, marked with accents of black and her long body was littered with viewports. Her bow, having two long fins, was marked with the Cerberus logo and her wings were stationary, but spread like a bird of prey preparing to take its first flight. But through all his emotion, his focus was drawn to the two letters, and a number that tattooed her hull.

"SR2?" Shepard choked out, placing a hand on the window.

"Yeah... You weren't the only one Cerberus resurrected." Joker said, briefly glancing at Shepard before looking back to the gleaming profile of his baby.

"She needs a name." Shepard said lowly, not taking his eyes off the ship.

"I figured I'd leave that up to you." Joker said, clapping a hand onto Shepard's shoulder.

Shepard huffed a laugh, "You mean you're gonna let me name your baby?"

"Just this once, so don't get used to it." Joker smiled.

Shepard returned the smile, keeping his hand on the window to help keep him up as he stared, giving himself some time to regain control of his emotions. This was the first time he had a chance to really come to grips with being gone for two years, but seeing the ship, it only forced him to remember what he had lost.

It really had been two years. He had missed out on spending two years with Ashley. Spending two years going out on double dates with Kaidan and Lycan, and even the possibility of asking Ashley to marry him. He had missed out on two years of living life how he had wanted to live it, and there was nothing he could do to get those two years back.

The blackness still in the window showed his reflection once more, the glowing scars still there, and the glow of his eyes still blurring out the blue that should be there. But as much as he hated how he looked, how he felt still burned bright. The Illusive Man was dangling the two years right in front of his face, and he was taking the bait.

"_Normandy._" Shepard whispered as a tear leapt from his left eye.


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52: One More

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

**Location: Citadel, dock #127**

The day had finally come for the _SSV-914 Grimm_ to depart from the Citadel. The fresh paint on the hull was dry, and the interior of the ship had finally been finished. The crew had unpacked and settled into their quarters, occupying five out of the six available cabins and Kaidan and Lycan were adjusting to keeping their relationship under wraps. So far, so good.

Now, with their departure time approaching, the crew was going through their equipment to make sure everything was in order. Private First Class Brad Hanson was going through his personal supply of det cord, all accounted for, and checking in his chosen weapons into the armory. Lance Corporal Brock Ellison, not having any weapons himself, had migrated to engineering to learn the ship, upon which he was quickly learning the finer points of the thirty year old power plants.

The _Grimm's_ engines, in their day, had been the most advanced power plants the Alliance had to offer. They were built for speed, back in a time when speed was key to any engagement, and they had managed to maintain most of their power during their thirty year mothball. The best engineers whom had worked on the original design of the engines had refurbished them, bringing them back up to pristine order and they now purred like a restored sports car. That's what the _Grimm_ was; a restored sports car.

Lieutenant Sarah Callaghan had made herself quite at home in the armory, usually ignoring the rest of the weapons and spending all her time cleaning and polishing her pair of specially made snipers, her M-29 Incisor, and M-28 Widow. Both of which had been modified to her very specific specifications.

The twin pilots, Flight Lieutenants Jake and Jerry Johnson spent their time running their pre-flight checks. They ran informal drills for various situations, splitting the flight controls right down the middle which they had no problems with. Kaidan had taken a moment to watch them work, standing amazed in front of his captain's chair as the pilots seemed to read each other's minds. He had never seen a pair of twins feed off each other like these two did, and it eased his nerves to know that the _Grimm_ was in good hands.

For Lycan's part, she was going through the small galley's cabinets in the crew common room and mess, checking to make sure that they had enough food to feed the one Biotic, which could mow through enough to feed a small army, two young men barely into their twenties, a woman who probably didn't eat too often, two twin pilots that often matched each other in serving size, and herself, who could deceivingly eat more then she looked like she could, thanks to her metabolism booster that Kaidan had given her.

Lycan opened up the cabinet where she had loaded the power bars, over the counter and to the left of the duel sinks, to count them, and make sure there was enough to last a while, but as she counted, she realized that there wasn't.

"Oh damn." Lycan huffed, putting the bars back into the cabinet.

"What's wrong Ms. Lycan?" Hanson asked, seated at one of the table and winding up measured coils of det cord.

"I don't have enough power bars for you guys. I'm gonna have to run out and get some more before the Commander mows through 'em." Lycan said smiling, as Hanson had begun to call her Ms. Lycan where his nearly gone southern drawl would show itself.

"Ah... You seem to know your fair share about Biotics. Have you served with many?" Hanson asked, the drawl gone, as he secured the coil in his hands with a short tie.

_Great... Time to be vague, _"No, I haven't, but when you're a cook, you need to know how they work. Nobody wants an underfed Biotic on their hands." she said, clutching her datapad to her chest, now in a civilian variant of the Alliance BDUs.

"Good thinking. I believe the Commander is still on the bridge I think." Hanson said, nodding towards the bow before turning his attention back to his coils.

Lycan nodded, smiling and headed out of the common room to walk to the bridge. She stepped up onto it, her boot falls catching Kaidan's attention whom turned and gave her a generic greeting, but followed it up with a hidden, far more personal wink.

"Commander, do you have a moment?" Lycan asked, using his rank instead to keep up appearances.

"Of course. What do you need?" Kaidan asked, crossing his arms and looking at her.

"I went through our rations and found that we're short on power bars. I'll need to head out and get some more if we're gonna avoid having a grumpy Biotic." she said, huffing a silent, short laugh.

Kaidan's small smile faded a bit, "Take Hanson with you and make sure he's armed." he said officially, locking eyes with her to silently tell her to be careful, and use the few tactics he had taught her throughout the two years they had been together.

Lycan nodded at both, taking Hanson, and being smart, "Understood Commander. I'll be in touch." she said, secretly returning Kaidan's wink before she headed back down the neck.

"That's some protection detail for just a cook Commander." Jake said, somewhat nonchalantly, but still facing his console on the left.

"She's a pretty girl and the Citadel is a big place. It has its fair share of underground and bad guys. I don't need the only civilian we have being kidnapped." Kaidan said, stepping down into the sunken area to get a closer look at the various screens that the pilots had in front of them, and realizing what he had just said. _Shit._

Both Jake's and Jerry's hands stopped, hovering over their consoles.

"You think the..." Jake started.

"Cook is pretty?" Jerry finished.

Kaidan pinched the bridge of his nose, "Problem?" he simply asked, his voice bland.

Jake shrugged, "No Sir... Just an observation." he refused to look at Kaidan.

One of Kaidan's brows popped up, "Don't go thinking anything of it you two. Who I find good looking is my business." he scurried to cover his slip.

"Weren't gonna." Jake and Jerry said.

* * *

Lycan returned to the common room to find Hanson had just finished with his coils.

"The Commander would like you to come with me to get the supplies, and armed, if you could." she said, setting the datapad down onto the counter and loading its contents onto her Omni-Tool.

"Oh... uh... alright. Give me one minute to put these away and get a weapon. I'll meet you in the cargo bay." Hanson nodded as he stood, arms full of coils and headed out of the common room.

Lycan nodded, unsure if Hanson had even seen it and headed for the cargo bay. The large, two piece door had been closed, and the temporary gangway had been moved to the airlock, so they would have to use it, even though the cargo bay had been used the most thus far.

She didn't have to wait long, as a couple minutes later, Hanson descended the ladderwell and headed for her, a pistol blatantly visible on his hip.

"Ready to go Ms. Lycan?" Hanson asked, the drawl returning for just her name as he walked towards her.

"Yes Sir. I appreciate you coming along." she said as they entered the small airlock and waited for the exterior door to let them out.

"It's my pleasure, but in all honesty, whatever the Commander says, goes." Hanson said, the door opening and both stepping out.

"Don't let him scare you Hanson. He's not as scary as you think." Lycan said as they headed for a transit terminal to call a car.

"I have to admit, I've never served with a Biotic before so when he... um... what's it called when he did that thing on the bridge yesterday?" Hanson asked, rubbing his upper arm from embarrassment.

Lycan huffed a laugh, "A flare."

"Yeah, that. It just caught me off guard is all. Biotics don't scare you?" Hanson asked, their car arriving and both slipping into the back.

"Not at all. They're a gift. It's too bad most people look down on Biotics." Lycan said, settling into her chosen seat as the cab lifted off and headed for the markets.

"Oh... I didn't mean to imply that I look down on them, I'm just inexperienced with them is all. I hear that the Commander is an L2. Is that true?" Hanson asked.

"Yes. A stable one." Lycan said, looking out the window.

Hanson, having run out of questions, just nodded his head and remained silent, keeping his eyes peeled for anything that could be construed as suspicious. He eyeballed the cab driver. Nothing. He studied where they were going to make sure they were, in fact, heading for the markets. They were.

The cab descended down into the markets, letting them out into a moderately thick crowd. Lycan paid the cab for his services, having charged the expense to the _Grimm's_ established account before they started off to find where she could get her hands on a supply of power bars. They wound through the crowd, avoiding the larger crowds, something that Kaidan had taught her, until they arrived at a cluster of kiosks.

"Excuse me... I'm looking to purchase a few cases of power bars. Where can I find them?" Lycan asked a human male, working at a souvenir shop.

"Oh uh... A buddy of mine is down in the lower markets. He sells stuff like that. His name's Torvok. He's a Turian. Lots of white face paint. One of his fringe things is missing. Can't miss him. Head down those stairs and turn right. His shop's on the left." the man said, pointing a finger towards a long staircase that lead down to the lower wards.

"Thank you." Lycan said, stopping when Hanson tapped her arm.

"Hold on a minute. If I'm tasked with keeping you safe, then I'm not going down into the lower wards with just a pistol." Hanson said as he lead them towards another kiosk that sold various tech mods.

"Can I help you?" the clerk asked, being a gangly looking Salarian.

"Yes... uh..." Hanson's voice trailed off as he scanned the mods, "This one please." he pointed to an unimpressive mod on the lowest shelf.

"That one? Are you sure?" the Salarian asked, fidgeting a bit as he bent down to pull the item.

"Yes." Hanson said.

"Alright. That'll be two hundred credits please."

Hanson opened his Omni-Tool and paid the clerk, accepting the cheap mod, but what he did with it next shocked everyone.

"What are you doing?" Lycan asked as Hanson took out a thin tool and popped the casing off.

"Just watch." Hanson smiled.

After he set aside the casing, Hanson removed a small panel to open up a circuit board, where he proceeded to tinker. He reached into his cargo pocket to pull out a coil of det cord, slipping its end free and squeezed it into a small port that was usually reserved for an OSD that could be used to modified the mods' function. Once he made sure the cord was seated tightly into the mod, he adjusted the circuit board he tinkered, which locked the cord in place before he twisted the cord and separated a small section off.

"You turned a mod into a grenade?" Lycan asked, watching with amazement as Hanson snapped the other end of the det cord into another port and clicked on the casing.

"I call it a tazer-nade. When it goes off, it omits an electric field that electrocutes everything within a five meter radius." Hanson said smiling as he playfully tossed it up to catch it in his other hand.

"How does it go off?" Lycan asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"My Omni-Tool is rigged to be a detonator. I just tap a button and boom." Hanson grinned smugly.

"Huh... Interesting." Lycan slowly shook her head with disbelief at what she just saw a man who was only twenty, do.

Hanson shrugged nonchalantly as he thanked the clerk once more and headed for the staircase, "I've been doing stuff like this since I was eight. I could do that with my eyes closed." he laughed.

"Well, that was certainly interesting to watch. You're resourceful." Lycan said, looking around a bit to make sure they weren't being followed. They weren't.

"It's why I'm a heavy weapons expert. I could have done something like this with any one of those mods, but I'm a cheap ass and didn't wanna spend a lot." he grinned again.

"I can understand that. Oh... There he is." Lycan quickly lead Hanson to the kiosk where she saw a Turian with a nearly completely white face and a missing fringe on the right side of his head.

"Torvok?" Lycan asked, the Turian looking up.

"Yes?"

"A friend of yours in the upper markets said you sell power bars for Biotics and such?" she asked, resting her hands on the counter.

"Oh! You're talking about Charlie. Yeah, I sell stuff like that. What you need?" Torvok asked, setting down a small box of what looked to be dextro friendly snack food.

Lycan opened up her Omni-Tool to check her list, "I'm looking for three cases of Biotic Powerade bars, three cases of regular Powerade bars and a case of Biotic Powerade drink mix."

Torvok's mandibles clanked, "That's quite the order. How soon do you need it?" he asked, pulling a datapad from underneath the counter and started entering the information.

Lycan cringed, "That's the thing. I need it ASAP because our ship is scheduled to leave in an hour."

Torvok stared at the pair of humans for a moment before continuing to enter her order, "I'll have it. Shipment destination?"

"Dock 127. The _SSV Grimm_." Lycan answered, smiling.

"I assume you want the order charged to a certain account?" Torvak asked.

"Yes. The _Grimm's_ please." Lycan said.

"Got it. Thanks for the business. You just made my day..." Torvok started until the yelling of another clerk from across the way caught his attention.

Lycan and Hanson both looked, seeing that a fat, hairy human was yelling at a female Quarian, her head hanging as she held a piece of broken tech in her hands.

"What's going on over there?" Hanson asked, glancing back towards Torvok.

"Oh... That's just Ben. He's always yelling at that poor girl. Angriest human I've ever seen that one. He never smiles and it only got worse when he hired the girl." Torvok explained.

"He racist?" Lycan asked, looking worried at the situation developing at the tech shop.

"It wouldn't surprise me if he was." Torvok groaned.

Lycan and Hanson stood for a moment and continued to listen to the angry man, picking out that he was furious that she had blown a sale because she told the customer that the piece they were looking to buy was no good, and that they could find a far better model at another shop. They glanced at each other and started over, concerned that the man would go too far with the girl, and wanted to make sure that she would be alright.

"Excuse me... You don't happen to have any sixteen gauge circuit wire do you?" Hanson asked, interrupting the argument and drawing the attention of the clerk and Quarian.

"Why do you wanna know?" the angry man snapped.

"I'm looking to buy some, or is that not enough for you?" Hanson asked, slipping his hand into his pocket that held the tazer-nade.

"Help them out Quarian. I swear to God, if you don't make this sale, you're outta here." the man said with so much acid in his tone, that it was hard to think that the man wasn't a racist.

"Yes Mr. Jones." the Quarian said, still looking down at her feet.

The angry man walked away, leaving the Quarian to her work as she seemed to scuff over to the counter and set down the broken tech.

"Um... You want sixteen gauge circuit wire you said?" she asked, timidly.

"Not really... I just used that to break up whatever that was. Everything alright?" Hanson asked, ducking his head down a bit to look at the girl's face shield.

The girl looked away, "Yeah... He's always like that. Nothing I do makes him happy, but I need this job, or I get listed as a vagrant." she said, sighing.

"What's your name?" Lycan asked sweetly.

"Lia'Vael nar Ulnay." she seemed a bit shy.

_That sounds familiar, but I can't place it... ah well, _"Are you any good with older tech by chance?" Lycan asked, causing Lia'Vael to look up from the counter.

"I have to be. The Migrant Fleet's ships are three hundred years old. Even when we're young, we need to know what to do in an emergency." Lia said, a small huffed smile coming through her helmet.

"Ms. Lycan... What are you doing?" Hanson asked quietly through gritted teeth.

"Getting ourselves an actual engineer. Ellison's good, but even the best of them need help." Lycan whispered back.

Hanson nodded and half shrugged, "You might wanna run this passed the Commander first."

"Then go give him a call. I guarantee she'll make our lives easier." Lycan poked his shoulder.

"Alright, alright. I'll call the Commander." Hanson took a step away from the counter to do just that.

"Do you want another job?" Lycan asked, a smile growing on her face.

"Um... doing what?" Lia asked, her mood seeming to perk up at the thought of leaving the palce behind.

"Being our chief engineer. We're with the Alliance." Lycan said quietly.

Lia stood up straighter, "Oh... uh... How come you don't already have one?" she asked, also lowering her voice so her boss wouldn't overhear.

"Our ship is thirty years old. We could use the ingenuity of a Quarian to help our guy out." Lycan said, glancing at Hanson as he got off his comm and nodded his head.

Lia nervously rung her fingers together and looked over her shoulder, "You're engineer is having problems?" she asked, her voice a whisper.

Lycan leaned forward and planted an elbow down on the counter to rest her head in her hands, "It's not that he's having trouble, it's just that he's the only one we've got." she smiled.

Again, Lia looked over her shoulder, "Are you sure? I mean... You have a place for me, and food for me to eat?"

Lycan nodded, knowing she could get it.

Lia stayed silent, seemingly to think about her choice, but as Lycan glanced at Hanson, the angry man came back, angrier as ever.

"Are you gonna buy something or not? If you're just wasting time, then bug off." he tossed a hand up in dismissal.

"Actually, I believe I just bought your clerk." Lycan said with a smirk.

The man glared, "Take the faceless brat. She sure as Hell isn't doing me any good." he scoffed, forcefully dropping a box full of different tech on the counter.

Lia spun at that and glared, "I'm going with the humans. I'm done." she said flatly, grabbing a small bag from under the counter and walking out of the kiosk.

"Fine... Go! You'll be listed as a vagrant before you get off the Citadel." he said, shoving the box until it fell off the counter and crashed onto the floor.

"Fine by me!" Lia hollered over her shoulder as she walked with Lycan and Hanson.

Lycan snickered as she lead her growing group back to Torvok's shop, "Oh... and enough dextro rations to last if you could."

"Already added it to the order. It'll arrive in half an hour." Torvok said with a clank of his mandibles.

"Thank you greatly." Lycan beamed.

With their chore taken care of, Lycan and Hanson lead Lia'Vael back through the markets where they called another cab to take them back to the docks. Upon their arrival, they had gotten a bit delayed, having to wait for Kaidan to arrive and clear Lia's entrance into the secured area, but once she had been, the process taking roughly half an hour and a call to Admiral Hackett for his approval, the group arrived at the _Grimm, _just as their order arrived.

The cases were quickly loaded onboard under Lycan's direction, while Kaidan showed Lia around and introduced her to the crew.

For the most part, the introductions were short, but when Kaidan and Lia reached engineering, Lia was amazed.

"Kee'lah! Look at these engines! They're in amazing shape for their age!" Lia gasped as she hurried to a console and immediately began to fiddle with the controls.

"The ship was just refurbished. Are you familiar with these already?" Kaidan asked, standing back a bit and folding his arms across his chest as he watched the girl explore.

"I've heard about these. Mathematically, these aren't supposed to work, but they do. Spectacularly." Lia said, her excitement still evident in her tone.

"They only ever worked in this ship, so they didn't last long with the Alliance." Kaidan said, glancing down at the deck to see a pair of legs sticking out from underneath a console's panel.

"I had a feeling that was why. Oh... and to answer your question, I do have some experience with these. We got our fair share of parts back at the shop..." she stumbled over a pair of legs, "Oh kee'lah! I apologize." she yelped, catching herself on a console before she fell.

The pair of legs, grunting and pissed that someone had stepped over them, pulled themselves free from underneath the console with their owner having an angry sneer on his face.

"Hey! Watch where the Hell you're..." Ellison's voice trailed off and the angry look disappeared when he laid eyes on who tripped over him. "Quarian..." he breathed.

Lia stared a moment, her hands fumbling a bit until she drew in a breath and placed her hands on her hips, "Human..." she snickered, "Now that that's out of the way... Would you like some help with whatever you're doing?"

Ellison didn't say a word.

"Corporal... She asked you a question." Kaidan snapped his fingers.

Ellison finally blinked, "Oh! God! I'm sorry... I didn't mean to zone out on you like that. Um... I'm just finding my way around actually. I take it you've been brought on to help maintain this bird?" he asked, clambering to his feet, dropping tools as he went.

Kaidan slowly shook his head and laughed, as Lia eagerly nodded hers.

"Well, hopefully you two have enough understanding to get the ship ready for departure. I want her warm in five." Kaidan said, turning and heading for the bridge once both had begun to start up the engines.

The clear thrum of the _Grimm's_ engines starting up hummed through every bulkhead, at first, tickling Kaidan's feet through his boots until it evened out into a deep, low drawl. He smiled a bit as he bounded up the ladderwell into the neck of the ship and headed for the bridge, seeing the twins were already seated and performing their required checks.

"All green across the board Commander. Engines at full power in sixty seconds." Jake, on the left, reported, his hands smoothly gliding over his controls.

"Understood. Jerry... Get clearance from Citadel control for immediate departure." Kaidan ordered, standing in front of his chair.

"Already granted Commander. We are a go." Jerry reported.

As Kaidan watched the twins work in tandem, his attention was caught when Lycan stepped up onto the bridge.

"Hey... You ready?" he asked in a low tone.

Lycan nodded and looked out of the viewports.

"Disengage from docking clamps and set course for the Terminus Systems." Kaidan said, finally taking a seat, Lycan standing next to him.

A second later, a loud clunk from the docking clamps releasing their hold sounded through the ship to allow the _Grimm_, for the first time, to drift away under its own power.

The ship smoothly turned on its axis, bowing away from the Citadel and began to crawl away, when the sleek, gleaming profile of an incoming ship caught everyone's eyes.

"What is that?" Jerry asked, looking back and forth from the viewports, to his screens, now aglow with flight information.

Lycan took a step closer, eyes glued on the incoming ship and immediately recognizing it. Without even seeing the ships name, she knew. The colors, the profile, the soft glow around the thrusters... She knew exactly what ship was coming their way.

"That... That is the _Normandy_ _SR-2._" Lycan said as the starboard side of the ship came into everyones view, displaying the name in a flare of light from the lights of the Citadel.

Kaidan stood from his chair, watching the ship fly by like a whale underwater, taking in every line he could before the ship was out of the view ports.

"How did you know that was the _Normandy_? I thought the sightings were only rumors?" Jake asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"With that profile? Are you kidding?" Lycan chuckled.

"Good point." Jake and Jerry both said.

Kaidan gnawed on his lip as he leaned down enough to whisper into Lycan's ear, "You think he came here first?" he asked in the lowest voice possible.

Lycan nodded, "Two years and twelve days to the day. I've counted." she whispered back.

Kaidan nodded and straightened back up, "Set course for Omega."

* * *

** Location: **_**Normandy SR-2**_**. Approaching Citadel.**

The Citadel hadn't changed in Shepard's opinion. It was still the massive, spinning icon it had been two years prior. It still had a constant stream of ship traffic, coming and going with goods, people, and the like. The Serpent Nebula still casted a purplish haze across the polished metal and gargantuan wards arms, thrusting the whole of the station into a dream like glow. Shepard just hoped that the people were the same as well.

He stood on the bridge, just to the side and back from Joker's chair and watched out of the forward view ports as the pilot brought their new ship into the Citadel.

"Mr. Moreau, I suggest you alter our course by two degrees to avoid a collision with another ship." EDI's synthesized voice said from her avatar; a holographic, blue orb.

"What ship? I see it on short range, but I don't actually see it." Joker said with a snarl, his hands ghosting over his holoscreens.

Shepard's eyes narrowed as he concentrated on looking for the ghost ship, but against a black field, where the scanners indicated the ship was located, yielded nothing he could make out.

"I don't see it either Joker. Maybe the sensors need to be looked at." Shepard said, crossing his arms over his armored chest.

"I assure you Commander, my sensors are functioning at full capacity. There is a ship. Mr. Moreau needs to adjust course by two degrees, or risk a collision." EDI said, the vertical lines on her avatar moving as she spoke.

"Fine, fine. God... I can't believe I'm listening to ship cancer." Joker groaned, adjusting their course to expose their starboard side to wherever the mystery ship was.

"Collision avoided Mr. Moreau." EDI reported.

Shepard placed a hand on the top of Joker's chair, "I still want EDI's scanners checked out. We don't need anymore mystery ships popping up," he scoffed, "We already have enough of those."

"I'll make sure that happens when you're out Commander," Joker nodded, continuing to bring the ship into dock. "You really think Anderson will help us out? The gold diamond doesn't exactly scream 'I wanna make friends'."

"It's worth a shot. The Council and Anderson need to know that I'm not loyal to the dog, but if these Collectors really are working for the Reapers, they need to know. Plus, I wanna know if I have their support before we start collecting those people The Illusive Man sent us." Shepard said, his voice bland.

"Cerberus is only out to help..." EDI started.

"Shut up!" Shepard and Joker both barked.

EDI followed the duel order.

Nothing more was said as Joker manually brought the ship seamlessly into its assigned dock, the clamps coming down with a muffled clunk and attaching themselves to the _Normandy's_ stationary wings.

"Docking complete Commander." EDI announced before Joker could, which didn't sit well with the possessive pilot, evident by his snarling glare.

"Con's yours Joker." Shepard deadpanned as he leaned over to activate the comm. "Lawson, Taylor... Report to the airlock." his tone took on a disgruntled gravel.

Without another word, Shepard checked his chosen weapons; a pistol hanging on his left hip, a submachine gun on his right, and a grenade launcher attached to the center of his back. He checked his shielding, both the standard kinetic shields installed in the hardsuit, and his advanced tech armor that gave him additional protection.

Just as he finished, Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor arrived at the airlock, armed and ready to go. He eyeballed the pair of them, rolling his eyes at their chosen attire and wondering to himself how that could stop anything other then a fine for indecent exposure.

"Is there something wrong Commander?" Ms. Lawson asked, an eyebrow popped as the three entered the airlock.

Shepard didn't even look at her, "You're getting proper armor. That's not gonna fly." he said, chewing on the inside of his bottom lip and placing his hands on his hips.

Ms. Lawson glanced down at her skin tight attire, "I'm more then capable of protecting myself without the aid of heavy..." she stopped when Shepard wheeled around and glared angrily.

"Are you defying my order Ms. Lawson?" Shepard snapped, burning her eyes out with his intensely pissed off stare.

"No Commander. I was just simply clarifying that I don't immediately require armor." Ms. Lawson defended herself, straightening up a bit.

Shepard thrust a finger into her face, but didn't touch her, "You're getting proper armor, or you're off my ship." he said with a load of acid.

"With all do respect..." again, she was silenced by Shepard's burningly angry eyes.

"Say one more word other then aye aye, and I'm leaving you on the Citadel." he said, his eyes not blinking.

Ms. Lawson drew in a slow breath and, just as slowly, blew it out of her nose, "Aye... Aye." she said, looking away from him, her heart thumping hard in her chest.

"Good girl. What other tricks can you do?" Shepard said snidely, not really wanting an answer as he started out of the airlock and headed towards customs.

Shepard bypassed the customs counter where a single human female was helping a small cluster of aliens, and headed straight for the centralized door, but as he passed by an advertisement pillar, his name was spoken by a woman.

_"Commander Shepard! Enter the password and receive a free gift!" _the woman said, causing Shepard to skid to a halt and stare at the glowing pillar.

What he saw was a hooded woman, her eyes nearly completely concealed by it, only her lips visible, upon which her bottom one was tattooed. She seemed to be awaiting his response, which was confirmed when she continued.

_"Got a problem with Collectors? Try Kasumi's credit services!" _

At that, the connection was made between the talking pillar and a message he had received from The Illusive Man regarding someone whom was willing to help by the name of Kasumi Goto. From what he could remember, she was a master thief that had stolen quite a few things from Cerberus, but he had been juggling with whether or not to enlist her help. There were only two people he felt like he could trust on the _Normandy_, and that was Joker and Dr. Chakwas.

Seeing the doctor again had been a much needed relief. He had nearly broken down and dropped to his knees when he had seen her, as she had been the only mother figure in his life for some time. He had stayed and talked with her for so long, that Ms. Lawson had come to get them when everything was ready for the ship to disembark from its berth.

Snapping himself from his thoughts, he changed course and headed for the pillar, placing his hands on his hips as he pulled said password from his mind.

"Silence is golden." he said, somewhat quietly in hopes of keeping the awkward situation between him and the pillar to himself.

_"Good to finally meet you. Kasumi Goto... I'm a fan." _the hooded woman said, her tone upbeat.

Shepard sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, fingers drifting over his, now, top of the line amp jack, "So you work for, or with Cerberus?" he asked, hand returning to his heavily armed hips.

_"They aren't fans. We have a rather... lucrative relationship. I took a few things." _she said, grinning.

"Expensive things." Ms. Lawson said, crossing her arms.

Shepard ignored her and continued to only speak with the image of Kasumi, "Why so secretive about all this? What? You in trouble or something?" he asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

_"Please... I'm the best thief in the business, not the most famous. I need to be careful if I want to keep it that way. I also wanted to make sure all this was legit, and you'll be happy to hear that I have no more doubts. You're the real Commander Shepard." _she smiled.

Shepard nodded, one corner if his lips curling up into a half assed smiled, "Thanks for the info. I take it you've been briefed?"

_ "Honesty? I'm surprised they didn't come to see me sooner. My fault for being hard to find I guess." _she shrugged.

"What brought you to Cerberus?" Shepard asked, glancing over his shoulders from a gut feeling that someone was watching.

_"That's a bit of a story. Short version... They were looking for me, so I tailed them to find out why. As it turns out, they were looking for someone to join you on an important mission, and we offering a serious sign in bonus. I had a thing I need some help with, so I made a deal... and here we are." _she said, a smug grin spreading across her lips.

Again, Shepard scoffed, "There's always a catch. I assume this deal of yours is something I should know about." he said, sighing.

"Yeah... I guess it slipped their minds..." Kasumi started, only to be interrupted.

"The deal is on a need to know basis, and the Commander didn't need to know right away." Ms. Lawson said, however, she should have kept her mouth shut.

At Ms. Lawson's interruption, Shepard wheeled around, snatching a handful of her hair in the process and tugged her close so he could keep his voice low. She saw his body began to glow with a blue aura, the short wisps of Biotic energy waving around like they were clawing for something to strangle.

"Don't you think information like that should have been in the need to know column? You want me to do a job, I need to know it all. You keep anything else from me, anything at all, and I will do things to you that _will._.. endanger your life. Is that perfectly clear?" Shepard hissed through clenched teeth, his super heated and angry breath covering her face as it forcefully left his body.

Ms. Lawson clutched at his hand, trying to loosen his grip on her hair, but it only caused him to tighten in and pull harder.

"Is that clear?" Shepard asked again, his tone even harsher and angrier.

"Perfectly." she said, forcing herself to keep a straight face.

"Get your ass back on the ship." Shepard ordered, shoving her away and releasing her hair from his hand.

Ms. Lawson gently rubbed her head where the hair was pulled taught as she walked back to the ship, leaving Shepard to take a moment and calm down. He closed his eyes and pressed the pads of his pointer finger and thumb into them, blocking out all light and giving him a dark place to center himself.

After a tense minute, he finally opened his eyes again, turning back to the pillar and looked at a very shocked Jacob Taylor.

"Anything I should know from you Taylor?" Shepard asked, controlling his breathing and Biotics alike.

"No Sir. If something comes up you need to know, I'll tell you." Taylor said, his body ridged with tension.

"Good." Shepard said before looking back to the pillar, "So about this deal."

_"Not on good terms with Cerberus yourself huh?" _Kasumi asked, causing Shepard's suspicion that someone was watching to make itself known again.

"You saw that huh?" Shepard asked, glancing around again in hopes of seeing where, or how she is watching them.

_"Everyone did Commander."_

"Look... I'm not in the business of trusting people who'll go to any lengths to secure humanity's place in the galaxy. Where's you loyalty lie?" Shepard asked, drawing in a deep breath.

_"You help me with my thing... Yours." _

"You ok with talking about your 'thing' on the ship?" Shepard asked flatly.

_"Ok with me." _

"Then lets go. You're coming with me." Shepard blew out the breath he had drawn in and watched as the pillar went dark.

He glanced at Taylor as they stood by, waiting for what they assumed to be the woman they saw on the pillar to show up, which she did without them even noticing where she had come from.

"Commander Shepard." the hooded woman said, slightly startling them both.

"You're light on your feet." Shepard said, unable to stop the smirk from growing across his lips.

"I've had lots of practice." Kasumi smirked.

Shepard huffed, slowly shaking his head as he started towards customs, shifting his focus on convincing the Council what was looming on their doorstep.

* * *

**Location: On board **_**Normandy SR-2**_

The airlock opened with a gentle his, allowing Miranda Lawson to enter the ship with a sore patch of scalp from where Shepard had pulled on it. His reaction to the withheld information was surprising, and was one that she hadn't predicted he would take. From all the reading she had done, she had concluded that Shepard was a good man with a smeared past, but was willing to do what was right. Him snatching a handful of her hair didn't seem like it was in his personality.

She ignored the pilot as she headed down the long CIC to the elevator, hand still pressed into her head to dull some of the pain as she headed for the Med Bay in hopes of finding a mirror to check if a chunk of hair was missing.

"Back already Ms. Lawson?" Dr. Chakwas asked with a brief glance up from her terminal.

"Just me I'm afraid. Shepard is... upset." she said, finding a mirror near one of the bunks and proceeded to check her head.

"About?" the doctor asked.

Lawson sighed, "Some information I withheld regarding a possible new member to the team." she said like it was nothing as she put the mirror down, satisfied that she didn't have any noticeable bald spots on her head.

At that, Dr. Chakwas stopped her work and looked up, giving the Cerberus operative her full and undivided attention.

"Was it information that could have proven pertinent with this new member?" Dr. Chakwas asked, resting an elbow on her desk.

"It was about a deal that Cerberus made with Ms. Goto. Shepard didn't know about it until she said something." Ms. Lawson said, turning around and leaning against one of the bunks.

"And I assume this lead to whatever happened to your head?" Dr. Chakwas asked, standing from her seat and heading for Ms. Lawson to check her scalp.

"Yes. He... grabbed a handful of my hair and ordered me back to the ship." Ms. Lawson said, allowing the doctor to do her check.

Dr. Chakwas's hands stopped sifting through Lawson's hair, hovering for a moment before they dropped back to her sides.

"I'm gonna let you in on a few things about the Commander." she said, heading back to her desk.

"I've done the reading Doctor." Ms. Lawson tried, only to be hushed by Dr. Chakwas's shaking head.

"These are things that no file would contain Ms. Lawson. Things that only people he considers friends would know." Dr. Chakwas said, lightly sighing.

"Things like that aren't important Doctor. They won't help us on our mission." Ms. Lawson said with a scoff, slowly shaking her head.

"I beg to differ. The things you don't know have everything to do with our mission. Shepard is the kind of man who doesn't trust easily Ms. Lawson, especially when it comes to former black ops organizations." Dr. Chakwas said, rapping her fingers on her desk.

"With all do respect Doctor, the Commander needs to trust me and the crew..."

Dr. Chakwas interrupted her.

"That may all be well and fine, but you can't force his trust. You have to earn it, and I'm sorry to say, you are not off to a good start." Dr. Chakwas said, standing from her seat and heading to lean against a bed next to Lawson.

"There are far bigger things at hand..." Ms. Lawson tried to protest.

"That doesn't matter to Shepard. He can't do what he does without the trust of friends. Withholding information or lying to him is a surefire way of getting him to cast you aside." Dr. Chakwas warned.

_Perhaps... Perhaps the doctor's right. Maybe I do need to earn Shepard's trust. _Lawson thought, crossing her arms and sighing lightly. Forcing Shepard to trust her was evident that it wasn't the best approach, but they had a job to do and an important one at that. She was starting to think that the doctor had a point, she needed to trust him so keeping information from Shepard was going to have to stop.

"Perhaps you have a point Doctor. It was not my intention to hinder Shepard's progress." Ms. Lawson said, dropping her arms to fidget with her fingers.

"It may not have been your intention, but it did put you a step back. You'll need to make up the ground." Dr. Chakwas said, lightly placing her hand on the younger woman's shoulder.

Lawson sighed, "Damn..." was all she could manage.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, but remember, Shepard has had a life that most would have crumbled from, and it is only compounded by the fact that he has missed two years of it. He was robbed of so much... Don't rob him of one of the last things he has left." Dr. Chakwas said, her concern evident in her voice.

"What thing might that be?" Ms. Lawson asked, not even looking up from her hands.

"His ability to trust."

* * *

**Location: Presidium Ring, Citadel**

It was about time that Shepard and his team, Jacob Taylor and Kasumi Goto, were finally allowed to enter the human embassy.

When the doors hissed open, Shepard burst into the room, trying to hid his anger that was still showing in his body language as he saw Councilor Anderson, dressed in a councilor's garb and talking with three holograms that were the representations of the other three Council members.

"Shepard will here ant... Oh! Commander... We were just talking about you." Anderson said, turning to face the armored man, sticking out a hand in greeting.

"I had no doubt about that. How have you been? It's been a long time." Shepard said, mainly out of instinctual manners as he shook the man's hand.

"There've been some rough spots, but other wise, can't complain," he placed his hands on his hips, "It's good to have you back." Anderson said, briefly glancing at the three silent holograms.

_"We've heard many rumors surrounding your unexpected return. Some one which are... unsettling." _the Salarian Councilor said, his squirrelly voice the exact same as Shepard remembered.

Shepard had to hold back his angry snarl.

_"We called this meeting to give you the chance to explain your actions Shepard. We owe you that much since you saved our lives from Saren and his Geth." _the Asari Councilor added kindly, her tone clearly thankful for what he had done for them two years ago.

The Asari Councilor always had a way of defusing his anger.

"You know it was Sovereign who was commanding the Geth." Shepard said, sounding as civil as he could with the Asari and only the Asari.

_"Ah yes... Reapers. The immortal race of sentient starships allegedly waiting in dark space. We've dismissed that claim." _the Turian Councilor said, air quoting as he went.

There was that anger again, of course, all Shepard wanted to do was punch the Turian Councilor in his mandibles so he didn't have to listen to him.

"Of course you have. A Reaper falls on your fucking heads and you still manage to say it was just a Geth ship. What kinda drugs are you on, and why aren't you sharing with me?" Shepard scowled, his brows pinched together as he got angrier.

The Turian opened his mouth to speak, no doubt to speak his mind about how he really felt about Shepard when Anderson held up his hand to stay the guaranteed fight.

"Shepard... No one else spoke to the hologram on Ilos that told you the truth about the Reapers. You and your crew also were the only ones to speak with Sovereign directly." he sighed, "Look... I believe you, but without evidence from another source, they think Saren was behind it all." Anderson said, sighing slowly and quietly.

"So what? You won't help me out? You just sweep everything we uncovered, the files, the information, everything under the rug?" Shepard asked, his scowl getting harsher and more fearsome.

_"Without proper evidence, we have concluded that they were all manipulations of the Geth and Saren." _the Salarian Councilor said.

_"As well as proof that you are easily twisted to someone's will. Saren did it, the Geth did it, and now Cerberus is doing it. Tell me Commander, are you capable of making your own decisions?" _the Turian Councilor asked, obviously looking to push Shepard's buttons.

It worked.

"You arrogant, narrow minded weasel! You know damn well you refuse to believe the reports because they came from a human! Stop being so fucking bitter about getting your ass kicked when we retook Shanxi! I sacrificed hundreds of human lives to save your sorry asses and I'm starting to regret the decision!" Shepard roared, rocking forward on one foot and pointing a finger that the hologram.

_"That is enough from the both of you! I understand that you don't like each other, and I'm not asking you to change that standing, but purposely throwing insults are only going make things worse. Shepard... Unfortunately, we are on different fronts. You're working for..." _

"With! Goddammit... I'm working _with, _not for!" Shepard snapped.

_"My apologies... You're working with Cerberus... an avowed enemy of the Council and sadly, a capitol offense." _the Asari Councilor quickly corrected, keeping her voice as calm as possible.

"No hold on a minute. That's going too far! I'm on this Council too and I won't let this whitewash continue!" Anderson intervened, his anger not even close to matching Shepard's.

The Asari Councilor held up a hand, silencing both men, _"Please Councilor Anderson... Maybe there is a compromise we can reach. It won't be a public acknowledgement given your ties, but something to show peripheral support."_

Just went Shepard though his eyebrows current pinch together any harder, they did, "What do you mean?" he frankly asked.

_"Shepard... If you keep a low profile and restrict your operations to the Terminus Systems, this Council is... willing to reinstate into the Spectres." _the Turian Councilor said, clasping his hands behind his back.

Shepard straightened up, "Huh? Just like that?"

_"It's an olive branch Commander. It's not much, but a show of good faith on our part." _the Asari said, halfway smiling.

_"We cannot get involved into the investigation of human colonies in the Terminus Systems, but by reinstating you, it shows our support of you personally." _the Asari said simply.

Shepard drew in a long breath as he stared at the three holographic Councilors, placing his hands on his hips and lightly nibbling on his bottom lip.

It was an offer, he just wasn't sure how good of one, but in all honesty, it was worth taking. It just might give him his line back to the Alliance, which meant, he could possibly find Ashley. It was worth it.

"I accept. At least it's something." Shepard finally said, keeping his voice calm.

_"Very well Commander. Lets hope that your investigation is swift, as well as your affiliation with Cerberus." _the Asari said, just before all three holograms went dark.

Anderson placed his hand on Shepard's armored shoulder, "Congratulations Shepard. It's good to have you back."

However, Shepard didn't react, "If I was back, then you would tell me where Williams is." he blandly said, shying away from Anderson's hand.

Anderson sighed and took his hand back, "I can't tell you that Shepard. She's on special assignment and it's classified. I'm sorry. Not while you're affiliated with Cerberus."

Shepard as very much tired of being angry, "Come on Anderson. You know me. You know what I do and why I do it. Do you have any idea what its been like for me since I woke up?" he asked, his voice raising. "Do you!"

"No... I don't." Anderson conceded.

Shepard took a step closer to Anderson, sneering, "Let me fill you in then. It's been Hell. I can't a single fucking person on my ship, with the exception of Joker and Dr. Chakwas. I haven't a single fucking moment to myself, I can't find Ashley and no one I thought I could trust will tell me anything. Not to mention I haven't heard a single mention of Kaidan since I've had a heartbeat. It's almost like you people don't fucking care!"

"Shepard... Please, calm down. I'm not saying that I won't tell you, I just can't tell you until we are absolutely sure that Cerberus has no hold on you." Anderson said, keeping his voice calm in hopes of placating Shepard.

Shepard had to truly fight not to grab a handful of Anderson's collar, "The second I get the chance, I can promise you... I'll be dumping Cerberus as fast as Harkin can spread Herpes."

Anderson hung his head, "That's disgusting."

"Tell me about it." Shepard sighed, "Look... I'm sorry. Its just been... really hard... Can you at least tell me how the last two years were for her?" he asked, resting his hands back on his hips.

"I had a feeling you two had something going on." Anderson sighed.

Shepard glanced over his shoulder at his team, motioning with his head for them to give them some time.

"Yeah. We didn't want the brass to know." Shepard said quietly, hanging his head.

"Only I suspected, so your secret's safe with me." Anderson said, both walking to the railing to look out over the Presidium.

Shepard just nodded.

"It's been a rough two years for her though. She was lucky Alenko and Lycan were there for her. She moved in with them shortly after your funeral. It seemed to help perk her spirits knowing she was with friends." Anderson said.

The briefest of smiles ghosted over Shepard's lips, "That's good. I guess I gotta ask the obvious question..." he rubbed the back of his neck. "Did she meet anyone else?" he lightly cringed.

Anderson smiled lightly, "Not as far as I know. She was strictly work after your death and hardly ever went out with anyone other then Lycan."

Somehow, that flooded his senses with relief, "That's good...That's good to hear."

"Look Shepard... I know it seems like things are overwhelming right now, but the Alliance never forgot you, or what you've done. Do what you can to help us out with Cerberus, and I'll do everything in my power to make sure that the Alliance is open to you." Anderson said.

"I guess I should take what I can get. We'll see what happens." Shepard sighed, leaning against the railing with a blank face.

Anderson, worried for someone he considered a son, placed his hand back onto Shepard's shoulder, feeling guilty when this time, he didn't shy away. He could easily see behind Shepard's eyes that he was fighting some dark demons that had been torturing him ever since he had woken up, but what they pertained to, he was unsure, nor could he begin to guess. He wished he could tell him everything he knew, but doing so would compromise everything and it sadly, was something he couldn't afford.

He just hoped that what little he could tell Shepard, was enough to give him hope. What little hope there was to be had.


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 53: The First Crumb

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! Thank you to my Beta for always being there for me. I love you!)_

Lycan had seen what Omega looked like from her game, and even then, it looked like a vial, filthy and dangerous place. Now, staring at it in the flesh, it looked just the same. Having finally gotten clearance to dock after a day long wait, it was quickly becoming apparent that their ship, the _SSV_ _Grimm, _fit in like it was meant to be there.

Now, she stood in the armory as Kaidan and his two chosen squad mates, Hanson and Callaghan, dressed in their hardsuits and arming themselves with their chosen weapons of destruction.

"You really think Cerberus has a hand in this cesspool?" Lieutenant Callaghan asked, a disgusted look across her face as she snapped her chosen sniper rifle onto her back.

"Cerberus is everywhere Lieutenant. I'm sure you know that." Kaidan sent her a sidelong glance, his pistol snapping into place as he did so.

"Of course I know that..." Callaghan grumbled, glancing over her shoulder at Lycan, "Remind me again why the blasted cook is allowed in the armory?" she practically snarled.

Kaidan's glare was immediately sent towards the snappy Lieutenant, "What is it with you and your chip about Lycan?" he asked, trying not to snap too hard, as that would most likely tip them off that something was between him and said cook.

"She's a damn cook Commander and doesn't have the security clearance." Callaghan snapped back.

"If you want proof of my security clearance Lieutenant, then by all means. I'm more then happy to show you if you ever talk to me longer then just to order your meal." Lycan said, crossing her arms and ankles as she leaned against the opposite workbench, next to the box of rations she had brought for them to pick and choose from.

"I think I'd like to see that... Make sure you aren't pulling a fast one by the Commander." Callaghan said, her voice practically snarling as she glared at Lycan with a look that could set things on fire.

"Will you knock it off Callaghan! I'm getting real tired of your attitude towards just about everyone on this boat." Kaidan said with an angry stare, pointing a finger at the Lieutenant like she was a child.

Callaghan simply stared, "What aren't you telling us Commander? There's gotta be more to it then just trying to uncover some Cerberus tracks."

"Don't you think it's a bit insubordinate of you to be questioning your CO's intentions? Whatever happened to trusting each other?" Lycan asked, her face entirely blank, save for the slight wrinkling of her brow as she tried to keep from blowing up at the woman.

Callaghan scoffed, "What era are you thinking of sweet cheeks? Out here, you trust too easy, you get burned real quick. Jesus Commander, where did you find her?"

That fueled the fire, "That's enough Callaghan! If you don't knock it off, I'll order her not to feed you anything that doesn't come out of that slop maker sitting on the counter!" Kaidan roared, getting up close to the shorter Lieutenant so she couldn't mistake his angry snarl for anything other then that.

Kaidan's anger was only interrupted by a gentle tap to the shoulder, "It's alright Commander. If she wants to keep it up, then she can get used to making her own meals. Doesn't matter to me. Just means I don't have to make as much. She'd be wise to remember this though... There are several people in the military that you don't wanna piss off. The people who handle your medical record, the people who handle your pay, and the people who handle your food." Lycan said evenly, very evenly as she shrugged and walked out of the armory.

Kaidan simply watched as Lycan stepped out, leaving a private who was trying very hard not to laugh out loud, a silenced Lieutenant who, for the second time, had tried to stir up trouble with Lycan, and a very angry, very powerful L2 Biotic who was about ready to start making things float.

However, before Kaidan's anger became too much, Callaghan relinquished her standing and backed off, turning her attention back to her weapons.

"She seems to have an understanding about how the military works Commander. She isn't stupid." Callaghan said with little emotion to her tone.

"She's been around a while. You'd be wise to remember that." Kaidan said flatly, placing his hands on his hips, as he had finished loading out.

"Aye aye." was all she said.

With the three having finished with their weapons, they headed out of the armory, packing their belts with a few rations as they made their way to the cargo bay where a gangway had been extended to the airlock. They descended the stairs into the bay, Kaidan seeing Lycan sitting on a crate as she waited for their arrival, and hearing the mumbled groan from Callaghan behind him.

As Hanson and Callaghan entered the airlock, Kaidan took a moment and stopped in front of Lycan.

"You ok?" he asked her, placing his hands on his hips to keep from touching her affectionately.

Lycan nodded, "Oh yeah... I'm fine. Callaghan is all talk as far as I'm concerned. Of course, if I piss her off and she pulls a gun on me, I might just pee my pants." she lightly laughed.

Kaidan's lips ghosted a smile, "If she pulls a gun on you, she's liable to be wrapped up nice and tight in a warp field." he said quietly.

Lycan shrugged, "I don't think she'd try, but hey... Remember everything I told you about this place?" she asked, trying not to looking up lovingly at Kaidan.

Kaidan nodded once, "Yeah... I remember it all. Oh... and I'm not gonna draw the symbols. I have a better idea."

Lycan slightly tilted her head, "Oh? What are you gonna do?" she asked, her brows barely furrowed as she watched Kaidan reach into a pouch on his belt.

Pulling a small item from his pouch, he held his hand out for Lycan to see a coin, about the size of a silver dollar with one side printed with a red, five pointed chevroned star, and the other printed with a tribal looking blue wing.

"You have a coin with the renegade star and paragon wing?" Lycan asked, trying very hard not to gasp loudly so everyone could hear.

Kaidan smiled, "Back in Sentinel training, Shepard and I had this thing where if we were on separate sides of the 'moral coin', how he put it, we would flip a coin. After awhile, we had these made. The wing, we did one thing... The star, the other. At the time, it seemed kinda stupid, but now... Now it's our first bread crumb." he said, lightly tossing the coin in his palm.

"How come you never said anything?" Lycan asked, her expression soft, but quickly vanishing when she realized that she was starting to show affection.

Kaidan shrugged, "I don't know why. I found this buried in the back of one of my dresser drawers back home. I nearly forgot all about it." he quietly sighed.

"You plan on leaving these all over for Shepard to find?" Lycan asked, a crooked grin spreading across her lips.

"That's the plan. I got the idea when I found and had a ton more made. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." he said, slipping the coin back into his pouch.

"It's ok. It's a personal thing. I get it." she smiled, "Anyways... Remember that it'll be in your best interest to talk to Aria, so try to grab her attention somehow." Lycan said quietly enough so that only her and he could hear.

"I'll see what I can do, but why do I need to talk to her?" Kaidan asked, one shoulder shrugging.

"She knows the most about what's going on around here. She can get you into places normally off limits." Lycan said with a slight tilt of her head.

"Alright... We'll be ready for it." Kaidan smiled briefly before he lightly patted Lycan's upper arm.

"And remember... You guys are supposed to be mercs." Lycan whispered.

"Got it. I'll be in touch." Kaidan said as he headed for the airlock.

"Had to say a sweet good bye to the cook did we?" Callaghan jabbed with a crooked grin on her face.

Kaidan rolled his eyes, "You are quickly becoming more trouble then your worth Callaghan. One more condescending word out of your mouth and I'm confining you to quarters. Is that clear?" he practically hissed.

"Yes sir... Perfectly." Callaghan said without a second's hesitation and nearly before Kaidan had even finished speaking.

Kaidan just slowly shook his head as the airlock opened and they stepped out, all three quickly taking in how bad the place looked. The walls were streaked with age, having been severely neglected by the converted space station's residence, and most likely shot at on a daily basis. Many of the lights were flickering over their heads, some having been destroyed by gunfire while others suffered from needing repair. As they walked, they noticed the many advertisements that littered the walls, some up to date, some not, but all had problems as the colors continued to shift and phase in and out of their correct hue.

As they admired the scenery, only Kaidan noticed that a Batarian, a humanoid type alien with leathery, sickly green and brown skin, no hair and four eyes, was standing at the entry door to the arrival floor of the station.

"Something wrong?" Kaidan asked, his face blank and his voice slightly on the harsher side to keep up appearances.

The Batarian stayed silent for a moment, seemingly studying the humans and their armor for anything that could give them away as something other then mercs. However, he wasn't going to find any insignia or group affiliation, as they had removed any from their hardsuits and had even gone as far, as scuffing them up. To anyone's eyes, they were mercs.

"Nothing that I can see human. What brings you to Omega?" the Batarian asked, all four of his jet black eyes narrowing and glaring at Lieutenant Callaghan.

"No business of yours. Are you just the welcoming party, or are you blocking our way for a reason?" Kaidan asked, playing the ornery merc role nicely.

The Batarian stood still for a moment before he twitched his hand, the one closest to the gun on his hip, which spurred Kaidan into a Biotic flare that very much caught the Batarian's attention.

"Human Biotic. You're a rare breed... Worth a few credits too." the Batarian said, shifting his weight to lean against the wall, but still blocking their progress through the door.

Kaidan rolled his eyes, again, and decided he had had enough, and noticed his in to getting Aria's attention. His body still aglow, Kaidan swung his arm to the side, willing his energy to grab ahold of the alien and threw him against the opposite wall, out of their way.

"I don't have the time to be dealing with aliens looking to make a quick credit. Next time, don't hassle people who are better armed in more ways then one. You might not like what happens." Kaidan spat as he headed through the door, ignoring the groans from the Batarian, but knowing he was alright, just stunned.

"That was a bit harsh wasn't it sir?" Hanson asked, keeping his voice down as he put on his show of playing with an offline grenade by juggling it from hand to hand.

"As far as any of these people are concerned, we're mercs. Plus, he's fine. His shoulder's gonna hurt, but he'll be alright." Kaidan smirked as they headed for the large, neon lit structure with a large sign that red 'Afterlife'.

As they approached the night club, they were intercepted by another Batarian, but what was different about this one, was that he was carrying a large, illegally modified assault rifle.

"Aria wants to see you." the Batarian said flatly, noticeably tightening his grip on his weapon.

Kaidan scoffed, "Was wondering when the bitch was gonna turn her eyes on me." he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah well, she heard about what you did to her scout. Word travels fast around here. You'd know that if you've been here before." the Batarian said, slightly widening his stance.

Kaidan hung his head a moment and went to sidestep the Batarian, but stopped once he was right next to him, "What makes you think I haven't been here before?" was all he said before he continued along his merry way.

Kaidan bypassed the long line of patrons looking to enter the club, receiving plenty of obscenities and curses from them as he just entered without so much as a second look from the Elcor bouncers.

When the doors opened into the long entry shaft, the color phased into a deep red with holoscreens of dancing, half naked Asari along the walls. The floor rumbled from the deep, trance music playing on the other side of the opposite door, and only increased in volume ten fold when Kaidan and his squad entered the club.

The club itself was coated from wall to wall with phasing lights, the music thrummed into every corner and in the center was the largest, holoscreen pillar any of them had ever seen, and even that displayed a collection of gyrating Asari, along with live ones that twirled and spun around long, polished poles.

Tapping his holovisor to spread a holographic interface across his eyes, shielding them from the phasing lights and thus, lowing his risk for a sudden migraine, he scanned the upper levels, looking for someone that fit Aria's description. Having Lycan's knowledge firmly engrained into his memory, he quickly found it in the form of the distinctive cranial crest of an Asari.

He waved for his squad to follow as he headed towards the back of the club, picking up sight of a set of stairs, guarded by a Turian guard with a similar assault rifle as the Batarian. Large, and illegal modified.

"No one goes up without an invite!" the Turian guard yelled over the pound of the music.

"It's a good thing we have an invite then!" Kaidan smirked, locking eyes with the Turian.

"You that Biotic who pumped the scout!"

All Kaidan did was flare. That answered that question.

"Aria's up top. No funny business!" the Turian motioned towards the top of the stairs with his rifle.

"Ha ha..." Kaidan patronized as he started up the stairs, closely followed by Hanson and Callaghan.

They were quickly met by yet another guard with another assault rifle, and this one, another Batarian, lead them to the VIP box with a single Asari sitting like a queen on a large, wrap around sofa. She was an even, purplish blue, her face lightly pinstriped with thin lines framing her eyes and a thick stripe plunging down her chin. Her eyes were narrow, angry and she sat like she had no care, but if provoked, she would end you quicker then a pack of rabid varren.

"That was a ballsy move you pulled on the docks." Aria said, the glass behind her dulling down the music enough so she didn't have to yell.

Kaidan shrugged with one shoulder, "He was in my way. I got him _out_ of my way."

"You didn't hurt him too badly... If you care." Aria returned the shrug.

"You aren't telling me anything I didn't already know, but thanks." Kaidan half shrugged.

Aria slightly adjusted, raising and placing both arms on the back of the sofa, "I don't think I've seen you around before. You new?"

"You haven't seen me in your club you mean." Kaidan deadpanned.

"Everyone on this station comes to my club. Why not you?" Aria asked, eyeballing all three of her guests.

"Not much of a club goer. Gives me headaches." Kaidan sneered, nonchalantly pointing to his head.

"That explains the holovisor. So... What brings you to my glorious kingdom?" Aria asked, sharpening her royal posture, but stayed seated.

"A job. I was hoping to get some information from you." Kaidan said, again, crossing his arms over his chest and squaring his shoulders.

"Is that why you threw my scout? To get my attention?" Aria asked, eyes narrowing a bit more.

"It worked didn't it?" Kaidan smirked crookedly.

"What is it you humans say? Touche? Anyways... What job brings you here, and what information are you hoping to get?" Aria asked, dropping her arms from the back of the couch.

"My employer is looking to... have a chat with someone named Cathka." Kaidan said, his smirk growing as he saw the recognition in Aria's Azure eyes.

"Cathka's a Blue Sun, and they're working on taking care of Archangel." Aria said, her scoff accenting her words.

"I've heard of him. Heard he's been giving you a hard time." Kaidan huffed a laugh.

"Not me, but he's been giving one Hell of a razzing to the merc bands around here. Keeps knocking off shipments, high profilers, generally making life miserable for them. He's the local vigilante around here. Keeps trying to do good, but the thing is, is there isn't anything good about Omega." Aria said, sighing afterwards.

"Depends on who you talk to. Do you know anything about where I can find this guy?" Kaidan asked.

"I know plenty. Have a seat." Aria motioned for Kaidan to take a seat on the sofa.

Kaidan hesitated a moment, arms still crossed as he glanced over his shoulder at Hanson and Callaghan, silently telling them to keep an eye on things before he stepped up to the sofa and sat.

"So... Mr..." she waited for her guest to fill in the blank.

"I wouldn't worry about it. You probably won't see me again after this anyways." Kaidan said, resting the ankle of one leg on the knee of the other.

"That doesn't mean I want to conduct business with a man who's name I don't even know." Aria said flatly.

Kaidan lightly gnawed on his lip before deciding to give her a name, "Alright... You can call me Kail." _Like I'm gonna give her my real name. _He thought.

"Alright Kail. What do you wanna know." Aria asked, interlacing her fingers together in her lap.

"My employer has some business they need to discuss with this Cathka, and I'd much rather not affiliate myself with any of those damned merc bands." Kaidan said, rolling his eyes for effect.

"Not a fan of them are you?" Aria asked, smirking.

"The only reason someone joins a band of mercs, is when they can't hack it on their own." Kaidan scoffed.

"You look like you're doing pretty well for yourself." Aria said, her eyes scanning Kaidan up and down.

Kaidan half shrugged, "Doing well enough. Where can I find him?"

Aria shrugged herself, "Depends on if you wanna become targets or not. What you looking at doing with Cathka once you get to him?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that with anyone outside of my employer's inner circle." Kaidan said, raising and placing his arms on the back of the sofa, just like she was.

Aria leaned forward, "You see Kail, there's a problem with that, because the Blue Suns pay me to leave them alone. It's a mutually beneficial business arrangement." Aria tilted her head slightly.

"Not from where I'm sitting. Word on the street is that they've just about had enough of having to pay you." Kaidan simply said, keeping his eyes locked with Aria's. _Might as well divulge a little info._

Aria's eyes widened slightly, "How do you mean?" her brows pinched together.

"I do believe there's no underlining meaning to what I just said. From what I hear, the merc bands are gearing up to move on you Aria." Kaidan's smirk started to grow.

Aria point an angry finger at him, "And how do I know you aren't one of those looking to overthrow me?" she growled.

Kaidan leaned towards her, his face blank, "If I was planning on overthrowing you for this floating heap, I damn well would have already done it without you even knowing what had happened." he said, his raspy voice taking on a growl.

"Don't make threats you have no hope of following through with... Kail." Aria returned in kind with her own, predatory growl that started in her chest and worked its way out.

Kaidan leaned closer, "It's not a threat." he said, holding her gaze firm.

"And what... It's a promise?" Aria said with a singsong tone.

"No... I'll just make sure that those merc bands succeed." Kaidan nodded once.

"That's even ballsier considering I have multiple guns aimed at your head." Aria's mouth turned up into a cocky smirk.

Kaidan huffed and turned his head, looking at the guards, spurring Aria to do the same, to see that they were at gun, knife point, and disarmed.

"I don't see any guns other my teams." Kaidan lightly laughed.

Aria leaned back in her sofa, her face blank once more, "You know Kail... I like you. You're ruthless, and your team is efficient. I could use people like you."

"Sorry to disappoint, but we aren't looking to mainstay. Where can I find Cathka, and... for the record, I'm not going to ask again." Kaidan said, staring down Aria with a stone cold expression.

Aria slowly licked her lips as she returned the stare, "Take a car to the business district. The merc bands have Archangel pinned down in a building there. You'd have an easier time getting there if you signed up to help them take him out."

"I've said it once already. I'm not affiliating myself with a band of half assed mercs. Thank you for the directions Ms. T'Loak." Kaidan nodded and stood, only to be stopped by Aria.

"How did you know my last name? I never told you what it was." Aria's brow furrowed as she watched the human step up to his companions, smirking, "You have been here before haven't you?" she started to smile.

Kaidan huffed a laugh and glanced at her, "You wouldn't know."

Before Aria could protest, Kaidan, Callaghan and Hanson headed out, quickly descending the stairs and headed back across the club towards the tunnel they had arrived through. Once freed of the sheer noise and headache inducing color, Kaidan lead his team towards a car terminal, accompanied by a Batarian in the distinct blue armor of the Blue Suns.

"Who are you?" The Batarian asked harshly.

"None of your concern." Kaidan growled, making to bypass the merc as he made his way to an awaiting car, only to be blocked when the merc rushed towards it.

"Hey! Get away from those cars! If you aren't signed up with the Blue Suns, then you aren't taking a car!" the Batarian screamed, thrusting a gauntleted finger towards the trio.

Kaidan stopped and simply glared at the alien, "Out of my way. I'm sure you've heard what happened to the last one that stood between me, and my goal." his voice was dead serious.

"You're the human that tossed Akrik? Hey... I'm sorry man. Just doing my job. I meant nothing by it." the Batarian stepped aside, hands up in defense.

"I thought so. Where's the building you twit's have Archangel pinned down at?" Kaidan asked, claiming a car by opening it's hatch.

"Hey... You aren't looking to help that fucker are you?" the Batarian snarled.

"Why would you care? It's not like your life is in any immediate danger." Kaidan snapped back.

The Batarian dropped his hands, "You didn't find out from me. Head to the Red District. From there, the navigation in the car will show you the way. All of these are programmed for the operation."

"Much obliged. Don't the let the car hit you on our way out." Kaidan said as he slipped into the driver's seat of the car.

Kaidan quickly powered up the car, cuing it to spur off the ground and start off towards the indicated district that pinged on the navigation screen with a small, red circle.

"Damn sir... I didn't know you could be so... cold." Hanson said, huffing a laugh from the back seat.

"Omega is no place to be nice Private, but nice work with those guards." Kaidan said, his tone far more pleasant then it had been since they arrived.

"They made the mistake of turning their backs on us to pay attention to you. They thought you the threat." Callaghan said from the passenger's seat.

"I am a threat." Kaidan deadpanned and sent Callaghan a sidelong glance.

"I wasn't implying that you weren't Commander. I was simply saying that you weren't the only one." Callaghan said in a flat tone, inspecting her sniper as they whisked by a column of run down tenements.

Kaidan slowly shook his head, "You have got to loosen up Callaghan, or this assignment is gonna be no fun for you, or any of us for that matter." he said with a light scoff.

"I take my job seriously Commander. You can't do it if you're looking to have a good time." Callaghan said, still with the same, flat tone that Kaidan was quickly deducing as her usual.

"I beg to differ Callaghan. There are moments in this job when you do have a good time. Like stopping a crazed Turian Spectre from taking over the galaxy. Believe me... I had a good time after we'd won." Kaidan said as he glanced at the navigation, slightly adjusting their course to match what displayed on the holoscreen.

"I would have moved on to the next assignment. You don't go anywhere in life by having a good time." Callaghan scoffed.

"Sheesh ma'am. Don't you ever just take a break from it all? Spend some time with loved ones? Take some shore leave... Anything?" Hanson asked, setting his offline grenade onto the seat next to him.

Callaghan, for her sake, just remained silent, snapping her sniper rifle back into place on her back as Kaidan continued to follow the directions displayed on the navigation screens. With the heavy silence that had befallen the car, they all simply stayed quiet as they drew closer to the indicated destination that was quickly approaching, whizzing by plunging spikes of converted rock left over from the mining of the massive asteroid.

Kaidan slowed the car and began to bring it into land, seeing a cluster of blue armored men and many more in a variety of colors and races. The area had been fortified by crates, temporary bulkhead panels and barricades, most likely from the three major merc bands and their hired freelancers that looked like they hadn't slept, or eaten for days.

As the overhead door of the car popped open, the smell of the air flooded inside, having the slight undertow of copper to it that told Kaidan, and the others, that there was most likely a great deal of blood laying about the floor. They climbed out, but didn't have much time to acclimate themselves before a small group of Blue Suns approached.

"Who are you? We didn't get word of three freelancers coming in." the Blue Sun in the front, a human, said, his face angry and body rigid for a fight.

"That's because I didn't sign up." Kaidan said flatly, closing the door on the car.

"If you didn't sign up, you can't be here. Now buzz off." the human hissed, coming to stand in front of Kaidan.

Kaidan, having no patience to be kept from doing his job, allowed a bit of his Biotic power to radiate, slowly smoking up like he was engulfed in blue flames.

"You have two choices. One, you get out of my way, or two, I get you out of my way. Your choice." Kaidan warned, the blue smoke flaring just a little bit more violently.

The human glared angrily, taking a half step back away from Kaidan as if it would have helped him if the Biotic decided to use option number two.

"Why are you here?" the human Blue Sun asked, lowering his tone to something far less hostile.

"Need to speak with a Batarian named Cathka." Kaidan said bluntly.

"Why do you need to see him?" the human asked.

"I'd tell you if you needed to know, and guess what..." he leaned forward slightly, bringing himself closer to the human merc, "You don't need to know." he smirked.

"Fucking freelancers... Always think they know better then us." the human grumbled, finally stepping aside to let the trio pass.

"I'm not free." Kaidan barked a short laugh as he shrugged off the mercs and headed for a sectioned off alcove where he saw the top of a blackened gunship.

As they walked, a loud, resounding crack reverberated through the area just as the back of a freelancers head plumed out like a horizontal geyser. Just as fast as Hanson ducked, swearing his surprise at the shot, Callaghan pulled her sniper and aimed, unsure as to where the shot came from while Kaidan's Biotics flared, ready to stop whatever could possibly be coming their way.

"What the Hell was that?" Callaghan asked, one eye peering through her scope as she took a knee and looked around.

"Archangel." Kaidan said quietly, "He's been knocking off mercs left and right." he added, lowering his Biotic field as he started again towards the gunship alcove.

Simply deciding to follow instead of asking more questions, Callaghan and Hanson stayed close as Kaidan made his way around a few cowering groups of freelance mercs and got closer to the alcove that had been walled off for the gunship. However, when the three came around towards the front of the alcove, their path was blocked by a barricade of three freelancers.

"Who are you?" the merc in the center asked, hand resting on the hilt of his pistol while his flank was guarded by two more mercs, both doing the same.

This time however, Kaidan wasn't the one to answer. Callaghan was.

"What does it look like we are?" she snapped, resting her fully extended sniper rifle on her shoulder like it was a bat.

The man's brow furrowed, "Feisty one isn't she? She that rough in the sack pretty boy?" he smirked, smacking one of his partners in the shoulder as they all chuckled.

"I wouldn't know, nor do I care to know, but if her skills with that rifle are any indication, you're more then welcome to try and find out." Kaidan shrugged nonchalantly.

Their laughing ceased.

"I thought so." Kaidan smirked. "Now... I'd recommend stepping aside before either her, or me get pissed off enough to make you move aside."

It was noticeable that the three men blocking their way were mulling it over, lightly gnawing their lips as they glanced at each other, seemingly waiting for someone to make the first move. Having taken too long for his liking however, Kaidan simply charged through them, pushing them aside as he headed towards the gunship where a blue armored Batarian was hunched over and shoulders deep in the thing.

However, instead of catching the alien's attention, Kaidan carefully, and quietly, motioned for Callaghan and Hanson to keep watch, pointing to his eyes and then at the three whom had blocked their way before he turned for the workbench behind the Batarian.

Keeping his eyes locked on the blue armored alien, Kaidan literally tiptoed, slowly reaching into his pouch and pulled out the coin, slowly reaching to place the coin next to the arc welder and went to set it down. But when the coin in, star side up, it made a light clank that caught the attention of the alien he was hoping wouldn't notice.

"Who the fuck are you?" the Batarian snarled, standing up and raising his hand into the air, holding a long wrench in his tightly gripped hand.

Thinking fast, Kaidan blurted out the first thing he could think of, "Whoa easy man! Relax... I don't think Tarak would appreciate you beaming his only Biotic merc over the head with a very big wrench."

All four sets of eye ridges that served as brows, furrowed, "Huh? You aren't a Blue Sun." he said, keeping the wrench at the ready.

"No shit. I'm a freelancer. So are they." Kaidan said, closing the pouch on his belt where his small stash of wing star coins were hidden.

The Batarian quickly glanced at the two humans standing watch a few steps away, "You here about the operation?"

"Yeah. Was just looking for some details is all. I didn't mean to scare the shit out of you." Kaidan said, his voice no longer the threatening, deep rasp it had been to get there, but somewhat... ditsy and flighty, to seem like he was nothing more then a gun for hire.

After a moment of sizing up the human in front of him, he finally lowered his impromptu weapon and tossed it haphazardly onto his workbench, over the arc welder and covering the red, chevroned star.

"You're a sneaky bastard. I could have killed you." the Batarian scoffed.

"I would have frozen you in place. I'm a Biotic." Kaidan said, huffing a lazy laugh as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Good. We might actually have a chance at that fucking Archangel," he realized then that the humans most likely didn't know his name. "Name's Cathka by the way."

"Oh... uh... yeah, my names Kail. So... what have you guys got planned for this guy? I've heard he's been sassing you guys right and left." Kaidan said, quickly glancing at Callaghan and Hanson, both simply standing with hands clasped behind their backs.

Cathka scoffed, "No shit. Listen... I know you're looking at some details about this operation, but I'm not at liberty to discuss it with freelancers. All I can tell you, is that you're on the distraction team."

Kaidan's brows furrowed, knowing exactly what the distraction team was supposed to be, "Distraction team huh? If this Archangel is as bad as I hear, won't that be our demise?"

Cathka sighed, "Ok, so you're smarter then the average freelancer. Look, I can't say more. Get out of here so I can work on this pile of scrap. I need to get it up and running."

Kaidan threw his hands up in defense, "Alright, alright. We're gone."

Without even disputing being shooed away, Kaidan simply turned and left, Callaghan and Hanson close behind as he pushed through the three guards and back out into the open. As soon as he was out of earshot of the three guards, or any freelancer, he stopped and turned towards his squad mates.

"Why are we stopping Commander?" Callaghan asked, her brow crinkling and voice sounding as if she was upset that they were heading back to the ship.

"I've got one more thing I need to do before we go, but I need you to do it." Kaidan said, looking around and up towards the ceiling which confused Callaghan and Hanson.

"Why me?" she asked.

"I'm not the infiltrator. You see that building across that bridge? The one Archangel's held up in?" Kaidan asked, lowering his voice and pointing in that direction.

Callaghan turned, quickly following Kaidan's finger and nodded.

"I need you to place something over the bridge overhang across from the building." Kaidan said, glancing down at the shorter Lieutenant.

"Shouldn't be a problem Commander. What do you need to me to place there?" she asked, her voice lessening in its harshness.

Kaidan pulled out another coin and handed it to Callaghan, placing it star side up in her palm.

"Put this star side out so it can be seen from the second story of the building where Archangel is held up." Kaidan said with another glance towards the building.

"What about this Archangel character? Won't he take the shot?" she asked, her brow crinkling as she tucked the marker into an available pouch on her belt.

Kaidan shook his head, "No. He won't shoot you. You have my word on that."

"That's a Hell of a promise to make considering this guy's been knocking off mercs right and left." Callaghan snarled, glancing over her shoulder towards the building.

"We aren't mercs." Kaidan said with a crooked grin.

"Tell that to Archangel." Callaghan rolled her eyes.

"He knows."

After a moment of inactivity from Callaghan, Kaidan motioned with his head towards a stack of crates, reaching up high against the wall where they brought a moderately sized vent within reach.

"Fine... But you get to remove it." Callaghan scoffed as she started for the pile and began to easily climb.

As Callaghan climbed, Kaidan glanced around briefly, making sure no one was watching before his right arm wrapped itself in a Biotic aura as he pulled the vent grate from its mounts. Quietly setting it down, he watched as Callaghan smoothly vanished inside, leaving them to wait for her return, but instead of waiting in the middle of the floor, they moved towards the stack of crates. They leaned up against them with folded arms, trying to look like they were simply waiting for the operation against Archangel, but after a few minutes, a loud crack sounded through the area, drawing their attention towards the war torn building.

When Hanson heard a light scoff, he glance at Kaidan, seeing his smirk and trying desperately hard not to laugh out loud as the muffled, but echoed curses came from over their heads.

"With all do respect Commander, you're a son of a bitch! You said he wouldn't shoot at me!" Callaghan hissed as she climbed down the stack of crates once she had returned.

"Actually, I said he wouldn't shoot you. He didn't." Kaidan corrected, pushing off the crates and starting back towards the car that still awaited their return.

Callaghan huffed her frustration, "That was a ballsy move Commander. How were you so sure that he wouldn't shoot me? You're acting like you knew he wasn't gonna hurt me." she said in a harsh whisper as she walked next to Kaidan.

Kaidan's crooked grin faded, "To a trained eye, it's pretty easy to tell that we aren't mercs." he said, climbing into the car, each resuming their previous seats.

"How's that sir?" Hanson asked from the back seat.

"Our weapons are the most recognizable as Alliance issue to someone who knows what to look for." Kaidan said, powering up the car and lifting it off the ground.

"Let me guess... Archangel knows what to look for." Callaghan snapped snidely, folding her arms.

"He didn't shoot you."

* * *

Archangel watched across the bridge, like he always had since he had been pinned down by the very mercs he was trying to splinter. After days of being held up in that building, being riddled with rounds and holes as the merc bands tried their damnedest to be rid of him, seeing the newly arrived trio was something he wasn't expecting.

Peering through the high powered scope of his rifle, he got a clear look at them, two human men and one human woman with fiery red hair. But it wasn't the two he didn't recognize that interested him, it was the one he did recognize that held his attention. The neatly kept raven hair, the darker complexion, the facial features, they were all familiar, but the armor was different, being heavier and with more ceramic plating.

As he watched the trio, the familiar man looked in his direction, looking straight down his scope and eye to eye. His eyes were clear in their meaning, and it was compounded when the tiniest of smiles crossed his lips and he nodded his head once, almost in reassurance. It had been so long since he had seen eyes that reassuring, especially those eyes, and the eyes of the familiar man's lover and friend. It was easy to tell that the familiar man was trying to tell him something, but what, he could only guess. _What are you up to? _He thought as he continued to watch the group, seeing the female vanish as it appeared she was climbing.

After a few minutes, the woman reappeared, at least her top half did, as she leaned out of a vent directly across the way from him. He watched, still through his scope as she seemed to be looking for something, or someway to stick something against the wall. Watching her pull something from her belt, he watched as she stuck a coin with a red chevroned star on the wall. Confused as to why she was doing this, he shifted his scope back to the familiar man, but he and his remaining companion had also disappeared.

Fully aware that the familiar man and his team were Alliance, and very much out of their element, he decided to help keep their cover. He racked back his rifle and took aim, just to the left of where the woman was hanging out of the vent. With the resounding crack, he fired, slamming the round home right where he wanted it to, severely startling the woman and she whisked back into the vent, her swears echoing around the area.

"Be safe my friend. Don't get caught." Archangel said just below his breath, watching as the three walked back out of his sight.

* * *

The _Grimm_ was quiet, silent and nearly invisible as it powered away from Omega, leaving the jellyfish shaped station to continue along its orbit.

Kaidan had ordered their departure nearly immediately after returning from their outing, unloading their weapons back into the Armory where Callaghan stayed to care for her prized snipers, and continued being miffed at Kaidan's move, despite him being right. She wondered how in the galaxy he knew she wouldn't be harmed, vitally exposed like she was as she carried out the strange order, but after seeing the pinpointed shot this Archangel had managed against a freelance merc, she couldn't help but think that the shot was on purpose. However, that thought just pissed her off even more.

Frustrated and hungry, she put away her snipers and headed for the galley, finding the rest of the crew with one of the twin pilots already eating, with the cook, the woman named Lycan, preparing a tray that she assumed was to be taken to the Commander.

"Glad you finally made it Lieutenant. What can I get for you?" Lycan asked, almost robotically as she pulled a clean plate from the stack of freshly cleaned ones.

Callaghan tried not to roll her eyes, "Just whatever they're having. It's most likely all slop anyways." she groaned, whisking a cup and utensils from their storage spots.

Lycan kept a straight face and sighed, "Coming up." she said blandly, filling the plate with the casserole she had made while they were out.

Snatching the plate from the cook, she headed for an open spot next to Hanson and across from Ellison, "Wow... This looks disgusting." she groaned, picking up a spoonful and letting it plop back down.

"That's just because you don't like her. She rocked this green bean casserole. Beats anything that comes out of that thing over there." Ellison said, smirking as he stuffed a large forkful into his mouth.

Callaghan rolled her eyes, "I don't like her, because she doesn't need to be here. I don't understand why the Commander is so damn insistent on keeping her ass around." she nearly growled as she tested the waters of the casserole, not even about to admit that she thought it good.

"Because he doesn't wanna eat the crap the auto chef pukes out. Can't say I blame him. I wouldn't want to either if my diet required me to eat damn near all day." Hanson said, taking a drink of his water.

Callaghan simply scoffed as he continued eating her meal, putting on a mildly crinkled expression so it didn't seem like she was actually enjoying it when she noticed that there were bits of meat baked into the casserole. _Huh... This isn't bad. _She thought as she watched Lycan walk out of the common room and noticed that the tray she carried was laden with two plates.

"You guys think the cook and the Commander have something going on?" Callaghan asked, her brows furrowing slightly as she glared at the back of Lycan's head until the doors hissed closed.

"Why? You interest in the Commander?" Jake asked, sitting the farthest from Hanson and the only one of equal rank enough to speak up in such a matter.

Callaghan glared, "Wouldn't that be a blatant disregard of Alliance regulations?" she said snidely, a little too forcefully picking up her glass to take a drink, causing some to spill onto the table.

One of Jake's eyebrows popped up, "That sounds like you have intentions there Lieutenant." he smirked, innocently stuffing a forkful into his mouth.

"I wouldn't tell you even if I did have intentions. Plus... I'm not the relationship type." she sneered, turning her attention back to her meal.

"Love 'em and leave 'em type huh?" Jake asked, trying not to laugh, the exact opposite of what everyone else was doing.

"Why? You interested in a quick roll?" Callaghan snapped, angrily glaring at the Flight Lieutenant.

A cocky, beaming smile crossed Jake's face as he leaned towards the center of the table, "I'm not a quick roll."

* * *

The doors to the captain's quarters opened as Lycan approached, propping the food tray laden against her hip. She entered and set the tray down on the small table near the holoscreen, the sound of the shower running immediately catching her attention as she turned to look at the glass walled bathroom. It was filled with a thick cloud of steam, conveniently shrouding the detailed musculature of Kaidan's figure, but his silhouette could still be seen.

Resisting the urge to surprise him, she walked to her side of the bed where she opened her dresser, pulling out a pair of comfortable pants, a tank and sweater to replace her civilian uniform. Not paying attention to anything other then changing her clothes, she slightly jumped when a pair of thick, warm and wet arms snaked their way around her midsection.

"Hey there you." Lycan lowly chuckled, placing her hands over his and leaning back into his strong form.

"Hey. Thanks for bringing dinner. How's the crowd outside?" Kaidan asked, nuzzling into her neck and placing a soft kiss before pulling away to dry and get dressed.

"Callaghan still looks pissed about getting shot at, but I'm sure she'll get over it. Other then that, everyone seems in good spirits." Lycan said, pulling her tank over her head.

"I'm sure Garrus just did it to keep up appearances. He missed on purpose." Kaidan said, pulling the towel away from his hips that immediately drew Lycan's full and undivided attention.

It took Lycan a few moments to peel her eyes away from Kaidan's entirely naked being, especially to the spot below his hips that he had apparently spent time grooming, "I uh... I know that. Garrus is damn good with a sniper, but Callaghan doesn't know that." she continued getting dressed.

"True." Kaidan sent her a smile.

They fell into a small silence as both finished getting dressed, Kaidan taking a bit longer since he had to dry himself off, but once done, he joined Lycan at the table for their dinner.

"Is Callaghan ever gonna warm up? She's more ice cold then Miranda, which I didn't think was possible." Lycan smirked as she took a sip of her drink.

"I have no idea," he sighed, "It's like she hates were she is, and what she's doing." he slowly shook his head before taking a bite.

"Or bitter about something." she shrugged, "I don't know... Maybe she just needs some time to warm up." Lycan said, lowering her eyes from his.

Kaidan caught the seemingly sad look, spurring him to reach across the small table and grasp her hand, "I'm sure she will Ly. Just like on the old Normandy."

"Oh I know. I just don't like feeling like someone's plotting is all. I'm sure it'll pass. Did you see Garrus?" she asked, pushing the ill feeling back into the back of her head.

Kaidan shook his head, "No. We couldn't get close to the building with all the heat around. I had to shift from badass merc to boneheaded twit on the fly when Cathka caught me."

"That was a pretty slick move though. It was quick thinking." Lycan's smile returned.

"Thanks. Luckily it worked. You sure about not needing us to go into the quarantined area?" he asked.

"I don't think so. The only things Shepard is gonna do, or not do, is interrupt Mordin's yammering and stop some Batarian's from killing his assistant. I'm fairly confident that Shepard'll take them. Plus, you guys would stand out like a sore thumb in the slums. The less exposure we get, the better." Lycan said with a sigh.

"Yeah... We can only hope Shepard'll take those. I don't know if I'd be the same person if I found out I'd been dead for two years." Kaidan said, finishing his meal far faster then Lycan.

"I doubt anyone would be. At least he's got people he can trust with him. I just hope it's enough to keep him grounded." Lycan said, her voice lowering as a quick wave of sorrow washed through her at the thought.

Feeling the pang with her, he retook her hand, standing from his seat and walked around the table until he stood behind her. Still holding Lycan's hand, he lifted her from her seat and brought her to him, tucking his head into her neck where he placed a series of small kisses before he released a long, warm breath over her skin.

"I'm worried about him too Ly, but I think we're doing the right thing." he whispered into her skin, placing another series of light kisses to Lycan's neck.

"I know we are... I know we are."

* * *

Horizon was a miserable existence, and the people weren't making it any better. If the defense array wasn't arguing with her, the locals were and voicing their very specific opinions about how much they disliked the Alliance. The heat was overwhelming most of the time, the air was thick with humidity and her only reprieve was when the sun went down for the night. All she wanted was for her assignment to be over, and hoped to God that the rumors weren't true.

Finally done attempting to correct whatever problem the defense array had, Ashley tossed her weapons onto the couch in her rented prefabbed dwelling and headed straight into her bedroom to change. Peeling off her armor like it had been glued to her skin, she tossed it haphazardly onto her bed and took a quick shower, groaning as the immediate sticky feeling took hold of her body.

After taking extra time to dry herself, she made her way to her terminal and sat, fully intending on writing her weekly report, but when her terminal powered up, it declared that she had an awaiting message.

Opening it up, she began to read.

_To: Operations Chief Ashley Williams, Systems Alliance._

_ From: Lycan Morris, Systems Alliance civilian contractor._

_ Dear Ashley,_

_ I have something to tell you, and it's not going to be easy. Please know, that you are one of my best friends, and I hold you just about as close to my heart as I hold Kaidan. All I want is for you to be happy, and because of this, I'm risking a lot to make sure that you are. _

_ You know that I've regained my knowledge of what's to come, but you knew that I couldn't tell anyone, out of fear of causing the timeline to change. But this... this is too important to keep to myself. _

_ I know that you were sent to Horizon, not just to install a defense array for the colony, but to investigate if the rumors regarding Shepard are true. It pains me to say that part of them are true. He is working with Cerberus, but it's so he can stop the real people behind the abductions. The Collectors are behind it, and he's trying to stop it. _

_ He really has been dead for two years though Ashley, and I can promise you that all he's wanted to do since he woke up is to contact you. He tried, God, he tried to get something, anything from Anderson, but he didn't get anything to help him find you. He loves you Ashley and I know he hasn't forgotten any of the moments that you two have spent together. _

_ I wish this was all I had to say, but it's not. There's more. When you're on Horizon, the Collectors are going to come and take everyone, but you're going to be left behind because Shepard drove them off. Yes, he'll be there. You'll see him again and I know you're going to be angry. So, incredibly angry with me for keeping this a secret from you, letting you drown in your sorrow over losing him and I can't even imagine what it was like for you. I would crumble into nothingness if I ever lost Kaidan, but I know that's little comfort now. _

_ I'll understand if you never want to speak to me again, and I'll respect your wishes if you do, but I hope you can get past your anger. That's all I can do is hope. I'm so, so sorry for keeping this from you, but I couldn't keep this a secret any longer, not from you, not from Kaidan. I had to tell you, not just for myself, but for you too. _

_ I'm sorry for this Ashley. I truly am, but I hope, if our friendship was truly meant to last, that it will. Be safe out there Ashley, and remember this when you see Shepard again. You two come first, so give him a chance to explain. He's only doing this for you. Only you. _

_ Sincerely, and with much love,_

_ Lycan Morris_

Shocked, with anger roaring through her veins, Ashley stood from her seat and headed for her kitchen, but before she could pour herself a glass of water, she vomited into her sink. She knew Lycan had recovered her memories, but this, she wasn't expecting. All the rumors had said that Shepard faked his death to defect to the former black ops organization, had turned his back on everything and everyone he had ever loved and held dear, but this... this was saying that he really had died. She trusted Lycan and Kaidan far more then the Alliance brass, or the media, or the extranet, but this was hard to swallow. This complicated things.

Forcing back her anger to make room for her rational side, she realized that she was crying, her eyes having begun to water without her knowing when she was trapped in her own thoughts. Her rational side told her that Lycan was meaning well, and only wanted to help her be happy. Sure, she was furious that she had kept this from her for this long, but late was better then never. Late, was better then finding out when she saw Shepard again.

Guzzling down her glass of water, she went back to her terminal, and opened a new message.


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter 54: The Wing and the Star

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: I apologize for the late updates lately. This class for school has been consuming a good chunk of my time and since I got this job for the holidays, and it's the last push to Christmas, it's been busy as Hell. So since we are on the cusp of the holidays, my updates are going to be on the slow side. Nothing months long, so don't worry. :) Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!)_

Omega. The backwater, lawless rock that few actually wanted to go, but most found themselves when the rest of the civilized worlds cast them aside. For Shepard, it was exactly the place where he thought he belonged.

The entire time they were on their way, Shepard had remained held up in his cabin, spending time staring at his photo of Ashley, and trying to find his other close friends. Without having any access to any Alliance databases, that task was nye impossible. He came up empty, time and time again.

However, his search would have to wait until he was done with Omega, as he had three subjects to find. A brilliant, fast talking Salarian; Mordin Solus. A mysterious vigilante by the name of Archangel, and a hardened, aged bounty hunter; Zaeed Massani. The latter was, by far, the easiest, as when the door opened, a man matching the bounty hunter's description was standing over a rather roughed up looking Batarian.

With Ms. Lawson and Jacob Taylor by his side, Shepard headed for the veteran, staying as silent as possible as he watched the human beat the Batarian upside the head. The man's voice was gruff, slightly airy from age and most likely a lifetime's worth of booze, women and cigarettes.

"Hey! You Massani?" Shepard called out as he walked down the entry corridor.

The man, clad in well used yellow armor, looked up, fully revealing his scar to the group approaching him, "Yeah... Who's asking?" he smacked the Batarian once more, just for fun.

"Commander Shepard." was all he said, stopping and crossing his arms, the ceramic plates and webbing creaking with the movement.

The man looked over his shoulder, smacking the Batarian without even looking, "Commander Shepard huh? Was wondering when you'd get here." he turned back to continue his pummeling of the cowering Batarian.

Shepard's brows furrowed as he watched the beat down, "Am I interrupting something?" he asked, an eyebrow popping up.

"Just getting ready to collect is all. This guy's been running me all over the Systems, but he thought he could lose me by running to Omega. Sooner or later, they always end up on Omega." Massani smirked.

"Do you need time to finish?" Shepard asked, lowering his eyebrow.

Massani scoffed, "Naw... He's caught. He knows, I know it. I'll give him over the scouts my employer sent, and I'll be ready to go to be a Goddamned hero." he bent down and grabbed a large wade of the Batarian's clothing to hoist him to his feet.

"I'll wait here." Shepard said blandly.

Massani nodded once as he dragged the alien off and out of sight, leaving Shepard to wait by the door that would lead them into the main of the station. He was content to just wait in silence, but like most of the things he wished for, that didn't happen.

"Commander... May I make a suggestion?" Ms. Lawson asked, breaking the silence and earning an over the shoulder glance from Shepard.

"Sure." he deadpanned.

"Since Omega is as about as close to a rotting piss hole as you can get, perhaps taking Massani with you would be in your best interest. He knows more about this place then anyone." Ms. Lawson said, drawing in a quiet breath.

Before his slowly bubbling temper could come to full tilt, he sucked in a long, unbroken breath and glanced down at his feet, "You're probably right. Tay..."

"Uh... Actually Commander, I was willing to volunteer to stay onboard the ship. There are things I need to take car of." Ms. Lawson lightly interrupted, loosely clasping her hands together in front of her.

Shepard tightened his grip on his bicep, "Reports for TIM I'm sure." his voice was laced with a growly undertow.

Ms. Lawson simply inhaled and nodded.

Shepard turned a bit more to look at her, seeing the barest of cowers from her shoulders as he assumed she fully remembered that last time she had tried to tell him what to do. He had to admit however, that having her on the squad might draw some unwanted attention their way and in all honesty, it's the last thing he wanted.

"Alright. Joker keeps the con though." Shepard motioned with his head for her to head back to the ship.

"Understood Commander."

Once back in her quarters, Ms. Lawson tossed her weapons onto her bed and sat down at her desk, her hands exploding over the keyboard interfaces on her multiple terminals. Each holoscreen lit up, displaying something different then the one next to it as she found where she had left off before being called to accompany Shepard on his away team. Drawing in a nervous breath, she reread the report, still having a hard time deciding what to do with it.

The report was from a covert operative cell assigned to discover, and locate the subject that Cerberus had designated the 'Time Jumper'. She had managed to intercept the report before it had gotten to The Illusive Man, insuring the the 'Time Jumper's' identity would remain a secret for just a little bit longer.

According to the report, the covert operative cell had, in fact, caught wind of a letter sent to Shepard's old flame, Operations Chief Ashley Williams, and it spoke of things that no one outside of the upper echelon of Cerberus would know. The letter had given the identity of the 'Time Jumper', which Cerberus had been hunting since the Citadel relay network simultaneously spooled and discharged an unfathomable amount of energy. The 'Time Jumper' was a young woman named Lycan Morris, but The Illusive Man didn't know it yet.

She knew more about Shepard's life then anyone, with the exception of Shepard of course. She had to if they had any hope of making the Lazarus Project a success, and she knew that Shepard had a close knit inner circle. She knew just as much about them, as she did Shepard, but what constantly drove her nuts, was that she had to come to terms with the inability to dive into Shepard's old Lieutenant, now Staff Commander's, private life, which was locked down tighter then a super max prison.

However, it wasn't the fact that she couldn't find out more about Shepard's best and closest friend, Kaidan Alenko, it was the report in front of her that brought her to her impasse. She had kept the report from The Illusive Man, and that would most certainly spell death should he ever find out about it, but it was a risk she had to take. She never forgot about the conversation she had had with Dr. Chakwas, and it was still ripe in her mind, but the more she thought about, the more she agreed with it. Shepard would need to trust her if they had any hope of surviving their mission, and keeping things from him was not the way to do it.

With nerves roaring in the pit of her stomach, she continued reading the report, each time making it more and more difficult to make her decision, but the urge to do something, whether he knew it or not, to earn Shepard's trust, was growing in it's intensity. _What am I to do? If I keep this from The Illusive Man, I put my sister's safety in jeopardy, but if I tell him, Shepard might very well kill me with rage. _She thought, her eyes never faltering from the report in front of her.

Her impasse was this; Secure the fate of her sister by sending the report to The Illusive Man, or put everything on the line to earn the trust of the only man capable of stopping the Collectors.

* * *

The quarantine zone was something out of an old horror vid in Shepard's opinion. The streets were littered with open, blazing fires, fueled by the bodies of people whom had been claimed by the nightmarish plague storming the slums. People, in a desperate attempt to contain the disease, burned the corpses, leaving them to be reduced to ashes right out in the open for all to see. People were frightened, fearful of everyone, and even more so of the beings whom seemed to be immune to the ailment; The Vorcha, whom were immune to all disease, and Humans, whom they blamed for the entire thing.

However, this was not the case anymore as the slums went into recovery. The brilliant Salarian doctor by the name of Mordin Solus, a tall, lanky and rather amphibious looking alien with scared skin, had managed to create a cure, all while working in a small, ill equipped lab with even less resources with his assistant Daniel Abrams.

That in itself was interesting, as the human man had gone missing after an attempt to distribute the cure to the masses. Mordin had requested that Shepard find and rescue him, which was easily done when he found him in the clutches of a small group of Batarians. The assistant was shaken, and obviously frightened as Shepard had forced his freedom with a few close grazes at the Batarians, but the assistant was grateful, and had quickly hurried back to the clinic.

Now, with the assistant safe, the cure distributed via the ventilation systems, and the slum's population slowly recovering from the ordeal, Shepard leaned against a wall with crossed arms, while Zaeed and Jacob Taylor waited patiently, well, as patiently as a grumpy, aged bounty hunter would allow, out in the waiting area for Shepard to emerge with a Mordin Solus in tow.

"You almost ready to go doctor?" Shepard asked, watching the Salarian rattle off his list of specific instructions to his assistant.

"Yes yes. Almost ready. Finishing up giving Daniel instructions on running clinic." Mordin Solus said without even breaking eye contact with his assistance.

Shepard just nodded, but was unsure why he even bothered since the Salarian didn't even see it.

It only took a few more minutes for Mordin to finish up before he clapped his assist on the shoulder, and headed for where Shepard waited, "Ready to depart. Grateful for time to instruct Daniel. Good kid. He'll do fine." Mordin said, his bag in hand.

Shepard pushed off the wall and uncrossed his arms, "Sure. I have a request... If you don't mind that is."

"Never mind. Accepting position with Cerberus under free will, though, unlike human centric organization to enlist aid from other species." Mordin said, heading for the exit of the clinic next to Shepard, his two other crew soon joining them.

"I would like you to come with me when we go find this Archangel. From what I hear, he's pinned down in an abandoned building over in the Red Light District. If it's gonna be as hard as I'm thinking it will be, I want some kind of medic there, just in case." Shepard said as the group quickly headed back towards Aria's nightclub.

"Yes yes. Sound idea. Though, bag might presume a problem." Mordin said, placing one of his two, long fingers against his ultra thin, barely there lips.

"Easily solved doctor," Shepard said, looking to his left at Jacob Taylor, "Taylor, can you take Dr. Solus's bag back to the ship?"

Jacob nodded once and reached out for Mordin's bag, "Sure thing Commander. It'll be in the Tech Lab when you arrive Dr. Solus."

"Grateful. Need weapons." Mordin said, releasing his bag as he accepted the pistol from Taylor, "Mmm... Will do nicely." he smiled.

Shepard couldn't stop the smirk as Taylor broke off from the group when they emerged out from the slums, and headed back to the ship, while he, Mordin and Zaeed made a break for Afterlife. The club was exactly the same the first time Shepard had gone to talk with Aria, but this time, he wasn't interested in talking with the Asari lord, he was interested in the steady stream of mercs coming out of one of the private rooms.

Without even a second thought, he turned and descended into the designated room, brushing into a far too young man with no armor and a half assed, second hand pistol in his hand.

Before the boy could get too far away however, Shepard's body lightly washed itself with Biotic energy, grabbing a firm hold of the weapon and ripping it out of the boy's hand.

"Hey! Who the fuck you think you are?" the boy snapped, his face snarling as he whipped around to see whom had stolen his gun.

"Someone who knows better then to trust this piece of rusted out shit." Shepard quipped as he rammed the heel of his hand into the weapon, causing the weapon's heat sink to spring out in two pieces.

"What the... You ass. I payed fifty credits for that!" the boy growled, yanking the gun from Shepard's hand.

Shepard shrugged, "You get what you pay for I guess. I'd try to go get your money back if I were you." he half shrugged again.

"I'm gonna have to now shithead. I should just take it from you." the boy snarled, tossing his no good weapon in a corner.

Shepard fully turned to face him, his body beginning to flutter with rising Biotic power, "You're more then welcome to try kid."

At seeing the low wisps of Eezo smoking up from the heavily armed, heavily armored man, the boy began to back away with his hands up in defense, "Hey man... never mind. It was a measly five hundred credits. I'll make it back somewhere else." he turned and left before he made the Biotic angrier.

"Good idea." Shepard huffed, reigning his power back in as he turned to look at a rather shocked looking Batarian standing behind his terminal station.

"Trying to get a bigger cut?" the Batarian asked, all four, jet black eyes watching the three.

"With as many kids I see coming in and out of here, I'm surprised there's even a cut at all." Shepard rolled his eyes as he folded his arms again.

"You sound like you've been around awhile. I bet you can do some real damage." the Batarian said, looking back to his workstation.

"That's the plan. This where I can find Archangel?" Shepard asked, his face completely blank of any emotion.

"It is. We're signing up anyone who's willing to try and get a piece of that bastard... Though, if you're looking to help him get out, then it'll spell trouble for you." the Batarian said, his tone laced with a throaty laugh.

"If by helping him get out, you mean without a pulse, then yeah." Shepard half shrugged, smirking.

The Batarian smiled, "Nice one. So the basics are this; you get two hundred and fifty each. No you don't get your friends shares if they die and visa versa. This does not qualify you as a member of the Blue Suns, Blood Pack or Eclipse. You're simply a freelancer, nothing more, nothing less. Any questions?"

"Seems pretty straight forward to me." Shepard said, lowly sighing, but keeping his face totally blank.

"Fine. Head out to the car terminal and they'll take you to the site. Find Cathka when you get there." the Batarian instructed without even looking up from the terminal.

"Joy." Shepard said as he turned and headed back out into the club.

The staging area for the operation against Archangel was a sight to say the least, and watching a couple freelancers brains get blown out was only icing on the vigilante cake.

Shepard didn't even give a second look at the dead freelancer, sprawled out on the ground with the back of his head missing, as he turned and headed for a sectioned off alcove with the definite profile a gunship. Of course, before he could get into the alcove, a trio of freelancers on sentry duty stepped in his way.

"Cathka?" was all Shepard said, holding eye contact like he was a robot.

The freelancer simply pointed over his shoulder with his thumb at a hunched over figure crouched at the gunship's side. Shepard glared for a few moments longer before stepping passed the merc, his shoulder pushing against his as he walked by.

"You Cathka?" Shepard asked, placing his hands on his hips as he stopped and stood next to the tool cart.

The figure stood up straight, rolling its shoulders before turning around to look at his second group of company, "What is it with the company? And why can't any of them be women?"

"Maybe its a sign." Shepard deadpanned.

"It's a sign I'd rather be brought to me by an legion of naked Asari sluts." Cathka grinned, tossing his wrench onto the tool cart, next to the arch welder.

Shepard mirrored the smirk, "Why sluts?" he ventured, really just trying to make small talk.

"Don't have to pay 'em when you're done with 'em." Cathka's grin got bigger.

Shepard's throat rumbled with an legitimate chuckle, "Nice... So, I'm here to ask about the operation against Archangel." he cut to the chase.

"Oh yeah. You must be those actual mercs my buddy commed down about. We just might be able to pull this off with you three. Those Biotics of yours are gonna come in handy." Cathka said, slipping a cigarette into his mouth and lighting it.

"They always do." Shepard's smirk grew into a full crooked grin.

"So what do you wanna know about the op?" Cathka asked, eyeballing the lot.

"Whatever there is to know." Shepard said with a straight face.

"Well... You're part of the distraction team. When the signal's given and the others are gonna draw Archangel's fire. It'll buy the infiltration team time to get in through the back and take the fucker out." Cathka said, taking a long drag from his cigarette and swallowing down the mouthful of smoke.

Shepard's brows furrowed, "Distraction is just a fancy word for cannon fodder. Do the rest of the freelancers know that they're gonna be sacrificed like offerings?"

"The point is for them not to know... Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta get this gunship fixed before Tarak fries me with this things afterburners." Cathka shrugged and turned back to work on the gunship.

Shepard simply stood, arms crossed over his chest as he glared at the back of Cathka's head, hoping to get more information from the Batarian, but it was obvious that that wasn't going to happen. He slowly shook his head as he glanced over his shoulder at his companions, rolling his eyes before turning back to look at the alien, but as he turned his head, his eyes caught the slightest glimpse of something familiar.

His smirk faded instantly as he looked next to the arc welder at a small trinket that he hadn't seen in years. He reached for the palm sized coin, picking it up to get a closer look at the familiar star with its twin chevrons carving through its middle. At seeing the trinket, his mind was flooded with memories of Sentinel training, and all the times he and Kaidan had flipped an identical coin to help make decisions they couldn't agree upon. _How did this get here? I thought only me and Kaidan knew about this? _He thought as he flipped the coin over in his hand, momentarily seeing the blue wing before returning to the chevroned star.

Shepard was about to pocket the item before his eyes refocused, giving his vision distance to look back to the tool cart before looking further out at the back of the Batarian. For a moment, he looked up at the gunship, glaring as Cathka continued to tinker with it and not even paying attention to the trio behind him. That's when Shepard's head spun with darker thoughts.

_How did this coin end up here? No one else knew about it! Did Cathka get it somehow?... He got it somehow... He took it. He... Kaidan..._

Before he could even think anymore, he snatched the arc welder up with a swift movement and thrust it forward, jamming the welder into the Batarian's back without even blinking. With a violent jolt of power, Cathka writhed and jerked in every direction, his entire body sent ridged by the electricity and thus, keeping him from screaming as he violently seized on his feet.

After only a few moments, Cathka's body dropped to the ground, his wrench clanking and skittering underneath the now vulnerable gunship. He reached a gloved hand into the open panel, grabbing a firm handful of wiring and pulled, ripping them from their places before glancing back to the coin in his palm. He knelt down next to the twitching body, and stared straight into the black, vacant eyes that distantly looked out into oblivion.

"If you took this from Kaidan... If you did anything to him... I'll dig your sorry corpse up from wherever you're buried and hang you on the front of my ship as a hood ornament for all to see what happens to those who cross me." Shepard said in a low, trembling voice, the coin turning over around his fingers.

As the last vestiges of life left Cathka's body, Shepard stood, tucking the coin away safely in a pouch on his belt before he turned and left the alcove.

"Curious. Action suggests vengeful nature. Something you saw Shepard?" Mordin asked, following Shepard as he stopped and simply stood with crossed arms.

"That coin. Kaidan and I used to each have one, and whenever we couldn't make a decision, we'd flipped it. We were the only ones who knew about it." Shepard said with a near growl in his voice, not even looking at his squad mates.

"So because that bastard had that coin, you slammed a welder into his back? You would have made a great merc." Zaeed smirked, crossing his arms to mirror Shepard's posture.

"If that Batarian bastard did anything to Kaidan, or..." he stopped himself from saying Lycan's name, "God help anyone who helped him do it." his throat rumbled with more, caged rage.

"Curious. Name 'Kaidan' male in origin. However, vengeful actions suggest possible romantic tendencies." Mordin said, earning duel glares from the two humans.

"Kaidan was... is my best friend. Has been for years. Ever since we were in Sentinel training together. I owe him a lot... More then he owes me, but we weren't romantic. We're both very much straight." Shepard's glare vanished as he glanced at the floor.

"Human interaction has deep scientific potential. Would enjoy observations to further study." Mordin's thin lips perked into a smile.

"You'll get plenty of opportunities on this trip. Hope we don't scare you off." Shepard scoffed, discretely eyeballing a small group of Blue Suns heading for a secured door not far down a protected corridor.

"Never get scared. Science needs to be furthered. No time to be scared." Mordin said with another light grin.

"You're gonna take some getting used to, but you're gonna be a Hell of an asset." Shepard said, slowly shaking his head as he saw a growing group of freelance mercs gathering by the tall barricades. "Looks like the shit is getting ready to hit the fan. You two ready to become targets?" he asked, his grin growing.

Both nodded as they headed for the group.

* * *

Getting into the battle worn building was the easy part. Getting out was going to be an entirely different story.

With the freelance group obliterated by a combination of Shepard's powerful Biotics, Mordin's frightening, yet effective cryo attacks, and Zaeed's merciless skill with his battle rifle, the three now stood, staring at the helmet of the man presumed to be Archangel. Of course, it took all of a second for Shepard to recognize that Archangel was no human vigilante, but a Turian one, as the dossier had informed.

Shepard's brows furrowed as he and Archangel stayed silent, just staring at each other as the armored Turian's hand slowly raised to his helm. His body going rigid, Shepard tensed, ready to draw his weapon should the vigilante decide to attack, but when the helm cleared the Turian's head, Shepard lost all ability to breath.

Sitting before him, on a crate with his sniper rifle cradled in his arms, was a friend he thought he had very little chance of ever seeing again. The same blue face paint. The same icy blue eyes. The same, sandy colored and leathery hide. It was Garrus Vakarian.

"Garrus!" Shepard yelped, arms dropping from their folded position across his chest.

"By the Spirits... I didn't think the rumors were true." Garrus said, stand from his perch and wrapping Shepard up in a brotherly type embrace.

"It's a long story man, but I'm here now. What the fuck are you doing? Archangel?" Shepard asked, releasing his friend.

"Hey... I didn't pick the name. The locals gave it to me for... all my good deeds." he smirked, "It just kinda stuck. But please... It's just Garrus to you." Garrus laughed.

"It better be... You know... You shot me." Shepard said with a crooked grin.

"It was just for show. Anyways, I just hit your shields. I couldn't let the mercs get suspicious." Garrus's mandibles clanked in amusement.

"Uh huh." Shepard cocked an eyebrow.

"It's good to see you again Shepard. A friendly face is sure a welcomed sight." Garrus said, starting towards the wall that overlooked the mercs staging area.

Shepard came to stand next to his friend, "Likewise. How long you been held up here?" he asked, looking out over the area.

"Awhile. Time blurs together when you don't sleep." Garrus said, leaning over to rest his arms against the railing.

"I know the feeling." Shepard sighed.

The pair stayed silent for a few moments before Garrus lifted his rifle and handed it to Shepard, "Here... Look across the way there. There's something you should see."

His brows lightly furrowing, Shepard took the rifle and looked through the scope. It took him several moments to focus through the lens, but once he did, he saw the tiniest of gleams flicker from the wall.

Hanging next to a ventilation grate that was limply hanging from its mounts, was another coin with its chevroned star side facing out. _Another coin? Were these deliberately placed? Did Kaidan place them? _Shepard thought, unable to tear his eye away from the small, glimmering coin.

His thoughts continued to race until a flicker of white caught his attention, forcing him to aim the rifle down in time to see a small squad of security mechs walking out onto the bridge. His eyes narrowing and with the barest of hesitations to insure his aim was true, Shepard pulled the trigger, sending a high powered, mass accelerated round straight through the cranial dome of one of the robots and dropped it to the floor. The other two soon followed.

"Nice shot." Garrus said, a hint of amusement, and a little bit of pride, in his double toned voice.

Shepard lowered the rifle and handed it back to Garrus, but kept his gaze on the now distant coin, "Who put that there?" he asked, feeling the thud of his heart in his neck.

Garrus sighed, "A human female..." he was interrupted.

"Lycan?" Shepard's voice sounded hopeful.

"No... I'd never seen her before. She climbed through the ventilation to put that there, but..." he sighed again.

"But what?" Shepard's brows furrowed again, this time hard enough to crinkle the skin of his forehead.

"Alenko was with them. It looked like he was leading his own squad. I didn't recognize the two with him, but they followed his orders. He handed the female the coin, and she popped out of the ventilation grate a minute later." Garrus said with a clank of his mandibles.

"That means..." Shepard pulled the coin from his pouch, "Kaidan put this on the tool cart." he swallowed.

Garrus nodded, "Yeah, he did," he placed his taloned hand on Shepard's shoulder, "But don't worry about that dirtbag. Cathka had it coming sooner or later."

Shepard drew in long, unbroken breaths to keep his stomach from flipping end over end as he took Garrus's rifle once more and looked at the coin, still suspended on the wall. The longer he looked, the more he remembered his time in Sentinel training and how the coin solved multiple disagreements between the two friends. Seeing them in a time when friends were scarce, and the urge to constantly look over his shoulder was stronger then ever, they were a welcomed comfort knowing that someone, somewhere, was trying to help by leaving breadcrumbs.

Shepard gave the rifle back, "Kaidan's leaving me clues. He's trying to help." he said lowly, running his hand down his face.

"Yeah... I wouldn't be surprised if you find more of those." Garrus said, raising his rifle to his shoulder.

"I hope I do. It's a small thread of hope I can hang on to. Maybe the Alliance hasn't abandoned me as much as I thought." Shepard said, rolling some stiffness from his neck.

"They sure tried to, but Kaidan and Lycan... They never gave up." Garrus said quietly, seeing a scramble of mercs preparing to launch an attack.

"Then I won't let them down," Shepard pulled his weapon from his hip, "Let's get out of here."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Garrus fired the first shot.

* * *

Shepard sat outside the Med Bay onboard the _Normandy_ _SR-2, _face buried in his hands as he waited for any news about Garrus.

Everything had been going so well. They had killed every merc that tried to get at them, and even some big wigs that Garrus had been after for some time. They stopped wave after wave, simply pushing back Eclipse with their mechs by keeping them pinned on the bridge. Shutting the heavy gates in the basement to keep the Blood Pack out, and fending off the Blue Suns that were air dropped into the building by the gunship that was never completely fixed.

But it was when they had to fight the gunship directly, piloted by Tarak, that things got hairy. They ducked away from the rockets and fired their weapons at it whenever they had a chance, dodging falling chunks of rumble and simply trying to find suitable cover was a chore. They thought they were almost home free, but when the gunship fired one last rocket before dropping out of sight, Garrus didn't get out of the way fast enough.

He took the explosive, the shrapnel carving deep, jagged cuts in Garrus's hide along the right side of his face. He collapsed to the floor, his deep blue blood seeping out to color the paneled floor, but Shepard's intuition had been right, as having Mordin there was a blessing to help stabilize Garrus just enough to move him. They rushed back to the ship as fast as they could, having commed in their emergency so that Dr. Chakwas was waiting for them to return.

That had been hours ago, and Shepard was left to simply wait and hope that his friend would be alright. He had done everything he could to take his mind off of the situation; Getting Mordin situated in the tech lab, getting cleaned up from the dousing of Garrus's blood that covered his armor and had even seeped underneath to touch his skin. He had written the mission summaries for the three new crew members that now called the _Normandy_ _SR-2_ home, and had already spent some time looking at his picture of Ashley.

With nothing else to do, he sat, staring at his feet with his head resting in his hands. He was so oblivious to the world around him, that when he heard the sharp clicks of heels, he didn't think twice about it until the groan of a chair screeched against the metal grating clawed at his ears.

"Commander... Do you have a moment?" his company was Ms. Lawson.

Shepard didn't even bother looking up, "I don't suppose I actually have a choice do I?" he asked, his throat sore from dryness.

Ms. Lawson sat, "If you wish to be left along Commander, then I'll heed your wish." she said, delicately crossing her legs, her skin tight catsuit creaking from the movement.

Shepard sighed, "I've got until I hear from Dr. Chakwas." he finally looked up and leaned back in his chair, but still did not look at her.

With a shallow nod, Ms. Lawson picked up the datapad resting in her lap and held it out for Shepard to take, so he choose, "You should take a look at this Commander." she said quietly.

At first, Shepard didn't move, but the longer the datapad hovered in his peripheral vision, the more his curiosity knocked on his resolve. With a heavy sigh, he reached out and took it.

"What is it?" he blandly asked as he turned his eyes to the datapad.

Ms. Lawson stiffened a bit, "It's a report I intercepted before it reached The Illusive Man." she said, quietly releasing her breath as she watched Shepard read.

The more Shepard read, the more his brows pinched together, and the faster his breath came, "This is about..." he didn't want to say her name.

Ms. Lawson nodded, her expression surprisingly soft, "I'm afraid so Commander. However... The Illusive Man doesn't know it yet." she said, almost too quickly, like she was in a hurry to explain herself before Shepard's anger went supernova.

Shepard's grip on the datapad tightened until he was white knuckled, "You've got some brass ones showing this to me." he said through clenched teeth.

Ms. Lawson stiffened more, "As I said, it hasn't reached The Illusive Man, or Cerberus yet Commander. I'm the only one who knows the truth about this Ms..."

"Don't! Don't you dare say her fucking name... Not with Cerberus ears all over this fucking copy." Shepard said, his voice harsh, gruff even as he tore his eyes away from the datapad and glared angrily at the woman sitting next to him.

"I apologize Commander. I'll refrain from doing so." Ms. Lawson said, her muscles still rigid and tense.

"You better." Shepard practically hissed, "Why did you show me this? Trying to blackmail me?"

She sighed, "No Commander. That's the furthest thing from my mind."

Shepard tossed the datapad onto the table as he forced back his temper somewhat, "You said you were the only one who knew... What about the people who found this?"

"I ordered the cell's... termination for a compromised agent. I didn't know who the 'mole' was, so I... ordered them all taken care of. Ten people in total. The Illusive Man won't be the wiser." Ms. Lawson admitted, sighing.

"That's cold... Even for you." Shepard said, his tone icy.

"I did it to protect her Commander." she said, glancing down at her fidgeting hands in her lap.

Shepard's brows furrowed, "What? You ordered the death's of ten people to protect... her?" he was confused.

She nodded, "Yes, I did Commander. Her secret's safe. The report's yours though. Do what you will with it. It's the only copy."

Shepard, his anger diminishing, looked back to the datapad for a moment before looking back to Ms. Lawson, "If you're lying to me... God help you with whatever I decide to do with you." he kept his eyes locked on hers.

Ms. Lawson ignored the nervous flutter in the pit of her stomach, "I'm not lying Commander. I can promise you that." she kept her voice sincere.

Shepard felt like throwing up. Between his worry for his friend, and now hearing that the Cerberus loyalist had possibly put her own life on the line, not to mention killed ten others, simply to protect Lycan, he was stretched to his limit both mentally, and emotionally. He was at his wits end, and he didn't know whether to believe her, or toss her out into space to freeze and be completely forgotten.

"EDI?" Shepard called out, eyes still locked onto Ms. Lawson.

"Yes Commander?" EDI's blue avatar popped up nearby.

"Run a scan of Ms. Lawson's terminals. Look for anything regarding an ordered hit on ten Cerberus agents." he ordered.

EDI stayed silent for a moment as she carried out her order, "A termination order was issued by Operative Lawson and confirmed by The Illusive Man. All ten operatives were terminated successfully. Operative Lawson is telling the truth Commander." she reported fluidly.

Shepard ran a hand back over his buzzed hair as he blew out a harsh, jagged breath, "She's safe?"

"Yes Commander. She's safe. As long as she remains careful, as I'm positive that Staff Commander Alenko is insuring, no harm will come to her." Ms. Lawson said, uncrossing her legs and shifting in her seat as if to stand.

"How did the operative cell get this letter?" Shepard asked, holding the datapad close and guarded.

"By pure luck I'd suppose. The network where this was found isn't as secured as it should be." Ms. Lawson said quietly.

"Did it reach Ashley?" he asked, his stomach doing a light flip.

Ms. Lawson nodded, "Yes it did. The, now defunct cell, acquired it after its arrival. She's most likely read it by now, and more then once I suppose." her tone was somewhat light.

As Shepard stayed silent, Ms. Lawson stood and started off, but only made it a few steps before Shepard stopped her.

"Ms. Lawson... Why risk my temper by showing me this?" he asked, brows lightly furrowed.

Ms. Lawson lightly smiled, "Because you need hope just as much as anyone." she said, clasping her hands behind her back.

Shepard's lips curled slightly, but again, halted her retreat, "Miranda right?"

Her smile spread some as she nodded and finally reached her quarters, leaving Shepard alone once more to wait for word regarding Garrus.

Being cast back into silence, he began to read through the report again, this time in depth and paying particular attention to the emotional letter that accompanied it. He must have read it three or four times, as if the wording was going to change on him, but they never did, they always stayed the same. The more he read, the more his stomach churned that Lycan had risked it all, just to tell Ashley the truth, to plead for her to understand, to see things from his point of view, and to forgive him. She plead for her to forgive him.

_Lycan and Kaidan understand already... They're helping me. I know they are. _He thought, his attention finally being drawn to the Med Bay doors as they broke the silence, allowing Dr. Chakwas to emerge.

"Commander... I wasn't expecting you to wait the entire time." she said sweetly, her slight English accent coloring her words.

Shepard immediately stood, stuffing the datapad into his cargo pocket, "How is he doctor?" he asked without even taking a breath.

"He'll be fine. The Turian race is highly resistant, and Garrus is no exception. I had to use some Cybernetics to save his right eye and facial structure, but he'll make a full recovery I suspect." Dr. Chakwas said with a comforting smile spreading across her face.

"Can I see him?" Shepard asked, eager to rush into the Med Bay.

The moment Dr. Chakwas nodded, he was already at a brisk walk as he headed into the Med Bay, seeing his friend laying in a bed with his taloned feet hanging off the edge.

"Bed too small for you huh?" Shepard asked with a smirk as he came to a stop next to the bed.

"Human ships never have long enough beds." Garrus huffed a druggy laugh, his mandibles clanking as he did so.

"It's not our fault your people are seven and a half feet tall." Shepard said, still with his smirk.

"We only average seven short stuff." Garrus held his side as his laughter grew.

"I'm six foot one ass hat." Shepard smiled.

"Yup... Short."

The pair let the rest of their laughter go for a few moments before settling it down.

"I'm glad you're ok Garrus. Not a lot of people can say they've lived taking a rocket to the kisser." Shepard said, dragging a stool over to sit on.

"Now maybe you'll get a chance at some action. You know all the females always looked at me." Garrus clanked his mandibles again with another snorted laugh.

Shepard returned the snort, "I'm calling bullshit."

"Based on what grounds?" Garrus slowly, sat up, trying not to rattle his bandages that wrapped part of his head, neck and shoulder.

"Uh... Who was the one with the girlfriend on our last mission?" Shepard antagonized, resting his elbows on the edge of the bed.

"Alenko."

Shepard playfully smacked Garrus's shoulder, "Prick."

Garrus winced from the smack, but didn't stop the slow motion to pull himself off the bed to stand on his own two feet, "Someone's gotta do it."

"Does it have to be you though?" Shepard asked, his smirk fading as he stood to help his friend steady himself on his feet.

Garrus's throat rumbled, "A lot has changed since you disappeared Shepard. I tried going back to C-Sec, but... it just wasn't the same. Leading my group of men here was the only thing that distracted me. It was a small chance to do something right."

"You'll get that chance again Garrus. Even though it's shrouded behind the Cerberus vail." Shepard said, releasing Garrus's arm once he had stabilized.

"Any chance to fight by your side Shepard, is a chance to do good. I'll follow you to Hell and back." Garrus said with a curt nod.

"It's good to hear that. I just hope this trip to Hell includes the back part." Shepard scoffed, slowly shaking his head.

"I do too," Garrus rested a hand on Shepard's shoulder, "I'll be in the Main Batteries if you need me. I'll see what I can do there." he started for the door.

Shepard just lightly smiled as he watched Garrus slowly make his way out of the Med Bay and towards the Main Battery, which wasn't far since it was just around the corner.

Finding himself alone once more, he let his thoughts wonder back to the severity of their mission, but now that he had acquired three new crew, one of which was a trusted and old friend, he felt an ease that gave him a much needed breath of fresh air.

With the coin still in his pocket, the weight seemed to remind him that he wasn't alone, that someone was still out there willing to stand by him. He knew Kaidan and Lycan would do everything they could to help, even risk their lives to leave him clues so he didn't feel so lost and forgotten, but despite knowing that his closest friends were still out there, trying to help, he still felt trapped in the clutches of Cerberus.

The odd show of humanity from Miranda Lawson wasn't helping, as he had never expected such an act from her of all people. The thought that she might be willing to set aside her loyalties to add to his infinitely slowly growing hope was only throwing him a curveball, and it was only making his head hurt. Ever since waking up in a hail of gunfire, he hadn't had much of a chance to square his thoughts away, and the longer he waited to do so, the worse they got. Right now, they were Hurricane Clusterfuck, and showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

With a groan and a pinch to the bridge of his nose, Shepard headed up to his cabin to try and make sense of it all.


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter 57: Jewels of a Different Path

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! I apologize for such the long wait for the update. The holidays were killer! I hope everyone enjoyed theirs and thank you for being so patient! Oh, and just for a sweet reminder, this is an AU story, and has been awhile now. Again, thanks all for being so patient :D)_

Not in a million years had Lycan thought she would ever be looking at the brown, marbled facade of the Krogan home world of Tuchanka, but yet, there she was, laying on her stomach in her shared bed, watching the planet slip through the silence of space. Having arrived only a few hours prior, they had been sharply ordered to stay in orbit while their credentials were checked, and their orbit would continue for some time.

With plenty of time on their hands, and an opportunity to slip away, Lycan and Kaidan took full advantage of it and spent it entwined in a wrap of limbs, heavy panting and slicked bodies while they made love. Being spent of energy and covered in still wet sweat, they lay in their bed, half covered by the thin sheet as they both watched the galaxy pass them by.

Laying on his side with his head propped in his hand, Kaidan lightly rested his hand on Lycan's bare back to flutter his fingertips over her damp skin.

"Beautiful." he breathed, his voice ultra low and airy as he placed a light kiss to her shoulder.

"It really is pretty from up here." she said, eyes still glued to the view outside their window.

"I wasn't talking about the view outside." he said, his caramel eyes filled to the brim with affection and some remaining lust as he fluttered his fingertips between her shoulder blades.

Lycan couldn't help but lightly smile as she looked at him through half lidded eyes, resting her temple against her forearms as she stared into his still lusty eyes. She paid particular attention to the tickle his fingers made against her skin as they traced various shapes over, around and through her shoulder blades before they traced around her tattoo.

"You know, in a way, I'm glad we're stuck in orbit. I really wanted to spend time with you." she nearly whispered, drawing in a long, content breath.

"You have no idea how much I've wanted the same thing Ly. That was... I can't even think of an adequate word for it." Kaidan said, smiling as he rolled over to place a series of delicate kisses to the small of her back.

"Orgasmic comes to mind." she lightly chuckled as his hot breath made her shiver with delight.

Kaidan's throat rumbled with his own chuckle, "That just seems so... crude. There was nothing crude about the sex we just had." he smiled as he drifted the tip of his nose up her spine to the back of her neck where he delicately brushed aside a damp lock of hair.

At the exposure of her neck, Kaidan's delicate teasing stopped as he stared at the hand crafted Krogan jewelry that loosely rested at the base of her neck. The sight of it caused every memory, every raw emotion that had long since been forgotten came rushing forward again, forcing him to remember that he wouldn't even be there, in bed with her and coming down from a round of hours long love making, if it wasn't for the Krogan whom had given it to her.

"Everything alright Kaidan?" Lycan asked, craning her head around to see him looking back at her with distant eyes.

At hearing her soft voice, he finally blinked, "Y-Yeah... I'm fine. Just... remembering." he said, shifting to lay back on his side with his head resting in his hand.

Lycan lightly placed her hand on the side of his neck, "Remembering what?"

Kaidan leaned into her touch, "Wrex. You're wearing the choker again." he said, softly running his fingertips along the beaded and jeweled jewelry.

"It just felt right since we were headed to Tuckanka. I wish it was Wrex we were gonna see down there and not his brother." she said, her expression saddening as she removed her hand and looked back out of the window.

Kaidan scooted closer to her and draped his arm across her back, "I wish that was the case too, but... I wouldn't be here with you, if it wasn't for him." he ducked his head and nuzzled his face into her neck.

"I know, and I'll always love Wrex for giving me that," she leaned her own head against his, "You remember what I told you about Wreav?" she asked, shifting to her side to face Kaidan.

"Yeah. You really think I can convince him to see things how Wrex saw them?" he asked, rolling over onto his back.

"Well, I'm hoping I can show him the choker and tell him how it is to soften him up a bit." she said, clutching the sheet to her chest as she sat up.

Kaidan's brows furrowed, "Wait... What? Ly... You're not going down there." he said, sitting up himself with barely enough sheet to cover one leg and the front of his hips.

"What? But this time I have to Kaidan..." she tried to protest, but was cut off.

"No Ly. If you go down there, then the crew is gonna know that you aren't just the cook." Kaidan said as he swung his legs off the bed, the sheet slipping away from his body.

Lycan pursed her lips together, as he was right, "I'm not just the cook though. The crew is gonna have to know sooner or later. Why not now? I mean, we've been MIA for the last four hours. They've gotta be curious by now why both of us have disappeared." she stood, wrapping the sheet around her as she walked around to stand in front of the still sitting Kaidan.

"And what am I gonna say to these people Ly? Hi, I've been dating our cook for the last two years and oh, by the way, she's from a 170 years in the past? That'll land me a nice padded room with the word 'L2 meltdown' stamp in a lovely shade of red across my file." he tried not to scoff, but it came out anyways as he looked up into Lycan's eyes.

Lycan merely sighed as she stepped in close to him, and cradled his head to her sheet covered chest, "I'm sure they'll understand. They know they've been assigned on a highly classified mission. It'll just take a little explaining is all." she said, lovingly stroking his sweat matted hair.

"That's just it, I have no idea how to tell them. Plus, with Tuchanka being a demilitarized zone reduced to a junkyard, it's not a safe place Ly. I don't want you getting hurt." Kaidan said into her skin as his arms snaked around her waist.

"Trust me, I don't wanna get hurt either, but we've gotta do what we can for Shepard. That's what matters right now." Lycan said, stroking the nape of his neck.

Pressing his temple into her stomach, he found his resolve cracking, but with a place like Tuchanka, taking someone with zero combat training wasn't in anyones best interest. Not even with the desire to help Shepard as much as possible could convince him to take Lycan off the ship.

After a few moments of her warm embrace, Kaidan leaned back to look up at her, "My answer's still no Ly. At least until I brief the crew on what's really going on."

"Then go brief them. I'm tired of sneaking around like forbidden lovers." Lycan said, her tone no longer filled with affection as she stepped away from him.

"We haven't been underway for more then two weeks and you're already tired of having to keep our relationship, a very heated relationship I might add, a secret..." he tried to continue, but failed, his head tracking Lycan's movements towards the bathroom.

"Why wouldn't it be hard? I've spent two years without having to keep it a secret and now you want me to treat you like I haven't been in love with you for that amount of time? You're loosing your mind." she bit, slipping the sheet from around her body and tossing it to the bed, where it half landed on top of it.

Kaidan stood from the bed and headed for the bathroom himself, admiring her figure as he did so, "Please don't do this Ly. Try to see things from my perspective. I'm not only in charge of this ship and the crew assigned to her, I'm still assigned to keeping you safe. I'd be ruined if something happened to you Ly, and not just with my career for failing an assignment. I'd crumble if I ever lost you." he stepped into the bathroom just before she shut the door and turned on the water to let it warm.

"I know that... I've known that, but this one thing is something I have to do Kaidan. I want to be the one to tell Wreav why his brother died. That he died for us." she said, testing the water with her hand before stepping under the stream.

Again, his resolve began to crack, "No. Tuchanka is not safe." he simply said, earning a cold stare from her.

After a few moments of a dead glare, Lycan smiled, "Damn... I thought I had you for a second there." she said after a moment, going back to cleaning the dried sweat from her body.

Kaidan sighed, then grumbled as he snuck into the shower behind her, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her back into him, ducking his head to nuzzle into her water soaked neck.

"You almost did Ly, which scares me a bit that you'd be so willing to risk your well being by going down into a place where only a gun and violence is respected." he said, lightly beginning to kiss and nibble at her neck.

"There was actually a reason why I wanted to come with you this time Kaidan." she said, leaning back a bit into his warm, hard body.

"What's this reason?" he kissed just behind her right ear.

"To try and convince Wreav to do things Wrex's way. If he doesn't, then the Krogans very well might be doomed." she said, reaching behind her to wrap her arms around his neck.

Another sigh, "It's admirable Ly, but still, I can't let you go. I promise I'll do my best to make him understand." he said, closing his eyes as the stream of water cascaded down his face.

"Make sure you do whatever's necessary." she said as she turned and reached up to press her lips to his.

With the thick cloud of steam filling the shower, Kaidan and Lycan quickly fell back into each others arms, exploring and caressing each others bodies as the water from over head streamed down their skin. The splash of the water shrouded their heavy breathing, moans of pleasure and mules of ecstasy as each found yet another explosion of euphoria.

Spent and starving, if the strong roar from Kaidan's stomach was anything to go by, they finally finished with their shower, actually washing away the sweat and scent of sex before contemplating the process of getting dressed.

However, when the chime on the door announced someone was awaiting his attention, Kaidan groaned, racking a hand back over his wet hair as he finished dressing in his uniform. He made his way towards the door as Lycan rushed into the bathroom and vanished, out of sight of whomever was on the other side of the door.

"Yes?" Kaidan said into the door's intercom.

_"Commander, it's Callaghan. We haven't received word yet from this Clan Urdnot, or whatever, whether we can land or not. If we don't hear from them soon, I'd recommend we forgo clearance and land anyways."_

Shifting back into Commander mode, Kaidan unlocked, and opened the door, "I'm sure that'll go over well with the Urdnot clan leader. I'd rather not cause a problem with a planet full of Krogans." he said, turning back into his quarters to put his boots on.

"That's beside the point Commander. We've got a job to do and we can't afford to wait much longer." Lieutenant Callaghan said, stopping by the small dining table and clasping her hands behind her back.

"With all do respect Lieutenant, but that's not your call to make. This is a demilitarized zone and if we don't tread carefully, we could make some very influential people very upset." Kaidan said, finishing tying his boots and stood to make the bed.

As Kaidan's back was turned, Callaghan took the opportunity to admire a view of her own in the form of her Commander's backside, "I'm sorry Commander, but that should be one of our least concerns. I strongly suggest you consider heeding my advice." she adverted her eyes when he finished making the bed and turned around to look at her.

"Duly noted Lieutenant." Kaidan simply said as he started picking up his clothes to hide the fact that he was picking up Lycan's clothes as well.

Her brow's furrowing, Callaghan watched for a second as Kaidan picked up the clothes, seeing a few odd articles that seemed out of place for a man, but before she could really have a chance to think about what she was seeing, Kaidan roughly cleared his throat.

"Is there something else you needed Lieutenant?" he said, wading up the clothes in his arms and tossing them into a wash hamper.

"No sir."

Blankly watching the Lieutenant leave, Kaidan blew out a breath of relief, heading back to his side of the bed where he knelt down and picked up Lycan's shirt just as she poked her head out to see if it was safe.

"It's safe love." Kaidan said as he dropped the shirt into the hamper.

Lycan stepped out, dressed, "Oh good," she sighed, "Is she gonna make it a habit of telling you what you should be doing?" she asked, rubbing her towel over her hair to dry it some.

"I wasn't gonna think too much of it Ly. She's probably just itching to get on with things." Kaidan scoffed, slowly shaking his head.

"I think we all are. How long have we been in orbit waiting for a response?" Lycan asked, heading back into the bathroom to brush her hair.

"A while now. I'm gonna head up to the bridge and comm down. As much as I hate to admit it, we can't sit and wait much longer." Kaidan said as he headed into the bathroom to stand behind her, gently placing his hands on her hips.

"Sounds like a good idea." Lycan smiled as she turned her head enough to plant a quick peck to the underside of his chin.

Kaidan placed is own kiss to Lycan's temple, "I love you," he said as he started to leave, only to stop just before the door opened, "Oh, and don't forget to head out through the briefing room."

"I won't babe." Lycan said with a smile.

Kaidan smiled himself as he turned and headed out of their quarters to head to the bridge where he found the twin pilots, lazily doing their thing with their feet propped up on their consoles.

"Oh good... We're off course by one degree starboard." Jake, the twin on the left, said with his head lolling to the right to glance at his brother.

"Woot... I get to do something." Jerry, the twin on the right, said, more as a deadpan as he reached out and tapped his console.

Kaidan tried not to laugh out loud, "Bored you two?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Jake and Jerry both turned in their chairs with mirrored versions of the same expression, Jake with his left eyebrow popped, and Jerry with his right.

"Just a little Commander. We've been spinning the same circles for two days with no word whether we can land or not. If it was up to me, I'd land this bird right..." Jake started, only to be interrupted by Kaidan.

"On their front doorstep. I know. Lieutenant Callaghan made it a point to tell me what she thought." Kaidan said, pinching the bridge of his nose to hide his eye roll.

"Figured she would. She isn't one to keep her mouth shut when it comes to missions." Jerry scoffed, adjusting his legs on his console.

"I am very aware of that, yes, thank you," Kaidan sighed, "Unfortunately though, she's right. We can't wait any longer. Set course to land in the clearing right next to Clan Urdnot." he simply ordered.

Perking at the concept of having something to do, Jake and Jerry quickly spun around and let their hands explode over their consoles. With a low, throaty whir, the engines of the _Grimm _brought them about to bow into Tuchanka as she began her descent into the dust covered wasteland that was the Krogan home. The orange glow of entering atmosphere began to paint the edges of the viewports as the gentle roar added its crescendo to the already thrumming symphony around them. Kaidan braced himself by placing his hand on the back of his raised captain's chair as he watched in silence as the view became clouded by a veil of fire.

"Keep her steady and pulse a peace banner." Kaidan ordered, placing his other hand on the back of his chair as a strong shake rumbled through the ship.

"Expecting some attention Commander?" Jake and Jerry both asked.

"You do know this is the Krogan home world right?" Kaidan asked, an eyebrow popping and a crooked smirk growing across his face.

"Good point." they said, again in unison.

With their course set, Kaidan turned and headed back down the ship for the Armory to suit up and load out. When the doors quietly hissed open, he found the sharp Lieutenant already dressed and attending to her rifles, while the second, Private Hanson was doing the same, also suited up in his hardsuit.

"Where's Ellison and Lia?" Kaidan asked as he headed for his locker, pulling his hardsuit and stepping behind the partition to change.

"In Engineering." Callaghan simple said as she snapped her heat sink into place.

"Call them up here please Lieutenant." Kaidan ordered as he finished pulling on the thick under layer.

Ignoring her groan, Kaidan just concentrated on snapping the many ceramic plates to the clip clustered under layer. He was still trying to clip on his shoulder plates when Lycan entered, carrying a box of power bars for the squad to choose from, as she always did.

"I brought the bars." Lycan announced, setting the box down on the counter between Callaghan and Hanson.

Callaghan didn't say anything as she started snatching her share, not even bothering to look up at the cook.

"Thank you Ms. Lycan. We appreciate it." Hanson said with a light smile, waiting for Callaghan to finish taking hers before digging in himself.

"Yes, thank you." Kaidan said, discretely sending her a wink as he walked out, still trying to get his last shoulder plate to click into place.

Lycan smiled, "You're very welcome Commander."

Just as Lycan finished, the doors hissed open to allow Ellison and Lia to enter as Callaghan had summoned.

"You asked for us Commander?" Ellison asked, stepping next to Hanson to allow Lia room to enter as well.

"Yes. We're landing before we get authorization, so I want you guys to monitor their comm traffic. I don't want any nasty, explosive surprises." Kaidan said, crouching a bit to let Lycan finish snapping the plate into place.

"We'll have to work fast then Commander. We'll need some time to zero in on their frequencies." Lia lightly protested, clasping her hands in front of her as she stood next to Ellison.

"I know, but we're on the other side of the planet, so you've got a few minutes to do what you can." Kaidan said, silently thanking Lycan for her help.

"Understood Commander." Ellison and Lia said in unison as they turned and headed out.

With an somewhat thick and awkward silence descending on the group in the Armory, Lycan lightly clapped her hands together with a sharp snap, "And with that, I should head to the Galley and start thinking about what to make for chow." she said with a light smile as she turned and head out herself.

"Finally, she's finally getting it." Callaghan scoffed, rolling her eyes once the door had shut.

"Shut it Lieutenant." Kaidan deadpanned, grabbing his standard load out from the rack.

With another gentle shutter through the ship, the _Grimm _finally broke through the atmosphere into the open air of Tuchanka. The wind whipped around the sleek profile of the ship, hardly causing her to shake or veer off course as she quickly descended closer to the war torn ground.

Widening his stance to compensate for the growing shutters that continued to rack through the hull, Kaidan headed for the bridge once more, finding the twin pilots hard at work to bring the ship in low to the scared ground. They wove the ship skillfully through the ruins of destroyed skyscrapers, remnants of a long forgotten time when the Krogans were a thriving mecca. Long, glistening white streams of air fell from the tips of the _Grimm's_ molded wings, leaving a smooth trail that was hidden by the dusty wind.

With astonishing speed, they quickly approached the coordinates of Clan Urdnot, an undercover, heavily guarded fortress made from giant slabs of concrete, metal and rock, salvaged from what remained of their civilization. Having heard nothing from Ellison and Lia, Kaidan gave the silent order to bring the ship in for her landing.

"Welcoming party is already there Commander." Jake reported as they slowed and leveled out the _Grimm_.

"Figures. Bring her in and keep her warm." Kaidan said as he turned and headed for the cargo bay to depart.

Callaghan and Hanson met Kaidan by the cargo bay doors, Hanson looking a bit nervous while Callaghan continued her stone cold and blank stare. The three waited for the pressurization cycle to finish in the cargo bay, the loud hiss of the large doors filling the space, but the moment the doors finished opening, they were met with a harsh, warm rush of wind and dust that forced them to shield their eyes. The three began to walk down the ramp, hands still up in defense against the wind and rays of sun that shone through, but the sight before them was easy to distinguish as a large group of Krogans.

"Who are you?" the low, grizzled voice shouted from a railing that seemed to guard a descending staircase.

"Staff Commander Alenko with the Systems Alliance." Kaidan said as he walked down the ramp towards the rather large group of Krogans, all armed, and all with fingers on the triggers.

"We told you we would contact you when a decision was made. There hasn't been on yet, so why have you landed?" the lead Krogan, a large, bluish colored beast with icy cold eyes and somewhat glowing blue armor.

"We can't afford to wait any longer. We have a critical mission to get on with and I can't waste any more time drawing circles in a vacuum." Kaidan said, squaring his shoulders.

"You're going to have to. We aren't letting you pass into our camp." the Krogan said with a predatory growl laced into the undertone.

"You don't have a say in the matter. Move before one of us open fires." Callaghan spoke up, earning a nearly furious glare from Kaidan.

Kaidan looked back at the group of Krogans as the leader started laughing out loud, the deep, vibrating rumble echoing through the clearing like a roll of thunder does the sky.

"Go right ahead human! The moment you fire a shot, is the second the Krogan people retaliate for breaking the treaty! In case you forgot, you're in a demilitarized zone. Fire, and it's war." the leader said, his face easily discernible as a smirk.

Callaghan went to pull her rifle from her back, but was stop when Kaidan grabbed its extending barrel, "Don't even think about it Lieutenant."

"Why not Commander? You said yourself we don't have time for this." Callaghan shot back, trying to yank her rifle from his grasp.

"He's right. If we fire first, we drag the Alliance into a second Krogan Rebellion. This entire ship will be court martialed six ways from Tuesday and then we'll be kicked out on our asses to fend for ourselves on some backwater planet." Kaidan hissed, staring her down.

Callaghan simply drew in a long, harsh breath as she tugged on her rifle once more, freeing it from Kaidan's grasp and replacing it back onto her back, but their attention was soon drawn to the gentle thudding of boots on the cargo bay ramp behind them, as someone was coming.

Kaidan, Callaghan and Hanson all looked over their shoulders to see someone who's head was covered by a dark color, but thin fabric shawl. Kaidan immediately recognized her, but when Callaghan saw her, her eyes narrowed hard into thing slits, and her brows pinched together like they were a vice.

"Lycan... What are you doing?" Kaidan asked in a harsh whisper, grasping her arm roughly to stop her progress.

"I'd like to know that as well _civilian._ What the _fuck_ are you doing off the ship?" Callaghan barked, reaching behind her to grasp a set of cuff type restraints from her belt.

"Trying to help is what." Lycan glared at the Lieutenant from underneath the shawl.

"You're a Goddamned civilian sweet cheeks. If you haven't noticed, you're in a demilitarized zone and therefore, shouldn't be off the fucking ship." Callaghan snarled, readying the cuffs to be put on Lycan's wrists.

At seeing the cuffs, Kaidan got angrier, "What the Hell do you think you're doing Lieutenant?" he asked, his voice a harsh whisper to keep the Krogans from overhearing.

"Detaining her Commander. She obviously can't follow the simplest of order." Callaghan said, also whispering, snatching Lycan's arm from Kaidan and snapping one of the cuffs on her wrist as Lycan lightly struggled.

Kaidan was only getting angrier, "Let her go Lieutenant. This is not the time, nor the place. We

have a small unit of Krogan's starring at us." he hissed, keeping his voice low as he grabbed Callaghan's wrist, halting her from snapping the other cuff onto Lycan's.

"Having issues with your females Commander?" the Krogan leader laughed, closely followed by the rest of his men.

Kaidan snapped his head around, "This is a really unique situation. Cut me some slack." he nearly snarled as he returned his attention back to Callaghan.

Callaghan shifted her glare from Lycan, to Kaidan, "Commander, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were hiding something."

_Shit! _"Lieutenant, there are things that you don't know, now release her and let her try what she has in mind. We sure aren't getting anywhere." Kaidan ordered, his grip tightening ever so slightly on Callaghan.

"Commander, you are pushing me very close to relieving you of command..." Callaghan was interrupted.

"Callaghan, Lycan isn't a civilian. She's a highly, _highly _classified asset of the Alliance and I have been charged as her body guard." Kaidan let slip, knowing it was only going to spark a whirlwind of questions from everyone who heard.

Callaghan's fury instantly turned to confusion, "Pardon me Commander? If that's the case, then why the Hell are we out here running around?"

Kaidan sighed and released Callaghan, "Because of her," he sighed, "Listen... You were assigned to a top secret mission that is so classified, that only Councilor Anderson and Admiral Hackett know about it. I've been putting off telling you guys because it would be kinda... weird."

Callaghan, now confused more then ever, just glared at Kaidan with the occasional glance over towards Lycan, still with one cuff around her wrist. She had been expecting that her commander wasn't telling her, or the others, everything, but her suspicions really only stayed with whether or not he was sleeping with the 'civilian' cook. If his occasion glances were anything to go by, then her suspicions were close, if not spot on.

"You're sleeping with her..." Callaghan started, only to be interrupted again.

"Among other things. I'm asking you to trust me on this Callaghan. Let her go and let her try what she has in mind." Kaidan said, his tone almost sounding as if it was an order to Callaghan's ears.

Huffing her irritation, Callaghan pursed her lips together in frustration, but after a moment, she released the cuff on Lycan's wrist, "What are you planning to do?"

"Watch." was all she said.

Lycan, lightly rubbing her wrist, started towards the group of Krogans once more, somehow managing to ignore the array of guns they held in their hands. She stopped when only a few feet in front of Kaidan, but slowly reached for the shawl protecting her face from the blowing dust and sun, and lowered it, which earned a gasp from the entire Krogan group.

When the leader looked at the human female's neck, he the glimmer of something he hadn't seen in ages caught his undivided attention. The hand carved, bone beads were just as glossy and vibrant as he remembered, the center jewel glimmering like a distance star, despite the gray dust and ruins. It was an Urdnot piece that only the clan leader, or their bloodline possessed, not around the fragile neck of a mere human female.

"That's an Urdnot clan piece." the lead Krogan gasped, his grip on his shotgun tightening as he battled with himself whether or not to aim it at the human.

"I believe you know its maker?" Lycan asked, doing her best to ignore the nervous fluttering in her stomach as Kaidan and the others came to stand behind her.

The Krogan leader nodded, "Yes, but how did you get it?"

"Just before he died, he gave it to Staff Commander Alenko to give to me. We were on the _Normandy_ together. Wrex was an amazing man. It was a great loss to everyone who knew him." Lycan said, reaching behind her neck to undo the clasp to pull off the choker, beginning to finger the piece in her palm.

"We... are aware of his death," the Krogan leader said, lowering his weapon, "Come... Our clan leader will wish to speak with you... All of you."

Glancing at Kaidan with a pleased smirk, Lycan walked next to him as they followed the Krogan leader down the long stairway behind him, cleared of debris from the wreckage around them. The moment they were lead down into the ruins, the wind and dust vanished. The air filled itself with a thick fog of ruined rock and scorched earth, the caking of dust crunching under their booted feet as they reached the bottom. The Krogan leader lead them through a checkpoint, a massive, aged and solid door that was guarded by a dozen heavily armed Krogans and all carrying similar weapons as their escort. When the giant door groaned open with a long, ear splitting howl, all Kaidan, Lycan and the others could do was try not to gasp aloud.

The home of Clan Urdnot was something Lycan had seen out of a survival movie, scavenging for everyday items like food, water, tech to keep their vehicles working and sturdy enough pieces of wreckage to fashion homes out of. Beams of dust veiled sunlight shone through the cracks in the ceiling, supported by large, reinforced beams that had been most likely taken from the remains of nearby skyscrapers.

Finally coming around to realize that they were still following someone, Kaidan, Lycan and the others continued to follow the Krogan until they reached a pair of guards, standing their posts to keep anyone from seeing their clan leader.

"Your two companions have to stay Commander Alenko. Only you, and the female with our clan piece may speak with Urdnot Wreav." the Krogan leader said, halting Callaghan and Hanson.

Kaidan and Lycan both simply nodded, Kaidan taking a moment to relay the order before they stepped through the guards, and headed for the massive stone throne.

Sitting, was large, almost familiar looking Krogan with the same, rusty red color painting his hide. His eyes were the same, crimson red, like they were made entirely of the blood of his enemies, but his face was vacant of the long, long healed and jagged scars that Wrex wore as a battle trophy.

"Clan Leader, these are the humans who were waiting for authorization to land their ship." their Krogan escort said, bowing towards the sitting Krogan.

"I see they disregarded our terms. Why did you bring them..." he started, only to see the choker that Lycan held up.

"This is why. Urdnot Wreav... I'm Lycan Morris and this is Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko." Lycan said, lowering her hand to continue spinning the choker in her hands.

Wreav's red eyes widened to as far as they could go, "My broodbrother made that. It was a gift to his daughter before he turned tail and left." he said, leaning back into his throne and resting an elbow on one of the armrests.

"I wouldn't say that. Wrex helped us stop Saren. I doubt we'd be here if it wasn't for his actions." Kaidan said, keep his face blank.

"If it wasn't for his death, I wouldn't be here. I don't suppose you happen to be the reason behind his demise are you?" Wreav asked, his wide mouth smirking.

"No, we weren't the reason." Kaidan said, trying not to get angry, which was easier said then done.

"That's too bad. I would have liked to thank you. With Wrex out of the way, I can lead the clan, and the Krogan people to greatness." Wreav said, his smirk growing wide across his leathery face as he fought back a snicker.

Kaidan's brows drew down, "Wrex was our friend. How dare you say things like that." he said with an angry snap to his tone that came in the form of a low, threatening rasp.

Wreav leaned forward as his smirk faded, "I'll say whatever I want. I don't even care if his..." he was interrupted.

"If his daughter overhears you? You were never shy about voicing your opinion about my father, but it seems this time, someone else is willing to challenge your views." said a voice from behind them, still a low, growly voice, but spiked with a feminine air that lead Kaidan and Lycan to believe that it did, indeed, belong to a female.

At hearing the voice, Kaidan and Lycan both looked to their lefts, seeing a Krogan that wasn't nearly as large as the one that lead them there, or the one sitting on the stone throne. The Krogan's hump was smaller, more rounded at its peak then the others and their hide was a vibrant, bloody red, but what took Lycan's breath away, was the long, jagged scars that covered the Krogan's neck. The long, jagged scars that reminded her of someone Wrex held dear.

"You're Wrex's daughter... You're Grexa." Lycan gasped, her breath still having to be forced into her lungs and back out again to form the words.

At hearing her name, the smaller Krogan looked to the small human, "Yes. How did you..." her voice trailed off when she saw the choker, "My father's bracelet. Are you... the human named Lycan?" she asked, her rusty red eyes narrowing slightly as she studied the humans before her.

Lycan nodded, "I am. How did you know?" her brows furrowed.

"I received a letter from one of my father's old friends. He had access to my father's account and when he saw the letter, he forwarded it to me. It was written by a man named Commander Gabriel Shepard. That's how I found out what had happened." Grexa said, her features softening a bit.

"We are so sorry Grexa... For what happened to your father." Kaidan said, the familiar pang of guilt returning to the pit of his stomach.

"You must be the man mentioned in the letter, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. I meant to message you, but... as you can see, communications off this rock are... limited." Grexa said, glancing over at Wreav, still grumbling on his throne.

"Staff Commander now, but yes, I am. Believe me when I say that he is missed." Kaidan said, his eyes saddened.

"Not by me he isn't." Wreav intervened, only to receive an very angry glare from Grexa.

"Don't even start with me uncle! He was your brother just as much as my father and yet, you show him no respect!" Grexa boomed, raising a pipe she held to prime herself for a swing.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Easy Grexa... Don't go smacking him around. Maybe we should go somewhere and talk." Kaidan intervened with Biotic energy radiating from his body in case he needed to stop a swing.

Wreav groaned, "Perhaps that's a wise idea. Come with me."

Wreav stood from his throne and motioned for the group to follow, leading them down the opposite side of where they entered and around towards the back of the large pile of debris behind the throne. On the backside of the debris pile, a moderately sized door was hidden behind a tattered cloth, hanging long a straightened piece of rebar. Kaidan, Lycan and Grexa watched as Wreav punched in an unrecognizable code into its keypad, commanding the door to slid open into a darkened room.

The room itself was only lit by a few torch type pieces harboring flames, casting long, lazy light over the few furnishings that lined the walls. The floor was covered in the treated hide of a colorful Varren with its head delicately placed facing the room's entry point. Towards the back of the room, a large, thick slab of concrete rested against the back wall, draped with several fabrics that must have been used as blankets. The room was Wreav's quarters.

"Nice place." Kaidan said, following Lycan into the room.

Once all were inside, Wreav shut the door, "The clan leader's quarters. These would have been Wrex's." he went to stand in front of his bed.

"Uncle, You have got to consider the things my father would have done if he were clan leader." Grexa said, the traces of anger vanishing.

"We need to fight and rise as a people Grexa. Coddling ourselves and focusing solely on breeding would work, but we can't forget who we are." Wreav said, folding his arms.

"Believe me uncle, I am more then well aware of who we are as a people, but with the Genophage slowly choking the life out of our race, we can't afford to concentrate on anything else." Grexa said, slowly sighing as she kept her eyes on her uncle.

"I will decide what we can and can not afford Grexa. The Krogan people are viewed as lowlifes, degenerates and otherwise the trash of the galaxy. As clan leader, I plan on building our race back up and showing the rest of the galaxy what we truly are." Wreav said, his tone still harsh.

Lycan's brows furrowed, "It's as Grexa said, you can't afford to go to war. You'll sign your peoples death warrant and end up driving them to extinction faster then the Genophage." Lycan said, earning a concerned glare from Kaidan.

"My people deserve respect, and we have none." Wreav said, plopping down to sit on the edge of his bed as his tone calmed down.

Lycan's brows furrowed, "With all do respect, respect is earned Urdnot Wreav, not given." she said softly, keeping her voice even as not to provoke the large, powerful Krogan.

Wreav's eyes narrowed, "I believe I'm beginning to understand what you're trying to do, and I'm adverse to it. If I carry out my broodbrother's views, I'd appear weak and would constantly be under fire from whelps vying to take the clan from me." Wreav said, scratching his hump and sighing.

"Are Wrex's views labeled as his views throughout the clan?" Lycan asked, feeling her heart hammering in her chest with nerves.

"No. Only a select few knew what he wanted to do once he ascended to clan leader." Wreav clarified.

"Perhaps you can use that to your advantage." Lycan said, trying not to sound cynical.

Wreav sighed, "How so?" his voice rumbled.

"You could implement Wrex's views as your own. Focus on successful breeding to begin the process of bringing your people back from the brink of extinction." Lycan said, a slight smile slowing building across her lips.

"I won't live in the shadow of my broodbrother." Wreav said with a growl.

"Uncle, please, see reason. By pushing us to war, you could be the reason the Krogan people go extinct." Grexa chimed in, her own low voice lined with a rumble.

"You know I don't want that." Wreav said, eyes glued to his young niece.

"Well it's how things are gonna pan out if you don't start looking at the big picture." Lycan said, drawing in a deep breath to keep from shaking apart.

"Believe me human, all I see is the big picture, but I won't go soft and risk the Krogan people being viewed as trash." Wreav said as the angry sneer began to cover his face.

"I hate to drop this bombshell, but the Krogan people did that themselves." Kaidan said, managing to keep it from sounding rude.

Wreav started rubbing his neck, "Yeah... I know. Look human, I'd rather not go to war and risk causing irreparable damage to my people, but what choice do I have?" he asked, looking to the humans standing in front of him.

"You have a choice. You just have to make it. I know, and can help you be one of the greatest Krogans in your long history." Lycan said, trying not to sound like she was pleading to him.

Wreav's throat rumbled with a growl as he mulled over what the humans and his niece were saying, but he felt himself slipping in his ability to resist.

"When I awoke this morning, I wasn't planning on being confronted by two humans and my own niece... But... you have my attention human. What would you have me do to insure my people are considered equals, and not the trash of the galaxy?" he leaned back to let his hump bump against the stone wall.

"It's as we've said. Listen to Grexa. She knows what Wrex would do." Lycan said, her tone soft.

"And I've said before... I won't live in the shadow of my broodbrother." Wrex glared, trying to keep from snarling.

"You won't be. You've said yourself that only a select few of his intentions. If you carry them out, then the name Urdnot Wreav will be the one to ring through the Krogan people as the name of the Krogan who brought their people back from the brink of extinction." Lycan said, seeing the tiny flicker in Wreav's crimson eyes.

Wreav's eyes narrowed, "Compelling argument. Make Grexa, the daughter of my broodbrother my advisor to bring about a prosperous era for the Krogan people, and subsequently, you get the same outcome as if Wrex was the one sitting here. What's in it for you?" he asked.

"If I said nothing, then you would say the offer was too good to be true and cast it aside." Lycan said, softening her expression.

"Very good. No one works for nothing. Not even Wrex. What's in it for you?" Wreav asked, huffing out a deep, rumbling growl as a sigh.

At that, Lycan didn't know what to say, as she truly didn't want anything in return for making Wreav one of the greatest Krogans in their long, war torn history. Though he wasn't her preferred choice for clan leader, making Grexa Wreav's advisor was the next best thing. She could guide Wreav in the same direction that Wrex would have gone, uniting the clans and sharing the females capable of producing offspring, which she knew that the female clan leader, and Grexa's mother, was for.

"Well?" Wreav asked again, interrupting Lycan's thoughts.

"In all honesty, all I want in return is your help when the shit hits the fan." Lycan said, letting slip a tiny bit of information on what was looming in the future for the whole galaxy.

Wreav huffed a weak laugh, "I've always liked that human saying. So we become your army, laying in wait for your word to attack. That's a Hell of a payment human."

"You'll understand soon enough. That war you're so gungho to fight... It's coming, and it'll be here sooner then you think." Lycan said, her voice low.

"Interesting. Not many humans come to a Krogan settlement promising a fight." Wreav huffed with a small, miniscule laugh.

"We aren't your typical humans." Kaidan said with a crooked grin.

Wreav glared at Kaidan, but couldn't stop his own smirk as he slowly shook his large head, "So all you want in return is our prowess when this supposed war comes, and all I have to do is listen to my young, rough around the edges niece. Why does that sound easier said then done?"

"I'm not that hard to get along with uncle." Grexa deadpanned, folding her arms over her chest.

"Never said you were youngling. I was mainly referring to everyone else." Wreav said, standing from his stone bed.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine uncle, but we need to act quickly before it's too late. There isn't much time." Grexa said, lightly beginning the push to have her uncle decide.

Wreav sighed, "Believe me, I know. I want nothing more then for our people to live without threat of extinction."

"Trust us, we want that too." Lycan said, her heart calming down and her nerves beginning to flutter away.

With another sigh, Wreav stepped around the three on a lazy path through towards the door, his large feet making strong thuds against the dirt covered floor. He stopped just before the thick metal door and turned to look at his niece, and the two humans who seemed to know quite a bit about his fallen broodbrother.

"Apparently, I can't resist two humans and my gritty niece," he sighed, "Alright. I'll do it. When will this war come? I don't want my people caught off guard." Wreav said, fully turning his back to the door.

"Soon. That's all I know. I know it's not much, but it's all I have. You'll know it when you see it." Lycan said, a massive wave of relief washing through her.

Wreav nodded, "I suppose that'll have to do. We'll be ready human."

"If it's alright uncle, I would like some time to speak with Lycan. I have many questions." Grexa said, Lycan noticing that she had begun to ring her fingers together.

"By all means. Once you're finished, meet me at the clan leader throne." Wreav said, opening the door to leave.

With that, Wreav left his quarters, soon followed by Kaidan, Lycan and Grexa back around the pile of debris to the main of the settlement. Kaidan whispered his goodbye to Lycan before he motioned for Callaghan and Hanson to follow, setting out on their mission and leaving Lycan and Grexa to themselves, standing in front of the now occupied throne.

"That actually went a lot smoother then I thought it would." Lycan sighed, watching Kaidan and his squad head towards a large, six wheeled truck on the other side of the settlement.

"You thought it was going to be more difficult?" Grexa asked, motioning for Lycan to follow as they began to walk around Clan Urdnot.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. I knew how Wrex would have handled things, but when he died, I was worried Wreav would have been more difficult." she stepped over a slab of mangled concrete.

"So you knew my father was next in line to be clan leader?" Grexa asked, guiding them to a long, moderately lit corridor.

"Yeah. I knew. I'm glad Wreav was so receptive to following in Wrex's footsteps." Lycan said with a slowly growing smile.

"I must thank you for helping me settle things with my uncle. I'm glad that there were others that thought the same as my father and me." Grexa said.

"I'm glad we could help. Let's just hope things go how we planned." Lycan said, taking notice to the choker spinning around in her hands.

Grexa rumbled a laugh, "I'm sure it will. I'll make sure of it."

"That's good to hear. I'll give you me and Kaidan's contact information so you can keep us in the loop." Lycan said as she opened her Omni-Tool send Grexa the information, watching Grexa open hers as well to receive it.

"Thank you. I'll make sure to send you progress reports," Grexa said as they reached the far door, "I want to show you something." she added as the door opened.

As the door opened, Lycan lightly gasped as she took in the large, relatively decorated and stone courtyard, littered with large, intricately carved large statues. They were neatly arranged in rows, expanding into an open grid with their varying degrees of heroic poses, but all were damaged in some way. Some were scarred from debris that had been whipped around by the constant wind, while others were missing limbs, but there was one statue that was missing its head.

"What is this place?" she asked as she slowly stepped over the threshold into the courtyard.

"This is the Sanctum of Warriors. All these statues are of Krogans whom have slain the Thresher." Grexa said as she lead Lycan towards the headless statue.

"There's more then I thought. Thresher Maws are fearsome creatures." Lycan said, placing her hand softly against the aging stone.

"That they are. Each one killed the Thresher in a different way, but this Krogan, this statue, did it in a way that has never been seen." Grexa said, reaching up to place her own hand on the base of the statue.

"How did they do it?" Lycan simply asked.

Grexa drew in a deep, solid breath that was released in an ultra low sigh, "This Krogan battled for days with the Thresher during his rite, evading and attacking like they were locked in a dance. The legends of the Thresher say that during the dead of night, the jewel atop their heads can be seen for miles as it shines from the moonlight," she looked up at where the head should be, "During the night, this Krogan crept to where he had last seen the Thresher, only to find at the beast never left. It lay trapped in some rubble from one of their battles, expended of all its energy from struggling to get free. He walked right up to it, gun in hand, but freed the beast. It looked at him, but submerged itself to fight another day. That day came the next morning when the Thresher attacked, nearly swallowing the Krogan whole, but as the creature lifted him to eat him, he leapt for its head." she told the story with a distant look in her red eyes, pouring a fair amount of emotion into her tale.

"Wow. He sounds like a fearsome warrior." she cracked a light, light smile.

"I sure hope so. He was my father. He ripped the jewel from the Thresher's head crest and slew the beast in a fair fight. He was an honorable man Lycan, and he will forever be remembered." Grexa said, smiling.

"I know he will be." Lycan couldn't help the smile as she looked up at Grexa from the choker in her hand.

At that, the pair fell into a rolling laughter that filled the stone courtyard, bouncing from stone statue to stone statue, much like a ball does between walls. The rolling sound was never drowned by the dusty wind that still whipped through the debris around them, whirling up spools of dust into tiny funnels that wrapped themselves around whatever they could touch.

After several minutes, their laughter finally slowed, Lycan's attention returning to the shared memento still clutched in her hands. As much as she loved the choker, she knew its rightful place was not with her, but with Wrex's daughter. She deserved to have a piece of her father with her, because she had Kaidan, a gift in and of itself, but to keep the treasured piece from Grexa just didn't seemed right.

"Here... I want you to have this. It was meant for you anyways." Lycan said, holding the choker up for Grexa to take.

Grexa hesitated, "I thought my father intended it for you?"

Lycan shook her head, "It doesn't belong to me. Hanging onto this just doesn't seem right." she said, lowering her hand to place the choker into Grexa's hand.

"You are an honorable human Lycan. I will make sure my uncle adheres to the promise he made. My father's ideals with be passed on." Grexa said, closing her hand around her long since gone, meant to be bracelet.

"I'll make sure to pass you me and Kaidan's contact information. I would like to here how things are going from time to time." Lycan requested, her smiling returning.

"I will make sure of it," Grexa motioned for Lycan to follow once more, but as they passed back into the shielded corridor, an idea struck her, "Would you like to meet my mother?"

Lycan halted in her tracks, "Your... Mother? I..." she took a breath, and smiled, "I would love to."

"Then come. She will want to meet you."


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Shattered Mirrors

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! I apologize for the late update. We just recently had a nasty little ice storm where I am and I lost power and internet. Thankfully, it's back and I get back to normal... Connected to the rest of the world lol.)_

The dull hum of a traveling ship was the only sound that filled his cabin, gently vibrating through the floor, the furniture, the holoframe that still held the picture of the woman he loved. The hum was in everything, and everywhere.

As much as he wanted to sleep, to rest, he couldn't, not since he had received the datapad from Miranda Lawson, successfully putting sleep the furthest thing down on the list of things he was going to be able to obtain. Instead of sleeping, he read the report about Lycan and her assigned bodyguard whom just happened to be her lover, long time boyfriend and _his_ best friend. If he really wanted to, he could recite the report from memory, he had read it so many times. He knew every word, every citation in it, but what he couldn't fathom, or wrap his head around, was why the 'Ice Queen' had handed it to him without so much as mention to what was in it for her.

His brain full and throbbing just enough to threaten a headache, Shepard stood from his chair at his desk and headed into his private bathroom. Tired and aching, he turned on the cold water in the sink to splash some onto his face, cupping his hands under the thick stream to use them as a makeshift bowl.

However, when Shepard glanced up at the small mirror, he went rigid, the cold water slowly seeping out of his hands in tiny streams as he starred at his shirtless chest.

There was nothing. No well healed scars, no marks of battles past. There was no long, jagged scar that ran half the length of his arm from Akuze, no crescent moon shape from the ex that tore out his heart. In fact, his skin was very much the opposite he had come to cherish so deeply. It was perfect, uniform in its creamy tan and the way it stretched over his enhanced musculature. It was smooth, almost like pure velvet, and completely lacking any of his precious memories.

Just as Ashley had excepted his myriad of scars, accepted his past for what it was, both had been ripped away from him, casting him down into a dark, lonely expanse of his own misery. Despair was all he felt, the hated heat flushing into every corner of his being, frying his mind like an egg in a skillet. His breath no longer possessed the capacity to form words, simply shaking in and out of his lungs like they were salt from its shaker.

So lost and tortured in his own raging thoughts, he ripped himself from the suffocating whirlpool to feel a blazing heat coursing through his body, but seemed to be concentrated to his left shoulder. The heat seared its way through his body on a demolition course through his resolve, blurring his vision until everything was reduced to smears. The heat soon became mixed with an unbearable cold, wrapping itself completely around his body like a lover's embrace, a hated lover, but a lover nonetheless. The cold was all encompassing as he fell to the floor, feeling weak, lethargic, and cold.

With nothing left, nothing to stay awake, or to grasp onto, his eyes shut as blood painted the floor.

* * *

They were still few days out from the prison ship _Purgatory. _Another unsavory place for yet another unsavory individual whom they were supposed to recruit for an impossible mission. Whoever this 'Subject Zero' was, Joker wasn't looking forward to getting to know them.

With nothing left to do other then check their course on occasion, Joker simply leaned back and took the time to relax, but that thought only lasted for a moment until his bladder started to knock on his attention. Sucking in a deep breath, Joker firmly placed both hands on his armrests and slowly, carefully began to push himself up.

"Mr. Moreau, I am detecting a rise in your heart rate. Are you alright?" EDI voiced from her platform with her blue avatar hovering just above it.

Trying not to groan out loud, Joker finished hoisting himself up, but kept his hands on his chair until he was stable on his own two feet.

"I'm fine. Just getting up to go hit the head. That cool with you mom?" he asked, not even trying to hide his detest for the 'ship cancer' as her called it.

"I am not your mother Mr. Moreau. I am simply attempting to maintain the continuity of the crew. The ship can not fly without you." EDI stated.

Joker simply waved her off as he began the long, moderately painful hobble down the long neck of the ship. His scuffling boots were distinctive on the grated flooring, always slow, always steady, until he made it to the central elevator. Leaning against the wall as the car slowly took him down to the crew deck, Joker lightly massaged his thighs, as the muscles were particularly achy and refusing to succumb to the affects of the pain medication he had taken some time before. He figured a stop to see Dr. Chakwas while he was down there would do him some good, so once the doors opened, he headed for the restroom, and then for the Med Bay, hoping to find relief.

"Hey doc... Mind giving me a hit of something stronger for the pain?" Joker asked as he carefully hobbled towards the closest bunk.

"Your usual stuff isn't working?" Dr. Chakwas asked with a motherly tone as she stood and headed for a cabinet towards the middle of the bay.

"Not today it's not." Joker said, waiting for the kind doctor's help to get up on the bed.

"Have you been taking a lot of your usual pain killers lately? Maybe you've built up a tolerance." she suggested, filling a syringe with a clear liquid from a small vial.

Joker shrugged, "I don't know doc. Maybe it's time to switch it out."

"I think you're..." she wasn't able to get the rest of sentence out.

"Dr. Chakwas, there is a situation up in Shepard's quarters that requires your attention." EDI interrupted from her platform nearest the door.

"What's wrong?" she asked, setting the now filled needle down.

"There is no time to explain Doctor. A medical emergency is quickly developing. Your presence is required immediately." EDI pushed, instantly winking out of existence.

With furrowed brows, Dr. Chakwas grabbed her medical kit and rushed for the door with Joker, moving as fast as he could, in tow.

Ignoring the questions from the crew sitting at the tables, the pair made an uninterrupted line for the elevator, Dr. Chakwas slamming a hurried fist onto the indicated symbol for Shepard's quarters and stood with tapping foot and worried look. Her mind reeled with the possibilities of what the emergency could be, but the way EDI's synthesized voice had pushed its urgancy, she almost sounded worried.

The moment the doors opened to let them out, Dr. Chakwas immediately reached out, activating the cabin's internal intercom in hopes that she would get some sort of reply.

"Commander? Shepard? Are you alright?" she asked, her voice giving away her rising worry.

However, when nothing greeted her, EDI unlocked the door.

When the doors opened, Dr. Chakwas and Joker were only met with a dark room, quiet, with a few datapads scattered across the coffee table and a long since emptied bottle of alcohol laying on its side on the floor. The bed wasn't made and Shepard's desk was covered in articles from the past two years, ranging from governmental issues, to anything he could find about Ashley.

"In the bathroom Dr. Chakwas." EDI said, not giving the pair much time to take the somewhat messy quarters.

Dr. Chakwas rounded the corner as the door hissed open upon EDI's command, but what greeted her only caused her to gasp in horror at what she saw.

Propped up against the wall, covered in an unfathomable amount of his own blood, Shepard lay with a massive, jagged wound carved into his left shoulder. His skin had gone white from blood loss, making him look like he was covered in a fine white powder, but what tore at their hearts, what gave them a shortness of breath, was the blood covered broken piece of mirror laying on the floor next to him.

"Oh my God... Shepard!" Dr. Chakwas yelped as she lunged forward and dropped to the floor, immediately pressing her hand into his gapping, spurting wound.

"My God..." Joker breathed, too stunned by the sheer amount of blood to move.

"He's severed his Brachial Artery! Joker! Call the emergency medical staff up here now!" Dr. Chakwas harshly ordered, ripping open her kit and reach for a nearby towel that she shoved into his flesh.

"They have already been called Doctor. They're arrival is imminent." EDI reported, just as the doors opened and two crewmen entered with a hover stretcher between them.

"He's got a thirteen inch trauma to the left shoulder with a severed Brachial." Dr. Chakwas relayed to her medical staff as they wasted no time getting to work.

"Massive blood loss. We're getting down to the wire here." one of the men said as he jammed a large, long syringe into Shepard's neck.

"Shepard? Gabriel... Can you hear me?" Dr. Chakwas asked frantically, forcing open one of his eyes to check their responsiveness.

Shepard's breath gargled in his throat, "T-They're... T-They're... g-gone." he choked, his head lolling over to the side as he drifted in and out of consciousness.

"We're loosing him Doctor! Heart rate is dropping! He's going into shock!" the other man urged, ripping open the restraints on the hover stretcher.

"Get him on the stretcher!"

Gently pushing Joker aside, the two men hoisted Shepard's limp body onto the stretcher, Shepard's blood oozing to cover their uniforms. They quickly strapped him in, leaving his gapping arm unhindered as they packed in more gauze and headed for the awaiting elevator.

Joker, in shock, followed them in, numbly watching as the man trying to stop up Shepard's bleeding tried to prepare a saline bag, but with one available hand, was proving to be difficult.

With a hammering heart in his chest, Joker stepped forward and took over keeping pressure on his friends' wound, "I'll take over. You do that."

"Keep as much pressure on it as possible. Don't be shy with the gauze." the man instructed, both hands now free to do his work.

Joker nodded, eyes glued to Shepard's nightmarish wound, "You aren't doing this to me again Shepard. You aren't dying on me again. We can't do this without you man." he rambled, adding more gauze to the bloody pile already covering Shepard's shoulder.

With their work cut out for them, things grew quiet as the sporadic beeping of Shepard's portable heart monitor became the only noise, the beeps coming and going in a random order. Shepard's blood seeped from the gauze, dripping from the stretcher to build a growing puddle of red on the floor that drooled under their boots. His breath wheezed in and out, his body struggling to perform that simple, required act to insure life as his hung in the balance, contingent on the people around him. He was running out of time.

The moment the elevator's doors opened, they made a mad rush for the Med Bay, leaving a trail of red in their wake and drawing the stunned looks from those who saw. Orders were harshly given as the medical team began their work, ordering Joker from the bay to wait outside with the rest of the stunned statues that used to be the _Normandy's_ crew.

With hands covered in blood that wasn't his, he limped backwards, letting his arms dangle loosely at his sides as his eyes were unable to look away until the doors closed and forced him to.

"What happened Lieutenant?" one of the crew asked with a horrified look across their face.

Joker's head slowly shook, "He... He... I don't know. I have no idea." he stuttered, still stunned.

The flood of murmurs that filled the Crew Deck were merely drowned out from Joker's ears, the only sound that could be heard was the beating of his own heart. His friend was laying a trail of blood throughout the ship, a long, dotted trail of crimson red drops that shone bright under the white lighting. Those whom had simply heard the commotion just stopped and simply stared and wondered who's blood it was on the floor, but those whom had seen it could simply blink.

"Joker? Where's Shepard's?" the feminine voice of Miranda asked, shattering through Joker's shock.

"He's in there. He's lost a lot of blood." Joker said, finally glancing down at his blood covered hands.

"EDI reported that Shepard was injured. What's happened?" Miranda asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"I'll show you."

Joker motioned with his head for Miranda to follow, leading her back to the elevator where she studied the trail of blood, and gasped at the pool that covered the car's floor. He limped through the still opened doors of Shepard's quarters, leaning against the partition wall that separated Shepard's office from the stairs that lead into the living area, and simply pointed into the bathroom.

"Jesus..." Miranda gasped as she halted at the door.

"All he said was 'They're gone.' He passed out before he could say anything else." Joker said, rubbing his hands together, not realizing that he was smearing the drying blood.

Miranda's brows pinched together, "What was his wound?" she couldn't peel her eyes away.

"He carved open his left shoulder. Looked like with that piece of glass from the mirror. Doc said he severed the artery in his arm." Joker said with a simple point to the piece still on the floor.

Miranda glanced at the pilot for a brief moment before looking at his hands, cringing at how much blood was on them, "Come wash that off and get back to the bridge. I'll keep you informed on Shepard's condition."

Joker lightly bit his lip and nodded as he went for the sink and turned on the water, "Ok." was all he could manage to say as he watched the water turn red and disappear down the drain.

Miranda waited quietly as Joker finished washing the blood from his hands and headed back to his post, leaving her to study the gruesome scene. The good sized mirror that hung over the sink was shattered, having been punched by a tightly closed fist, evident my the smears of blood covering the tightly grouped spidering in the center.

"EDI, inform a squad to clean up the blood and repair the Commander's quarters." she said, watching her feet to make sure she wasn't standing in Shepard's blood.

"Very well Operative Lawson." EDI blandly confirmed her order.

Taking in one last look at the scene, Miranda turned and left, doing her best to avoid the boot smeared pool on the floor as she returned to the Crew Deck, seeing that the crew was already at work cleaning the floor and made a break for her office. Inside, she hurriedly sat at her consoles and opened her private communicator.

_"Miranda. I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon. Has there been a development?" _The Illusive Man asked through the vid window on her central screen.

"Yes sir, there has been. Commander Shepard was found in his quarters with a severed Brachial Artery. He cut open his shoulder himself." Miranda said, running a hand back over her voluptuous hair.

_"Is he dead?" _

"No. EDI informed the medical personnel in time. He's in the Med Bay as we speak." she said, interlocking her fingers together on the desktop.

_"What of his condition?"_

"Nothing yet sir, but I've contacted you to make a request. The Commander's mental state seems to be cracking under the pressure. He's been hostile, untrusting, and almost delusional at times. I'm officially requesting to implement a control chip to mediate his behavior." Miranda said, taking in a deep breath.

_"You know my answer Ms. Lawson. I don't want to risk the Commander's moral standings by putting a chip in his head. I'm sorry, but my answer is still no." _The Illusive Man said, shaking his head.

"Sir, I don't mean to undermine your decision, but without it, I fear that Commander Shepard's mental state will continue to diminish. Next time, he might succeed." Miranda countered, keeping her tone calm and collected.

_"There was no mention of prior suicide attempts in Shepard's file. Why did he try now? And why didn't he just use a gun?" _

"I'm not sure this was a suicide attempt sir. I was told that he said 'They're gone' before he lost consciousness from blood loss." Miranda said, quietly sighing.

_"What do you think he meant by that?" _

She shook her head, "I don't know sir. I'll be able to ask once he's stable and awake. Dr. Chakwas is working on him now."

_"Make sure he wakes up Ms. Lawson."_

Before Miranda could say anything else, The Illusive Man cut the feed and left her to do the only thing she could do. Wait.

Hours later, after reading every report, dossier and ship status update she had, Miranda stood and stretched the stiffness from her muscles from sitting so long. Heading for the door, she thought it time to check on Shepard's status, having heard nothing from EDI, nor Dr. Chakwas the entire time she was in her office and figured that to be a good thing.

The Mess Deck was quiet, having been thoroughly cleaned from the long trail of blood left when Shepard had been rushed through, and the metal shutters that covered the Med Bay's windows had been raise, indicating that things were far calmer.

As she entered the door, her suspicions had been right, as the Doctor was washing her hands and arms while her staff finished cleaning the floor. Piled on top of an empty bunk was every gauze that had been used, soiled in dried, rust colored blood and the tray that carried the used utensils was smeared with sickly streaks of the same color. The lights had been turned low, but the only sound that filled the bay, was the slow, but steady beating of a quiet heart monitor.

Neatly wrapped in a layer of warm blankets, in a bed facing the wall of windows, Shepard lay, seemingly asleep with his shoulder tightly wrapped in thick, stiff bandages. His breathing was steady, but slightly labored, having a low, soft wheeze that accompanied every inhale. Several bags of blood had been hung on a rack, tubes plunging down into both of Shepard's arms, replacing what had been lost from the ordeal. His skin had begun to recapture its natural color, no longer the colorless white that had made him look like a carved block of ice, but more like a normal, resting human being. He looked like he was on the mend.

"How is he Doctor?" Miranda asked quietly as she walked up to the older woman.

"Stabile and in recovery. He severed his Brachial Artery, but that wasn't until he had already carved a five inch gash into his flesh." Dr. Chakwas said as she washed the remaining smears of blood from her skin.

"Do you think it was a suicide attempt?" Miranda asked, cutting right to the chase.

Dr. Chakwas remained silent for a few moments as she dried her hands and arms, the look on her face soft, but slightly saddened, "No. It was hardly that. If Shepard was serious, he would have made damn sure no one could have helped him and using a broken piece of mirror is hardly what he would have used."

"And you're sure?"

"Ms. Lawson, I couldn't be more sure..." Dr. Chakwas said more sternly, only to have her attention drawn to the man in the bed.

"I... wouldn't have done that." Shepard said with a labored groan.

Miranda and Dr. Chakwas both headed to his bedside.

"Commander, you may say that you didn't try, but you did give it a good go." Miranda said, clasping her arms behind her back.

Dr. Chakwas glared.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand." Shepard said, wincing as he tried to adjust himself to be more comfortable.

"I would like to hear your reasoning behind trying to end yourself." Miranda urged, her tone cold.

"I wasn't trying to kill myself. Stop saying that I was." Shepard fired back, the ache in his shoulder pulsing with every breath he took.

"Calm down Shepard... You're still weak from the blood loss." Dr. Chakwas whispered quietly.

Shepard nodded, "I wasn't trying to kill myself..." he repeated in a much calmer tone.

"Then what were you doing?" Miranda asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Shepard looked away and closed his eyes, "I... I don't know. The last thing I knew, my mirror was broken and I had jammed one of the pieces into my shoulder."

"I was told you had said 'They're gone'. What's gone?" Miranda asked, her brows lightly pinched together.

"My... My scars. Everything's gone. I loved those scars... with ever fiber I have left and they're just gone. Why are they gone?" he asked, unable to open his eyes.

"We had to completely regrow your skin layer during Project Lazarus. It was beyond repair. They couldn't be saved." Miranda explained, but this time, her tone was softer and almost sympathetic.

Shepard's eyes shot open, "You had no right! They were mine! My memories! You had no right to take them from me!" he yelled, sinking back into his bed as his head began to whirl the room.

Dr. Chakwas lightly rested her hand on his uninjured shoulder, a look of worry across her face, "Shh Gabriel. You don't have the strength to be working yourself up like this." she said quietly like a mother would their son.

"I... I'm sorry doctor. I... I just..." Shepard stuttered as he began to breath heavily from exhaustion.

"You've said enough Shepard. Get some rest." Dr. Chakwas quietly ordered as she plunged a small needed into the injection port of his IV.

Shepard's breathing slowed and his eyes began to droop as the sedative took hold, pulling him into a forced, but needed sleep.

Once Shepard was resting peacefully, Dr. Chakwas gently tugged the blankets up, insuring his warmth as she lightly brushed the back of her hand across his scared cheek, noticing that the scars left from his resurrection, were deepening and becoming more pronounced.

"Is he gonna alright Dr. Chakwas?" Miranda blatantly asked.

"Are you asking as a concerned friend, or as a project lead who doesn't want their four billion credit investment to go to waste?" Dr. Chakwas asked with more then her fair share of hostility.

"I guess I deserved that," she sighed, deciding to remain quiet then risk provoking the Doctor.

Dr. Chakwas sighed herself, "He'll survive. We got to him just in time before he bled out."

"I hate to ask this Doctor, but will he... be operational for the mission on _Purgatory_?" Miranda asked, feeling heat beginning to build in her chest.

Dr. Chakwas's face was emotionless, "He should be. The advanced skin and muscle weaves had already begun to heal when we started to work on him. I had to circumvent some of the already healed tissue, but... He'll have a rather nasty scar when all is said and done." she looked to Shepard's wrapped shoulder, imagining the jagged mark that would heal beneath it.

"It would seem that he got one back then Doctor. Hopefully, our time on the _Purgatory_ will be brief and the Commander won't even need to exert himself." Miranda said, taking a glance herself.

"That's the hope, but when do things ever go as planned Ms. Lawson?" Dr. Chakwas asked, not really expecting an answer.

"I suppose that's true enough Doctor," Miranda sighed, looking back to the Doctor, "I didn't realize that the Commander was so attached to his scars."

"They're all he has to remember his family by. He's a child of Mindoir you know." Dr. Chakwas said as she sat at her desk with a tired sigh.

"Yes, I was aware. I just didn't know he held them so dear." Miranda sighed as Dr. Chakwas reached for a small cabinet underneath her desk for a bottle of liquor.

"He does, especially since Ashley had accepted every one of them." Dr. Chakwas said, opening the bottle and pouring a small amount into two glasses.

"Ah," Miranda accepted the glass, "Suddenly, it all makes more sense." she took a sip as she sat in a chair next to the doctor.

"Not everything can be learned from a file Ms. Lawson. Sometimes, it takes a much more personal touch." Dr. Chakwas said, lightly rubbing her sore neck.

Miranda huffed, "It would appear that I don't have that kind of touch." she rolled her eyes.

"It's mostly learned my dear, so don't beat yourself up. Just be receptive to Shepard's behavior and mannerisms. You can learn a lot by just being observant." Dr. Chakwas said with another sip of her drink.

"That is definitely something I've learned over the two years Shepard was being rebuilt." Miranda said as a gentle smirk crossed her lips.

"He isn't a machine Ms. Lawson. He's a human being." Dr. Chakwas corrected as politely as the statement would allow.

Miranda's smirk faded as she looked over towards the sleeping Shepard and sighed, "I spent two years thinking of him as an object Doctor. It's gonna take more then just words to get me to see him as anything but."

"Well my dear, you should probably start. Shepard is human in every way. He feels pain, love, hatred... He feels it all my dear. You can't expect him to set aside his humanity to further The Illusive Man's agenda." Dr. Chakwas said, setting her still full glass onto the desk.

"I'm not asking him too Doctor. I just know that in this galaxy, you have to set aside beliefs and close yourself off if you hope of protecting those you hold dear." Miranda said, downing the rest of the contents of her glass.

Dr. Chakwas's eyes narrowed a bit, "His humanity is exactly why he fights Ms. Lawson. He fights to protect those he loves. He fights to better their lives. Humanity is exactly why he is considered such a great man." a slight smile began to creep across her lips.

"Wise words Doctor." Miranda conceded, finally setting her glass down on the desk.

"You wouldn't be the first to tell me that my dear." Dr. Chakwas's smile grew.

Miranda's curiosity was peeked, "Have a long history of administering this kind of advice?"

Dr. Chakwas nodded, "As an Alliance doctor, many of my patients looked to me for advice, but none have been so needing of it as my 'adoptive' children." she air quoted.

"I wasn't aware you had children. Your file didn't mention any." Miranda said with a tilt of her head.

"I don't, but there are several people that I've had the utmost pleasure of serving with that I consider my children." Dr. Chakwas was nearly beaming.

"I assume the Commander is one such child?"

Dr. Chakwas nodded, "As well as Kaidan, Ashley and Jeff. I hold the four of them very close to my heart and I would do everything in my power to make sure they are alright." her tone was dreary and air, like how a mother tells her children a bedtime story.

"You've given yourself quite the burden by taking them under your wing. They are quite the bunch." Miranda said with a sigh as she leaned forward and grasped the liquor bottle to pour herself another glass.

"I would agree with you, except that I've seen what the four together can do Ms. Lawson. Those four are capable of amazing things alone, but when they're together, when they're on the same ship, or fighting against the same enemy, they are capable of things so grand, so amazing, that nothing in this galaxy can stop them. They are more then just 'quite the bunch' Ms. Lawson." Dr. Chakwas said, looking over at Shepard as he unconsciously adjusted himself to be more comfortable.

"You make them sound like they're our saviors." Miranda said as she raised the glass to her lips and took a full mouthful.

Dr. Chakwas smiled, "They are hardly that. They're simply... determined. They know what they want to fight for."

Miranda poured the doctor another drink, "And what might that be?"

"They all have their reasons. The real question is... Do you?" Dr. Chakwas nodded her head as a thank you as she took the glass from Miranda.

Opening her mouth to answer, Miranda found that she didn't know how to answer. She knew why she did what she did, but she didn't readily know what she was doing it for. She worked for Cerberus to provide her sister with protection and to give her a way of life that she would never have had otherwise, but _what._.. She had no idea.

Standing from her chair, Dr. Chakwas gently rested her hand on Miranda's shoulder, "It's gotten awfully quiet in here my dear."

"That's because I don't have an answer." Miranda mumbled, unable to look up at the doctor.

"I know," she set her glass down, "But I can promise you one thing... You'll know it when you find it."

"You say that with confidence." Miranda said, looking up as Dr. Chakwas walked over to Shepard's bed.

"I've lived a full life Ms. Lawson. I can say anything with confidence." she gently began to remove the tight bandaging around Shepard's shoulder to check his stitches.

With a slow, understanding nod, Miranda stood, setting her second empty glass back on the desk and began to head towards the door, "I thank you for the drinks Doctor, but I must get back to my work."

"Alright dear." Dr. Chakwas simply said as she watched the young Australian woman leave the Med Bay.

Lightly pursing her lips together, Dr. Chakwas stared at the closed door with a soft smile across her lips, hoping that the young Miranda would soon thaw. She appeared to be doing so, but she was still fighting herself over something. Something close, something special. She just didn't know what it was.

Her musings clouded her grasp on reality, seemingly lost in her own thoughts and thus, unaware that her patient had begun to emerge from his forced slumber.

"That sounded familiar." Shepard said with groggy eyes and a hoarse voice, pulling the kind doctor from inside her head.

"It should. It was like many of the talks we've had over the years," she gently stroked his hairline, feeling that the hair had finally begun to grow again, "You scared me back there." she said, turning her gaze to the red ringed scar that was well on its way to being healed.

Shepard cracked a lazy smile, "I didn't mean to Doctor. I honestly didn't know what I was doing. It didn't even click when I felt the burning. I just went... numb." he said airily, his voice low and gravelly.

Dr. Chakwas nodded as she took her hand back and grabbed the roll of wrapping, "Your mind disassociated your body from itself. The kind of pain you would have felt would have been unbearable. It did you a favor Gabriel." she started to rewrap his shoulder.

"I almost wish it hadn't. I might have stopped what I was doing." Shepard huffed a tired, week laugh as he let his head loll to the left to watch her wrap him.

Dr. Chakwas nodded her agreement, "Most likely my dear," she smiled, "How are you feeling?"

Shepard tiredly nodded, "Like my arms and legs feel like they weigh a thousand pounds a piece." he groaned, swallowing down his wince as he carefully adjusted himself.

Dr. Chakwas gently slipped her arm beneath his shoulders to help him move his pillow lower against his back, "That'll happen when you loose as much blood as you did. Another minute and you would have died from blood loss."

Shepard laid back into his pillow and grasped the Doctor's hand with a light squeeze, "I really didn't mean to do this Doc. You've gotta believe me... I'm not suicidal."

"I know dear. If you were, I know you would have found a way to succeed. Severing your Brachial Artery wouldn't have been your preferred method." she said as she gently drifted her knuckles back over his cold cheek.

"You are very right. When I saw that my scars were gone, I just... lost it. Why did she have to take them from me?" he asked, his voice cracking as his red tinted, yet still blue eyes began to glass over.

Dr. Chakwas's smile faded, "Because there was no way to save them. Honey... you entered atmo and made planetfall. There just wasn't..." she sighed, "They were gone sweetie." she continued stroking her hand back over his cheek.

Shepard nodded, "I guess I just didn't wanna believe that they were. Is this one gonna scar?" he asked, gently rubbing his bandaged shoulder.

"Yes, it will," that's when her eyes focused on Shepard's deep facial scarring as they carved deep trails through the skin around his eyes and through his cheeks, "I'm afraid these might as well." she gently fluttered her fingertips over one that curved around his left eye.

Shepard's eyes glassed over more as he turned away from her touch, "Great... Reminders of the Hell beast I've become."

"Gabriel... You know better." Dr. Chakwas glared with pursed lips as she removed her hands from him.

"What am I supposed to think? My eyes even glow red!" he said with a harsh growl in his tone, wincing from a bite of pain in his shoulder.

"Calm down Shepard. You haven't heard what I have in mind yet." Dr. Chakwas said with a soft pat to his uninjured arm.

"And what might that be? It better not be any of this 'peace of mind' nonsense. Otherwise, just knock my ass out and do what you will with me." he furrowed his brows.

Dr. Chakwas lightly laughed, "No, no... None of that. There's quite a neat little contraption EDI has recommended that will insulate your cybernetic implants and allow your skin to heal with no scarring. It'll take a couple treatments, but it's a viable solution."

"What's the catch?" Shepard asked with a scoff.

"Well... It is quite expensive. Fifty thousand units of platinum to be exact." Dr. Chakwas cringed.

"Fifty!" he took a deep breath, "Fifty thousand units? Why not just ask for credits? I can shovel credits at someone, but fifty thousand... Thousand... As in four zeros... thousand units? Ain't that asking a bit much?" Shepard rattled, having to resist the urge to sit up, though, if he tried, he would most likely fail.

"Well, it's entirely up to you Shepard. I'm just relaying the option. Know this though, your eyes won't shine red." she said, laced with a snicker.

That caught his attention full force, "Run that by me again?"

"Your eyes will stop glowing that hazy red color Commander. That is what you want right?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

As much as he wanted to sit up, he couldn't, not just from the lack of energy to do so, but from the hope and possibility that any sign of the half man, half machine he had become was now dangling over his head. As much as he wanted to forget, to put it behind him, it came right back around to slap in the face every time he looked in a mirror. The scars, the red, demon like tint that shrouded his natural, peaceful blue, the lack of memories written across his skin, everything reminded him of what he'd lost. If he had the chance to erase some of the hurt, he had to take it, no matter the cost.

"It is what I want... More then anything. I don't want the reminders of what I am." he said, looking away from her.

"And what do you think you are?" she asked.

"Half machine for starters. Every time it's quiet, I half expect to hear that mechanical whir with every movement. I'm scared out of my mind to get an X-Ray because I don't wanna see all the metal." he said, attempting to turn onto his side, but it only sent a massive spike of pain through the whole of his torso.

Dr. Chakwas lightly pressed her hands into his good shoulder to keep him from moving, "Easy dear," she whispered, "For one thing, you aren't a machine and I believe your little memento you carved into your own flesh proves as much. Your blood is still the same shade of red as mine, or Joker's... or Ashley's."

At hearing _her_ name, Shepard finally looked at the kind doctor, "But I'm the only human you know that's come back from the dead." he lightly squeezed her hand.

"You're right on that account, but the fact remains is that you are here my dear. You need to make the best of the blessing you were given." Dr. Chakwas said with a soft smile.

"I didn't take you for the religious type Doctor." Shepard huffed.

"I wasn't until the crew of the old _Normandy_ found solace in each other after your death. We all prayed." she said as she took Shepard's hand in both her own.

Shepard slowly nodded, "So did I... believe it or not."

"Oh, I believe you did my dear. I believe you did. I also believe that your prayers were answered... as well as ours." she said, lightly brushing her hand back over his temple.

Shepard closed his eyes, "Thank you... for everything. You've been more of a mother to me then my doctor over the years. It's a comfort."

"And you and your circle have become my children when I had none," she stood up straight as she took another syringe from a nearby tray, "Now, you need your rest if your shoulder is going to have a chance to finish healing. We're still a few days out from the _Purgatory_, so you should be healed by then." she smiled, plunging the needle into the injection port of his IV.

"That fast... huh?" Shepard tried asking as his eyes began to droop from the effects of the fast acting sedative.

"Yes dear... That fast. You heal so fast, you might as well be regenerating before our very eyes." she gently tugged his blankets up.

Shepard sank back into his bed as the drug took hold, "Might... as well... Who knows... I might... get to... find... out." he strained to say as he let himself drift under.

Setting the emptied needle down, Dr. Chakwas simply stood over him, watching him evenly breath as he slept. Satisfied he was resting comfortably, she went back to her desk and sat to resume her work of filling out her report of what had happened. However, as she typed, Shepard's last words before he was pulled under just wouldn't stop repeating, over and over again, in her head. All she could do was watch him sleep.

"Let's hope not my dear... Let's hope not."


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Passing Truth

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: Thank you all for being so patient with my slow updates. I greatly appreciate all your support and hope this makes up for it! Enjoy! Also, what do you guys think of a rewrite of Pheonix Rising and Pheonix Rising: Into the Dark? Let me know!)_

The tension aboard the _SSV_ _Grimm_ was higher then it had ever been. No one spoke, not even to themselves as they simply went through the motions of routine. They simply got their own meals, did their own thing inside their quarters whenever they weren't on duty and even went as far as avoiding eye contact with each other. But all this was not directed at every member of the _Grimm's_ crew, simply her commander and her supposedly civilian cook.

They had left Tuchanka only a few hours prior, but the entire time, Kaidan and Lycan had secluded themselves inside the Briefing Room to work out how in the world they were going to tell the crew what they were really up to, and who Lycan really was.

"This is gonna be harder then I thought Ly." Kaidan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he leaned back against the front of his desk.

"Just trying to word it is the hard part. Any way we put it, it's gonna sound crazy. Maybe telling them my real last name with help?" Lycan suggested, sitting in one of the chairs that faced Kaidan's desk with crossed legs.

"Morris is your real last name Ly. You signed the papers remember." Kaidan said, lightly smiling as he lowered his hand and looked at her.

Lycan huffed a laugh, "To everyone else it is, but it'll always be Dareden to me. It's who I am. I can't help it."

"I know it is. But, it looks like we're gonna have to show them your file. Just telling them your last name isn't gonna convince them I'm not crazy." Kaidan said as he crossed his arms.

"You mean _we're_ not crazy. That charity Kristy set up after I disappeared is still around right? Maybe that's a good place to start." Lycan said, standing from the chair to stand next to him.

"It's worth a try I guess." Kaidan shrugged as he stepped around to his desk and brought up his terminal to look up the foundation's homepage.

As the page displayed, smack dab in the middle of the homepage was an aged photo of Lycan, smiling in a picture that Kristy Disellen had taken just before Lycan had disappeared. The same photo had been used as the face of the foundation that Kristy had devoted her life to, so people would never forget those who could not be found. If only she had known that her friend had indeed been found, and by a man whom loved her without end no less. It might have brought her peace before she died.

"I'd say that's pretty compelling evidence to start with don't you think?" Lycan asked, merely out of satisfaction for finding something that could possibly help to prove their case.

"It'll start the conversation at least." Kaidan said, sighing again as he just looked at the site with a blank stare.

"That's all we'll need I think. Just a way to start it." Lycan said with a gentle smirk as she crossed her arms as well.

"Well... We don't have many other choices, so..." Kaidan started as a chime sounded at the door, causing to sigh, "Come in." he called out as he darkened the holoscreen.

With the ok to enter, the doors opened upon Callaghan's command, followed by Hanson, Ellison, whom was closely followed by Lia'Vael, and the twin pilots, Jake and Jerry. The group avoided eye contact with Kaidan and Lycan as they took their seats in the semi-circle of chairs that swiveled to face the holoscreen, or Kaidan's desk.

"Commander... I presume you know why we're here?" Callaghan asked for clarification, being the first in several hours to look at the pair.

Kaidan nodded, "Yes," he sighed deeply, "I know you're all wondering what happened on Tuchanka." he started, walking back around to the front of his desk and leaned back against it.

"More so about our little 'civilian' cook that apparently has more to her then we thought." Callaghan said, folding her arms across her chest as she pursed her lips together.

Again, Kaidan nodded, "Yes she does. You know her as Lycan Morrison, but her name, before we changed it out of necessity, is Lycan Dareden." he crossed his arms.

Every set of eyebrows pulled together.

"Like the girl that that missing persons foundation was named after?" Ellison asked, his eyes bouncing pack and forth between Kaidan and Lycan.

"Yeah... Except The Lycan Dareden Fund was actually named after her. Lycan's the one who went missing back in 2011." Kaidan said, flighting his hand over his terminal behind him to spur the holoscreen back to life, still displaying the foundation's homepage.

"Excuse me Commander? In case you forgot, the year is 2185. There's no way she's the same person as that girl." Callaghan quickly spoke up, looking over at the holoscreen.

"Normally, I'd agree with you, but two years ago on the _Normandy_, an anomaly occurred that, to this day, no one can explain." Kaidan said with another swipe over his terminal, changing the holoscreen to display the scans that Joker had taken before the maelstrom appeared on the ship's Crew Deck.

"So what... The relay had some strange readings. How does that explain who she is?" Callaghan asked, pointing at Lycan.

"Those readings were taken just before a... wormhole appeared on the ship that I witnessed first hand. It poured water onto the ship and left Lycan laying on the floor. We were out in the middle of space." Kaidan said, lightly furrowing his brows as he spoke.

"Back in 2011, I was fresh at college and pledging at a Sorority house believe or not. At the end of my pledge week, I had to swim out into the middle of a reservoir to get my car keys, but that's when a freak lightning storm struck and... before I could get to shore, I lost consciousness. Next thing I knew, I was in the medical bay on the _SR-1._" Lycan jumped in as she ignored the nervous fluttering in her stomach from talking in front of people. It was a guarantee her stomach would flipflop whenever she was in front of people.

Callaghan's eyes narrowed more, "Car keys? What the Hell are car keys?" she shrugged.

"They were used to start cars back in my time. Feel free to look up my car. It was a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta. I'd just bought it before I got warped here_._" Lycan simply said, smiling.

Deciding to take a gander and look through the site for any other information, Hanson and Ellison skimmed through the detailed background that had been written so people would know who Lycan was. They read about her mother, father, brother, her likes, dislikes and the life she apparently had been forced to leave behind. Once they reached the end, they looked at Lycan like she was a strange, new alien creature that they had just discovered.

"So... What you're saying, is that you're about a hundred and seventy three years old?" Hanson asked, leaning forward a bit and resting his elbows on his knees.

"Not quite... I was 25 at the time of my disappearance. I was born in the year 1985. In theory, I just rounded two hundred years old." Lycan corrected.

"You aren't some new type of Asari are you?" Hanson asked, more as a joke really.

Lycan huffed a laugh, "No, I'm not that. I'm very much human Hanson."

Callaghan scoffed, "That may be all fine and dandy, but wormhole theories have been just that. They've stayed theories because no one can prove them otherwise. How can you prove that you got whisked away through time and space and just so happened to be dropped off on a secured vessel out in the middle of the black?"

Lycan opened her mouth to replay, but Kaidan beat her to the punch, "That's my department Lieutenant," sighing, he brought up another series of stills on the holoscreen.

The group turned to look back to the holoscreen, seeing the photos that depicted the crew deck of the _SR-1. _The standing water shimmered under the lights, spreading to cover most of the floor to suck the life from any electronic device it touched. The photo wasn't alone however, as there was a file on Lycan, her medical reports taken by Dr. Chakwas shortly after Kaidan, Shepard and Ashley had departed the ship their first time on the Citadel. There was even a photo of Lycan, wrapped in the sheet Kaidan had placed her in, sitting on her bunk and looking blankly down at her bare feet.

"This is Lycan's preliminary file. It's the only one in existence and the most classified secret the Alliance has. I've got the original." Kaidan said, reversing his crossed ankles.

Standing from his seat, Hanson stepped closer to the holoscreen, lightly squinting at the portion of Lycan's file as he read the tiny names scribbled across the bottoms of each report. Every one of them had the same pair.

"These were signed by Admiral Hackett and... Councilor Anderson? These aren't just any brass sir... These are the two highest brass in the Alliance." Hanson gasped, looking back over his shoulder at Kaidan and Lycan.

Kaidan nodded, "Not even the whole of the Council knows about Lycan. Only Councilor Anderson and Admiral Hackett know. They signed off on this whole operation. The ship, this hand picked crew," he sighed, "My appointment on special assignment as Lycan's bodyguard."

Every pair of eyes widened.

"You're her bodyguard Commander?" Callaghan asked in shock.

"Yes, and I have been for the last two years. Alliance Intelligence has been monitoring reports regarding Cerberus's interest in her and assigned me to make sure they didn't get their hands on her. Because she was ripped through time and space, Cerberus's interest could be to use her to find some way to travel through time." Kaidan explained, glancing briefly at Lycan whom returned the same look.

"So Cerberus is involved. How do you know she isn't a plant working for Cerberus?" Callaghan asked without her usual hostility.

"As I said before, I was there when the anomaly happened. I saw her come through," Kaidan swiped his hand over his terminal again, bringing up another file with his name printed across the top, "This is my statement regarding the event. Everything I saw, felt, smelled... Everything. We all wrote these and signed our gag orders before the _Normandy_ was assigned to Commander Shepard."

As the group started to read through the statement, merely out of their own curiosity, Callaghan sucked in a sharp intake of breath and held it, reading through Kaidan's description of what had happened that day. The way he described the swirling maelstrom like it was a smearing kaleidoscope of color and lightning, spewing water from its core like an unending waterfall, constantly fed by a forever rain was almost dreamlike. She quickly read through his descriptions of how an unconscious woman, laying on the floor only covered in her own paling flesh, simply appeared, coated in delicate beads of frigid water that had slowly wicked away her life until Kaidan had given it all back. His descriptions were so fluid, so passionate, that they were the words of only someone who was there could utter.

"You make this all sound like a fairy tale Commander." Callaghan said, looking over her shoulder once she had finished reading.

"I'm still not convinced it isn't. That still doesn't change the fact that it all happened." Kaidan said, uncrossing his arms and placing his hands on his hips.

Callaghan sighed, "This many reports by this many different people would be an unfathomable amount of work to fabricate. Getting everyone's signatures, making sure you got the entire crew manifest so you can write a statement for every one of them and make them different from each other to avoid suspicion... No one wanting to make up a story like this would go through this much work just to prove it." she turned to fully look at the pair.

"No they wouldn't... I wouldn't. You all know I wouldn't make something like this up." Kaidan said, finding that all he was managing to do was sigh.

"We all know you're the poster boy for Biotic Alliance soldiers, but you still haven't explained why we're on this mission and leaving coins around like bread crumbs." Callaghan said, sitting back down with interest clearly written on her face.

This time, it was Lycan's turn to sigh, "We're leaving the coins for Commander Shepard to find in hopes of helping him while he tries to stop the Collectors." she said, lightly licking her lips.

"Commander Shepard? We're helping _the_ Commander Shepard?" Lia gasped with an air of awe in her mechanized voice.

"Yes... and the rumors about Shepard are true, but with one exception. He didn't fake his death. He was brought back from the dead." Kaidan said, keeping his tone even and flat.

"Uh... I don't get it." Jake said with the left side of his upper lip hiked up in confusion.

"When the _Normandy_ was destroyed, Shepard was spaced, but you all know that. He really did die. However, Cerberus got their hands on his body and through... cybernetics, hyper advanced medicine and an ungodly amount of credits, they were able to bring him back. The Shepard out there right now is the same one as before, but will a few more parts." Kaidan said, rolling his neck.

"Do you have proof of that?" Callaghan asked, not in a hostile way, but in a genuinely curious one.

Kaidan shook his head, "Not yet, but the second we get the chance, we're going to get it."

"So that's apart of our mission as well? To gather intel regarding Shepard, his relationship with Cerberus and get the information about how they managed to bring him back from the dead?" Ellison asked, leaning forward in his seat and resting his elbows on his knees, just like Hanson.

"Getting the medical information isn't our first priority, but if the opportunity arises, we've gotta take it. Our first priority is to help Shepard without directly interfering. We have to stay on the down low." Kaidan said, refolding his arms across his chest.

"What about Shepard's relationship with Cerberus sir?" Hanson asked with a nervous half raise of his hand.

"We believe it's purely business related, but we have no proof of it yet. We're hoping these little clues will tell Shepard that we haven't abandoned him. That someone, somewhere, is still standing by him." Kaidan said, glancing down at his feet as he switched their crossed ankles again.

"And by doing that, you're hoping to bring Shepard home." Callaghan said, more as a deadpan.

"Exactly." Kaidan said with a nod.

"Being assigned as Lycan's bodyguard and leaving clues for Shepard doesn't seem like they fit together Commander. There's gotta be more to it." Callaghan said with a light gnaw on her bottom lip.

"Lycan can not fall into the wrong hands. She was launched forward somehow and if Cerberus has their way, they'll figure out how to send someone, or something, back that could change the timeline." Kaidan said, feeling his heartbeat speed up momentarily.

"If she was launched forward, does that mean someone could have _already_ gone back in time to try a change certain events?" Callaghan asked, not at all like her usual, harsh demeanor, but of someone who was beginning to believe.

"That... We don't know. If that was true, any one of us could have just winked out of existence with no trace to even suggest that they were even real." Lycan looked over at Kaidan for a subtle signal of support, which she got in the form of a soft smile.

"Do you have any pre existing knowledge of time theory Lycan?" Callaghan asked, briefly furrowing her brows as she looked at her.

"God no... I'm just going off of wild imagination at this point. Back in my time, time travel in any form was just a fantasy. I have no proof or sound reason why I think that that's what would happen, but when it comes to time traveling, it's anyone's guess." Lycan said, sighing.

"Look, it's a sound theory that someone could have already gone back, but there are other theories we've got and all have no way of being proven. No one's had any experience with something like this before so we're flying blind here." Kaidan said with a groan and a pinch to the bridge of his nose.

Falling silent, those whom had just learnt of the truth found that they had no idea what to say. They still had their fair share of questions, but they seemed inadequate compared to the fanciful tale they just heard. All turned back to the briefing holoscreen and continued to read the many individual and unique statements from the crew of the _Normandy SR-1, _hoping to find the answers to their remaining questions mixed in. They needed their answers, otherwise, none would get any sleep.

Having had enough of reading the tiny print on the jam packed reports, Callaghan looked away, rubbing her eyes as she decided to slowly pace behind her chair with her hands stuffed into her pockets. After a few moments, she drew in a long, tremendously deep breath that filled her lungs completely as she willed herself to look up at the pair still leaning back against Kaidan's desk.

"This is gonna take some time to get straight Commander, but," she released her breath, "At least we know the truth now."

Kaidan sighed in relief, "Yeah. Our main focus out here is to do what we can for Shepard. Don't forget that. He's most likely having strong feelings of abandonment... uh... confusion, nightmares of the visions from the Prothean beacon... the works. If we can give him some sign that we're still there for him, it might give him a better chance at doing what he's gotta do."

"And what is he trying to do?" Jake asked, pulling his attention away from the holoscreen.

"He's trying to stop the Collectors. They're... a secretive, hyper advanced alien race. Early intel suggests that they're the ones that have been abducting the human colonists around the Terminus Systems. Shepard's working with Cerberus to stop them." Lycan chimed in, uncrossing her arms and resting the heels of her hands on the desktop.

"How is it you know?" Callaghan asked.

Lycan gulped with hesitation, but fortunately, Kaidan answered, "Because she was 'delivered' directly to the _Normandy_, she was privy to all the information we knew and learned over the course of tracking down Saren. Later on, when it was discovered that Cerberus has an interest in her, she was read in." he said, rolling his shoulders back to stand up straighter.

"So it was a case of being in the right place at the right time then." Callaghan simply sighed.

"For the most part, yeah." Kaidan nodded.

"For the most part?" Callaghan raised an eyebrow.

"There are still a few details that are classified and I don't have the clearance to disclose them. It's orders from higher up." Kaidan said, again, pursing his lips together.

At hearing that, the crew simply nodded their heads in understanding, as hearing that from their commanding officer was irrefutable.

"Alright... What about these Collectors then? No one seems to know anything about them." Ellison said.

"We know a bit, but it's not much." Kaidan began.

"And the Collectors like it that way. They pop through the Omega – 4 – Relay, do their business and then disappear back through it without a care in the verse." Lycan slowly shook her head.

"The O4R? That's a restricted relay." Jerry said, all humor gone as he gave Lycan his undivided attention.

"That's because it kills everyone who goes through it." Jake said with a crooked grin as he rested and elbow on his armrest.

"We're still pretty much in the dark about how the Collectors manage to use it without threat, while everyone else who tries is presumably destroyed or disappears entirely." Kaidan said, taking over the briefing to keep focus on him and not her.

"Is it believed that Cerberus might have information?" Callaghan asked with moderately furrowed brows.

"It's a possibility, and with Shepard working for them, he might have access to classified information regarding who's in charge, and how they might know about the Collectors. Cerberus might know things we don't." Kaidan said, deciding it best to not let on that he knows more then that.

"I can guarantee they do. Cerberus used to be black ops after all." Jake huffed and slowly shook his head.

"Yeah well, they certainly retained their talents." Kaidan rolled his eyes.

Catching the disgruntled growl that resided low in Kaidan's throat, Callaghan leaned to one side and rested her elbow on the armrest, "Sounds like you have some animosity for Cerberus Commander."

Kaidan half shrugged, "A little bit. They took my best friend and somehow convinced him to work for them. He wouldn't unless there was a damn good reason to." he looked to the floor.

"Why would you say that?" Callaghan asked, almost sweetly.

Kaidan looked up with flat lips, "Look... We've been best friends for almost a decade. I've seen him when he's reached the lowest points in his life. I've seen him when he's been at the end of his rope, when he's thought there was nothing left for him and I've seen him when he's had a murderous look in his eye that scared even me," he rocked forward onto one leg, "But through all that pain he's lived through, he still manages to make the tough choices, and do everything he can to get his people out. So trust me... I know he wouldn't go that low unless he had a damn good reason to." only when he stopped talking, he noticed that he had pointed a finger at the Lieutenant.

Callaghan pressed back in her chair, "I can see that you believe it... I didn't mean to insinuate that Shepard was anything other then honorable."

Bringing himself back in control, Kaidan straightened and leaned back against his desk again, "He's not. He's just a man that's been through a lot," he crossed his arms again to keep from pointing at her, "I remember when we were going through OCS, he said that he never wanted to be recognized for anything. All he wanted, was to stop what happened to his family from happening to someone else. That's it."

"And now look at him... Placed on a pedestal by the whole of the galaxy." Callaghan said with a slow, drawn out sigh.

Kaidan dropped his arm and unconsciously began to fidget with his fingernails, "Believe me... He wishes he wasn't. He's not some... messiah, or demigod, or archangel... He's just a man, trying to do what he thinks is right... Whether other people see it, or not."

"It can't be easy when you're this close to the mission." Callaghan said, keeping her eyes glued to Kaidan.

"It's harder to keep objective, that's for sure, but I can promise you this... Whatever the truth is, I'll have to accept it, whether I like it, or not." Kaidan said far more evenly.

"It's good to hear you say that Commander. I guess I don't have to relieve you of command after all." Callaghan smirked.

"No, you won't. As much as it pains me to say, if Shepard's loyalties have changed," he hesitated and drew in a long breath, "I will arrest him and bring him in. But," he rushed to say, "I don't think it'll come to that." Kaidan blew out the breath in a long sigh.

"We can hope not Commander," Callaghan said with genuine concern, but it didn't last long as her light smile faded, "Commander... Now that we know all this, what's our actual and official standing with the Alliance?"

At hearing the questions, Kaidan straightened and drew in another breath, "Well... Officially, we're what you would call a 'kite'."

"What's a kite?" Hanson asked, almost like a little boy.

"If we cause too much trouble while we're out here in the Terminal Systems, the Alliance will 'cut the string' as it were. We'll be cut off from any Alliance aid, and they'll deny our existence to anyone who asks."

"Like... Super Secret Squirrel Squad?" Hanson asked with a grin growing across his young face.

Kaidan smirked and nodded, "Yeah... Like that. We're the special ops for the special ops. That's why we have to keep our heads down and keep out of trouble. Without Alliance backing, we're sitting ducks."

"Daw... You don't give us enough credit Commander. We're the cream of the crop on this boat. You've got the best there is." Jake gloated with arms spread wide.

Kaidan's smirk changed into a smile, "To me, yeah... you're right." his voice trailed off.

"I sense a 'but' Commander." Callaghan's lips pursed into a hard line, but they quickly loosened.

"There is, I just didn't wanna say it. We all know Shepard can't stop the Collectors alone, so it's safe to say that he's putting together a team, and we all know what that means." Kaidan said with a crooked grin.

"A team that can fight off the devil himself most likely." Jerry deadpanned like he wasn't surprised.

Kaidan nodded, "Exactly," he sucked in a long breath and blew it out, "I know this must all sound completely ridiculous, so... take some time and let your brains adjust to it all. I've gotten the clearance for you guys to have access to everything I've shown you, so please, read through it in detail, but..." his face became quite serious, "you can not make copies. Am I clear?"

"Yes Commander... You are. I assume that means we can only look at the information one at a time, or together correct?" Callaghan asked as she stood from her seat.

"That's correct. briefing room is yours for as long as you need. If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask. I'll tell you if I can. Dismissed." Kaidan finally pushed off the front of his desk.

With looks of a little less confusion, the crew stood, but hesitated as they tried to decide whether or not they were going to leave, or stay and read more of the reports. They eventually each made their decisions, some staying, some leaving as they went to give their minds time to adjust to the intake of information.

After a few minutes, Kaidan quietly backed away from the few that had stayed and had already given the holoscreen their undivided attention, so his and Lycan's retreat went unnoticed.

Once their door had closed between their quarters and the occupied briefing room, Kaidan blew out a long, somewhat stressed and relief filled breath that lasted from the bookshelf right next to the door, to where he slumped down onto his bed. He simply stared at the ceiling for a moment, arms flopped above his head as he just concentrated on breathing to stay any sort of migraine that might want to sneak up on him.

"You ok?" Lycan asked quietly as she sat down in a chair at their small dining table.

Kaidan turned his head to look at her, "Yeah... I'm alright. Just relieved I guess."

Lycan caught the uncertainty in his voice, "You don't sound so sure." she lightly smiled.

"I'm mostly sure," he sat up, "Can't blame them for thinking we're insane." he ran both hands back through his hair.

"If they do think that, then they aren't showing it. If they didn't want to believe you, they wouldn't be reading the files." Lycan said sweetly, resting an elbow on the table's top.

Kaidan couldn't help but smile and look at her, "You're right. We just gotta give them some time." he stood from the bed and walked to the table to stand in front of her.

Lycan took his hand and looked up at him, "How come we didn't tell them everything?" she lightly smiled.

"Because it would be trying to earn everyone's trust all over again and we just don't have the definitive proof to drive it home." Kaidan said as he gently squeezed her hand and smiled down at her.

"I could always just tell them things that are gonna happen like I did last time." she said, letting her hand slip free from his to tenderly stroke his arm.

Sighing, Kaidan pulled out his chair and sat, "I think it'll be best to keep that quiet sweetie. I'm still your bodyguard and the less people who know, the better." his eyes softened as he grasped her hand again, but this time in both of his.

Lycan nodded softly, "I know. I guess if we did tell them absolutely everything, we'd be here all day running through how I know, and what I know, and what's gonna happen next and so on and so forth." she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. Plus, if Cerberus finds out that you can predict events, they'll just try that much harder to take you away from me, and I can't let that happen." he said with a lightly growing smile.

Lycan started to blush a little, "I know," she sighed, "So... Where to?" she asked as she stood, slipping her hands from his as she meandered over to the nearby bookshelf.

"The Citadel."

With her lips pulling into a mischievous grin, Kaidan's heart began to hope with the possibility of getting closer to her if the glimmer in her eyes and the swagger of her hips was a clue. He slowly sank into a chair when Lycan came to stand in front of him and softly placed her hands on his shoulders to provide her balance as she straddled him.

Lycan, slowly trickling her lightly clawed fingertips down his chest, leaned in to bring her lips to his ear where she placed a tender kiss and smiled.

"We've got some time then."

* * *

The dull thrum gently roaring through the ship was beginning to get on his nerves, as it was the only sound that was ever a constant. It was in everything. From the floor, to the skylight hanging over his massive bed. To the metallic orb pulsating over his coffee table, to the burnt, but intact N7 helmet that used to belong to his old hardsuit. It was all encompassing and really starting to piss him off.

And Kelly could see it.

"Commander... You seem... tense." Kelly said from her spot on the wrap around couch, watching Shepard pace from the fish tank, to his closet and back again.

"Of course I'm tense Ms. Chambers. Name one reason why I shouldn't be tense." Shepard rattled off with a hard rub to the back of his neck with both hands.

"Well... You're a..." she tried to say, but Shepard interrupted her with a sharp glare.

"Don't even say it. I know exactly what you're gonna say." Shepard groaned as he continued to pace.

Kelly jotted something down on her datapad, "Ok... I won't say it," she silently sighed, "How have you been feeling about your injury?"

Shepard stopped on his return trip to his closet and sat down on the edge of his bed with a huff, "Besides freaked out that it's already healed? Better I guess." he shrugged, hanging his head.

"You guess?" she jotted down another note down.

"It's a comfort that the scar's there. Reminds me I'm human. Reminds me of things I've lost... blah blah blah... I'm sure you've heard all this before." Shepard rolled his eyes as he flopped back onto his bed with his arms plopped over his head.

"You don't seem to like psychiatric evaluations too much Commander." Kelly said with her eyes narrowing slightly.

"They've never been my favorite pass time. Sorry." he deadpanned as he sat up with a roll of his right shoulder.

"There's no need to apologize for it Commander. I'm just trying to do my job is all." she said, leaning back into the couch.

"I know... I know. Look... Every time I look in the mirror now, I see that scar, and it gives me a focal point that doesn't move when my head is spinning. I'm not the greatest with anatomy like my best friend, but if I had some... concept... I would have made sure I didn't cause as much damage as I did. I honestly can't say I wouldn't do it again." he said as he finally looked at her for the first time in the hour she had already been there.

"You would cut your own flesh again? Just to replace a long forgotten scar?" she asked, not even looking at her hands as they typed another not on her datapad.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah... You bet your ass I would. My scars mean... meant everything to me. I had no intention of trying to kill myself."

"What was your intention?" she asked, offering Shepard a glass of water, which he declined.

"To put the scar back. That's it. To cut this perfect skin and leave a scar so it's not. I hate perfection because nothing real is ever perfect. I didn't wanna sever my artery and bleed all over the floor just for the fun of it." Shepard scoffed, standing once more from the bed to pace again, but slower.

"That's a fair amount of cynicism considering your position Commander." Kelly said with a quick glance down at her notes.

Shepard shot her an annoyed glare over his shoulder as he stepped in front of the large fish tank, "My position left me alone Ms. Chambers. I'm just trying to find myself again. Not a whole lot of people have been turned into bad hamburger meat and brought back like nothing had happened."

"That is very true... Would you say that your blackout was caused by feelings of intense loneliness and abandonment?" she asked, sounding way too much like a psychiatrist for Shepard's liking.

"What blackout?" he asked as he leaned back against the shimmering glass and crossed his arms.

"The one when you were cutting your own flesh with a broken piece of glass." she said with an arced eyebrow.

"I remember everything about it, so I wouldn't quite qualify it as a blackout. The only thing I don't remember is the pain, and to be honest, I'm grateful." Shepard corrected, opting to stare at his holoframe of Ashley.

"Alright... What would you prefer I call it then?" she asked, neatly folding her hands in her lap.

Again, Shepard shrugged, then sighed, "I really don't know and, I really don't care. It's beside the point as to why you're up here and watching me like a hawk."

Kelly sighed, "That's fair. We'll get back to things," she scribbled on her datapad, "Are you going to attempt to replace all your erased scars?" she asked, never taking her eyes off of him.

Fully hearing her question, Shepard just let it hang in the air with the thrum that was now humming against his back. Though he had one scar back, despite it nearly taking his life, he missed his others, whether they held good memories or bad. He pushed off the wall and walked to his holoframe, gently picking it up, but never once took his eyes off of it. He wasn't even sure if he blinked.

"No. Once is enough." Shepard said quietly as he just as softly set the holoframe back down.

Kelly jotted that down, "So, it's safe to assume that that was a one time event?"

Shepard pursed his lips together and stared at her through the glass model case, "What do you think?"

"I know what I want to hear, but I want the confirmation from you." she said, crossing her legs.

Shepard pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yes... It was a one time thing." he said, placing his hands on his hips.

Kelly typed a few more lines of notes on her datapad before standing from the couch, "Understood Commander. I've cleared you for full duty with my assurance that the incident was just a fluke. Would you like a copy of my report?" she asked as she started towards the door.

"No. Just file it with Timmy Boy. I'm sure I'll hear about it sooner or later." Shepard said as he slowly shook his head, standing in front of his computer.

"It's possible. If you do wish to see the report, it'll be in your file." she lightly smiled over her shoulder as she reached the door, causing them to quietly whoosh open.

Just nodding to the back of her head, Shepard watched as she left and the doors closed, both to the elevator, and his quarters. He was fully intent on sitting on his couch to think, but EDI's melodic, yet synthetic voice didn't allow for the thrumming of the ship to reach his ears, upon which he was thankful.

"Commander... We are an hour from our arrival at the Citadel." she simply reported from her post just inside the door.

"Thank you EDI. Everything alright downstairs?" he asked as he walked into his bathroom and poured himself a glass of water.

"If you are pertaining to the crew, everything, as you put it, is running at optimum efficiency. No disturbances to report." EDI said, just as smoothly as always.

"Good. Let me know if... what are we calling him?" Shepard asked once he downed his water.

"Grunt."

"That's it. Let me know if Grunt starts acting up, or if that bald woman starts crap with Lawson again. She buzzes hard enough to give _me_ a migraine." he mildly groaned as he scuffed down to the large couch and sat with a long sigh.

"Jack is down in her quarters reading the files you passed her. Operative Lawson is on the Crew Deck making something to eat, and Grunt seems to be studying his incubation tank." EDI reported.

"Might as well give me the crew report EDI." Shepard deadpanned.

"Do you wish for reports on non mission critical personnel?" EDI asked.

"No... Just the critical personnel is fine." he leaned his head back to rest it on the couch cushions.

"Understood... Joker is on the Bridge attempting to watch explicit material. Dr. Chakwas is aiding Dr. Solus in the construction of the Dermal Regenerator, and Garrus is still in the Main Battery."

Shepard laughed at hearing the last part, "Figured he'd still be there," he sighed, "Wake me when we're on approach."

"Very well Commander. Logging you out." with that, her blue avatar winked out of existence.

Running his hand over his hair that had reached it's length of growth before he had died, he kept his head lolled back into the couch as he shut his eyes and just concentrated on breathing. This was the one time when the constant thrumming was helpful as it melted the tension from his muscles, easing his mind enough where he finally was gonna get some rest, but just as he arrived at the cusp of blissful unconsciousness, EDI, in Shepard's opinion, squawked.

"Commander... We are beginning our approach." at least her voice was easy to listen to.

_Damn, _"Alright. I'm on my way." Shepard groaned.

Hoisting himself from his spot on the couch, he took a brief moment to stretch out before he headed for the elevator. The CIC was at its usual quiet mumble and as he walked by, he received the gentle nods in greeting on his path towards the front of the ship where Joker was hard at work.

"Citadel Control, this is _Normandy SR-2_ requesting vector into berth." Joker said robotically with the massive Citadel gently spinning in the distance.

_"Normandy, Citadel Control... Come around to 266 and slow to 1.5 knots. Berth number 128."_

"266, 1.5, 128. Roger that Citadel Control. _Normandy_ out."

"You've done this way to many times Joker." Shepard said with a low huff as he stopped beside Joker's chair and crossed his arms to enjoy the show.

"So many I don't even have to think about it anymore." Joker smirked as he made his corrections and floated the _Normandy_ into her assigned berth.

As typical of a space station that never sleeps, the traffic of coming and going ships was as thick as it always was. They were big, small, owned by the rich and patched together by the poor. There were Asari ships, Turian ships, Human ships and even a few Volus and Elcor ships, but once they were passed the initial cloud, they had a bit more room to maneuver.

Let the _Normandy_ stretch her wings a bit, Joker smoothly slipped her from right to left like a ribbon caught in a summer's breeze. However, Joker's fun didn't get to last too long when their berth came into view, but that wasn't the only thing, as Joker laid his eyes on the ship in the berth next to theirs.

"My God... Look at that old bird." he gaped in awe, running his eyes over the hard to see lines of the jet black ship with the singular blood stripe along her side.

Shepard had to somewhat squint to see the darkened ship through the viewports, "Jesus... That thing runs?" he arced an eyebrow.

Joker slowed the ship more as he lined her up to dock, "Looks like it. She's real clean. Damn she's a fine looking old thing." the sound of the docking clamps latching onto the _Normandy's_ wings rumbled through the hull.

Both men simply took a moment to admire the sleek, yet aged ship, but the gentle shimmer of the artificial lights caused the unexpected hull number to grab their attention.

"What the..." Shepard gasped, unable to take his eyes off it.

"That's a commissioned bird? I don't recognize the hull number though. Who's the 914?" Joker asked, stretching his neck up to see, but eventually decided to stand which was aided by Shepard.

"Never heard of the 914. Think we can send an information request?" Shepard asked with overwhelming curiosity.

Joker half shrugged, "Worth a shot. Don't know if they'll answer to a Cerberus vessel though." he hunched over his console and quickly sent the request.

Simply falling silent, Shepard and Joker could only wait and hope that whomever was on the other side would find it harmless enough to answer. They could only hope.

* * *

Jake was bored. So was Jerry for that matter, but they were both utterly, begrudgingly bored.

"Why doesn't anything interesting ever happen when we're here?" Jake sighed as he kicked up his feet onto the console.

"Because it's the Citadel. The only interesting thing that's ever happened here is when that psycho Turian thought it was a good idea to take a pot shot at the place." Jerry grumbled, mirroring his brother's posture.

"Yeah... Look how that ended for him. Shepard laid waste to him, his Geth, _and_ that monster ship they had. That's one man I don't wanna piss off." Jake smirked.

"I don't know... I don't think I'd wanna piss off Commander Alenko either. That guy could crush a Mako with his brain." Jerry said, lightly groaning as he slumped back into his pilot's chair.

Jake chuckled, "Ain't that the..." a ping sounded from his console and spurred a holoscreen to pop up, "Huh... That's interesting." he stared at the new screen.

"Did we just get info pinged?" Jerry asked, somewhat already knowing the answer.

"Looks like it," he quickly skimmed the request, "Call the Commander up here. It's from the _Normandy?_" Jake gaped, unsure if he had read that right.

However, when he didn't hear his brother, he tore his eyes away from the holoscreen to see that Jerry's attention was fully locked on the viewport that looked to the starboard side. Jake's eyes followed his brother's to see that the once empty berth was now filled, very filled with a ship they thought destroyed. The lines were similar, the profile was similar, everything was similar except that everything was bigger.

"Is that..." Jake stumbled.

"Yeah." Jerry nodded without even closing his mouth.

"But I thought..."

"She was."

"We should call..."

"Yeah we should."

Jake tore himself from his stupor and activated the internal comms, "Commander Alenko... Your presence is requested on the bridge." once he was done, his eyes went back to staring at the sleek ship.

They were so drunk on staring, that they paid no mind to the concept of time so they had no idea how long it took Kaidan to arrive.

"What's wrong..." Kaidan started, only to follow their line of sight to the starboard side where he saw what they were entrapped by, "Oh my God." his eyes widened.

"We know." Jake and Jerry said.

"That why you guys called me?" Kaidan asked, finally blinking and taking his eyes away from the ship.

Finally, Jake and Jerry emerged on the other side of their stupor.

"Not entirely. We got hit with an information request from the _Normandy SR-2_... That one." Jake reported with a thumb point out the viewport.

_Shit! _"Answer it." Kaidan said as he crossed his arms and stood behind the twin pilots.

"Are you sure Commander? It's a Cerberus vessel." Jerry hesitated for a moment, just to make sure.

"Yes... Answer the request. They aren't tagged as friendly so only the bare bones basics'll get sent." Kaidan said, still studying the ship next to them.

"If you say so boss."

* * *

On pins and needles, Shepard could only rapidly tap his booted foot on the floor as he and Joker awaited, and hoped, that their information request would be answered. He was nervous to say the least about what might come back, if anything at all came back, but he'd be damned if he knew what to expect.

When the tiny ping sounded through Joker's consoles, Shepard nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Is that the answer? Did they reply?" Shepard asked in quick succession.

Joker's hands immediately brought up the source of the ping and quickly read through it, "Yeah... They answered," he rubbed his hair, "But you're not gonna believe it."

Shepard leaned down a bit to get a closer look, and as it turned out, Joker was right. He couldn't believe what he was reading.

_:Information Request – Accepted: :SSV-914 Grimm - Systems Alliance Space fairing vessel: :Status - Active: :Registration Code - 568974-AURFE-85647852: Staff Commander Alenko commanding: :All other queries must be sent via encrypted channel:_

What little they did get back was definitely not what Shepard was expecting, so much so that he had to read it again to make sure he had seen it right. His stomach flipped with not just excitement at the possibility of seeing Kaidan again, but the hope that he might have a way to help him find Ashley and that was first and foremost on his mind.

Without even waiting for Joker to say anything, Shepard ran down the CIC and blasted into the elevator to ride it up to his quarters where he headed straight for his closet and grabbed his magnetic pistol harness. He snapped it around his waist and his left thigh before he grabbed his Omni-Tool sitting on his nightstand, and charged back to the elevator, all within the span of a minute.

However, when he returned to the CIC, Miranda Lawson was already waiting by the airlock.

"Are you headed out Commander?" she asked, leaning back against the wall across from the airlock.

"Yes, and I'm going alone." he said quickly as he skidded to a halt and spun to head back to the Armory for his pistol.

Miranda closely followed, "I'm afraid you can't do that Commander. You have to take a team with you." she said as she hurried after him.

"This time, I am going alone Lawson. I have to go alone." he said as he strode up to the gun locker and pulled his pistol.

"Commander, I'd highly advice against it." she repeated, placing her hands on her hips.

"Noted, but it ain't gonna happen this time. I have something I need to do, and I have to do it alone. That's final Lawson." Shepard said as he flashed her a glance and stuffed his pistol into his thigh holster.

Miranda sighed, "Alright, but I insist you wear your armor."

Shepard shook his head and headed back through the doors, "I can't. Just trust me on this Lawson. I can't afford to look like I'm trying to cause trouble." he said as he bounded to the top of the stairs without touching a single one.

"You're not going to compromise on this are you Commander." Miranda deadpanned just as Shepard stepped into the airlock.

"Not a chance."

Before Miranda could fire back, the doors hissed closed and sufficiently ended their conversation as the doors behind him opened and let him out onto the dock. As he took in the docks, he stopped to decide what to do first. He desperately wanted to try and get ahold of Kaidan, to ask him a million different questions, but as much as he wanted to forget everything and do it, his conversation he had had with Anderson sometime ago joined his other thoughts.

It had been a stonewalling bust. He couldn't get anything out of him other then 'I'm sorry' or a good hardy 'It's classified'. He couldn't get anything at all and he was simply left to wonder and the only thing he got from that lovely, waste of time meeting, was his reinstatement as a Spectre. He knew Anderson had the information all along, knew that Anderson could have told him, but didn't and the long her thought about it, the more pissed about it he became.

Having decided and needing very much to vent the rising anger, Shepard headed for the nearest travel terminal and hailed a cab. The moment the cab touched down, he climbed inside and nearly ordered the, surprisingly, Quarian driver to take him to the Presidium, which was carried out so fast, that Shepard had gripped the handles to keep from getting thrown from side to side like a limp sack of dead Pyjaks.

Touching down, Shepard quickly paid the stunned Quarian and located his targeted destination; the embassies.

"Excuse me sir, but Councilor Anderson is unavailable." the young receptionist said as she stood in surprise.

"Trust me when I say he won't mind... too much." Shepard said as he burst through the doors into the Human embassies.

As Shepard finally slowed his place and stopped, he saw that he had righteously interrupted a meeting between Anderson and Udina.

"Shepard? I wasn't expecting you." Anderson said with surprise easily noticeable across his face.

Udina glared, "Get out Shepard. We are in the middle of an important meeting and the likes of Cerberus are not welcome." he snarled.

"That's tough shit Udina because I'm not leaving. I have a serious bone to pick with Anderson. You can sit back and watch if you want, but otherwise, if you're just gonna be your usual pain in the ass... leave." Shepard said flatly as he scuffed inside a few more steps.

"I won't leave Councilor Anderson alone and in the presence of an armed man." Udina said, still with his glare.

"Donnel... The pistol is just a precaution. In his situation, I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing." Anderson said as he moved to stand between Shepard and Udina.

Udina's eyes narrowed, "Are you sure he can be trusted?" he frowned.

"Positive. We'll continue this later." Anderson said, pursing his lips together and stepping aside so that Udina had a straight time to the door.

With a throaty growl and even narrower eyes, Udina gave up his standing and started for the door, but stopped when he came next to Shepard.

"If it were me on that Council, you wouldn't have gotten your Spectre status reinstated." Udina hissed through clenched teeth.

Shepard smiled with a crooked grin and crossed his arms, "It's a good thing I didn't endorse you then. See ya later."

Shepard watched over his shoulder as Udina huffed from the embassy, slowly shaking his head at how easy it was to get that man's blood boiling. He waited for the doors to swoosh closed before he walked up to Anderson and switched gears from wanting to piss off Udina, to having a bone to pick with his old friend.

"You're a bastard Anderson." Shepard said flatly, crossing his arms to ignore Anderson's extended hand.

"Shepard? What's wrong?" Anderson asked, confused.

"You wanna explain to me why I just parked the _Normandy_ next to a ship under the command of _Staff_ _Commander_ Kaidan Alenko?" Shepard asked harshly, tightening his grip on his biceps to keep from pointing his finger at the Councilor.

Anderson's shoulders slumped, as he knew he was caught, "Shepard... You have to understand... With you under the flag of Cerberus, you aren't privy to any Alliance information..." he would have continued if Shepard hadn't thrust that finger into his face.

"I am Alliance! I've never stopped being Alliance!" Shepard snapped back as his brows drew down into a sneer.

"Calm down Shepard... Try to see things from my perspective. I couldn't and I still can't tell you things and what Alenko is doing was one of those things." Anderson said as he took a step back, mainly to get some distance from Shepard finger.

Shepard dropped his hand, "You can't keep stonewalling me like this Anderson! What is Kaidan doing with his own ship? And a blacked out one for that matter!"

Anderson simply pursed his lips together and crossed his arms.

"Still huh?" he shook his head.

"Shepard, I can't and you know it. I'm sorry, but you know as well as I do that my hands are tied." Anderson said in a soft tone, hoping to defuse the anger that was radiating from Shepard.

Shepard sucked in a long breath and held it for a moment, "Anderson... At least give me a way to contact him. I'm tired of being in the dark here." he blew out his breath.

Anderson returned the sigh, and hung his head, "You aren't making this easy Shepard..."

"Then stop making this so difficult. Just give me something Anderson... Anything that I can use as some fraction of a lifeline." Shepard urged, placing his hands on his hips.

With his arms still crossed, Anderson motioned with his chin towards the large desk that sat in the corner and against the wall with the door, upon which Shepard looked over his shoulder.

"Take as much time as you need, but you can't go to the ship." Anderson said as he unfolded his arms.

"Because I'm not Alliance."

"Not entirely... There's only a handful of people that can go, let alone get on. Those assigned to her, me and Admiral Hackett. That's it." Anderson said.

"The terminal secured?"

Anderson nodded, "I'll give you some time."

Before Shepard could come up with anything more to say, Anderson headed for the door, patting Shepard's shoulder on his way by and left Shepard to it.

Alone in the large embassy, Shepard finally got a chance to take in the state of the place. Every tabletop was smothered in datapads, with so many forgotten cups of coffee that the air in the place had the subtle odor of staled beans. The edges of the plants' leaves were browned and dry, crispy from neglect and lack of hydration.

Turning his attention to the desk in the corner, he saw that it was relatively on the clean side, with only a couple datapads strewn about. He came around and sat down, swiping his hand over the terminal to bring it online as he looked at the holoframe that had been face planted down. He picked it up to see that it was a photo of Shepard and the crew of the original Normandy after the Battle of the Citadel, rubble all around them like a war torn gladiatorial arena.

Setting it down, Shepard began to search Anderson's terminal, he found his secured contacts, which wasn't difficult, and began to look for the one contact he wanted to see most.

Waiting for the call to be picked up, his stomach twisted and knotted itself, curdling his resolve to keep from throwing up all over the floor. He realized he had no idea what to say, no clue at all at what he was going to tell his best friend. What could he say that didn't sound crazy, or like some fanciful story that was told to children at bedtime.

However, before he could really think of anything at all, the line picked up and the screen warped into what looked like private quarters.

_"Hello Councilor...Gabriel?" _Kaidan had picked up and was most definitely shocked.

"Yeah... Hey man. You answered my request." Shepard said, feeling a tightness in his throat, but managed to choke it down.

_"Of course I did. Did you have a doubt I wouldn't?" _Kaidan asked with a brief smirk ghosting across his lips.

Shepard rubbed the back of his neck, "I didn't know what to think. I was floored when I saw that that ship belonged to you."

_"I wish I could tell you all about it Gabe, but I can't. I hope you can understand."_

"I understand," Shepard sighed as he reached into his pocket and pulled a coin, "I uh... I keep finding these around." he flipped the coin around in his hand.

_"I figured they'd be the best way to catch your attention." _

"You aren't worried about changing anything like last time?" Shepard asked, lowering his voice slightly.

_"These aren't stagnant. You don't have to take their advice, but they'll help you out." _Kaidan said with a quick glance over his shoulder as Lycan walked up behind him.

"Hey girl," the lump returned, "How are you?" his eyes started to sting.

_"I'm good. Look at you..." _Lycan said, knowing Shepard's answer by the scars carving through his face.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah... I know. Is Ashley with you guys?" the lump got thicker and made it hard to breath.

_"No... I'm sorry Gabe. If I could tell you, I would... You know that." _Kaidan said with a sigh.

"I know. I was... I was just hoping she was there. I miss her." Shepard admitted as his eyes came dangerously close to overflowing.

_"I know you do," _Kaidan looked over his shoulder and whispered something to Lycan, causing her to step away, _"I hope that helps a little." _

"You didn't have to send her away for my sake... Are you two happy?" Shepard asked, just as a crack racked through his voice.

Kaidan nodded, _"Yeah... Yeah we are." _to Shepard, it looked like Kaidan's eyes were a bit on glassy side as well.

"Good... I'm happy for you. Can you... Can you tell me how Ashley's doing? At least?" saying her name again was the last straw as the first tear fell from his eyes.

_"I can. She's doing good from the last time I talked to her. She moved in with me and Ly after your..." _Kaidan stopped himself from saying it.

Shepard lightly sniffled, "My funeral?"

Kaidan nodded, _"Yeah," _he conspicuously wiped his eye, _"It was hard... for everyone. She really needed support and we were there for her. She still hasn't come to grips with what happened." _he said with another quick swipe underneath his other eye.

"Neither have I." Shepard mumbled, wanting to ask another question, but not wanting to sound ridiculous.

However, Kaidan knew exactly which question was rattling around in his friend's head, _"She isn't seeing anyone else you know. She never even thought about going on a date. She even keeps a picture of you and her next to her bed. She never stopped loving you Shepard." _

That did it. The tears came.

"I need to find her Kaidan. It's killing me not knowing if she's ok." Shepard said, using the back of his hand to wipe away tears from his scared cheeks.

_"I can't say much, but she is ok. I promise." _Kaidan said as he lightly scratched his shoulder.

"Good... I'm glad." Shepard could only nod as he attempted at bringing his tears under control.

_"How are you doing? I'll be honest... You look like Hell." _Kaidan said, trying not to scoff in disbelief at the deep red scars and subtly glowing eyes looking back at him through the video connection.

Shepard sniffed deep, "Not great. Everyday's a reminder that I can't get away from. You can see why." he instinctually rubbed his face, but felt no pain from the jagged looking and glowing scars.

_"How long has it been since you've slept?"_

"I honestly don't know. I'm on fumes man. I've got nothing left." Shepard raked a hand back over his hair and roughly enough as to leave long red marks over his scalp.

_"Now, I know that's not true... Jesus Christ Shepard! What the Hell happened?" _Kaidan stared shocked at the freshly healed scar the Shepard was showing him by pulling up his sleeve.

"I did this Kaidan! I broke my fucking my mirror and cut my fucking arm open!" Shepard snapped, unable to keep his voice from raising.

_"You did that?" _Kaidan leaned in slightly, _"Wait a second... That runs along the inside of your bicep... You cut your Brachial didn't you." _the shock continued.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah... I was lucky someone found me. I didn't mean to Kaidan. I... I just blanked out and my body did it on its own." he released his sleeve and let it return to covering his new scar.

_"Gabriel... I... I really don't know what to say man. What can I do to help? You're spiraling." _Kaidan asked with sheer concern.

"Just tell me you believe me when I say I didn't fake my death. Tell me you believe I didn't defect to work for these pricks." as much as he didn't want them to, Shepard's tears returned.

_"Calm down Gabe... I know you wouldn't be working with them unless you had a damn good reason to, and I know you really did die. I've known you long enough to know that you wouldn't make something like that up." _

At hearing those words spew from between his best friend's lips, Shepard's throat released the lump and let it clunk down into his stomach to make it roll with relief. He wasn't alone, fighting alone against an impossible enemy. He wasn't just a shadow of the man he used to be because if he wasn't, his best friend wouldn't still be standing beside him, albeit figuratively.

"That means a lot. It really does." Shepard choked out, sucking in a deep breath to help steady himself a bit.

_"I believe... we believe in you Shepard. We know why you're doing what it is you're doing, and we'll be here for support. We've got your back." _Kaidan said with a sad expression on his face.

"Thank you. So where you headed to next?" Shepard brief ghosted a smile.

Kaidan smiled with a crooked grin, _"You'll find out soon enough Shepard. Just be careful out there. I doubt Cerberus'll spend the four billion credits again to rebuild you a second time." _

Shepard's brows furrowed, "What? How'd you know that?"

_"I know a lot now Shepard." _Kaidan said with the crooked smile spreading just a bit wider.

"I guess so. I uh... I guess I'll see you around then." Shepard said, sighing.

_"We can only hope so. Take it easy man." _

With that, the vid link went dark, leaving Shepard sitting in the quiet of the embassy with only his thoughts as company. The sheer amount of relief that flood through him was almost overwhelming, but at the same time, it was so, utterly welcomed that he somehow felt liberated. He didn't feel like he was lost in a endless darkness anymore. He didn't feel alone, or forgotten, cast aside like garbage to be picked up and incinerated. He felt just a little more human.

But the feeling didn't last long however, as his Omni-Tool started beeping with an incoming call. Pursing his lips together, he answered, only to be disgusted at who was on the other end.

_"Shepard... I tried reaching you on the Normandy, but Ms. Lawson said you were out." _The Illusive Man said with slightly narrowed and strange eyes.

"I had something I needed to take care of. What do you want?" Shepard asked a bit on the harsh side.

_"I have some new information for you. I've received a tip that the Collectors are going to hit another colony." _

"Which one?" Shepard's brows furrowed.

_"A colony called Horizon, but that's not all my tip informed me about. There's something else you should know." _

"Just fucking spit it out old man." Shepard hissed.

_"One of your old squad mates is stationed there. I believe you know Operations Chief Ashley Williams?" _

Shepard's heart stopped, "What did you just say?"

_"I believe I was clear. Ashley Williams is on Horizon." _

That was all Shepard needed to hear before he cut the link and bolted for the door with only one thing on his mind. He needed to save the woman he still loved.


	58. Chapter 58

Chapter 58: Bright Horizon

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: Here's a heads up for my readers... Once Mass Effect 3 comes out, I'm sure you can guess what I'll be doing and it won't be writing. However, I will be writing in the evenings, so eventually, the chapters will come. I ask that you simply be patient with me as you always have been. Thank you guys!)_

The stars couldn't whisk by fast enough for Shepard, and they weren't. Not by a long shot.

With the _Normandy_ at a hard burn, she was going as fast as she could, which was blazingly fast, but the kind of hurry Shepard was in, no ship could have satisfied it.

Trying anything to get his mind off his frantic worry, he stood in the Armory, clad in his N7 hardsuit, working on his pistols to make sure they would fire true. There was no risk he wouldn't take to make sure she was safe, no chance he wouldn't gamble with to keep her alive, but a faulty weapon was not one of them.

Today, his guns would be the death bringers to any Collector stupid enough to get in his way. They would take as many lives as necessary with no hesitation and he wouldn't stop until every Collector that had dared set foot on the colony of Horizon was dead and burning.

Snapping a fresh thermal clip into his heavy pistol, Shepard collapsed and placed the weapon onto his hip to join its partner in crime; His submachine gun.

However, nearby, Jacob Taylor nervously, but subtly gulped as he gathered the courage to speak to the incredibly tense man whom was armed to the teeth.

"Uh... Commander. Dr. Solus wants to see you." Jacob said, managing an even tone so not to give away his nerves.

Halting for the briefest of moments, Shepard glanced at the Armory officer with a blank, cold stare, "Thank you. Go ahead and let Garrus know he's coming with." he ordered with the same coldness as his glare.

"Aye aye Commander." Jacob nodded.

Without even an acknowledgement that he had heard Jacob's reply, Shepard turned and headed for the door that interconnected the Armory with the Tech Lab, grabbing the Arc Projector as he passed by the table where it sat.

Inside the Tech Lab, Mordin was happily plucking away at his terminal on the largest of the lab tables with the periodic glance at a containment chamber with very pissed off looking Seeker unit inside. The vile little thing very much resembled a bloated cockroach, furiously skittering across the glass chamber in its desperate attempt to get outside.

"You wanted to see me?" Shepard asked as he walked up to the long table and placed his hands on its top.

"Yes. Countermeasures nearly ready. Need to test. Horizon will do." Mordin rattled off without looking up from his terminal.

"Will they work?" Shepard asked, still with no change in his expression.

"Confident. Should prevent Seeker swarms from locating team members. Disguised life sign signatures to resemble local indigenous lifeforms. Seekers will see small forest creature, not human specimen." Mordin said with a momentary glance up this time.

"Lets hope so," he took a deep breath, "By the way, you're hitting dirt with me and Garrus, so get ready. We'll be there soon." Shepard said, taking his hands off the lab table and stepping up to the containment chamber which didn't sit well the angry bug inside.

"Will be ready. Interested in seeing countermeasures myself," Mordin finished with his terminal and finally looked at Shepard for longer then a fleeting second, seeing the tension in his shoulders and posture, "Curious. Tension is higher then usual. Suggests distraction. Not going to injure self again are you?"

Finally a show of emotion as Shepard huffed a laugh, "No. I'm not gonna be doing that," he sighed, "There's just... There's someone special on Horizon and... I'm worried... scared actually that we might not make it in time." he admitted, crossing his arms as he stared at the Seeker trying to claw its way out to get to him.

"Former squad mate?" Mordin asked, stepping out from behind the lab table to join Shepard.

Shepard nodded, his brows drawing down slightly, "Among other things." the Seeker bug was starting to grate on his last nerve.

Mordin sniffed, "Interesting. Pheromones suggest romantic interest. Human female squad mate? Former lover?" he crossed his long, thin arms, tapping his chin with a finger.

Again, Shepard nodded, "Yeah. I loved her... Still do."

Mordin nodded as well, "Emotional attachments short lived in Salarians. Lifespan too short. Human attachments much more important. Are attachments returned by female?"

"I'm not sure, but I hope so. I'd understand if she hated me though. I did just up and die on her." Shepard said, waggling his finger in front of the angry Seeker to antagonize it.

"Death unfortunate, but not your fault. Eventual understanding likely." Mordin smiled, almost smugly, but it was returned by Shepard.

"I hope you're right. She's the reason I do what I do." Shepard admitted, getting a sick satisfaction at seeing the Seeker claw and screech louder at him them ore pissed off it got.

"Looking at smaller picture to prevent overwhelming feelings of saving entire galaxy," he took his a deep breath, "Smart."

"I have my moments."

As the pair fell silent, watching the Seeker unit get angrier by the second, Mordin reached forward and tapped a red holopanel on the side of the chamber. At his command, a high pitched whine filled the Tech Lab, ringing in their ears as the inside of the chamber filled with a contained ball of hellfire, consuming the screaming Seeker in an instant to leave nothing behind but a flaky pile of black ash.

Mordin smiled as he glanced at Shepard, seeing a mild expression of shock. He turned to head back to his lab table, patting Shepard's shoulder as he walked by with a sense of calm.

"Aren't you gonna need that?" Shepard asked, looking to Mordin since there was nothing in the chamber anymore to hold his attention.

"Countermeasure failure will result in imminent capture. No need. Won't get second chance." Mordin said with another short lived smile.

Shepard couldn't stop from barking a laugh, "I guess that's true." he turned back to the lab table, "Thank you Mordin."

"Figured therapeutic to see Seeker unit destroyed." Mordin said as he turned his attention back to his terminal.

"We'll be having a lot more therapy once we get to Horizon." Shepard said with a quick head tilt.

"Intend on it." Mordin smiled.

Just then, as if he had been waiting for a decent moment to interrupt, Joker's voice came down from the comms above, _"Commander... We're approaching Horizon. Shuttle departure in five."_

"Understood. Page Garrus and tell him to meet us in the hanger bay." Shepard's emotions returned to their cold, murderous state.

_"Already done."_

With the comms clicking off, Shepard uncrossed his arms and placed his hands on his hips, "Time to go."

"Therapy session awaits." Mordin smiled as he locked his terminal to follow Shepard to the hanger.

* * *

You wouldn't know by looking at Horizon, that it was harboring a dark, evil secret. The sun was brilliantly yellow overhead, warming the air almost a little too much and making it somewhat uncomfortable to breath, but the breeze going through more then made up for it. It came off the ocean nearby to wash a coolness over everything, rustling the green and brown grass like invisible fingers through fine threads of hair.

But despite the beauty, what hung in the sky, over a farmer's field like a towering tombstone, was the largest, most alien looking ship any of them had ever seen.

"What in God's name..." Shepard breathed as he stepped from the shuttle onto their landing zone, unable to take his eyes off the massive ship.

"Spirits... That's bigger then Sovereign." Garrus stared, jaw and mandibles lazed and agape.

"Collector ship. Needs to be large to carry human cargo." Mordin said, being the last off the shuttle and giving its pilot the go ahead to leave.

Shepard could only glare, taking in the ship's odd profile which looked more like an elongated asteroid with a series of metal rings around it. Drawing in a deep breath, he pulled his submachine gun and activated his tech armor, silently ordering Garrus and Mordin to ready their weapons with a curt nod. He surveyed their immediate area before setting out, but all seemed quiet. The only sound they could hear was the rustling of nearby trees, but the calming silence was soon broken by a sharp buzz of an approaching Seeker swarm.

Stiffening, Shepard watched as the black swirling mass rushed their way, but it seemed to just be flying around aimlessly. It wasn't coming for them, or acting as if it saw them. It just flew in a squirmy cloud looking for colonists whom were trying to hide.

"Good. Countermeasures seem to be functional." Mordin smiled with his weapon trained at the ground.

"Lets hope the good news continues." Shepard said a bit quietly as he started towards a gentle slope that lead upwards.

The small clearing where they had landed took them passed a large, motionless defense turret that wheeled around into what looked like a loading area drowned with crates of all sizes. There was plenty of cover should anything confront them and sure enough, something did.

Flying in from over the tall wall towards the back of the loading area, a large handful of Collector drones with insect like wings, landed with their weapons already firing in Shepard's direction. The three instantly dove behind whatever crate they could, keeping their heads down as they waited for breaks in Collector fire to return their own brand of deadly.

Mordin and Garrus fell into a comfortable routine of cryo freezing and concussing the drones, shattering their victims into brick sized bits while Shepard wasted little time in using his Biotics.

There wasn't a second that went by that his swaying corona dimmed as he lifted, threw and warped as much as he could. His pistol was nearly forgotten as he lifted two drones from behind their crates and brought his hands together, slamming the drones into each other with enough force to shatter a ship's hull. Once those two were promptly discharged, he turned his attention to a drone taking aim at Garrus, which would prove to be the worst mistake of its life as Shepard warped it so hard, no one could tell what the lumpy, pulpy mass on the ground used to be anymore.

Once their welcoming party was dispatched, Shepard set a near impossible pace, blasting through drones and even going as far as shattering a frozen one with a strong swing of his submachine gun. He became reckless in his urgency to rid the colony, but as they pushed down a long passageway towards the multileveled colony homes, the standing, immobile figure of a human stopped him dead in his tracks.

Collapsing and placing his weapon on his hip, Shepard sprinted straight for the frozen person, not caring if there were any more Collector drones looking to put him down. His heart hummed in his chest with overwhelming hope that it was Ashley, that he had gotten to her in time before the Collectors took her away, out of his life forever, but as he drew closer, there was something wrong.

The frozen figure was a woman, but her skin and hair were wrong. She was pale, and blonde with bright blue eyes that followed him as best they could. She wasn't Ashley and his heart nearly stopped cold.

"You're not Ashley." Shepard breathed, looking at the poor woman, frozen in mid stride from her flee.

His chest hurt, physically tightening as his hopes were dashed, crushed beneath the weight of the possibility he might not find her in time. They had blown through a small squadron of Collector drones, leaving nothing but piles of ashes and corpses in their wake, smearing black, oozy blood over every nearby structure like a child finger painting the walls.

He gave his head a quick shake to bring himself back around when Mordin and Garrus finally caught up, somewhat out of breath from trying match his pace.

"Curious. Human female immobilized, but left conscious." Mordin said, tapping his nearly nonexistent chin with a long finger as he studied the frozen figure that still held Shepard's attention.

"Why would the Collectors want their victims awake?" Garrus asked, studying the woman and taking note of the odd, black cloud that wrapped around her, "And what's this black cloud? Is this what's keeping her frozen?" he went to touch it.

However, before Garrus's talon got too close, Shepard grabbed his wrist and pulled it away, "I wouldn't. It might spread." he said, trying desperately to keep from falling into despair at not finding Ashley yet.

Mordin scanned the woman with his Omni-Tool, "Paralytic agent delivered by Seeker sting. Cloud prevents attempts to disable. Likely spreads upon contact."

Shepard released Garrus's wrist, "Why haven't the Collectors taken her yet?" he asked, releasing a shaky breath.

"They probably haven't gotten to her yet. They've kinda got other things to worry about." Garrus said, checking his rifle.

"We'll make sure it stays that way. Is she gonna be safe here?" Shepard asked, still with no emotions as he took his submachine gun from his hip, ready to continue.

"Unsure. Only way to guarantee safety is to rid colony of Collectors. Suggest we get moving." Mordin said quickly.

With nothing more then a nod, Shepard started through the abandoned homes, plucking up whatever thermal clips he could find. Everything was just left where it sat; dishes, meals, equipment and even forgotten laundry had just been left to gather dust.

They entered the central courtyard, filled with more crates and Collectors that were either blown up with various canisters of explosive material, or frozen into ice sculptures to be broken by either Garrus's concussive shots, or Shepard's heavy throws. They violently worked their way to a hanger that had been locked from the inside.

Once the Collectors had been dealt with, Shepard ran up to the large door and began working to hack the lock while Mordin and Garrus stood guard. To Shepard's trained prowess, the lock was simple, easily cracked with a simple bypass algorithm that took all of ten seconds to complete and turn the holopanel from red, to green.

Inside what thought to be a hanger, was actually a bunker. The lights were low and the air was intentionally kept cool, almost too cool, like the person inside was trying to mask their signature from the looming Seeker swarms. Shepard took it slow as he stepped inside, out of the sun and scanned the room, looking for something unusual, but only seeing server banks that were still functioning.

He started for the far side of the bunker towards another larger door, but as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he head a shuffle and what barely passed for a gasp.

"Who's there?" Shepard demanded, holding his weapon up, "Come out!"

"Don't shoot! I'm human!" a scared, older man in a hat yelped as he crawled out from a cubbyhole with his hands up.

Immediately, Shepard dropped his weapon, "Who are you?"

"I'm the local mechanic. I've been hiding in here since those things arrived and started stinging people." the older man said, sitting on his butt and leaning back against one of the server banks.

"I saw those defense towers outside... Why aren't they blasting the living fuck out of that thing?" Shepard asked as his brows furrowed with barely contained anger.

"Those things aren't worth the scrap they're made out of. They don't work." the man said with a sneer.

"Why?" Shepard simply asked, kneeling down in front of the man to at least give him a look over for any obvious injuries.

"I don't know. I work with machinery, not electronics. All I know is that something's up with the software. That Alliance broad's been trying to fix 'em, but she hasn't done shit. She's useless." he said without noticing the now loose anger coloring Shepard's skin a violent red.

Before the older man could even realize what he had said, Shepard's fist snatched a thick handful of his shirt and yanked him close to hear the snarl of his voice.

"You might wanna rephrase that." Shepard hissed through clenched teeth.

The old mechanic's hands went up in defense, "Why? What I say?"

"That 'Alliance broad' you just said was useless, could put a round between your eyes from three hundred meters and recite poetry just for the fun of it and you... just said it to her old CO." Shepard said with a growl, but refused to let go of his shirt.

"Whoa easy man... You gotta understand... Everyone who moves here is looking to get away from the Alliance. Having her show up here is an insult..." the older man said, only to be cut off when the angry, armored man harshly grabbed his chin.

"You couldn't be farther from the truth. Tell me where she is before you test my _very_ thin patience." Shepard ordered, angrily tightening his grip to the point of pain.

"Ok... Ok... Last I saw, she was walking with Lilith to the new defense towers in the spaceport when that ship showed up. She... She, she was one of the first people stung by those big bug things." the old man quickly yammered, hands still up in defense as his fear rose again.

Hearing that, Shepard's blood ran cold, paling his skin as he released the old mechanic and stood up straight, placing one hand on his hip while his other harshly scraped back over his head. His love had been one of the first to be immobilized, stung by a frightening and alien insect to stand as a fully conscious statue. His resolve only burned hotter to get to her. He had to hope that she hadn't been taken yet. _Just because she was one of the first, doesn't mean she was taken already right? She's just been frozen longer. That's all! _He screamed at himself as he closed his eyes and just breathed, trying to center himself.

After what seemed like an eternity for the other three, Shepard finally opened his eyes, chewing on the inside of his bottom lip with both hands now on his hips.

"You stay put and lock the doors again when we leave." he ordered, looking over his shoulder at the old mechanic still sitting on the floor.

"Don't worry about that. I plan on it." the mechanic said a bit harshly as he clambered to his feet.

With a brief glare, Shepard motioned with his head towards their exit door, pulling his weapon in the process and closely followed by Garrus and Mordin. The door quickly popped open to let them out into the outskirts of the spaceport, immediately snapping shut behind them and locking to the point where the holopanel vanished altogether, so no one else could try and hack their way in.

Still standing in the shade, Shepard raised a hand to his combat visor and hailed the _Normandy._

"EDI... What do we need to do to get those defense towers online?" he asked, scanning the area for any hiding Collectors, waiting in ambush.

_"I can do it, but you will need to manually activate the uplink." _EDI said in his ear.

"Where do I do that?"

_"The central control hub that commands the defense towers. However, I will need some time to find and correct the issue. It is likely the Collectors will try and stop you." _she said simply.

"I'd be more worried if they didn't try. How far are we?" Shepard asked, snapping his head around when he thought he heard something.

_"Not far. You should see the central control hub on the other side of the far door from your position... I also recommend that you get moving. Collectors are inbound."_

At that, Shepard's weapon raised just as a team of Collectors flew in, not even waiting for their feet to hit the ground before they started shooting and just like all the others, they were quickly felled.

Shepard ran towards the far door, nearly at an all out sprint as the sudden rush, the pure need to hurry and try to find Ashley nearly drowned out everything else. He couldn't hear anything other then his own racing heart beat. He couldn't feel anything other then the crushing weight of dread if he didn't get to her in time. Numbness was all he felt.

Coming to a halt on the other side of the door, the squad immediately took cover in case the Collectors were already poised and ready, but no shots came. Shepard peaked over the top of his crate for a quick look and saw nothing, not even a sign that the enemy might be waiting for them. He stepped out from behind the crate and stood still for a moment, testing the waters for any sharks as it were before he started to take steps forward, soon followed by his two squad mates.

"It's empty." Garrus said quietly, rifle up and ready to fire.

"Every place has been empty until those fucking bugs come flying with." Shepard said with a growl and deep intakes of breath.

"Ambush likely. Caution is recommended." Mordin said, doing a three sixty to check their flank.

Shepard barely nodded as he looked ahead to a raised landing pad, seeing a terminal attached to a tall transmission antenna that was likely to be the central control unit for the defense towers. He carefully stepped forward, watching his every step so not to trigger any awaiting traps that the Collectors might have laid.

"I don't like this... It's too quiet." Shepard said, creeping through the stacks of crates that had just been left and abandoned.

"Likely Collectors waiting for optimum time to ambush." Mordin said as he pushed a crate over to sate his mild hunch that a Collector might have been hiding in it.

_"Shepard... Once you manually connect the link, it will take time for me to repair the errors." _EDI said as Shepard reached the landing pad and climbed up onto it.

"How fast can you do this?" Shepard asked, putting his pistol away as he brought up his Omni-Tool to initiate the link.

_"I will work as fast as I can Shepard. However, I am unable to provide you with an accurate estimate, as I am unaware how many errors I will need to correct." _EDI reported as smoothly as she always does.

"Do it as fast as possible EDI. You know the stakes." Shepard said as he sucked in a long, shaky breath.

With no more time to waste, Shepard worked the terminal from his Omni-Tool, quickly activating the link to the _Normandy_ to begin the process of getting the defense towers online. The moment the terminal hummed to life, EDI's voice came back into his ear.

_"I have connection Shepard. Though, I must warn you, the Collectors are inbound to your position with heavy forces. They are likely going to attempt to sever the connection." _

Shepard's anger began to boil over once more as he jumped down from the platform and simultaneously pulled his submachine gun from his hip. However, when his booted feet hit the browned, trampled grass, the insect like buzzing of approaching Collectors began to ricochet off the stacks of crates and the surrounding walls.

Sure enough, a massive amount of Collector drones came charging in from all directions whether it be by air, or by ground. Shepard and his squad ducked behind whatever stack was closest to them, picking various targets and doing whatever was necessary to take them out of the fray. Soon, the party was joined by a wave of husks, flailing about as they all charged for Shepard, soullessly staring at him.

Before Shepard was able to realize what his subconscious was doing, his body was awash with Biotic tendrils, all violently whipping about, ready to take control. Crates and bodies within a twenty yard radius of him began to raise themselves into the air, wrapped in glowing clouds of Biotic energy that sparked with thin claws of bright lightning. His blue eyes were swathed in radiating blue fire, anger filling every corner of his being as he destroyed Collector drone and husk alike in his haste to save those whom were still frozen. Ashley included.

When the last Collector drone fell, Shepard finally received a report from EDI.

_"Shepard... I am detecting highly elevated vitals. I recommended that you slow down." _

"I don't have that luxury EDI! How much longer?" Shepard asked sharply, crouching down behind a barrier railing of a raised catwalk between two prefabs.

_"Soon Shepard. I am currently working on the last error in the software." _there was a pause, _"Shepard... I am detecting another incoming Collector, but this one is much larger then the others. It is likely one that we have not encountered before." _

His Biotic energy still enveloping him, Shepard looked towards the monolithic profile of the Collector ship, seeing a black shape coming towards them and growing larger by every passing second. He strained to see it, but as it few closer, its identity became known.

The new Collector was massive in comparison to the normal drones, having one set of tremendously large legs with sever smaller sets, and a head shaped like a crab with many eyes that glowed a piercing blue.

"What the fuck is that?" Shepard asked, not really expecting an answer, but got one anyways.

_"I am unsure Shepard. However, I am reading a powerful shield generator and a heavily armored skin. Perhaps heavy weapons fire can destroy it." _

Groaning, Shepard placed his submachine gun onto his hip and reached behind him, grabbing ahold of his chosen heavy weapon and brought it up. He peered over the top of the railing to see the massive Collector looking right at him with its intent clear, but he never gave it a chance to make its first strike.

Aiming his heavy weapon, he sent a powerful shocking charge at the beast, maintaining its attention while Garrus and Mordin unloaded everything they had on the thing. The shocking lightning caused the beast to shriek with a blood curdling noise, making Shepard's ears painfully ring. He refused to back down, refused to give the beast a chance to do anything other then shriek as he fired shot after shot of weaponized lightning, growing angrier each time the abomination didn't fall. The blue glow of his corona refused to subside as it continued to hover crates and various body parts, beginning to rip them apart with crushing force.

As the beast grew fed up with getting electrocuted, it slammed hard into the ground with a violent shockwave, sending Shepard off the catwalk and onto the browned grass. He watched as his heavy weapon skittered under the grated walkway, out of his reach and leaving him unarmed. That just pissed him off more.

He had had it. He was truly irate with everything going on, but the target of his temper was the Collector standing between him, and finding Ashley.

Climbing to his feet, Shepard finally unleashed what little Biotics that was still under his willpower and took control of two very large, very heavy crates that hovered on either side of the Collector beast. He gritted his teeth together hard as every muscle in his body went rigid, his throat rumbling with low, angry growls that really should have only belonged in the throat of a big cat.

"I have had enough of you fucks!" Shepard roared as he brought his hands together.

Upon his command, the large crates came together with thundering force, pining the Collector between them and pluming a spray of black ooze to the ground. Again and again, Shepard slammed the crates together, each time spilling more black ooze and disfiguring the Collector beast even more until it was nothing more then a quivering pile of bad smelling meat.

_"I have succeeded Shepard. Defense towers are online." _EDI reported.

"Fire!" Shepard screamed, the crates around still hovering like a set of planetary rings.

With a whirring hum, the defense guns came around and took their aim, booming to life with thunder cracks that sent mass accelerated Tungsten slugs rocketing towards the Collector ship. The thunder of gunfire was soon joined by a rumbling whir as the ship came to life, its orbiting metal rings beginning to slowly spin as it lifted off the ground in its desperate attempt to get away from the gunfire.

The defense towers were relentless in their assault until the Collector ship was no longer insight. That is when all fell into a deathly, desperate quiet.

"No..." Shepard breathed, his Biotic aura finally falling away as the crates thunked to the ground, "No! No! Get back here!" he screamed as he started to run towards where it had landed, only to skid to a halt near the central control hub when he realized he couldn't catch it.

"It's gone. It took everyone." Garrus said quietly as he came up to Shepard's side.

Shepard's eyes wasted no time in glassing over, "No... We failed... I failed... I..." his words failed him as he pressed his hands into the now offline control hub to keep himself on his feet.

Garrus stepped up to his friend and placed his taloned hand on Shepard's armored shoulder, "She could still be..." was as far as he got until Shepard spun around with a sweeping arm to remove his hand.

"Don't touch me!" tears started to stream down his face, "I lost her! I wasn't fast enough and I let her get taken! Don't you dare stand there and tell she _might_ still be here!" Shepard screamed, ignoring his wet face from tears.

"Shepard... You did everything you could." Garrus said, hands up in defense.

Shepard's body started to glow again, "I didn't do enough." he glared as his heart painfully throbbed in his chest.

As his pain grew exponentially, the old mechanic came running through the door Shepard and his squad had come through.

"They took everyone! All those good, honest people... Just gone." the mechanic said, coming to a stop at the base of the platform where Shepard stood.

With more anger, Shepard sneered at the man, "Don't you think I know that you sniveling old man! You could have fucking helped you coward!" he roared taking furious steps towards the older man.

"You could have been better!" the old mechanic fired back.

However, before Shepard came within an arms length of the man to most likely reduce the man into a corpse, a soft, relieved voice stopped him dead.

"Shepard! Don't!" the voice yelled from the opposite door that the mechanic had come through.

His heart jumping into his throat, Shepard spun around to see a gleaming white and red figure with dark, silky brown hair pulled into a bun that had let loose much of its gather. The debilitating ache in his chest turned into a powerful hum as he saw her, the water in his eyes only serving to spill more tears down his cheeks.

As Ashley walked closer, Shepard's features defined themselves, the glowing red scars outlining his face and the evil red tint that shrouded his sparkling blue eyes immediately captured her attention. He still looked the same, but it was almost like she was looking at the hidden demon he had fought so hard to keep contained, but something wasn't right. Something was different about the shadow of a man she used to love standing in front of her. His evil, angry looking eyes were not showing a violent intent, but one of sadness, relief even, as she saw the tears that had completely filled his eyes.

"A-Ashley... Y-You're ok." he breathed, just staring as if he was looking at an angel.

Ashley had to force herself to keep from gasping, "S-Skipper..." she said, nearly a whisper, but it's as far as she got.

After a moment, a miniscule, meaningless moment, Shepard launched forward, wrapping his arms around her in an embrace so tight that she could swear she could feel him through her armor. She was stiff for a breath, but it didn't last as wrapped her own arms around him and cradled his head to her shoulder.

Finally in each other's arms, their faces buried themselves into each other's necks, taking in the long lost scent of each other's lover that immediately rushed back every forgotten memory.

Opening her eyes, Ashley looked at Shepard's back, seeing that his shoulders were bouncing from silent sobs, but whether they were from joy, or despair, she didn't know. She tenderly placed her hands on either side of his neck and gently pulled his head from the crook of her shoulder, bringing his forehead to press against hers and to confirm that he was, indeed, sobbing.

"I thought I... lost you." Shepard hiccuped, starting to softly smile as he brushed his hands over her hair.

Ashley felt her own eyes beginning to fill with tears, "I'm the one who should be saying that. I thought you were dead." the first of many spilled over.

Shepard sniffled, "I was baby... I swear it..." his rambling started, "I'm so sorry Ash. I was dead... You have to believe me... I-I... I didn't wanna leave you like that. I never wanna leave you again. I'm so sorry... I'm so... sorry..." he shook as his sobbing became too hard and he sank to his knees, taking Ashley with him.

Ashley gently stroked the nape of his neck, but too quickly released her grip on him and stood, leaving him on all fours and crying.

"But Cerberus? Cerberus?" she repeated, her words airy and mildly angry.

Shepard fell back to sit on his heels as he looked up at her, "I... I woke up in their lab somewhere... Everything was on fire and... exploding... I had to fight my way out," he wiped his face, "It wasn't my choice Ash... The Illusive Man... He... He..." he couldn't find the words as his voice just continued to hiccup with barely restrained sobs.

Ashley simply closed her eyes, but when she did, the letter she had received from Lycan came front and center. Everything she had written was coming to fruition, right down to seeing Shepard after the Collectors had seemed to flee. She watched, hands on her hips as he lost control, breaking down like a man at his wits end, with nothing left, not even hope.

She knelt in front of him once more and placed her hands on either side of his head again, forcing him to look at her.

"Your dad says hi... and he said that he loves you." Shepard said with a raw voice filled with sobs.

Ashley huffed, "Anyone can say that Skipper," she lightly ran her hand over his very short hair, "That doesn't prove anything." she sighed, standing with the urge to walk away straining in her legs.

"Grant." Shepard said with a harsh sniffle.

That name... That name was one she knew intimately and it froze her solid, making her heart thump with an ache. This time, when she dropped to her knees again, it wasn't controlled. It was harsh, so was her grasping of Shepard's head.

"What did you say?" she asked, her breath smearing over Shepard's face.

"Your father's name... It's Grant." Shepard's sob had calmed and the tears had finally stopped, but his eyes were still puffy.

"I never told you his name." she breathed, her thumbs drying the lingering teardrops beneath his eyes.

Shepard placed his own hand over hers, "I know."

"How..."

"I really was dead Ash... Please... Believe me." Shepard pleaded, subtly tilting his head towards her to briefly brush her gasped lips with his own.

"I... I do. I believe everything. I... I'm sorry I ever doubted you." Ashley said, her heart beginning to hum from being so close to her love once more.

Unable to stop himself, Shepard closed the distance, crushing his lips to hers in a desperate kiss to remind himself what she tasted like and how her lips felt. They were just like how he remembered them, soft and supple with the slightest hint of fruit from whatever lip balm she had been using. He couldn't stop his arms from wrapping around her and pulling her into him, falling backwards onto his back with her on top of him, in the middle of the spaceport, in armor, in front of his squad mates.

After a few moments, Ashley broke their heated kiss and glanced up, seeing Garrus, Mordin and the old mechanic watching them.

"Um... Skipper?" she mumbled while the heat in her cheeks went supernova.

Shepard tossed his head back to see their audience upside down, "Oh... Uh," he rolled Ashley off him and sat up, "I need some time here guys so can you uh... leave?" he stood and helped Ashley up as well.

"We're just a comm link away Commander." Garrus said with a short nod as he lead the others away.

Staying silent until their audience was gone, Shepard tried to gather his thoughts, but he didn't get much time when Ashley grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the empty prefabs just outside the spaceport. She lead him up a flight of stairs and smashed her fist against the door's holopanel, opening the door into an incredibly neat and clean apartment, but before he could ask whom it belonged to, her lips were on his again.

This kiss held the same desperation as the last, but it was furious, heated and brimming with so much pent up passion that it nearly hurt. Her hands began tearing at the armored plates of his hardsuit, unsnapping and throwing away the ceramic plates like garbage to be forgotten. His hands returned the fervor as he ripped away what he could from her less advanced hardsuit.

"Who's..." he said between a brief break in their passionate kissing.

"Mine..." she mumbled against his lips, reaching behind him and unzipping the armored framing that the plates snapped to.

His breathing becoming erratic, Shepard forced their kiss apart so he could see what his hands were doing as he peeled her out of her hardsuit, exposing the one piece bodysuit she wore underneath. He went to rip it off her, but she lunged for him, throwing his balance off to fall backwards onto the bed with her straddling his hips. She clawed at his own bodysuit, nearly tearing it to pieces as she pulled it down, exposing his chest to see that one and only scar along his left arm.

"What happened?" she asked, leaning down to lightly, gently kiss the slightly pink mark.

"I... I did it... when I saw they were gone... I... I didn't realize I was doing it." Shepard strained to say, nearly gasping from the familiar sensations.

Ashley licked the length of the new scar, "I'll make it feel better," she purred, lightly nipping the portion of the scar that graced over his peck.

Shepard gasped as his hands roamed her form, pulling down her bodysuit to finally expose her skin. It was the same, felt the same and looked the same as his hands pushed the bodysuit down enough to expose half of her pert backside which he firmly grasped, but only after he pulled her lips back to his.

Ashley, somewhat painfully, groped at his bodysuit, now just a mesh type one piece, on her journey to find the zipper, but when she couldn't find it on his front, she pulled him into a sitting position and fumbled at his back. She found the pull for the zipper and tore it down, finally liberating Shepard from its confines as he shrugged his way out of it as far as it would go.

Both only halfway out of their bodysuits, they were quickly discarded, along with their undergarments until they were finally in each others arms to feel the skin they had desperately missed. Their kisses were sweltering, bruising and crushing as they reacquainted themselves with each other's bodies, exploring skin, rediscovering the pleasures of hearing the airy moans and gasps when nips and licks grazed over sensitive spots.

The concept of time had been lost between them as they made love, starting out desperate, feverish before mellowing out into a passionate, slow rhythm that lasted for hours. They had become covered in layers of sweat and tangled sheets, pinning them together in a jumble of limbs and kisses until they had become so breathless, so exhausted, that all they could do was lay in the bed in the night heat.

Simply trying to catch her breath, Ashley lay against Shepard's side with his arm around her to keep her close. Her head lay against his chest as her fingers traced the now perfect lines of cut muscle, wondering where all the familiar marks had gone, but the red... the red glowing and deep potted scars... She had to ask.

"What are these?" she asked airily, trailing a finger over one on his cheek as lightly as possible, not wanting to cause him pain.

Shepard drew in a shaky breath, "Leftovers from... being rebuilt. They won't heal... I can't get 'em to heal. They just keep getting worse." he said, trying to swallow his returning tears as he tightened his hold on on her, pulling her closer.

"Do they hurt?" she asked, lightly placing her hand on his opposite cheek that had no deep marks.

Shepard shook his head, "No... They just glow," he sighed, "Dr. Chakwas says that there's a machine that... that'll insulate the cybernetics. My eyes won't glow anymore and... my skin'll heal."

"What's stopping you?" she asked, gently resting her chin against his peck.

"It costs fifty thousand units of platinum." he lightly shrugged.

"What's the cost of your peace of mind?" she asked with tiny, adoring smile.

Shepard huffed a smile, "That's a good point. I'd look like myself again, but... I never get my old scars back."

"Where did they go?" she asked quietly, placing a soft kiss to Shepard's peck.

Shepard's own fingers traced lines up and down her bare arm, "Couldn't be saved. All this is new skin." he said, resting his cheek against her sweat dreaded hair as he stared at the far wall, halfway covered in their now untwisted sheet.

"Really? It's all new?" she asked, looking up at him.

Shepard nodded, "As far as I know. Doc's got all the files."

"Who else is with you?"

"Joker and Garrus so far." Shepard said, briefly smiling as he sighed.

"Wow..." she breathed, snuggling into her lover a bit more.

Shepard shifted so he could look into her eyes, "Come with me Ash... I need someone like you watching my back." he lightly brushed his knuckles across her cheek.

"I wish I could, but I can't. I have to report back to the Alliance with my report." she said, sitting up and clutching the sheet to her chest.

"W-What report?" Shepard asked, his hand resting on the small of her bare back as his brows lightly furrowed.

Ashley hung her head into her available hand, "The one about what happened here and who's actually abducting people." she nervously looked over her shoulder at Shepard.

Shepard's lips parted, "Does the Alliance think... Do they think I'm involved?" he forced a hard swallow to keep from getting angry, but it was getting harder.

"They think Cerberus is involved and... and since you're working with them..." she couldn't continue.

For some reason, Shepard's anger immediately vanish, "You're the first person whose said with, and not for."

Ashley briefly smiled with a low huff, "I know you better then that Skipper. I know you wouldn't be working for those people if you didn't have the right reasons, but I still don't trust them."

"I don't either, and I don't think I ever will, but... they're giving me the resources I need to stop the Collectors. Doc said the Alliance doesn't believe anything I've said." Shepard said, slumping back into his stack of pillows, but kept his hand on her back.

"The Council doesn't, but everyone who was with you on the Saren hunt knows different." Ashley said, still looking over her shoulder at Shepard.

"I wish that was enough Ash." Shepard sighed, looking away from her.

Ashley sympathetically smiled at him as she placed her hand on his lightly haired chest, "Anderson'll be happy to know that you're actually trying to stop these things. He was worried Cerberus might have done something to you."

Shepard's anger returned, "Wait a minute... What do you mean?"

"Anderson thought that maybe Cerberus was controlling you somehow, but I didn't believe it. He said that he had gotten intel that you were headed to Horizon. Anderson sent me here to investigate it. He didn't tell you?" she said, her heart thumping with a very disconcerting thought.

Shepard shook his head as he sat up, brushing his shoulder against hers.

"Oh God..." she breathed, "The defense towers were just my cover... What did he tell you?" she asked, looking hard into his crystal blue eyes.

"He didn't tell me shit other then that everything was classified and he couldn't tell me anything as long as I was with Cerberus. I didn't find out about you until The Illusive Man told me. He said he had gotten a tip that Horizon was the next to get hit." Shepard said, resting his lips against her shoulder.

"You heard it from this Illusive Man, and I heard from Anderson? Please tell me it's not like it sounds." Ashley said, sucking in breaths to try and keep herself from crying.

Shepard lifted his head and swung his legs around to sit on the bed with his head in his hands. His breathing was much like hers, harshly coming in and out as he concentrated on not tearing the room apart with his brain. It was a comfort when he felt Ashley's hand on his back with her legs snaking around his waist as he gently rested her head on his shoulder.

"I refuse to believe Anderson would have put you in danger like that, let alone get in bed with Cerberus just to find out what I was up to." Shepard said, placing a hand on her right thigh.

"I don't wanna believe it either Skipper, but..." she kissed his shoulder, "Tell me I wasn't just used as bait to flush you out." her voice shook with the thought.

At hearing her plea, Shepard's anger rose in its temperature with his Biotics slowly beginning to seep through the cracks. His body began to smoke with blue ghosty wisps that crawled all over Ashley, engulfing her in his corona that tickled her skin just enough to make her shiver.

He couldn't believe it, refused to believe that his long time friend and role model had taken the one woman, nearest and dearest to his heart, and placed her in a trap to be caught by whichever rat stuck its nose in. It made his heart ache at the thought that she had been purposely put into danger and if he hadn't managed the impossible, and she had been taken, he couldn't say that he wouldn't have done something extreme.

Having to vent his anger before it reached the point of no return, Shepard stood as his aura flashed with the emotional spike, drawing his arm back to take the small coffee table with it before he threw it forward, blasting it into the wall to shatter into kindling.

Ashley could only sit for a moment, looking at his glowing blue and naked form only lit by the early moonlight shining through the window, making the prefab appear as if it was underwater. She stayed silent as he struggled to reign in his power, but after a few tense moments, the light blue smoke finally subsided and vanished. She stood from the bed, taking a moment to wrap the sheet around her lithe figure before she walked up to stand in front of him and gently pressed herself into him.

"I wish I could give the answer you want Ash, but... I don't wanna think that you could be right. I don't think I can take anymore hits." Shepard said, placing his hands on her sheet wrapped hips to pull her closer.

Ashley leaned her head forward and rested her forehead on Shepard's chin, "What hits?" she innocently asked.

Shepard pulled her tighter to him, "Being abandoned by the Alliance... Being kept in the dark by The Illusive Man... No one wanting to come with me to help stop these things. That's just to name a few." he lightly kissed her forehead.

"You know I'd go with you if I could Skipper, but I need to make damn sure the Alliance knows that you're trying to help... Just like always." Ashley said, closing her eyes.

"It feels good to hear you say that." he said quietly as his arms snaked all the way around her waist to simply hold her.

After a few moments of calming silence, Ashley pulled away and looked into Shepard's half lidded eyes.

"I wish we could stay like this forever Skipper, but..." she started, trailing her hands up his chest.

"I know. I do too, but I should be getting back. There's a lot I've still gotta do." Shepard said, lightly rubbing his hands up and down her bare arms.

"I know. Just... be careful out there. I don't trust Cerberus, but I trust you." Ashley said with a brief smile.

Shepard ducked his head to softly kiss Ashley's lips before he nodded, "I love you. I've never stopped loving you." he admitted.

"I love you too."

With that, Shepard let her go as he started to gather his scattered armor pieces and undergarments to begin getting dressed. His eyes stayed glued to her as he dressed, pulling on his boxers, shrugging into the bodysuit, maneuvering the flexible framework for the ceramic plates into place and finally covering it with said plates.

Now dressed, Shepard placed his weapons into their respected spots and walked back to Ashley, still wrapped in the plain sheet, sitting in a chair that the coffee table had left behind.

"I've gotta go. Give Anderson hell if he gives you the same dance he did with me." Shepard said, standing in front of her and tenderly placing his now gloved hand on the side of her neck.

"I always do Skipper." she leaned into his touch.

"Ata girl."

* * *

The Johnson twins hadn't been this tired since the all night bash they had thrown in their barracks when they had graduated flight school. They had been up for nearly a day and a half for their hard burn from the Citadel, harshly ordered by their CO once he had seen the _Normandy_ pull out from her berth so fast, she nearly took the docking clamps with her.

Once they had gotten back underway in a hurry, they had asked where they were headed, but all they could get out of Kaidan, was that they needed to get to the Terminus Systems as quickly as they could.

"I'm about to drop dead right here man." Jake sighed, rubbing the exhausted sting from his eyes.

"I hear ya. We're almost there though." Jerry said, not realizing that someone was standing behind him.

"I know you guys are tired. You'll get a rest soon." Kaidan said as he too rubbed his eyes from lack of sleep.

Somewhat jumping from the sudden addition of another voice, both men looked over their shoulders at him.

"Hey Commander... You hear we're almost there?" Jake asked, looking back to his screens.

"I did. When he hit the coordinates, slow to all stop and wait for an incoming comm." Kaidan said as he sat in his captain's chair.

"Whose gonna be calling?" Jerry asked, trying to stifle an incoming yawn, but failed.

"Alliance command. Call me when they do."

Without waiting for more questions, Kaidan stood and started down the neck of the ship to his quarters. He stepped inside to find Lycan reclining on the bed with a datapad in hand, reading and relaxing. She had gotten quite a bit more sleep then he had since he found most nights, he would simply lay await thinking about the things she had told him while she slumbered peacefully against him.

At hearing his entrance, Lycan looked up with a delicate smile across her lips, "Hey... We almost there?" she asked, sitting up and setting her datapad down.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah... Now all we can do is wait," he walked to her side of the bed and sat, "You really think Shepard was headed to Horizon?" he asked, lightly clutching her ankles to drape her legs across his lap.

"I do. Only one reason Shepard would tear the _Normandy_ out of her berth like that." she said, leaning back into her pillow stack.

"Seriously though... You really think Anderson would knowingly put Ashley in harm's way? I mean... It doesn't seem like him." Kaidan said, rubbing the back of his neck as the steadily growing heartbeat of a threatening migraine tightened around his amp jack.

"I wouldn't have thought so either, but you know how the Council overshadows any decision he would've made. They think Cerberus is behind the abductions and using Shepard to do it, but Ashley's report'll say otherwise." Lycan said, putting her arm behind her head to prop it up just a bit more.

"Good news for Shepard I guess." Kaidan said with a barely visible crooked grin.

"Very good news," Lycan agreed, seeing the uncertainty still floating over Kaidan's face, "What's wrong?"

Kaidan shrugged, "I know why we can't interfere with Horizon, but I'm having a hard time coming to grips with it. All those people... I feel like I'm just sitting on the side lines watching it happen." he sighed as he lightly rubbed her leg.

Her empathy kicking in, Lycan sat up and scooted closer to him, still keeping her legs draped over his lap, but putting her thighs well within arms reach.

"You're not doing it willingly. Think of it like... you're locked in a cage being forced to watch," she wrapped her arm gently around his back, "Being the closest ship so we can pick her up is the best we can do." she pressed her lips to his shoulder and lightly kissed despite his uniform shirt.

Kaidan's tender smile returning, he wrapped his own arm around her and brought her closer, resting his head on her shoulder as he pulled her fully into his lap. He held her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her cheek against his hair, exhaling just hard enough to flutter his hair.

Getting inpatient from the continuous waiting, Kaidan laid down next to Lycan and snuggled into her side, using her chest to rest his head on while she resumed her reading and he took a nap.

They stayed like that for some time, content in the silence and not really in any hurry since they weren't sure how long they were going to have to wait. Though worried for their friends, they chose to believe that things would work out, though they weren't one hundred percent sure since Lycan had taken the risk of telling Ashley what to expect, but only in regards to meeting Shepard. For that, all they could do was hope that whatever changed, if anything at all, wouldn't be horrific.

With nothing else to do, the _Grimm_ hovered in the middle of space, waiting motionlessly for a call that only two knew would eventually come, but those same two, were under the impression that they would have received the call sooner, rather then later.

Inhaling deeply, Kaidan opened his eyes to find he was in the exact same place he had been when he had drifted off to sleep and Lycan was still contentedly reading.

"Have a good nap?" Lycan asked with a gentle smirk and a sidelong glance as her hand stroked the nape of his neck, having gone onto autopilot from the extended period of time.

"Yeah... Not bad," he sighed, "How long have I been asleep?" he asked groggily, letting his head loll a bit into the crook of her shoulder.

"About three hours. No word yet." Lycan said with her own sigh as she took a sip of water from a glass she had on her bedside table.

Trying not to groan, Kaidan sat up, using the heel of his hand to rub the sleep from his eyes, "You don't think we missed them do you?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

"I hope not, but I don't think so. We left just as quickly as the _Normandy_ did and we kept up with her for a bit. She didn't lose us until we were about halfway to the second relay." Lycan said, hopeful as she set her datapad down.

"Yeah... Unfortunately... With Shepard, that's all the time he would need." Kaidan said, lightly rubbing the thick of his neck with both hands.

"I think we're fine." Lycan reassured with a soft smile as the intercom overhead crackled to life.

_"Commander... Alliance Command just called in. They want us to make a pick up. Is that the call you were waiting for?" _

Kaidan couldn't tell the difference between Jake and Jerry's voice, "As a matter of fact, it is. Set a course." he said with a growing smile.

_"Roger that Commander... Setting course for Horizon."_

* * *

Sitting alone on a crate in the abandoned spaceport, Ashley waited with her bags packed for her pick up to arrive. The sky was dark, but twinkled with as many alien stars as her vision would allow. The air was cool, giving her reason to wear the one coat she had brought with her and the lovely scarf that Lycan had given her as a gift before she had left. Her armor and weapons were packed, as she had no reason any longer to wear them since there was only a handful of colonists whom had survived the abductions, and none wanted to be anywhere near her.

So with nothing else to do but wait, she listened to the nightly chorus of insects and nightlife, hands in her pockets as she watched the night sky slowly pass her by.

To her relief, the low scream of an approaching ship drew her attention towards the water, seeing the familiar profile of a ships running lights, green on the ship's port side, and red on the ship's starboard with a singular white light hovering above them both.

Just by that simple array, she knew her pick up was a smaller ship, but still large enough for interstellar travel, but what she thought odd, was that the lights were the only thing she could see. Instead of seeing patches and fields of white, there was nothing but a vacant void of black blotting out stars as it descended. She strained to see it as the definite sound of a drive core coming in for a landing bounced around the trees that surrounded the open field.

Standing from the crate as the ship touched down, she watched as a silver light appeared in the shape of a square, growing bigger as the large door lowered to reveal the much more lit interior of a cargo bay.

"You guys my pick up?" she asked as she walked up to the ship with one hand in her pocket while her other shielded her eyes from the bright light.

"Hope that's alright Chief." a familiar, raspy voiced figured asked from the top of the ramp.

"LT?" she asked, still squinting a bit as her eyes finished adjusting.

"Good to see you're alright Ashley. Alliance Command reported what had happened." Kaidan said, motioning for a few crewmen to go retrieve Ashley's belongings from where she had been sitting.

"I take it you know more then that?" Ashley asked with a sly smile as she walked up into the ship.

Kaidan nodded, "I do. How did it go?" he asked, knowing she knew exactly what he was talking about.

Ashley lightly smiled as she hunkered down into her jacket a bit, "Good... Really good. Better actually... Lycan with you?" she asked coming to stand next to him as the crewmen returned with her things and began strapping down the crates.

"Yes she is... She's up in the mess making chow." Kaidan said with a crooked smile as he and Ashley stepped back, giving room for the cargo bay door to raise and close.

"So that's why you're my pickup... You were the closest." she said as she unzipped her coat to take it off.

"That was the plan." Kaidan said, starting toward the stairs to head up into the main corridor of the ship.

"It's a good plan," she sighed, "I tried writing Lycan a return message, but... I honestly didn't know what to say. You guys let me grieve for almost two years thinking he was dead. Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Ashley asked, her smile fading.

"You know why." Kaidan said with sympathetic eyes.

Ashley slowly nodded, "I do... I think that's what pisses me off actually. It's not that you guys waited so long to tell me... It's that you had to wait to tell me... but... Thank you. It made seeing him easier." she nearly whispered.

Kaidan briefly smiled as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "That's why we told you. I'm glad you're not trying to kill us for keeping it from you."

Ashley returned the smile, "At first I wanted to, but... I'm good now. I don't really have the energy to get in a fight," she decided to look around, seeing the older lines, "Kinda old isn't she?"

"She's what we could get our hands on, but she works," Kaidan lead Ashley to a door that had been assigned to Jake, "Thing One's letting you crash in here until we get to the Citadel." he opened the door into the generic space.

"Thing One?" she arced an eyebrow.

"One of our pilots. He'll bunk with his brother in the meantime." Kaidan said, standing aside to let Ashley enter.

Taking a quick scan of the room, Ashley saw that it had been drastically cleaned of anything personal that would have normally been there should its original occupant hadn't put it all away for the time being. It was plain, but like any other shipboard quarters and it only had the necessities; A desk, a bed and a locker.

"Tell him thanks then." Ashley said, coving her mouth as a yawn forced it open.

"I will. We'll take off in the morning. The twins need to rest. They've been up since we left the Citadel to come here." Kaidan said, stepping to the other side of the door to ready to let it close.

"Yeah... I think I'm gonna hit the sack. I've been up all night too." Ashley said, huffing a brief laugh.

"Then I'll leave you to it. Sleep well." Kaidan nodded as he stepped aside and let the door close with a pretty good idea as to why she had been up all night.


	59. Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Clearing the Air

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

Ashley was frustrated.

That's the only word Lycan could think of to describe her friend's mood since they had lifted off from Horizon. She was distracted, confused, temperamental, on the verge of exploding; Any word or combination you could think of that had any sort of relation to the root word of frustrated, Ashley was it, and it all started when she tried to write the report to give to Anderson.

With little left in the way of patients and tolerance, Ashley loudly growled and chucked her datapad across the briefing room to watch it shatter when it hit the wall into a pile of broken and pieces.

"It's useless!" she yelled, clawing her hands on top of her head, rustling her dark hair.

Having heard the commotion, the door that connected the captain's quarters with the briefing room slid open.

"Is everything ok Ashley?" Lycan asked, stepping through enough to let the door close behind her.

At hearing her name, Ashley spun around, "Huh? Oh..." she sighed, "Not really Lycan. Just... Just trying to make sense of things."

"Like what?" Lycan said with a half shrug as she leaned her hip against Kaidan's desk with her arms crossed.

Ashley's hands fell off her head to dangle at her side, "Like how to write this damn report." she sighed again as she slumped down into one of the swiveling briefing chairs.

"Can't find the right words?" Lycan asked.

"I honestly have no idea how to even start. I'm so... pissed off about the whole thing." Ashley admitted, though Lycan already knew.

Lycan pushed off the desk and sat in one of the chairs that rested directly in front of it, "I thought Horizon went ok?" her stomach rolled with light anxiety.

"Oh! It did... Don't get me wrong. It went much better since you told me about it ahead of time, but..." Ashley's voice trailed off as she tried to find the words.

As the room fell into silence, Lycan waiting for Ashley to continue, the other door opened from the neck of the ship as Kaidan stepped in with a cup of coffee.

"Oh... Do you guys need some time?" Kaidan asked, stiffly walking to his desk with uncertainty.

"Naw... You're fine LT." Ashley sighed.

Kaidan smirked at Ashley's refusal to refer to his new rank as he sat down and looked at the pile of broken datapad across the room, "Say something you didn't like?"

"It won't write my report for me." Ashley said with a huff.

Kaidan stood up and walked across the room to pick up the broken pad, "That's unfortunate. I could always order it to if you want." he arced an eyebrow.

Ashley returned the smirk, "That's alright LT. I think it learned its lesson."

Lycan chuckled, "Good to see you aren't completely upset anymore." she crossed her legs.

"Oh... I'm still pissed, just getting better at hiding it." Ashley said, rubbing her neck.

"About?" was all Kaidan said.

"This whole business between Shepard, Cerberus and Anderson. I don't wanna believe it, but I can't get it out of my head." Ashley said with a blank stare.

"Don't wanna believe what?" Kaidan's brows furrowed as he went back to his desk and sat.

"I'm sorry... I thought you knew LT," she sighed again, "Shepard and I think Anderson set me up as bait for the Collectors to draw Cerberus out. Shepard's on a serious warpath." Ashley saw the sudden shock paint their faces.

"Wait a second... You think Anderson set you up?" Kaidan asked, trying not to audibly gasp.

Ashley's eyes briefly narrowed, "What else am I supposed to think?"

"He didn't set you up Ashley... He sent you to Horizon to investigate if the Reapers were behind the abductions." Lycan said, glancing at Kaidan to see his mirrored expression.

Ashley's anger colored her cheeks, "What? He told me to check things out and make sure Cerberus wasn't abducting people." he brows furrowed hard.

"Would you have gone if he said Reapers instead?" Lycan asked, her fingers ringing together.

"I'd like to think so, but... I really took the assignment hoping I'd see Shepard again." Ashley admitted with a growing blush replacing the anger in her cheeks.

"See what I mean? He really got intel that the Reapers were behind the abductions and since you believed in them, you were the best choice for the assignment." Lycan said, switching her legs and glancing, worried, at Kaidan again.

"W-What? Why did he tell me that he wanted me to make sure Shepard wasn't behind it?" Ashley asked, only for the anger to flavor her tone.

"Because the Council didn't believe the Reapers were behind it. Anderson did, and he needed someone else who did. The Council couldn't know about it... Hence the little white lie." Kaidan said, crossing his arms and resting them on the desk.

Ashley decided to stare at her lap, watching her fingers fidget, "He could've trusted me though. It hurts that he didn't." she said almost too quietly.

Lycan briefly smiled, "Sounds familiar." she muttered, seeing Kaidan's agreement in the shallow nod of his head.

After a few moments of silence, Ashley stood, frustrated and slowly paced, folding her arms over her chest as she stared at the large, offline holoscreen. Her foot tapped against the deck, muttering a quiet, light thud throughout the space, but the momentary squeak of Kaidan's chair as he stood caused her to look over her shoulder at him and follow him as he came to stand next to her.

"Ashley... Anderson knew what he was doing. He knows Shepard just as good as I do, and knows that he wouldn't willingly get in bed with Cerberus. Even that's beyond him. We know Shepard was forced there." Kaidan said, looking to Lycan as she came to join the group.

"So Cerberus is raping him?" Ashley asked with a morbid smirk.

Lycan winced at the reference, "They're playing off his sense of duty Ash... His need to help save lives and stop the Reapers. The Illusive Man knew that if he said those exact words, Shepard would jump at the chance. He still hates them doesn't he." she said, not as a question, but as a statement.

Ashley nodded, "Yeah... He does. He can't stomach having to be with them to stop the Collectors."

"Then believe in that Ashley. The Illusive Man set that entire thing up. He wanted to see if the Reapers were after Shepard and his crew directly. Horizon proved that he was right." Kaidan said, placing a friendly hand on Ashley's shoulder.

"I know it does," Ashley shrugged, but then realized who was telling her that, "Wait a second... How do you know?" her brows furrowed hard.

Kaidan sighed as he took his hand back, "I've known Ash," he took a step back, mainly out of fear that he might get slugged, "Ly told me everything. I've known what's gonna happen for some time now. I'm sorry."

As feared, Ashley's fists clenched, "You've known? You've known all along about all this crap and you didn't tell me? I thought no one could know but her!" her voice crackled with anger.

"Ashley... Please..." Kaidan tried to interject, but couldn't.

"Don't Ashley me!" Ashley barked, but that's as far as she got.

"Don't start! Just listen to what I have to say alright?" Kaidan silenced her with a harsh order that pained him to use against someone he considered a friend.

Ashley immediately hushed.

"So far, Lycan's been right. Because Wrex died in my place on Virmire, the timeline doesn't give a rats ass about me. To it, I'm radiation dust." Kaidan said, sending Lycan a sideways glance when she lightly placed her hand on his forearm to calm him.

"So that warrants you getting to know all the juicy details?" Ashley snapped.

"Yes! It does! I can know because it won't change anything. Why do you think Horizon was good for you and Shepard? Lycan told _you_ what to expect and hoped it would work out! Who knows what other changes are gonna happen because of it, but she did it so you could have a chance to be happy! We watched you shatter for two years Ashley, and we couldn't stomach it anymore!" Kaidan found himself yelling, angry that he had to defend himself and Lycan against a friend.

"Ashley... You had to know. It was only fair..." Lycan tried, only to be interrupted.

"Fair that I get a shot? Since you brought it up, I choked back you two for two years! Living together! Sleeping together! Getting to see each other every time you opened your eyes! Need I go on?" Ashley was fuming as she pushed passed Kaidan and Lycan to have room to pace and breath.

"That's not fair Ashley and you know it! We took you in as a friend! Gave you a place to live and call home where you wouldn't be alone to mourn..." Kaidan tried.

Ashley wheeled around and glared angrily, "To mourn? Looks like I didn't have to mourn Shepard for two fucking years!"

Lycan was going to head her off at the pass, "Knock it off! This isn't getting us anywhere!" she pinched the bridge of her nose, hoping her hand was hiding the glass forming in her eyes.

"She's right Ashley... That's not the real reason you're upset." Kaidan said, instantly lowering his voice to a normal level.

"No! It's not! I'm livid because I think I was used as bait!" Ashley barked, redirecting her anger as she stopped pacing.

"But not by Anderson, or the Alliance." Kaidan said, crossing his arms as he stood next to Lycan and watched Ashley.

Ashley looked away for a moment, placing her hands on her hips and she took a few moments to calm herself down. She was furious that she had been kept in the dark. She had no idea how someone could do their job while being kept in the dark, but somehow, the higher ups wanted just that. Shepard was right... Both hated being kept in the dark.

Taking in a deep breath, she glanced up at Kaidan and Lycan, ashamed that she had gotten so upset with them when it wasn't their fault. All they were trying to do was help her think straight, but they had all gotten horribly sidetracked because of her frustrated temper.

"I'm sorry guys. You didn't deserve that. I'm just so... I don't even know anymore. This whole thing is so confusing." Ashley said, slowly shaking her head.

"I can only imagine Ashley. Just put the truth in the report. The good and the bad. It's the only way you won't make yourself crazy over this." Kaidan said, drawing in a deep, lung filling breath.

"You want me to confirm that Shepard's working for Cerberus?" Ashley asked, the anger gone from her voice.

"You have to Ashley. It won't hurt Shepard for the Council to know that he's trying to stop the abductions." Lycan said, taking a mild chance and stepping up next to Ashley to place a hand on her shoulder.

Ashley shot Lycan a short smile, "I hope you're right Lycan. I know he's so lost... Did you know he actually carved open his own shoulder just to put a scar back?" she asked, her face showing that she was having a hard time keeping back her emotions.

Lycan gasped, "W-What? I didn't know that... W-Why?"

Kaidan's eyes widened from the knowledge that he hadn't told Lycan about the fresh scar that Shepard had cut himself. In all honesty, he didn't want her to know. She already had enough to worry about with their mission to lay the coins where Shepard would find them, and he didn't want to add to that. Unfortunately, he was now going to have to explain that to her.

"He's... having a hard time coping with his resurrection Ly." Kaidan said, his muscles stiffening as he saw Lycan's face turn to anger.

"When did you see it?" Lycan asked, the anger in her voice causing it to crack.

Kaidan sighed, "He showed me the scar when we talked on vidcomm before Horizon." he said, silently gulping when Lycan's expression turned even angrier.

"What! When he called you from Anderson's office?" Lycan yelped, squaring her shoulders as she stared Kaidan down.

Kaidan nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, managing to keep her voice somewhat low, but the anger colored her face richly.

Kaidan sighed and his shoulders slumped as he walked up to stand in front of her, "Ly... I didn't want you to worry. He's fine... He's adjusting but..." Lycan cut him off.

"But what? He's still coming to terms with it? Was he so far down into depression that he carved open his own skin?" Lycan's brows furrowed hard.

"Please Ly..." Kaidan tried before Lycan shook her head and left for their quarters, "Ly! Ly wait!" he tried to halt her retreat, but failed as the doors closed.

"She didn't know?" Ashley asked quietly once the doors were sealed.

Kaidan hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck, "No." he mumbled.

"I uh... I'll get to writing that report LT. Looks like you got some domestic to take care of." Ashley said with a wince.

"Looks like it." Kaidan deadpanned, "Just write the truth Ashley. It's all you can do."

Slowly shaking his head, Kaidan headed for the door Lycan had vanished through, finding that she had plopped down onto their bed, indian style, with a pillow crumpled in her lap. He watched as she rested an elbow into the fluff, her head in her hand as her other played with the edges of the pillowcase. He quietly went to her side and sat down, somewhat stiffly since he wasn't sure how she would react to him so soon, and he didn't want to make her more upset.

"How bad was it?" Lycan asked after a few minutes of silence between them.

"Shepard's scar?"

Lycan nodded.

"It was... big," he sighed, "Ly... I'm sorry honey. It's hard enough to think what Shepard's going through, and I didn't want you losing sleep worrying about him. I know you consider him a friend and he you, but you didn't need that along with everything else you're dealing with right now." Kaidan said, grasping her hand that was fiddling with the pillowcase.

"And what exactly might I be dealing with Kaidan? I cook, clean and sleep with you whenever you want a piece. How is that stressful?" Lycan scoffed, letting her hand go limp in Kaidan's.

Kaidan's brows furrowed, "Why are you making being with me sound like a chore?" his hands tightening around hers.

Lycan sighed, "I'm not... I'm sorry Kaidan. I didn't mean that the way it sounded. Being with you is the best thing that's ever happened to me and I mean that. I'm sorry." she said, rubbing her eyes as she looked at him in apology and squeezed his hand.

"It's alright... I know you're upset with me because I didn't say anything, but please try to understand why. I didn't do it to hurt you." Kaidan said, almost pleading.

Lycan nodded, "I know you didn't," she looked at him, "Is Shepard spiraling that bad?" she asked, the anger finally leaving her face.

"I'm not a psychiatrist, so I can only speculate, but I think seeing Ashley... and spending time with her like you and me both know they did... I think it'll help ground him... Give him something to fight for." Kaidan said softly as he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close.

"I hope you're right Kaidan," she rested her head on his shoulder, still holding his hand, "This is so hard being separated from them. I'm hoping leaving those coins is helping him out. I just wanna send Shepard a message and ask." she added, tossing the pillow aside to curl into Kaidan.

Kaidan's fingers threaded themselves into her hair, "We are helping. As far away as we are from them, we're still helping. We're working with what we have Ly." he lightly kissed her hair.

"Which isn't much." Lycan mumbled.

Hearing her, Kaidan gently cupped her chin and pulled her head up so he could look into her eyes, "But at least it's something." he lightly kissed her lips.

After a breath, their lips separated, giving Lycan's enough room to speak, "We can only hope that Shepard won't do anything brash."

Kaidan's eyes went wide, "Oh shit... I hope Anderson remembers how to throw a punch."

"Or dodge one."

* * *

Everyone on the Presidium ring, from volus to asari, could see the rage, the pure, radiating fury that enveloped every part of his body in the form of his Biotic fire.

With the crowd spreading like the Red Sea as the saying goes, Shepard headed for the human embassy, fists clenched tightly and his face set hard into the angriest glare he could muster without making it hurt. His strides were long and quick, driving down the heels of his boots into the polished floor with enough force to draw even more attention to himself.

Storming up the stairs and ignoring the receptionist that tried to stop him from barging through the embassy door, Shepard entered the embassy to find Councilor Anderson alone, but working away at his terminal on his desk.

"Shepard? What are you doing..." Anderson said, standing up only to bring his face into line of sight of Shepard's fist.

With a hard, painful and skull jarring smack, Shepard's knuckles plowed into Anderson's face, knocking him off balance and nearly sending him to the floor if he hadn't caught himself on his desk.

"You bastard! I trusted you!" Shepard roared, shaking his left hand from the sting of landing a solid left hook into Anderson's jaw.

Anderson tightly held his jaw from the shock of pain, "Ow... I'm not entirely sure I know what that was for." he said, moving his jaw a bit to check if it was broken, though he suspected it wasn't considering he could talk.

"You used her! How could you!" Shepard screamed, his rage only fueling the Biotic glow that seemed to be getting bigger, brighter and more violent.

"Used who Shepard?" Anderson popped his jaw a couple times, satisfied that it wasn't going to do anything other then bruise.

"Ashley! You used her like a worm on a hook! What? You don't trust me anymore? You think Cerberus is controlling me? Tell me Anderson!" Shepard boomed, his eyes so furious that the Biotic fire poured from them as well, swathing them in angry blue.

"Pardon me? I'm lost here Shepard... Why are you so upset?" Anderson asked, taking a step back to put some distance between him and the angry Biotic with a pension for violence.

"Upset doesn't even begin to describe me right now Anderson! I'd thought the raging Biotic field around me was your first fucking clue!" Shepard continued to yell as the chairs and pictures around him began to lift from their spots.

"Calm down Shepard before you destroy the Citadel..." Anderson was pleading, hands up just in case.

Shepard's throat growled, rumbling with caged fury that was nearly free as the aura around him grew in size, now lifting potted plants and computers from the bolted down desks. His pure, unadulterated anger was brimming to be let go, fighting to be directed at something and luckily for Anderson, Shepard directed it away from him.

With a piercing, shrieking scream, Shepard wheeled around and slammed both fists down onto an adjacent desk, severely denting its top with crunched and mangled metal. The blue field flew outwards in a ball of energy, rushing out into the rest of the Presidium like a shockwave, but through all the rage, Anderson had only sustained a punch to the face, and the office needed to be rearranged.

"Jesus Christ Shepard... Calm down before C-Sec comes." Anderson begged, breathing a bit heavier from the shock of Shepard's Biotic display.

"Don't tell me to calm down! I wanna know why you thought using the woman I love as bait to flush me out was a good fucking idea!" Shepard demanded, sucking in a long, painful breath that brought his power back down to a responsible mist.

"What? Shepard... I didn't use her. I sent her to investigate if the Reapers were behind the abductions. Investigating you was only the story I used to make the Council agree to the assignment." Anderson said, shock and confusion written all over his face.

The rage on Shepard's face softened and began to fade, "W-What? W-What do you mean?" he swallowed, "You... You don't think Cerberus is controlling me?" his brows furrowed.

"God... No Shepard! I know you better then that! For Christ's sake Gabriel... I took care of you when you first enlisted. Don't you think I'd know if you weren't yourself?" Anderson asked, his face betraying the hurt he was feeling inside.

The glow surrounding Shepard faded a bit more, "I... I don't know anymore. Everything's been so... fucked up lately that..." he tightly closed his eyes as he placed his hands on his hips and hung his head, "I don't know which end is up anymore Anderson. I'm having to watch my back so damn much that I don't remember what in front of me looks like." he sighed and looked up at Anderson.

"Well I'm not contributing to that Shepard. I didn't send her to investigate you... I sent her to investigate the Reapers to prove you weren't behind the abductions." Anderson said, sighing a bit as he looked around the messed embassy office.

"And?" Shepard asked blandly.

"I haven't gotten a report yet, but I'm sure I'll have it by the time Williams get back." Anderson said, lightly rubbing his jaw once more, feeling that it had already begun to get sore.

"Who picked her up?" Shepard asked.

"The _Grimm _did. She was the closest when the call came in." Anderson said, righting his chair and sitting down.

"Isn't that Kaidan's bird?"

Anderson nodded, "Yeah... I assume Ms. Morris had her hand in getting them to Horizon to pick her up." he straightened his computer.

Shepard rubbed the back of his neck, "Probably." was all he said, taking a few moments to reign in the rest of his loose power.

"I already know what the report's gonna say Shepard. I know you're only working _with_ Cerberus to stop the Collectors. I just want you to be careful. They can't be trusted." Anderson said softly.

"I know!... I know. Believe me... The second I get the chance, I'm flipping them the bird." Shepard said, crossing his arms.

"That's good to hear Shepard. The sooner, the better." Anderson said, smiling.

"Will you just trust that I know what I'm doing? I'm not an idiot Anderson." Shepard said with the hint of a growl back in his voice.

Anderson's hands went up in defense, "Ok... Ok... I'll let you make the plays, but for what it's worth, I'm sorry for the cover story."

"Yeah..." Shepard lightly cringed, "And... I'm sorry for... that." he pointed to the already darkening and fist sized purple spot on Anderson's jaw.

"It's alright. I'll heal." Anderson shot Shepard a quick smile.

Falling into silence, Shepard placed his hands on his hips again and looked around at the damage he caused from his little Biotic episode. He couldn't stop himself from cringing at the sight of felled potted plants, pictures of ceremonies, promotions and a few of Anderson and himself, all mixed in with the toppled chairs and thrown terminals.

"Sorry about... this." Shepard said, waving his finger around the destruction.

"At least it was just the furniture and not me," he slowly moved his jaw, "Well... most of me." he smiled.

Shepard couldn't stop the low chuckle in his throat, "I gotta admit, you did take that punch pretty well."

"I'm not some green recruit that hasn't seen combat Shepard. I've taken my fair share of bullets and melees." Anderson said, standing from his seat to start picking up the tossed pictures and terminals that littered the floor.

As Shepard opened his mouth to reply, the door flew open as a squad of armed C-Sec officers with weapons drawn came barging in, pointing their weapons at Shepard which just queued his Biotics to start to radiate around him once more.

"Councilor! Are you alright? We got reports of a Biotic eruption!" the lead C-Sec officer, a Turian with bright white face paint, said as he lowered his weapon looked at Anderson.

"Everything's fine gentlemen. You can lower your weapons." Anderson said, setting his armful of pictures down on the large conference table.

"But sir... You're jaw is turning black." the squad leader said with a point.

"It was rightfully deserved. I assure you, things are just fine. Just a little... well... clustered." Anderson said with a smile.

Glancing between Anderson and Shepard for a moment, the Turian squad leader nodded, "Alright Councilor. I'll have a team sent to straighten up."

Anderson waved him of, "No need. I'll send for it myself. There's still things we need to discuss."

"Very well Councilor."

With another curt nod, the Turian squad leader motioned for his men to leave, taking another last moment to study the two men before leaving himself, satisfied that there was nothing to worry about.

Waiting a moment for the door to close behind them, Anderson just watched as Shepard pulled his Biotic power back in, still seeing that he was fighting with himself on whether or not to believe that there wasn't some underlying mystery that needed to be solved. However, there was one thing Anderson wanted to ask about.

"You said... woman you love a bit ago Shepard. Is there something I should know?" Anderson asked, lightly crossing his arms.

Shepard instantly stiffened, "Uh... Well..." he sighed, "Ashley and... I... Shit... Um... Ok, we're together... well... back together that is." he silently gulped, hoping he didn't just sign Ashley's discharge papers.

"Ah... I guess I should've seen it. You were bound to find your match in the form of a gun totting femme fatale." Anderson said with a smirk.

Shepard's brows furrowed, "Well... Yeah... I love her. I love her with everything I am. It just kinda..."

"Happened?" Anderson finished his thought for him.

Shepard smirked with a crooked grin, "Yeah. Exactly," he pursed his lips together, "Look Anderson... I know we broke regs, but... we couldn't ignore how we feel about each other." he was going into damage control mode.

"Relax Shepard... As I see it, there aren't any regs to break. You aren't Alliance at the moment." Anderson said, leaning back against the front of his desk.

"You do know I plan on coming back to the Alliance after this right? I mean... I've been sending you intel. You've gotten it right?" Shepard asked.

Anderson nodded, "We have and we appreciate it."

"Good... I hope it's keeping me in the Alliance's good graces." Shepard said, rolling his right shoulder a bit.

"For now. Just keep whatever you can coming. If you can give us anything about The Illusive Man however, that would put a lot of support in your corner." Anderson said.

"Yeah... There's a reason for the name Anderson. I don't know jack about his ass." Shepard said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I figured, but if you happen to find anything out, let us know. It could help the Alliance take Cerberus out of the picture." Anderson said.

"Oh believe me... I'll get it. You can count on that." Shepard said with a snarl.

"Of that I have no doubt Shepard," Anderson pushed off his desk and walked up to Shepard and placed his hand on his shoulder, "Listen... I know things are hard right now, and I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through, but I hope you find your way again." he took his hand back.

Without anything to say, Shepard just looked at the man who had watched out for him when he had left Father Nikolai's nest. After a moment, he just nodded, not really knowing what to say.

"If you need some time, take my terminal. It's got a priority tag so you've got a direct line to the _Grimm_ if you want it." Anderson asked, roughly setting up his desk, but really payed the most attention to getting his terminal in the right spot.

Shepard rubbed that back of his neck, "They in range?"

"Doesn't matter with the priority tag." Anderson said as a soft smile grew across his lips.

"Yeah... Ok. As long as you don't mind giving me some time to talk to him." Shepard nodded as he stepped behind Anderson's desk and sat down.

Anderson just nodded as Shepard waited for him to leave the room, most likely headed to get some ice for his swelling jaw while he located and activated the vidcomm, linked to the _Grimm._ He waited with a bit of nerves fluttering in his stomach, but they quickly faded when the other end of the link connected.

_"Hello?... Shepard! How are you?" _Lycan had picked up.

"Hey birdie," he hadn't used that nickname in some time, "I'm a... I've been better." he admitted, rubbing his neck.

_"You look like you haven't slept in ages. You ok?" _Lycan asked, her concern clear to Shepard from her expression.

"Not the best... I'll be honest." Shepard said with a sigh.

_"How come? If I can ask that is." _she asked, her eyes kind and her voice sweet like a caring friend's should be.

"I'm pretty livid about Horizon still." Shepard said, looking at his hands fumbling on the table top.

_"I bet. Everything was better I hope." _Lycan said with a slight tilt of her head as she watched him.

That is when Shepard looked at her on the screen, _"I take it you had a hand in it?" _

Lycan nodded.

"Thank you then. Really... I needed that... I needed her." Shepard said, managing to crack a light smile.

_"I didn't do it just for her Shepard. I did it for you too." _

"Thank you. I mean that Lycan. I've been meaning to talk to you about those coins," he sighed, "They've been helping a lot."

Lycan smiled, _"I'm glad. How many of them have you found?" _

"Oh God... Um... That last one I found was on Omega actually. I haven't seen any since then." Shepard said, beginning to fall into a comfortable conversation.

_"Yeah... There isn't too many places we can get to without trouble. Purgatory would have been tricky to get onto without causing some mayhem, and Korlus was pretty cut and dry." _Lycan said, resting her chin in her hands with elbows on the desk.

Shepard silently huffed a laugh, "Should have known you'd know what I've been up to."

Lycan shrugged with a smirk, _"What can I say... I'm the fountain of all knowledge... At least for __right now anyways." _

"I'd ask what's next but..." Shepard shrugged.

_"Well... I think I've pretty much destroyed that plan with telling Ashley not to be mad at you on Horizon. I don't know what's gonna change because of it, but... whatever it is, it's worth it." _Lycan smiled.

"I think so too. Whatever we're faced with, we'll be find." Shepard said, feeling the first pang of confidence since he had started his hunt for the Collectors.

_"I'm sure you will be. Have you gotten the other dossiers for the other half of your team yet?" _Lycan asked.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah... An assassin, a Justicar... whatever that is, and sure enough, Tali."

_"Well... the assassin is not what you think. The Justicar is an Asari, but she's good to have on your side and Tali... well... She's grown up a bit. There's another one after that just kinda... drops into your lap, but trust me... keep him around." _Lycan said, her smile fading.

Shepard blew a quick huff out from his nose, "Who?"

_"I'll just leave it at that. Plus... You'll know it when you see it," _she smiled,_ "Hard to believe it's been two years already." _Lycan said softly.

"Believe me... I'm the last person you need to say that to." Shepard said with another rub of his neck.

Lycan nodded, _"I know... Just... be careful out there Shepard. I'm not there to bring you tea in the middle of the night to help you sleep this time." _her smile persisted.

"I miss that..." Shepard started, only to be interrupted by his Omni-Tool buzzing against his wrist, "Damn... Looks like his holiness wants my attention." he groaned.

The smile on Lycan's face vanished, _"I'm sure he does. Be extra careful with him Shepard. He's sly."_

"So I've gathered. I don't like him." Shepard's brows furrowed.

_"He doesn't give you a reason to either." _Lycan said blatantly with her own face of disgust.

"I'm sure," his Omni-Tool continued to buzz, "Say hi to Kaidan and Ashley for me." he readied to end the vidcomm.

_"I will... Oh, and Shepard?" _

"Yeah?"

_"It's a trap."_

* * *

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out in a slow sigh, Lycan stood from the small dining table that was also home to their private terminal, and made for the briefing room where she found Kaidan plugging away on some paperwork that he had let pile up. She quietly walked up behind him and began to gently massage his shoulders, earning a low, contented moan as he hung his head and closed his eyes.

"I've missed these." Kaidan all but purred, enjoying the working being done to the base of his neck.

"We haven't had much time for them," her hands went up his neck and dove into his hair, earning another low moan, "Shepard called."

"Oh? He still on the vidcomm?" Kaidan asked as he shifted to stand and go see.

Lycan caught that he was preparing to go, so she applied a bit more pressure to keep him sitting which he didn't refuse, "No, he's not. The Illusive Man called him."

"Oh... He gonna send Shepard to that Collector ship?" Kaidan asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Most likely," she sighed, "I told him it was a trap." Lycan admitted, having to stop her massage to his neck when he wheeled around with furrowed brows.

"What? Ly..." he rolled his eyes, "We haven't even found out what's gonna change from telling Ashley about Horizon yet and you go and tell Shepard that the Collector ship is a trap?" he stood to tower over her as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It's alright... All I said is that it was a trap. I didn't go into detail like I did when we were hunting Saren. He'll have to figure it out on his own." Lycan said, stepping close to him and placing her hands on his chest.

Kaidan sighed and placed his hands on her hips, "It's a risk babe... I won't lie." he said, looking down at her.

"One I think we'll be ok with. He needed something more then just words of encouragement. The Illusive Man certainly gets an A for trying to get Shepard killed." Lycan said, leaning her head forward to rest her forehead against Kaidan's chest.

"So you've said." Kaidan tried not to groan as he stepped away from her and sat back down with a huff.

"What's wrong?" she asked, leaning back against his desk next to him.

"Just thinking about the future I guess. We're almost at the end of what you know." Kaidan said with a sidelong glance in her direction.

"Yeah... I've been thinking about that too. What are you gonna do with me once I don't know anything?" she asked.

Kaidan looked up at her, seeing the flash of worry through her eyes as she looked down at her feet. He wrapped his arm around her waist, over her front and pulled her a bit closer, resting his hand on her left hip.

"Not a thing. Just because you won't know anything, doesn't mean Cerberus is gonna stop looking for you. My assignment won't change," he tightened his grip, "I'm still your bodyguard."

Lycan's smile returned, "That helps to know, but that doesn't solve the problem that I won't be any good to anyone once Shepard destroys the Alpha Relay." and just like that, her smile vanished.

"I remember you telling me that. That's gonna tear Shepard to pieces." Kaidan said, slowly shaking his head.

"And unfortunately, the Alliance acts with the best interest of not invoking a war with the Batarians." Lycan said, placing her hand on his left shoulder.

"Which means?" Kaidan's brow popped.

"Well... That's when I can only speculate. I never found out what actually happens as a result, but using common sense, I'd say he'll be arrested." Lycan lightly shrugged.

"That'll go over well." Kaidan rolled his eyes.

Simply nodding, Lycan just gently rubbed Kaidan's left shoulder, not really knowing what else to say since the knowledge she had left was on its final leg. There wasn't much time left until she was simply another human, just with one hell of a secret that needed to stay as such no matter the cost.

However, that's what she was most scared of. Once her knowledge was reduced to nothing but speculations and guesses from what she had heard about the third installment, she wouldn't have any other uses other then keeping Kaidan and the crew fed. Luckily, she only had one Biotic to feed, but she didn't want that to be her only use. She wanted to be something other then Kaidan's other half.

"Kaidan..." she tried, but she was having a bit of trouble formulating her words.

Kaidan looked up at her, "What's wrong? You ok?"

Lycan nodded, "I want you to train me. Teach me how to use a gun, to fight... To use tech. Please."

"Why? Don't you like playing housewife?" Kaidan asked with a teasing, smirking grin.

Lycan chuckled as she tried to pop her own eyebrow, but failed, "Is there something I should know Kaidan?" her stomach flipped.

"Relax Ly... I'm just teasing you." Kaidan said, his cheeks beginning to burn and the regret from even saying it tossing around in his stomach.

"Daw... And here I was getting ready to scream with joy." Lycan teased right back, trying to see just how red she could make him turn.

Kaidan nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Now you're just being mean," he couldn't stop the smile, "Anyways, why you want me to train you?" he quickly changed the subject.

"Once I don't know anything anymore, I don't wanna just be a cook. I wanna help with this war. I've been here and've been by your side long enough to want, to need, to know how to help anyway I can. Teach me everything you know." Lycan said, looking straight into his eyes with sincerity.

Kaidan's teasing smile faded, "Ly... Honey... Are you sure about this? Believe me when I say that your first kill will _not_ make you feel good." his eyes saddened at the though of the woman he loved taking a life, becoming a killer like him.

"I know... I never thought otherwise, but I need this. I need to know that I'm not just a bed warmer," she immediately knew how it sounded, "Pardon the description."

"It's fine," he reassured her he had gotten used to her crude way of describing things, "Ly... I was seventeen when I first killed someone and trust me, it tore me up. Having a body count at seventeen was damning." Kaidan said, pulling her into his lap and interlocking his fingers together around her waist.

"I know, but I know he would've killed you if you hadn't kicked him in the teeth." Lycan said.

"It was a bloody fight Ly. Red and blue everywhere and when he pulled a knife," he slowly shook his head, "I did what I had to do to protect myself."

"Is that where this came from?" Lycan asked, lightly trailing a finger over the small, but faint scar on his lower lip.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah... Turian talons are sharp," he sighed, "Look... Are you sure about this? It won't be easy work babe." he looked up into her eyes.

"I'm know," she threaded her fingers into his hair, "I want this Kaidan. Train me." Lycan said airily, leaning her head down a bit closer to him.

"You're making it very hard to say no." Kaidan nearly whispered, his eyes half lidding themselves as he too started to lean closer to her, his lips parting slightly in anticipation for a soft, gentle kiss.

"That's the point." Lycan smiled just before their lips met.

Both sucking in long, scent filled breaths, their eyes closed as their lips danced together and their fingers tangled into each other's hair. It was the little moments like that that Kaidan found comfort in, getting to spend just a fleeting second to indulge in her taste, and scent and the way her lips felt against his. They were warm, soft and plush, all while having a sweet salty tang to them that just sparked his craving for more, but he knew that in the briefing room, at his desk and in his chair wasn't the place for it. Having to explain that one if someone where to walk in would be the death of him.

Taking in another breath, Kaidan broken their kiss, but kept his forehead to hers as he let his hands fall from her hair to rest against the small of her back once more.

"I'm not gonna take it easy on you you know." he said quietly, huffing a brief smile.

"I wouldn't expect you to." Lycan said, forcing herself to sit up straight as she shifted to slide off his lap.

Kaidan let her stand, but held onto her hand, "We'll start in the morning then."

Lycan sighed with relief, "Alright," she checked the time on her Omni-Tool, "I better get to finding out what I'm gonna make for chow."

However, when she tried to walk away, she found her hand was still captured in his as he stood and easily pulled her to him. She chuckled as he grabbed her waist and hoisted her up, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes with a smack her backside as he headed for their quarters.

"Chow can wait. I've got something else planned." he said with a growl and his intentions not lost on the woman over his shoulder.


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter 60: The Game of Risk

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: I know this update's a bit late, but my beta needed some time. I'm happy to have him back because I was going through some withdrawls. I love him so. ^.^)_

Kaidan was right.

The training Lycan had asked for was not easy, and he was making it quite clear. The martial arts training was leaving her nothing but a battered, bruised and sore lump of flesh with a pulse. She was sore everywhere. Her legs barely worked. Her arms refused to lift anything heavier then one of Kaidan's techie tools and shifting in her bed was nye impossible and she had to rely on Kaidan much of the time to help her do so.

When Kaidan wasn't training her how to fight and defend herself, he was filling her brain with as much technobabble as she could handle. It was almost too much for her brain to comprehend it all at once and on more then one occasion, she had needed him to dumb it all down so she could understand and retain it.

Finally having some time to herself to let her muscles rest, Lycan laid in her bed, surrounded Kaidan's tools and with the broken datapad that Ashley had mutilated laying amongst the chaos.

The datapad itself was something of a pet project for hers, as she had taken it under her wing in an attempt to fix it with the knowledge Kaidan had been teaching her. Though it was mangled and powerless, she had managed, with some painkillers and a hammer, to straighten out the datapad's frame. It wasn't perfectly straight, but it worked and allowed her to then replace the holographic emitters that scrawled the cracked glass with script. There wasn't much she could do about the glass, but she could something about the keypad, having replaced those emitters as well so data could be entered once more through its haptic display.

However, the last thing needed to be done in hopes of bringing the datapad back to life, was to find a new power cell, and that was proving to be more difficult then it sounded.

Luckily for her, the doors opened to give her a distraction to her conundrum.

"Hey Kaidan." Lycan groaned, trying to sit up, but that was proving to be difficult as her abs screamed with protest.

Seeing her strong wince, Kaidan winced sympathetically as he hurried to her side and helped her sit up.

"Easy honey... Take a breath." he coaxed, resting his hand on the small of her back while his other grasped her hand in support.

Lycan did just that as she sucked in a long, deep breath to help stiffen her muscles a bit so she didn't flop back down onto the bed in pain. It took a few more moments, with Kaidan's support, but eventually, she was sitting up on her own, stiffly, but on her own. At least it was something.

"Thanks," she blew out the breath she had drawn in, "You definitely weren't kidding when you said you weren't gonna be taking it easy on me." she lightly cringed and held a hand tight to her abs as she chuckled.

Kaidan rubbed her back, returning the low chuckle, "In your defense, I didn't mean to toss you into the punching bag."

Lycan smiled at him reassuringly as she remembered being tossed with Kaidan's full physical strength into the punching bag, back first, because she had left him no choice. During their sparing match, she had thrown a series of kicks and punches that cut off all of Kaidan's defensive options, leaving him with the only decision he could make. To go on the offensive.

"I'm not mad about that babe. In _your_ defense, I didn't give you much choice." Lycan said as she lightly began to rub her neck, hoping for relief.

"No... No you didn't. I didn't think you'd pick it up so quick." Kaidan said, slipping in behind her to gently massage her shoulders a bit.

"I told you I was serious about learning. I might've even picked up most of that techie junk you keep spitting out at me." Lycan smiled, showing him the datapad she had been tinkering with.

Looking at her, Kaidan took the datapad and examined it, seeing the somewhat straightened framing, the replaced emitters and she had even polished the glass a bit to lighten the cracks. It wasn't pristine, but it had real potential at working again.

"Good work Ly... This might have a chance at working again if you can get a new power cell." Kaidan said, smiling as he studied Lycan's work for a second longer before handing it back to her.

Lycan smiled, "Thanks. Don't happen to know where I can get a power cell for it by chance do you?" she asked, slouching and clasping her hands in her lap as Kaidan resumed his work on her shoulders.

"Um... You might be able to find something in the armory," he suggested, digging his fingertips in a bit, "You know... You have a knack for tech Ly. Ever think about going engineer?"

"You mean... like actually joining the Alliance?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him.

"Yeah... I mean, you're already listed as a contractor and considering your very special circumstances, Admiral Hackett and Councilor Anderson would probably just grandfather you in." Kaidan said, moving his hands down her back to massage the small of her back.

"It's a thought, but what about regs? If I get drafted, in a sense, then you'd be my superior officer and uh... I'm sure you get the idea." Lycan said, leaning into Kaidan's touch a bit more for a bit more pressure to her back, which she moaned at.

"Yeah... I've thought about that, but... I'm willing to break them. I've been with you too long now to just end it because of something like that." he whispered, placing a soft kiss to just behind her ear.

Lycan smiled, "By golly, I think Shepard's been a bad influence on you Commander Alenko." she chuckled as she leaned into him a bit more to press her cheek to his.

Kaidan chuckled along with her as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, "Maybe, but I wouldn't change it for the world." he placed another kiss, this time to the side of her neck.

"Neither would I," she nearly whispered, then sighed contentedly, "I'll think about it, but until then, I should go meander into the armory to see if I can get my hands on a new power cell." Lycan said, turning her head more to lightly kiss his lips.

Kaidan placed his hand on the side of her neck to hold her for a moment before he broke away and helped her to her feet. She was stiff, and he knew he was to blame. The constant training in the cargo bay was taking its toll on them both, leaving them sore, her more so, and having to spend more then a few nights nursing their newest bruises and stiff muscles. Every free moment they had was spent doing something that taught Lycan the skills she wished to learn and since they were in transit to Illium after dropping Ashley off on the Citadel, they had their fair share of time to kill.

Giving Kaidan one last quick kiss, Lycan took the datapad and tools and headed for the armory, finding that it was occupied by the only person on the ship that she was still on somewhat rocky ground with. Staff Lieutenant Sarah Callaghan.

At the sudden sound of the door opening, Callaghan looked over her shoulder to see Lycan stiffly step in with that busted datapad she had been so taken with. She eyeballed the unit and Lycan for a bit longer before looking back to her sniper rifle that lay in pieces on the workbench in front of her.

"Still trying to fix a hopeless case huh?" she asked flatly and without looking at her company.

Lycan blew out a long breath as she reached an adjacent workbench, "It might just work again if I can get my hands on a new power cell." she said, a bit nonchalantly as she started to rummage through the various drawers on her hunt.

"Yeah... Good luck with that." Callaghan deadpanned as she picked up a mod she was planning on snapping into her rifle.

Suddenly feeling awkward, Lycan could only take in a slow, deep breath as she forced her eyes to stay glued to the drawer she was rummaging through. She just continued to sift through the various collection of tools used for modding the weapons, but there was nothing there that could serve as a new power cell. She soon closed the door and moved onto the next, but when she opened the next drawer, Callaghan swore under her breath.

"Fucking thing... What's wrong with you?" Callaghan grumbled, plugging her Omni-Tool into her rifle to run a diagnostic to see what the problem was.

Lycan braved a glance, seeing the turned town, angry looking expression on the Lieutenant's face, "Everything ok?"

Callaghan sighed heavily, "This mod isn't calibrating right with the thermal sink conductors so my rifle won't direct the heat it generates into the thermal clip." she rattled off without even a second thought as to whom she was talking to, until it clicked, "But you wouldn't know anything about that."

One half of Lycan's upper lip curled, "Actually, I do. Mind if I take a look?" she asked, instantly feeling nervous, but eager to prove the Lieutenant wrong.

Callaghan, not expecting the offer, looked up with a popped eyebrow, "Sure... I guess. Just don't try anything." she added quickly as she stepped aside.

Lycan smiled, a bit cockily, as she turned her attention to the rifle where she plugged in her own Omni-Tool and started taking a look at the mod's and rifle's coding. She wasn't fast, or one hundred percent fluent in its language yet, but she at least knew what she was looking at and soon found the problem.

However, when she had finished her basic diagnostic of the mod, she discovered that it was, in fact, a turian mod, and Callaghan was trying to get it to work with a human rifle. The problem was as simple as a screw being lose. The conversion rate was off.

"Ah... Here it is. It's a turian mod so the conversion is off," Lycan said, beginning to smile again as she pointed to the problem, "See?"

Callaghan's brows furrowed a bit as she looked at the small pop up screen, finding that she was going to have to eat her words, "Huh... How'd you do that?" she asked, trying not to smile that the problem had been found, and by someone she was on the fence about no less.

"K..." she stopped herself and cleared her throat, "The Commander's been teaching me. However, since this is a turian thing, I can fix with something an old friend taught me." Lycan said with a light, proud chuckle laced in her tone.

"And what's that?" Callaghan asked with a low groan.

Lycan disconnected her Omni-Tool and grabbed one of the tools Callaghan had out, "I'm just gonna swap the purple and red leads then," she snapped the mod back into place after she had done just that, "smack it twice." she smacked the rifle and it began to produce a high pitched whine.

"What the? I'll ask again... How the Hell you do that?" Callaghan asked, her brows furrowed.

Lycan shrugged, "I just kinda picked it up I guess."

Callaghan sighed, "Yeah... Apparently," she rubbed the back of her neck, "Shit... It looks like I gotta eat my words." she said, sighing.

Lycan returned the smile, "It's alright. I'm glad I could help with something at least," she nervously bit her lip, "Can I ask you something?" she dared, not really sure why she hadn't thought about it first.

Callaghan shrugged, "Sure... I guess." she said, crossing her arms over her chest as she pressed the small of her back into the edge of the workbench.

Lycan drew in a breath and held it, "Uh well... Did I do something to make you not like me? I mean... If you don't, I won't care, but... I'd like for us to get along. It'll make our trip easier." she continued to hold her breath out of sheer fear that she had spoken without thinking.

Callaghan visibly stiffened as she licked her lips, "Oh... uh... Well... To be honest, no... You didn't. I've been so bitter ever since the brass froze my promotions that I've shut just about everyone out. I've been pretty cold lately and it's just because I'm pissed." she admitted, slowly shaking her head.

"Oh... I thought I'd done something to upset you, like you didn't like my cooking or something." Lycan said, her mouth ghosting a short lived smile.

"No... It wasn't that. Your meals aren't bad actually. It's nice to have something that's actually edible." Callaghan admitted, opting to stare at one of the weapon racks instead of Lycan.

"That's good. I'm glad you like them." Lycan said.

"So... You ever serve before this?" Callaghan asked, watching as Lycan set down the tool that she had been spinning in her hand since she had fixed the rifle.

"Yeah actually... I did. I was only in for four years, but still. The time's there." Lycan said, lightly massaging her left thigh from soreness.

"Back in... 2011 right?"

Lycan nodded, "Yeah... It wasn't nearly as... grand like it is here, but at least it was a guaranteed paycheck."

"Did you do it just for the money?" Callaghan asked with a barely furrowed brow.

"In a sense yeah. I couldn't afford college, so I enlisted for the college money." Lycan said, quietly sighing.

"Why not make it a career?" Callaghan asked, still with a fairly blank expression.

"Four years was about all I could stomach, so I finished out my term and started looking into college." Lycan said, carefully distributing her weight so not to aggravate her sore muscles.

"You didn't know ahead of time?"

"Had no idea. I just knew I wanted to do something in the gaming industry, so I got in under a graphic design major, but I was about to switch it to creative writing before I got... transported here." Lycan said, sighing a bit sadly that she hadn't gotten a chance to exploit her hidden hobby.

"You wanted to be a writer?" Callaghan asked, popping an eyebrow.

Lycan smiled, "Yeah... Took a bit to figure it out, but yeah... I did... Still do actually."

Callaghan nodded, "Didn't figure you as someone into literature."

Lycan huffed, "Yeah... I really like to read, but with everything going on, I just thought my time was better spent learning something that'll be more helpful out here." she said, glancing at the sniper rifle still resting on the workbench.

Callaghan noticed Lycan eyeballing the rifle and couldn't stop the grin, "Ever shoot a rifle like this before?" she asked, picking up her weapon to replace the ammo block and thermal with fresh ones.

"Not like that. I've shot a handgun and a shotgun back in the 21st, but nothing so... elegant." Lycan said, crossing her ankles.

Callaghan smiled, "There is a certain... art... to firing one of these. They'll do right by you so long as you treat them right, but manhandle one and they'll buck into your shoulder hard enough to make you remember for the rest of your life."

"I can imagine. Back in the 21st, there were even special schools people had to go to to learn the techniques." Lycan said with a huff.

Callaghan actually chuckled in her throat, "You're sounding pretty well adjusted to life here. I guess the Commander's taught you to fool Cerberus pretty well," she sighed, "Mind if I ask you something?" her smile faded.

"Sure... Go ahead."

"If Cerberus is after you, then how long have you been in the Commander's company?" Callaghan asked, drawing in a deep breath.

Lycan's smile dulled and her stomach lightly churned, "Oh um... God... Little over two years. Since 2183."

"Have you been... _with_ him that entire time?" Callaghan asked, cringing slightly at her own question.

Lycan quietly sighed, knowing where the conversation was going, "Oh... _That_ with," she rubbed her neck, "Well... We were trying to keep that under wraps, but he kinda let that slip back on Tuchanka didn't he."

Callaghan nodded, "Yeah... He hinted at it."

"We've been together for most of it." Lycan said quietly.

At hearing that, Callaghan knew that the Commander was simply for looking at and not for touching, despite her original thoughts to get in a quick roll without the threat of commitment on either of their parts. It wouldn't have been the first time that she had taken a subordinate, or a superior officer to her bed, only to wake up in the morning like nothing had happened, but this time, the most attractive piece on the ship was already taken.

"Well... I guess that takes the Commander out of the race then." Callaghan said, nearly in a mumble.

Lycan's brows furrowed a bit, "What race? If I even wanna know."

Callaghan sighed heavily, "Um... I uh... I was kinda setting my sights on him for a quick tumble, but uh..." her cheeks burned with heat and glowed red.

Lycan's eyes widened a bit, "Wow," she blew out a breath, "Well... To be honest, I kinda noticed you were eyeballing him when you first came aboard, so I figured you were either just admiring the scenery, or... yeah." she pursed her lips together, but not from anger surprisingly.

"I was admiring the view," Callaghan sighed.

As the girls fell into silence, Callaghan took the time to reflect on the woman in front of her. She had some military experience, even though it was from nearly two centuries in the past. She was most definitely caring, evident by how much care she put into making the crews meals and was even willing to get beaten up in several different ways to learn some combat and engineering skills from the Commander and apparently, long time lover and boyfriend. Maybe she'd been wrong all along about Lycan.

"I should apologize for the way I've been treating you. I... I didn't understand the full perimeters of the mission and it wasn't right of me to question the Commander's motives like I did." Callaghan said, unable to look into Lycan's eyes.

"It's ok. I think I'd be bitter too if my promotions had gotten frozen." Lycan said, smiling with a crooked grin.

"Yeah... All I wanted to do in the Alliance was to make a name for myself, get out of the funk I was in back home. I guess I just pushed too hard and this is the Alliance's way of tell me to slow down so I don't burn myself out." Callaghan said, finally finishing with her Widow and setting it gently back down onto the workbench.

"Where you from?" Lycan asked flat out.

"Earth... Ireland to be exact." Callaghan said without missing a step as she sent Lycan a sidelong glance.

"Ireland? You don't have that... Irish roll though." Lycan said, seeing the obvious features in the woman's flaming red hair and alabaster skin with peppered freckles.

Callaghan laughed, "That's because I got rid of it," she cleared her throat, "Ye can only do so much when folks can't take ye seriously and think ye'r something out of an old sci-fi show." she brought it out just to prove her point.

Lycan clapped her hands together once as she laughed, "Holy shit! I'd'd never guessed you had that."

Callaghan cleared her throat again, getting rid of her accent, "I keep it under wraps most of the time. I think that's the first time I've brought it out in quite awhile."

It may have not been the most chummy conversation, but Lycan felt it was a start to cracking the icy facade the Lieutenant first presented herself with. It was beginning to seem like she wasn't as cold as everyone first thought. Driven yes, but all out cold, no. She had plenty to be bitter about, mainly that she could no longer advance up the ranks so long as her freeze was in place, but Lycan couldn't help but think that there was more to it. There was just something stiff about how she talked, always careful not to divulge too much, but that could just be from her uncertainty to talk with her. She figured that this was a good start, and she wasn't going to screw it up by trying to push her to talk more.

Having run out of things to say, mainly out of not knowing what to say, Lycan smiled and sighed as she went back to thumbing through drawers in hopes of finding something to power the datapad.

"Here... Try this." Callaghan said, drawing Lycan from her thoughts as she handed her a small power cell from where she kept her rifles.

"For what? The datapad?" Lycan asked, taking the clip.

"Yeah... The cell should fit. Consider it a thank you for catching that conversion rate." Callaghan said with a light shrug.

"I'll try it. Thanks." Lycan said with a short nod as she turned and stiffly left, feeling just a bit more confident that things weren't going to stay tense. _It's a start. _She thought as she looked at the little power cell in her hand.

* * *

Lycan had been right. It had been a trap. When she had initially said the comment just before cutting the vid comm, he hadn't known what she meant, but it soon became blatantly apparent the more they trudged into the Collector ship.

The further he got into the belly of the ship, the more he found about it. It had been the one to take his life, the one that took two years away from him and destroyed everything he ever wanted. It had been the one to rob him of two years with Ashley, two years of seeing Kaidan and Lycan and two years of time he could have spent figuring out how to stop the Reapers.

His squad and EDI were able to mine a great deal of information from the Collector ship before the Collectors attacked and tried to stop them from escaping. They threw everything they had at them, but between himself, Garrus and Zaeed, they made quick work of everything and managed to get the _Normandy_ out of there before the _SR2_ joined the _SR1._

Now, he found himself furiously passing up and down the briefing room with his temper and biotics fuming, again, and simply trying to calm himself down long enough to say something that wasn't a curse. He was ready to strangle the life from that bastard of a man, to watch as his cybernetic eyes dimmed with his hands tightly around his throat and then, he wanted to warp and twist what was left into a gooey pile of blood and entrails, simply so he could space it out of the trash chute.

"Commander... The Illusive Man is awaiting you on the QEC." EDI said, interrupting his fuming, violent thoughts.

Shepard stopped pacing and drew in a long, deep breath, "Put it through EDI. This is gonna get ugly." he growled, tightly gripping his hips to keep from punching a bulkhead.

Stepping up to the glowing circle on the floor that appeared after the holotable sunk into the deck, Shepard tensely waited as he watched the room darken and scan him into the network.

After a few moments, Shepard was transported into a darkened room overlooking a red and blue star with a singular, sitting and smoking man looking back at him. He didn't even give the man a chance to speak first. His temper wouldn't have allowed it.

"You son of a bitch! I should find out where you are just so I can make you think fucking twice about throwing me into a goddamned trap!" Shepard roared, rocking forward on one foot and thrusting his finger forward.

_"Shepard... It was a necessary risk that rewarded us with some surprising details about what __we're dealing with." _The Illusive Man said, not even phased by the anger literally radiating off of Shepard.

"That's bullshit and you know it! You should've told me what you were fucking planning and I would've found another way you fucking dried up cum stain!" Shepard snapped, his vulgar mouth making itself well known.

_"Throwing unnecessary insults won't win you points with me Shepard. I needed the Collectors to think they had the upper hand. If I had told you, it could've tipped them off in any number of ways." _The Illusive Man said, still with a straight face.

"I'll throw whatever insult I want to you ass fuck! You try that again and I'll make damn sure you regret it!" Shepard screamed, the vain in his forehead beginning to throb as his biotics continued to rage around him.

_"You are beginning to test my patience Shepard, but I'm overlooking it since you were able to extract some useful data." _he took a drag on his cigarette.

Shepard crossed his arms, "And what would you've done if me and my squad didn't get out of there in time huh? Would you have spent the four _billion_ credits to bring me back again?"

_"I was confident in your abilities." _The Illusive Man deadpanned.

Pursing his lips together, Shepard quickly rapped a finger against his tensed bicep as he bit back his anger, knowing that the insults and threats weren't going to get him anywhere. But they sure made him feel better.

"It'd be nice if I was confident in yours." Shepard grumbled, his brows furrowed hard as he continued to glare.

The Illusive Man returned said glare,_ "Your anger aside, we're still combing through all the data you recovered. We're hoping it'll tell us how the Collectors are able to freely use the Omega 4 relay, so until we find out, continue building and honing your team. I believe you've received the three other dossiers?"_

"Yeah... I got 'em. An assassin, a Justicar and Tali correct?" Shepard asked, his voice still angry and violent.

_"Yes... Do what you need to do Shepard, but don't think that I'm not watching."_ another long drag from his cigarette.

"I get it... You're always watching, but here's a tip. Don't underestimate me. I can make things happen you never thought possible." Shepard said through clenched teeth as he pointed at The Illusive Man once more.

_"We'll see Shepard... We'll see."_

Before Shepard could retort with another snarl of anger, or another fun name he had floating around in his head, the quantum entanglement communicator went offline and the briefing room returned to normal.

With no reason to stay, Shepard spun and headed for the Crew Deck for something, anything to take his mind off of being tossed into a trap like a rat for slaughter. He grabbed a glass of water, downed it without taking a breath, but still had to fight the urge to punch something, or toss it with a biotic throw. He began to fumble through the cupboards, looking for something with a bite, something to numb his nervous system, but his attention was drawn when someone lightly touched his shoulder.

Startled, Shepard spun and pressed back against the counter, both hands tightly gripping its edge as his heart hummed and breath came hard from the sudden contact.

"What the?" he yelped with his glowing red tinted, but blue eyes widened in surprise.

"Easy Shepard... It's just me," Dr. Chakwas said quietly, taking her hand away from him, "Is everything alright?" she asked quietly, seeing his skittishness by the sheer tenseness of his muscles and the white knuckles of his hands.

Shepard immediately relaxed the moment he realized who had touched him, "Yeah... No... Kinda... Fuck, not really. I was hoping to find something along the lines of related to alcohol so I can stop being so angry." he huffed, rubbing his eyes.

"Still upset about that stunt The Illusive Man pulled huh?" Dr. Chakwas asked, already knowing the answer, but still wanting to make sure that there was nothing else rattling around in his head.

Shepard could only stare at the deck, "I could pull the ship apart I'm so fuming mad at that dickhead. For a four _billion_ credit investment, he's sure trying his damnedest to get me killed again." he scoffed.

"We'll just have to play it more cautiously next time. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is dear." she said, gently patting Shepard's shoulder, feeling just how tense he really was, but confident he wouldn't jump again.

Shepard somewhat smiled crookedly, "That's not always the case." he looked at her, knowing she knew what he was referring to.

"And it turned out that everything she told us would change what was to happen, so she had to stop. It turned out to be too good to be true." Dr. Chakwas said with a gentle smile across her lips.

"I know, but she's still trying to help. She told me it was trap. I didn't know what she meant at first, but I knew once Timmy told me about the Collector ship. I don't know if I would've made it out of there if I didn't know ahead of time." Shepard said quietly, crossing his arms and leaning back against the counter.

"I'm sure you would have. That I have no doubt my dear," she clutched her datapad to her chest, "However, I don't think alcohol will do you any good right now, so in my professional opinion, you should avoid it for the time being." she said.

Shepard groaned quietly, "That's not fair," he sighed, "Afraid I'll just get shitfaced and stay that way?" he lightly smiled, meaning the statement as a joke.

"I'm afraid you won't know when to stop and could end up giving yourself alcohol poisoning. I can see there's a lot on your mind." she said simply, looking at him almost like a mother.

"Still think I'm looking to hurt myself Doc?" Shepard asked, his brows furrowing as he glared at her.

"Shepard... I know you aren't looking to do any harm to yourself, but drowning yourself in alcohol with your current, shall we say, glowing mindset could prove harmful my dear. I don't want to see anymore bad happen to you." Dr. Chakwas said, her concern blatant in her eyes.

Shepard shrugged, "What difference does it make now? I've died, got to see a glimpse of my dead little sister, got brought back only to fight, get lied to, fight some more, get stonewalled by people I thought I could trust, then get tossed into a trap like it didn't matter. What's getting so shitfaced so I can't remember anything gonna hurt at this point?" he scoffed hard, slowly shaking his head.

"Because I care for you Gabriel. Whether you believe that, or not." she said, her eyes saddening a great deal as she looked away from him.

All she was trying to do was watch out for him, to give him some sort of foundation when his was so weakened from deceit and hidden agendas that only recently, had gotten a boost from his most closest of friends. How could he deny her the comfort of knowing that he was of a sound frame of mind? He couldn't. Not to the one woman who had done her best to provide him with a mother.

Shepard, seeing the doctor's sadness covering her eyes when she looked away from him, sighed as he wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace.

"I'll stay away from it Doc. I promise." he said, rubbing her back, happy that she returned his hug.

"I'll hold you to it, but once things settle a bit, I'll have a drink waiting for you." she said, pulling away from him.

"And I'll hold you to that. I'm looking forward to cracking into that Serrice Ice Brandy I got you from Omega." he smiled, resting the heels of his hands back on the counter's edge.

"You'll get your chance dear. I won't drink it without you." she said with one more pat to his shoulder before she turned and headed back to the med bay.

Alone once more, he had to admit, getting a motherly talking to from the doctor always did have a placating effect on his temper and he didn't feel like he was going to tear someone open just to find out what was inside anymore. He felt relieved in a way, not so prone to violence, or random bouts of unimaginable swearing that could make a krogan blush. He felt better, but only mildly.

With a heavy sigh, Shepard abandoned his quest to find some alcohol, keeping to his promise, and headed for the elevator to take it to the CIC. As the door opened, he noticed the soft, blinking green light on his private terminal, to the left of the galaxy map, and decided that he should probably check his messages, but as he stepped from the immobile car, his psychiatrist and secretary decided to be redundant.

"Commander... You have unread messages at your private terminal." she said robotically, not even looking up from her own terminals to the right of the galaxy map.

The mere sound made him grind his teeth together, "I know Ms. Chambers. It's hard to miss that blinking green light." Shepard deadpanned, trying not to growl at the woman.

"You've walked by it three times." she said, trying not to smirk.

This time, Shepard couldn't stop the groan, "Thank you... Ms. Chambers." again, he deadpanned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Hearing her light giggle, Shepard rolled his eyes as he worked his terminal and migrated into his messages to see that he had a drove of unread emails. It was mostly from acquaintances he's met along his journey thus far, and some from Councilor Anderson and Admiral Hackett keeping him in the loop on some of the intel he's come across, but there was one that made him sigh again.

_What does she want now? _Shepard groaned as he skimmed through Miranda's message that very vaguely requested to see him. He nibbled on his bottom lip as he shut down his terminal and rubbed his neck, heading back to the Crew Deck and scuffed his feet on his way into the XO's cabin. He wasn't in the mood to pick up his feet.

"Shepard... You got my message." Miranda said, almost relieved, as she stood from her seat in front of her bank of terminals.

"It didn't say much other then you needed to see me. What's going on?" Shepard asked, stopping in front of her desk and crossing his arms.

Miranda took in a long, almost nervous sounding breath as she walked and looked out the window at the glowing balls of light drifting by. She crossed her arms and began to nibble her fingernail, her eyes distant and Shepard could see that she was trying to find a good place to start. He had been there before.

"Lawson." Shepard said, breaking the silence and still waiting for her to get on with it.

At hearing her name, she briefly looked over her shoulder at him, "Right," she sighed, "Shepard, I find myself in the unfortunate position of asking for your help." she turned around and leaned back against the window.

Shepard's brows furrowed, "With what?"

She sighed again, "I have a sister... A twin sister. I rescued her from my father when I ran."

"You mean when you both ran?" Shepard asked flatly.

"Uh... Shit..." she stuttered, stepping up to her desk and rested her hands on it as she raked her brain, "She's sort of my twin. We aren't the same age, but we share the same genes. She'll be nineteen soon." Miranda said, looking up at Shepard in time to see his face drop.

"Why do you need my help Lawson?" Shepard said, his tone flat and almost robotic.

"I placed her with an adoptive family on Illium and Cerberus has kept her safe from my father, but my contacts have told me that my father has found her and is making a move to get her back." Miranda said, nibbling on her bottom lip with nerves, remembering when Shepard had nearly pulled a chunk of her hair out for keeping something from him.

Shepard's grip tightened significantly on his bicep, "Spill it." he demanded, his tone rumbling with growing, but contained anger.

Miranda gulped, "My father's always been more interested in preserving his dynasty then having a family. He designed me first and when I rejected him, he designed Oriana. When I ran, I took her with me to get her away from him so she could have a chance at a normal life without the stipulations my father placed on us." she said, finding that she had taken a step back, away from Shepard, just in case.

"If she's seventeen now, then how old was she when you took her?" Shepard asked.

"She was just a baby Shepard." Miranda said, slowly shaking her head.

Just a baby. That's all it took to grab his attention and hold onto it with deadly claws. It was one of his best kept secrets, something he made damn sure that no one knew about no matter how many lies, or how much deception he had to use to make sure of it. Not even Ashley knew.

Ever since he had lost his family on Mindoir, ever since he had lost the woman he loved, at the time, to a Thresher on Akuze, he wanted kids. He wanted to hear them call him dad, to run around and chase them in a field while they laughed and squealed with glee. He wanted to tell them stories at night when he tucked them into bed, and he wanted to see the looks on their faces when he came home from a deployment. He wanted a family. God knew he wanted a family.

"Is this why you gave me that intel about... _her_?" Shepard asked, his anger vanishing entirely at the mention of dealing with a family, as dysfunctional as it may be.

Miranda shook her head, "Not at first, but when my contacts forwarded me intel on what was going on, I thought that it might help convince you to help me." she said, standing up straight and crossing her arms.

"The Illusive Man still doesn't know you gave it to me right? He has no idea about her?" Shepard asked, taking in a deep breath.

"I'm certain he doesn't. Please... I need your help with this Shepard." Miranda said, trying not to sound as if she was begging.

"Ok... Ok... You said Illium right?" Shepard asked, just wanting to make sure he had heard her right.

"Yes."

"Alright... We'll go." Shepard said, finding that there was really no way he could deny the icy woman this request, especially since she had kept The Illusive Man from discovering something he would most likely kill for to keep secret.

Miranda sighed in relief, "Thank you Commander."

Shepard just nodded as he turned and left, exiting the XO cabin just in time to see Dr. Chakwas again, waving him over to the med bay through the bank of windows. He rubbed the back of his neck as he scuffed over, letting the heel of his boots play notes across the deck plating that caused those around to watch him as he passed by. He knew how he looked to them, most likely tired, angry, scarred, and all topped with a heavy helping of he just didn't give a flying frogs fat ass.

"Yes Doc?" he asked, feeling the slow creep of mental exhaustion beginning to take hold.

"I have some good news for you Shepard." Dr. Chakwas said, still with her datapad against her chest as she lightly smiled at him.

"I could use some good news after the day I've had." he groaned as a lazy smile grew across his face.

"Well... This should perk your spirits then. The Dermal Regenerator is finished and ready for you. We can get those scars cleared up whenever you want Commander." she said, stepping aside so Shepard could enter the med bay.

Looking past the doctor, Shepard saw the new contraption that had been built into one of the beds closest to the AI Core. It had several booms sprouting off of a central drum, each tipped with thin fingers, needles and equipment that would do the work while he laid in the bed. The central drum was orbited by several measured holding vials that could be filled with whatever was to be used during the procedure, but were, for the moment, empty. It was frightening looking to everyone else, but to Shepard, it was a giant, expensive eraser that would help him feel better about the man in the mirror.

"How long will it take?" Shepard asked, walking up to the unit to get a closer look with the doctor close behind.

"It's hard to guess, but I'd say a few hours. I'll give you a sedative to put you under while Mordin and I oversee the procedure." Dr. Chakwas said, standing next to him.

"What goes in those?" Shepard asked, almost sounding like a child who was about to have his first surgery.

"The protein insulation gel that will integrate the cybernetics better into your body." Dr. Chakwas said, enjoying the boyish look coloring his features.

"They aren't integrated already?" Shepard asked, finally looking at the doctor.

However, it wasn't her who answered.

"Cybernetics integrated, but not fully. Not enough time. Protein will provide protective layer against body's natural instinct to defend itself from foreign objects." Mordin rattled off as the doors closed behind him, his arms full of three cylindrical canisters.

"Is that why my face won't heal?" Shepard asked, watching Mordin as he set his armful down on a lab table.

"Facial scarring due to body attempts at ridding itself of foreign objects. Cybernetics considered foreign. Body has redirected necessary T cells away from facial mask," he took in a deep breath, "Result. Scarring got worse."

Shepard popped an eyebrow, hardly able to understand anything that just came out of the salarian's mouth, "I didn't understand any of that Mordin. I'm smart, but not doctorate smart."

Mordin just smiled as he continued with the canisters.

"What he means, is that your body is so distracted with trying to protect itself, that it forgot to heal your scars." Dr. Chakwas said.

Finding that his lips began to curl into a soft smile, Shepard touched his face, letting his fingertips flutter over the deep marks that carved his skin. He felt them cut a crescent around his left eye before jutting off into some sick geometry problem across his left cheek. The scars continued across his forehead with little branches that poked out in every which direction and even turned down to frame his facial mask in glowing red. He even had one the bisected his lips.

"Can we start now?" Shepard asked, looking at her and letting his hands drop back to his sides.

"I certainly think we can. Go ahead and get into something comfortable. You'll want to be for this dear." Dr. Chakwas said, smiling and gently patting his shoulder.

Unable to stop his smile, Shepard nodded and headed back up to his cabin where he changed into a pair of black sweats and a plain gray t-shirt before rushing back to the med bay. He couldn't ignore the nervous flutter in his stomach, but he wanted this. He wanted to forget that he was most likely half machine and filled with just as many mechanical parts as he was organic ones.

When the doors opened for him once more, he saw that Mordin and Dr. Chakwas had already begun to prep the machine by spilling the contents of the canisters into the vials the surrounded the drum. The room had been darkened, save for that one corner, and the bank of windows had been closed so no one outside could watch what they were doing, but when he looked to the small tray that rested on a cart next to the bed, he saw the prepared syringe that would put him down and to him, that meant a fresh start.

* * *

The _Grimm_ was aloof with activity as her crew went about preparing for their outing on the asari trade planet of Illium. It was a ruthless place, filled with businessmen and women all out to deepen their pockets by any means necessary. If asked, any would say that Illium was just Omega with expensive shoes.

The three having already donned their armor, Kaidan, Callaghan and Ellison plucked their preferred weapons from the racks that lined the bulkheads, taking the time to inspect and insure that everything was in order before attaching them to their hardsuits.

"So... Illium huh?" Ellison asked as he snapped his submachine gun onto his hip with a pistol on the other side.

"Yup... We've got some things to take care of here." Kaidan said vaguely, snapping in a fresh thermal clip into his pistol.

"Don't suppose we get to know before hand do we?" Callaghan asked.

Kaidan smiled with a crooked grin, "You'll find out when we get there." he lightly pursed his lips together, expecting some snide retort, but it never came.

Callaghan sighed, "Roger that Commander." she simply said as she snapped her sniper rifle onto her back.

Expecting to have to defend himself with the sassy, often angry Lieutenant, Kaidan could only shrug a bit as the armory doors opened to allow Lycan to enter with two handfuls of energy bars for the squad.

"Here we are... High cal for Callaghan," she handed a few purple wrapped bars to Callaghan, "General bars for Ellison, " green wrapped bars went into his hands, "And high protein biotic energy bars for you." she finished as she handed Kaidan orange wrapped bars that he stuffed into a pouch on his belt.

"Thanks Lycan. Keep an eye on Lia for me while I'm out and make sure she doesn't get herself into any trouble with those bi radial thermal conductors. Last time she tangoed with them, she ended up nearly overheating the drove cores." Ellison said, smirking until he caught the sudden glare from Kaidan.

"She almost what?" Kaidan asked, popping an eyebrow and crossing his arms.

"Um... Didn't I tell you sir?" Ellison sunk down into his shoulders a bit.

"Uh... No." Kaidan deadpanned.

"Oh um... Well... It was nothing really. We got it back under control before it was noticed." Ellison said, grinning like he was out of the woods.

"Nothing? My ship almost blows up into a fiery ball of doom and it was nothing?" Kaidan said, having to use a bit more will power to keep from chuckling.

"Well... We were trying to increase the output of the cores and she kinda started tinkering and we ended up increasing the amount of heat the heat sinks could handle before needing to discharge." Ellison said, rattling it off a bit quickly.

Kaidan arced a brow again, "And... you didn't think this was information that you needed to share with your Commander?" at this point, he was just stringing the Lance Corporal along.

"We didn't wanna worry you sir! We handled it! Everything's fine!" Ellison quickly defended, shying away from Kaidan before he noticed that Lycan, he and Callaghan were beginning to giggle, "You guys are so mean."

Kaidan barked a round of laughter, "I'm sorry Brock... I didn't mean to," he let his laughter calm, "So what does that mean for the _Grimm_?" he asked, now curious.

"Oh... Well, it means she can go a bit further at greater speeds. We went up from a hundred thousand heat units to a hundred and fifty thousand heat units. Essentially, we can keep up with the _Normandy_ for about an hour longer, but she'll pull away from us before we reach that. Just not so fast." Ellison said, crossing his arms.

Kaidan nodded, "Nice work."

Seeing her opening, Lycan lightly patted Kaidan's armored shoulder, but didn't let it linger like she normally would have, "To answer your question, I'll keep an eye on things while you're out Brock."

"Thanks again Lycan. I appreciate it." Ellison said, breathing a sigh of relief that he wasn't roasting on hot coals anymore.

"My pleasure," she smiled, "Well... I'm off to take some inventory and start thinking about what to make. Any idea when you guys are gonna be back?" she asked, looking up at Kaidan.

"I'll keep in touch and let you know. I'm just not sure if we're gonna hit heavy resistance while we're out." Kaidan said.

"Understood. You know how to get ahold of me." Lycan said with another light pat to his shoulder before she turned and left.

Staying silent until the doors closed, Callaghan huffed, "She does have a way of being a mother hen doesn't she."

Kaidan sent her a sidelong glance, "Yeah... She does bring an air of home." he lightly smiled, keeping it mostly under wraps for obvious reasons.

"It's nice really. Makes it easier out here." Ellison said, resuming his work to check his weapons one last time.

Kaidan nodded in agreement, but it didn't last long when the comms overhead beeped, gaining his full attention.

_"Commander... There's a call waiting for you from Admiral Hackett." _said the voice of one of the pilots, but which one, Kaidan couldn't tell.

Kaidan's face dropped, "Patch it through to the briefing room. I'm on my way."

Motioning for Callaghan and Ellison to meet him down in the cargo bay, Kaidan turned and headed for the briefing room, seeing that the large holoscreen was active and flashing with the indicator that drew attention to an awaiting call. He stepped up to his desk and flighted a hand over his terminal, bringing it to life and made the final connection to bring up a large vid of Admiral Hackett's torso.

_"Commander Alenko... I see I've just caught you before you headed out." _Hackett said in his deep, aged voice that cracked with a bit of tiredness.

"I was about to sir, but I'm not in the habit of ignoring admirals. Especially ones that could have intel." Kaidan said, crossing his arms to cause the thick meshing to groan underneath his ceramic plating.

_"Well... There is a few things unfortunately. We've gotten a report about ten Cerberus agents who were killed on the Citadel." _he said, his face drawing down slightly into a frown.

Kaidan's brows furrowed, "You think they were looking for her?" he asked, not wanting to use Lycan's name over the comm.

_"The report was forwarded to us from Shepard. It was encoded and attached to a mission report from an outing he had on a Collector ship that I guess turned out to be a trap."_

An eyebrow arced, "Good thing he made it out." Kaidan said with a low scruff in his throat, trying not to breath a sigh of relief that Lycan had given Shepard a heads up ahead of time.

_"I agree. Regardless, the kind of ruckus he's been putting Cerberus through has been keeping them well occupied since. He's been sending us data from his operations, as well as copies of his actual mission reports. He's gotta have someone that's been helping him get past the Cerberus information distribution protocols." _

Kaidan smirked, "Wouldn't surprise me. He has a way of getting the most unlikely people to follow him without question."

_"And he never fails at it. Hell... He got you, Chief Williams and the rest of the original crew to mutiny and steal the SR1 without so much as a second thought." _Hackett smirked.

"Needed to be done Admiral." Kaidan glanced down at his terminal for a moment before looking back up.

_"Agreed, but with that aside, it looks like Cerberus is getting closer to discovering her."_

Kaidan's face dropped again, "Do you think they know who she is yet?"

_"It's possible. When we got the report, it told us where to look for the bodies. They were three blocks from your apartment." _

Kaidan held his breath, "Jesus... Sounds like we got out of there just in time." he said, seeing Hackett nod.

_"I agree... But, there's something else that's bothering me Commander. The report that Shepard forwarded originated from a Cerberus database. Shepard said it was intercepted by one of his crew." _

"What? Someone inside Cerberus already knows?" Kaidan asked, uncrossing his arms to rest his hands on his hips to keep from slamming them down on his desk.

_"Looks like it Commander, but Shepard also said that she intercepted it before it reached The Illusive Man. She stopped him from discovering who she is." _

"Think this crewman's legit?" Kaidan asked, resting his hands on his desk to help steady him.

_"Shepard isn't even one hundred percent sure, but he seems to be leaning towards that she is. This means, that you're gonna have to be on your toes Commander. If Cerberus gets ahold of her, it could spell trouble for us in more ways then one." _

Kaidan hung his head, "Sir... I should tell you that she knows..." he was cut off.

_"At ease Commander. Anderson filled me in. I know. That's why I said more ways then one."_

"Admiral... If Cerberus gets her, I can only guess what The Illusive Man would do to her just to further his agendas." Kaidan said, looking back up to the screen with worry written all over his face.

_"You aren't the only one Commander. With this, Anderson and I have taken the liberty of assigning another N7 to your crew. She's a bit rough around the edges, but she's damn good at what she does." _Hackett said as he looked off screen for a moment.

Kaidan stood up straight, "Another? We're cramped on space as is Admiral. Adding one more will put us at max."

_"I know, but I also know that you won't have any trouble getting along with her." _Hackett started to smirk.

"Sir?" Kaidan said, just as his terminal pinged with an awaiting message.

Looking at it, Kaidan flighted his hand over his terminal once more and brought up the message, seeing that it was the file and dossier about his new crew member. He couldn't stop the smile.

"Well then... How did she manage this?" Kaidan asked, already knowing what the file said so he just looked back to the screen.

_"She didn't. She was in the middle of her debrief about Horizon when we got the report from Shepard. We read through it and it just gave us another reason to assign her to the Grimm." _

"Another reason?" Kaidan's eyebrow popped again.

_"Major Antella Commander. He's been breathing down everyone's necks." _

"What does he want now?" Kaidan asked, unable to stop his throat from rumbling with detest for the man.

_"He's on a witch hunt Alenko. Every since it was confirmed that Shepard's alive, he's been trying to hunt the man down to grill him. Fortunately for Shepard, Anderson and I have more then enough pull to keep Major Antella chained. So long as Shepard keeps his nose out of major trouble, he'll be fine." _

Hearing that, Kaidan immediately began to think of what was to come. He knew what Shepard was to be tasked with regarding the Bahak system, a batarian controlled territory, and it wasn't going to be easy. Especially since Shepard was to be forced to snuff out just under three hundred and five thousand lives. That major trouble was unfortunately coming.

"Admiral... I don't think it'll stay that way." Kaidan admitted, no longer able to smile.

Hackett's brows furrowed, _"Do I wanna know?" _

"Sir... Shepard'll have to..." again, Kaidan was cut off.

_"Commander... Remember what happened last time she divulged information to us. We can't risk a timeline shift of any kind."_

"Trust me, I remember. I won't give details sir, but know this. Be ready for a shit storm because Shepard won't have a choice. Keep Major Antella at bay for as long as possible sir." Kaidan said, sighing as he slowly shook his head.

_"We'll do our best Commander. With Major Antella on his war path, we've assigned Chief Williams to you to keep her away from him for the time being. Without her, the Major can sit and spin."_

"When we're finished here, we'll head back to the Citadel to pick her up." Kaidan said with a curt nod.

_"No need Commander. I have her on an express transport to Illium. She'll be there tomorrow morning. I wanted to get her away from Antella as fast as possible." _

"What does the Major have against Shepard anyway?" Kaidan asked, crossing his arms.

_"Who knows, but I intend to find out. However, if things are gonna hit the fan, then I won't be able to hold him back forever." _

"I know. Just get your ducks in a row for what's coming Admiral. I don't wanna see Major Antella get the upper hand." Kaidan said.

_"I take it you know?"_

Kaidan nodded.

Hackett sighed, _"It would help if I knew what to prepare for then Commander." _

"What about the timeline?" Kaidan asked, trying not to smirk.

_"I'm not looking for details." _Hackett did smirk.

"Alright... Bahak." was all Kaidan said, seeing the recognition on the Admiral's face.

_"Understood Commander Alenko. I'll do what I can."_

Falling silent, Kaidan took a quiet moment to digest all he had heard and done. Between Lycan and he, they were getting dangerously close to saying too much, but Lycan was right. Just leaving the coins didn't feel like enough, so being vague was the best chance they had to giving the important players just a little bit of an edge. They had figured that if they stayed vague and the major players figured it out with their little clue, things would be alright. It was a risk they were willing to take.

_"Well... I believe that's it Commander. Do you have anything for me?" _

"One thing sir... Um... I wanted to ask your thoughts about enlisting... her... into the Alliance." Kaidan said, still keeping things a bit vague.

_"Who's idea is this? Hers, or yours?" _

"I brought it up. She hasn't given an answer yet though. The crew and I have been teaching her things, but she picked up on tech like she had a rough idea to begin with." Kaidan said, shifting his weight to his other leg.

_"She's had her fair share of instruction from you I believe." _

"Since she got here in '83, but I didn't go into the actually technical specs. Not until recently." Kaidan said.

_"Are you sure with her circumstances that taking her out of your company for basic and subsequent training is a good idea?" _

Kaidan scratched the side of his neck, "That's the thing Admiral... She wouldn't go. I've been teaching her more then just tech. I've taught her combat skills and she's already got a concept of military chain of command and ranking from her past. She's not as green as you think."

_"Hmm... Interesting thought Commander. However, I'm sure she's already brought this up, but if she were grandfathered in, then you'd have regs to deal with." _

Kaidan's eyes went wide, "Uh... Sir?" he played dumb.

_"Don't think I don't know Commander. You two've lived together for the last two years and I've seen those dates you've taken her on. Only a boyfriend would do that with that much affection." _Hackett smirked.

Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck as he groaned, "Admiral I... It just kinda..." he sighed.

_"Relax Commander. I'll tell you what. I'll talk with Anderson about it and we'll see what happens. I can't make any promises, so don't get your hopes up, or hers." _

"Sounds fair Admiral. I appreciate it." Kaidan said, looking away from the screen to hide a light blush.

_"I'll be in touch Commander. Good luck out there." _

"Thanks sir."

With that, the comm cut, leaving Kaidan with a lot to think about. The news about Cerberus being so close to finding them was a bit hard to swallow, but he couldn't help but have that feeling of dread that there would be far more close calls in their future. He had said it before that if anything got close to her, he would tear apart a solar system just to protect her, but he hoped that it wouldn't come to that. Doesn't mean he didn't think about it.

With the soft hiss of opening doors, Kaidan pulled himself from his thoughts and looked to see Lycan walk in.

"Callaghan and Ellison are waiting for you. Everything ok?" she asked, stepping up to just in front of him and placing her hands on his armored chest.

Kaidan placed his hands on her hips, "For right now... Yeah. We'll talk about it when I get back ok?"

Lycan's shoulders slumped, and her face dropped a bit, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing you need to worry yourself with right now. Just take it easy while I'm out and if you need anything, you know how to get ahold of me." he lightly kissed her lips.

"Ok... Be safe."

"I will." Kaidan said with a nod as he headed for the cargo bay, fully intent on paying a visit to a couple of towers.


	61. Chapter 61

Chapter 61: Just Breathe

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! Woot for Spring Break!)_

The Dantius Towers were tall and that was the only thought that they were capable of thinking of as they stared at the massive, bluish purple colored buildings against the purple and orange colored sky. They were obviously new, as one was still under construction and terminated at the large, thick skybridge that spanned between the pair. They were lit from underneath by powerful, but richly blue lighting that made them seem angelic almost, but Kaidan knew that that was not the case.

Kaidan, Ellison and Callaghan stood at the end of a balcony on the lower part of the Nos Astra trading floor. They stood near a cab terminal that provided them the best vista of Illium's cityscape, dominated by the two towers that hung over much of their surroundings.

"So that's them huh?" Callaghan asked, an eyebrow popped as she kept her eyes glued to the towers.

"Yup. Still think you can handle it Lieutenant?" Kaidan asked, glancing at her with the softest of smirks across his lips.

Callaghan glared in return, "Please Commander... Remember who you're talking to." she said, scoffing and looking back to the towers in the distance.

"Alright... If you insist. Have you got your plan on how to get up there?" Kaidan asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah Lieutenant... What kind of sneaky awesome infiltrator tricks you got up your sleeve?" Ellison poked, mirroring Kaidan's posture.

"That's for me to know and you not to Lance Corporal." Callaghan smirked with a cocky grin.

"Ouch Lieutenant. That hurts my soul." Ellison mocked, placing a hand over his armored chest.

"I can hurt more then that." she grumbled, but just loud enough so only Ellison and Kaidan could hear.

"Ok ok... So what's your plan?" Kaidan repeated his question, putting his back to the towers and leaning back against the railing, still with crossed arms.

"Well, it's hard to say without knowing anything about those towers, so any information you have Commander would be greatly appreciated." she said, glancing around her at a few scattered groups of people, many of which were asari.

"Now's a good a time as any," Kaidan turned back around to look at the towers, but leaned forward to rest his elbows on the railing, "Those are the Dantius Towers. They're owned by an asari named Nassana Dantius." he said, lowering his voice so it didn't wonder to anyone who could be close enough to listen in.

Callaghan leaned against the railing herself, "How do you know her?"

"Shepard and I met her on the Citadel a couple years back. She tried to get Shepard to help her kill her sister, but uh... that didn't go so well. I'm pretty sure that if we were somewhere private, Shepard would've done something that would've gotten him arrested." Kaidan said, drawing in a deep breath that was filled with several different scents that he couldn't figure out.

"Sounds like it's an interesting story." Callaghan said, rubbing the back of her neck.

Kaidan huffed, "It was more interesting to see," he lightly cleared his throat, "Anyways, she's the one who owns those towers and she's not someone with a good personality."

"So she's my target?" Callaghan asked.

Kaidan shook his head, "No. She'll get taken care of soon enough. You're target is one of the upper story windows on the completed tower. Near the penthouse." he lazily pointed towards the towers.

"How do I know which one?" she asked, looking around a bit to make it look like a couple of heavily armed people were just having a plain conversation.

"There'll be an Eclipse merc standing his post by one of the larger windows. All you have to do is plant this coin somewhere where Shepard'll see it." Kaidan said, reaching into his pocket for a wing and star printed coin.

"Shouldn't be too difficult, but there's not much I can do with the sun still up." Callaghan said, lightly liking her lips.

Glancing at her, Kaidan saw the thought in her eyes as she stared hard at the two towers, "What you have in mind Lieutenant?"

"Make my way to the towers as fast as I can, get inside just as the sun shines hard at the glass. The reflection should blind anyone from around the towers seeing anything suspicious." she said, still keeping her voice low.

"What else?" Ellison asked, curious as he took up her other side.

"When the sun's reflection is bouncing off the windows, I'll get inside and wait till dark before making my move. I'll return to base as soon as I'm out." she answered.

"I want reports every hour, on the hour Lieutenant. If you need to keep radio silence, message via Omni-Tool. Once you get back, we'll go over the next part." Kaidan said, standing up straight.

"Next part?" Callaghan asked, popping an eyebrow.

"There's another coin that needs to be placed in the shipping district, but we can go over that later. Just focus on getting into the towers and getting out again without any trouble." Kaidan said, waving it off.

"I have a feeling that I'm gonna be doing a lot of running around aren't I." she deadpanned.

"Here? Yeah... I can get in and out, but not without firing a shot. Stealth is our best bet here. Those coins need to be found by Shepard, and Shepard alone and sneaking in and out is the best way to make sure that happens." Kaidan said, lightly rubbing his neck as he looked around, just to make sure that no one was attempting to eavesdrop.

"I understand Commander. I'll RTB after I'm out," she nodded, "Anything else?"

"No. You're green across the board Lieutenant. Be safe out there." Kaidan said, standing up straight.

"I will."

With the mission set before her, Kaidan watched as Callaghan stood up straight and walked off towards the collection of inert cabs waiting for their summons, checking her belt and weapons to make sure they were still secure as she walked. He had no idea how infiltrators worked, but the hard shimmering of a cloak began to wrap itself around the Lieutenant as she stepped up to the railing that was shielded by the cars. He had to resist the urge to stop her when he saw her vault over the railing, completely disappearing when her cloak became fully active and she vanished into thin air.

"She gonna walk the whole way Commander?" Ellison asked, somewhat dumbstruck that she had so nonchalantly leapt over the side.

Kaidan checked the time, "She's got six hours till sunset so she's got plenty of time." he said, turning to head back towards the corridor that would take them back up to the main trading floor.

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Ellison asked, dodging an asari who was quite distracted by something on her Omni-Tool and wasn't paying attention to where she was going.

"We wait until she gets back." Kaidan said as the pair entered the junction between where they were and the main trading floor that housed the shipping offices.

"Does that mean we're headed back to the ship?" Ellison asked.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. Nothing we can do out here." he said as he wound through the crowds and corridors.

The main trading floor was filled with merchants, shops and tradesmen, all looking to make a credit in some shape or form. There were volus trying to scheme the stocks, young asari clerks beaming with smiles at every person who walked by and there were even a few turian and salarian businessmen conducting meetings on their Omni-Tools. It was a buzzing corporate feeding ground and it very much reminded Kaidan of Noveria, and not the part that he wanted to remember.

Lightly smiling, Kaidan headed back towards the ship with Ellison in tow, sticking to the outside wall to avoid a majority of the patrons until they reached the access tunnel that would take them to where the _Grimm_ was docked.

The _Grimm_ was definitely something that didn't blend in with the rest of the Illium background, as her sharp black coloring and hard lines just stood out from the rest. It didn't match the elegant atmosphere that the rest of Illium put out and honestly, Kaidan kind of liked it. The _Grimm_ gave him a sense of reality amongst the pretty and polished outer layer of a place that had quite the underground if Lycan remembered right, and he was sure she did.

When they stepped back on board through the open cargo bay door, they rarely used the airlock unless they had to, Kaidan and Ellison made their way to the armory to unload and change out. Ellison wasted no time in making a beeline for the galley, already smelling lunch wafting through the ship, but Kaidan stopped by his quarters to find Lycan typing away on the newly functioning datapad.

"You're back already?" Lycan asked as she looked up, setting the datapad aside on her nightstand.

"Not much we could do out there. Callaghan headed for the towers, but she's gotta wait till nightfall before she can make her move." Kaidan said, dumping his belt onto the bed to change from the thick bodysuit of his armor, into his uniform.

"Oh... She gonna be alright out there? It's not gonna be nightfall for awhile." Lycan said, standing from the bed and pulling a uniform from the dresser for him to put on.

"She'll be fine. She's supposed to send reports every hour, so if I don't hear from her, Ellison, Hanson and I are gonna go find her." Kaidan said as he pulled on a white tank before putting on his uniform shirt.

"Alright. Lets hope it doesn't come to that." Lycan said, resting her hands on her hips.

"I've got faith in her. She may be a bit rough, but her file is filled to the brim with commendations and all pertain to her infiltrating. She'll be fine." Kaidan said as he tossed the bodysuit aside and pulled on his pants.

"Alright," she huffed and sat down in a chair at their small dining table, "So does that mean we're on shore leave while we wait?" she asked, crossing her legs.

Kaidan finished situating his uniform and ran a hand back through his hair before sitting down next to her in the open chair, "No hun. With Callaghan out by herself, I want everyone to be ready at a moments notice in case we need to go get her."

"Well... Do you think we can go see Liara? She's not far from here and I'd really like to see her." she said, her eyes nearly pleading for him to agree.

"I had a feeling you were gonna ask." Kaidan said with a light smile as he grasped her hand.

"So can we? It's been so long since we've seen, or heard from her." Lycan said, putting on her most desperate face, hoping to melt him into submission.

Kaidan sighed, "You know, I don't think it'll hurt. Maybe there's something else we can do to make Shepard's life just a little bit easier." he said, standing to go put on his boots.

Lycan's face lit up, "That's just what I had in mind!" she smiled wide as she hopped up and spun around with excitement.

"Care to share?" Kaidan asked, sitting on the bed and stuffing a foot into a boot.

"Well... Maybe we can let her know that Shepard's coming to Illium and who he's looking for. She could get as much info as she can about Samara and Thane for him." Lycan said as she put on her boots, having been sitting on their bed without them.

"That's an interesting idea. I overheard a few people talking about a Justicar that'd arrived a couple days ago. That's her isn't it?" Kaidan asked, finishing with his boots.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. It shouldn't be hard to get anything on her, and with Liara's contacts, she'll be able find something on Thane easy." she said.

"What's Liara doing now? She's an information broker right?" Kaidan asked.

"Yeah." Lycan said, her excitement still blatant across her features.

"Alright then. Lets go." Kaidan said as he planted a kiss to the corner of her mouth before he stood to retrieve a pistol from the armory.

Lycan nearly jumped up and down as she snapped on her Omni-Tool and trotted to catch up to him. They both picked out pistols, Lycan picking out the nothing special pistol that Kaidan had been using to teaching her how to use while Kaidan plucked a far more advanced and specialized beast from the rack. Lycan stopped by the galley to make sure everyone was satisfied with their meals, they were, before the pair headed for the cargo bay and disembarked into the fresh air.

As she deeply inhaled, Lycan hadn't realized just how much she needed to get off the ship. The fresh air was blissful in her lungs and as they walked, it was nice to see people other then the crew of the _Grimm. _She couldn't keep her head still as she took in all the sights, the people, the shops, the view, she had to look at everything and Kaidan couldn't stop the low chuckle and smile as he watched her do it.

As they walked, he simply watched her as she looked around like a child at an amusement park, always needing to be looking at something in particular and nothing holding her attention for longer then a few seconds. They walked hand in hand, but it never lasted long as she stopped at every shop just to look at the wares and the smile was so broad, so enthused, that her cheeks were starting to hurt and it didn't get any better when the alcove that led up to administration came into view.

Kaidan barely had time to register that Lycan had bounded towards the stairs, having to jog to catch up to her and laughing the entire time because of her enthusiasm. They walked up the stairs to be greeted by an asari assistant that Lycan, and Kaidan for that matter, both glared at.

"Welcome to Nos Astra. My name is Nyxeris. How can I help you today?" the asari asked, her face beaming with an artificial and forced smile.

Lycan's own beaming grin faded instantly, "We're here to see Liara T'Soni." she said flatly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm sorry, but Ms. T'Soni is unavailable at the moment. She's in an important meeting." Nyxeris said, but her smiled stayed plastered across her face.

Lycan's stomach flutter a bit, nervous that they hadn't beaten Shepard to Illium, "With?"

"A confidential informant. She does not wish to be disturbed." Nyxeris said, but this time, her smile faltered ever so slightly.

Lycan's glare got just a bit harsher, "Uh huh... Right." she said as she turned towards the door and started manipulating its red interface.

"Excuse me miss, but you can't go in there! She's not to be disturbed!" Nyxeris protested as she stood, only to freeze when Kaidan stepped between her and the human now fiddling with the door.

It took Lycan a few tries since she wasn't completely familiar with the procedure of hacking, but on her third attempt, she had succeeded in turning the red interface green and she smiled when it chimed with a soft ping.

"You can sit now." she deadpanned as she walked inside, closely followed by Kaidan who was smirking proudly that she had managed to hack the door on her own.

As they entered the large, circular office, they saw an asari standing in front of a large holoscreen with the face of a turian splattered all over it. She wore a green, formfitting dress and moved elegantly, but the way she spoke, was harsh, violent even.

"If I don't get my money Braxis, you'll find out just how powerful an asari singularity can get. Do I make myself clear?" she asked, not even noticing that she now had an audience.

_"Um... You have company." _the turian gulped, point at them even through the screen.

"What? Nyxeris! I said..." she growled, until she turned around and saw who had entered her domain, "Lycan! Kaidan!" the anger completely vanished.

"Go ahead and finish Liara. Don't let us stop you." Kaidan said, trying not to start laughing at the terrified look on the turian's face.

"Get me my money by tomorrow Braxis!" was all she said before she cut the link, "By the Goddess! I can't believe you're here! How are you both!" she nearly squealed, shutting the door to her office and bouncing up to wrap them in a hug.

Lycan hugged Liara tightly, "We've been good. We were in the neighborhood. Thought we'd drop by for a visit." she beamed.

"It's most welcomed! Please, please, sit." Liara said, motioning towards a couple of chairs in front of her desk.

"So information broker huh? It's a bit different from that naive little scientist we picked up on Therum." Kaidan said as he stood behind Lycan who had sat down in one of the chairs.

"Yes. It seems a bit off for me, but it's paid the bills since..." she stopped and cleared her throat as she sat in the open chair next to Lycan.

"Since you recovered Shepard's body?" Lycan filled in, glancing up at Kaidan to see his uneasiness when he looked at the floor.

Liara nodded, "Yes." was all she said as she looked at her hands in her lap.

"How bad was he? If I can ask." Kaidan dared, crossing his arms and unsure sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

Liara sucked in a long breath, "Not good Kaidan. His body was significantly damaged from the vacuum exposure and it only got worse when he entered Alchera's thin atmosphere. He was burned so badly that the only way to identify him was to extract DNA from his bones."

"Sounds gruesome. It's a wonder how Cerberus managed to bring him back from that." Kaidan asked, drawing in a deep breath.

"We won't know unless Shepard can somehow get the Lazarus Project reports away from Cerberus hands." Liara said, standing from her chair to take the one behind her desk.

Kaidan nodded, "He's already been sending reports to the Alliance. It's only a matter of time until he gets that one out." he said, taking the now empty seat.

"That's good to hear. It seems like he is really trying to make his connections with Cerberus as weak as possible." Liara said, glancing at her terminal when it pinged.

"He is. As hard as it's been on him, he's still trying to stay loyal to the Alliance. We've been doing what we can out here, but..." Kaidan said, leaning back into the chair.

"Something else is bothering you?" Liara asked, ignoring her terminal for the time being.

"Yeah... Shepard's been... off since he's been awake. You should have seen him the last time I talked to him Liara. His face was..." Kaidan said with a deep sigh, not even knowing how to describe the deep glowing scars that crisscrossed his face.

"Scarred to say the least. I know he was thinking about having them repaired though so, when he stops by, he may not even look like that anymore." Lycan said, hearing yet another ping from Liara's terminal.

"He is coming here?" Liara asked, splitting her attention a bit to check her two arrived messages, only to see that they were information reports from various sources.

"Yeah. I don't know when though," Lycan sucked in a deep breath to keep from saying more, "Look... I know you're busy, but... Do you have a place were we can meet up with Shepard when he gets here?"

Kaidan stiffened, "Ly? What are you doing?" he asked, placing his fingertips on her arm, as he was afraid she was about to divulge too much information.

"I really think Shepard could use some down time. Something to help him focus. It's like you said Kaidan. He's probably having trouble coming to grips with everything. He just... hasn't had the time." Lycan said, placing her hand on top of his in reassurance.

Kaidan nodded, deciding to trust in her then try to fight it.

"I might have something. Why do you ask?" Liara asked, folding her arms on the desk.

"Well... We have someone who Shepard could really stand to talk to and I don't think it'll be a good idea to meet in public." Lycan said, able to lightly smile as hope rose that she might be able to set something up on the fly.

"I hope it's Ashley."

"It is actually. Can you arrange it?" Lycan asked, her foot tapping rapidly on the floor in anticipation.

Liara smiled, "Of course I can. I know just the place, but I hope that you and Kaidan will come as well since you'll be here."

"Depends on where we go. We've uh... come across some information that Cerberus is looking for Lycan. I've been assigned as her bodyguard until we can assure she's safe." Kaidan said, sliding his hand down her arm to grasp her hand.

Liara smiled wider at the small, tiny show of affection between the two, "I doubt you argued that assignment, but I assure you, the place I have in mind is as safe as your own ship."

"Where is it?" Lycan asked, unable to stop from smiling.

"It's my apartment. We could... make it a get together. Something to remind him that we're still there for him." Liara said, lightly smiling.

"Your place huh? I don't think that'll be a problem then. Send me a message when the _Normandy_ comes in and we can start planning. Shepard'll need to take care of a few things when he gets here." Kaidan said, standing from his chair.

Liara nodded, "In regards to that, if you have any information you can spare, it would be greatly appreciated. I want to help Shepard as much as I can." Liara said, standing herself and walking around her desk in preparation for their departure.

Lycan stood, "Um..." she rubbed her neck as she rummaged her brain, "He's here about some assassin and a Justicar of all things." she said, trying hard not to smirk too hard.

Liara nodded, "I understand. I'll make sure I have something for Shepard when he gets here, and I'll make sure you know when he does." she said, opening her arms for a goodbye hug.

Lycan immediately went to hug her friend, "Thank you Liara. We really appreciate it." she let go.

"Of course. I'll be in touch. I'll see you soon friends."

Saying their goodbyes, Kaidan and Lycan gave Liara one last hug before they left, each shooting Liara's assistant another glare as they headed down the stairs and back towards the _Grimm _for the wait to hear from Callaghan.

* * *

He was cold. That's all he could think about, was that he was cold. He shivered, not horribly, but he was still shaking with every muscle twitching about just trying to generate heat. His teeth clattered loudly in his ears, his hands gripped his arms in their futile attempt give him warmth, and it all just boiled down to that he was cold and wanted a blanket.

Forcing his eyes open, Shepard took in the room he was in. It was darkened, but it was clear that it was the med bay because of the subtle orange glow of the doctor's terminal with her sitting in the chair. She looked content, but tired and he had wondered if she had stayed up just to make sure he was under her watchful eye. He laid in a bed with only a thin sheet for covers and even that was only tugged up to lay against his hips. His hands fumbled for purchase on the fabric to try and tug it up, but his fingers refused to hold onto it for longer then a second.

"D-Doc? C-Can I-I h-have a-another b-blanket?" Shepard chattered, curling into a ball in hopes of finding warmth.

Dr. Chakwas looked up from her terminal, "Oh... You're awake." she said, standing from her chair to come to his bed side.

"A-And I-I'm f-freezing." he said, hardly able to form words through his chattering teeth.

"Let me check your temperature." she said quietly as she went for a thermometer in a drawer next to his bed.

Still shivering, Shepard nodded as he curled into himself harder, watching the doctor pull the thermometer and place it in his ear. He couldn't even feel the device he was so cold, but he could still feel the pressure as she pushed it in, just enough until it beeped with the results.

"You're at a hundred and two my dear. We should get you cooled off." she said, setting the device aside.

"D-Don't s-say t-that. I-I w-want t-to b-be w-warm." Shepard said, grasping feebly at the sheet once more.

"Any warmer and you could be in some real trouble." she picked up a syringe from a tray nearby that was already filled with something.

"W-What's t-that?" he asked, watching her tap the vial before she grasped his arm to stick the needle into the crook of his elbow, causing him to wince.

"It's a basic Acetaminophen. It'll help bring your fever down." she said sweetly, removing the needle and dabbing a small amount of medi-gel onto the site.

Shepard swallowed, forcing back his chattering teeth, "Can I have a blanket now doc? Please?" he asked, trying not to beg, but was failing miserably.

His eyes stayed glued to the doctor as she simply smiled and placed a hand on his cheek, but what should have been warm soft skin, it felt like cloth instead and that caused him to touch his own face.

His fingertips, as cold as they were, felt the gauze cloth that covered his face, only leaving his eyes, lips and nostrils free to do their normal operations. The wrapping looped around his head enough times to nearly completely cover in his head in white, only leaving the top of his head and his neck free of the cloth. It made him nervous.

"Am I ok?" he asked, his stomach rolling with worry that something had gone wrong during his procedure.

Dr. Chakwas nodded, "You're fine Shepard. We can probably take it off now if you want."

That only caused Shepard's stomach to roll even more as he sat up, stiffly and with her help. His body felt like he hadn't moved in eons, every limb, every muscle just felt wrong and they felt like they weighed a thousand pounds a piece.

"Why do I feel like I'm made of lead?" he asked, trying not to cringe from the grinding sound his joints seemed to be making.

"I used a nerve paralytic on you when I put you under. I didn't want you to feel anything at all in case your metabolism burned through the sedative too fast. I'm just not sure how your body functions just yet with all your upgrades." Dr. Chakwas said as she clipped a few wraps of the gauze around his head.

"How long did it take?" he asked, gripping the edge of the bed as he sat still, letting her unwind the wrapping.

"A few hours. You've been asleep for almost six." she said, setting aside a wade of gauzing to start on another chunk.

"Are we at Illium?" he asked.

Dr. Chakwas shook her head, "No. Not yet. We should arrive in an hour or two."

Shepard nodded as he just sat and waited for Dr. Chakwas to finish, breathing in and out in hopes that each breath would relieve the heavy feeling in his limbs. They did to a certain degree, but he was still nervous to see the outcome of fifty thousand units of Platinum. He found himself praying that his scars weren't worse, though how they could be, he didn't know.

He drew in a long breath once the last of the gauze fell away from his skin. He wasn't sure he wanted to look in a mirror, he didn't want to be disappointed and in all honesty, he didn't think he could take it, but he didn't have a choice. Dr. Chakwas held a mirror in front of his face.

What looked back however, was the face of a man he had thought lost with clear scarless skin, the only exception being that of the cut that darted into his hairline. For some unknown reason, the Lazarus Project hadn't taken that one away from him. His cheeks were pristine, his forehead was perfect and his lips were rosy and smooth, just like he had remembered them.

But what caused his eyes to glisten, to fill with excess moisture, was that his eyes no longer shined red like a predator's caught in the light of the moon. They shone with the most dramatic blue, sprinkled with silver lines that gave them so much depth, so much life, that the only thing that could even come close to matching their vibrance, was the twinkle of a moonlit ocean.

"They're... They're gone." he breathed, unable to resist the urge to lightly touch his face.

"This time, they're the ones you wanted gone." Dr. Chakwas said, pulling a tissue from her pocket and handing it to him to wipe the moisture from his eyes.

Shepard took the tissue and fumbled with it, "I... It worked," his lips started to smile, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to get all teary eyed on you... again. It's just..." she cut him off.

Dr. Chakwas placed her hands on both his cheeks, "You have every right to shed a tear Gabriel. I just hope that erasing those deep scars will help bring you some peace of mind."

He lightly grasped her wrist, "I hope so too. I just... I don't wanna feel like I'm not who everyone wants me to be. I don't wanna let anyone else down." he said, his hands falling back to his lap.

"You haven't let anyone down Gabriel, and you never need to worry that any of us will think that. You have done great things." she said, brushing her thumbs over his cheeks like a mother.

"So have you Doc, but no one expects you save the galaxy." he said, feeling his eyes begin to sting again.

She sighed softly, "You aren't obligated to save it Gabriel, but you do because you have the will to fight. You have your reasons and all you have to do is hold onto them." she smiled as she brought his head to her shoulder and held him.

It didn't take long for Shepard to give in and just let her hold him, lightly wrapping his arms around her in return and pressed his cheek to her shoulder. The contact felt comforting and warm, like a welcomed hug from a long lost friend, but coming from her, it felt like he was being held by his mother again. With his cheek resting against her shoulder, he could feel his worry and pent up angst begin to crumble away from his resolve, relieving some of the pressure that working with Cerberus and being dead for two years had built up. It gave him a moment to just breath.

"Thanks mom." he mumbled, not realizing what he had said.

"What was that?" she asked, lightly pulling him up so she could look at him.

"I... I... Fuck... I didn't mean to call you that." Shepard stuttered, unable to look at her, almost ashamed that he had let that slip.

Dr. Chakwas sighed again, "Gabriel... If that's what it takes to help you through this, then by all means, do so. I will never be able to replace the woman who gave birth to you, but you know that I'm here if ever you need me." she said sweetly, swiping away the tiniest of tears from just underneath his right eye with her thumb.

Shepard sighed as he reached up and lightly grasped her wrists once more to pull them away from his face, "Thank you Doc. It means a lot to me knowing that I still have you on my side."

"You have more then just me Gabriel. You have Ashley and Kaidan and Lycan and Garrus and Joker... Need I go on?" she said, taking her hands away from his light grasp.

Shepard shook his head, "No... I get it. I just wish I could see 'em on something other then a vid comm. I got to see Ashley that once on Horizon, but... there was so much I wanted to say to her. There just wasn't time." he said, looking down at his hands.

"I know you do, and you will soon enough. You just have to remain strong for no one else but yourself... For Ashley." she said, dabbing his eyes with the tissue she had taken back from his fumbling hands.

Shepard lightly scoffed, "You make it sound so easy Doc. I mean... On Horizon, when I was looking at her and she wasn't mad at me..." he gulped, "I was overjoyed that she didn't turn away from me. I thought she would have." he said, rubbing the back of his neck and noticed that he still shivered just a bit, so he grasped and pulled the sheet to drape it over his shoulders.

Dr. Chakwas clutched the sheet and closed it around him, "She loves you with everything she has... We all do. You're more then just... the spearhead to our fight. You're family to us, and when I say us, I mean everyone who's close to you."

"Yeah... I guess I've just been too wrapped up in my own misery that I lost sight of it. " he said, hanging his head as he sighed.

"You're allowed to be human Gabriel. I for one, am not expecting you to be a god." Dr. Chakwas said with a slow exhale as she fidgeted with the tissue with Shepard's tears on it.

"I wish no one else wanted me to be." he mumbled, drawing in a deep intake of breath which stayed his lightening shivering just a bit.

Dr. Chakwas, with a light smile, grasped his clasped hands, "No one is. No one that matters that is."

Hearing that, Shepard smiled and reached forward, wrapping her up in another hug that made him feel much better then he had. His shivering was nearly gone, but he still felt cold, most likely due to his high fever, and his heavy limbs were beginning to return to normal.

After a few moments, Shepard unwound his arms from her and slid off the bed to stand, leaning back against it until he was stabile on his socked feet.

"I've been getting quite a few pep talks from you lately Doc. I'm starting to feel like I'm slacking." he smirked briefly.

She smiled, "Sometimes, even the greats need a little support. You can't stand tall unless you have a strong foundation." she placed her hand on his bicep and lightly squeezed.

Shepard lowly laughed, "You should make your own line of cards Doc." he smiled.

Dr. Chakwas returned the laugh as her hand dropped from his arm, "Maybe some day Shepard, but until then, I'm perfectly content in keeping your head on straight. Plus, I need someone to listen to my proverbs before I sell them to the masses." she giggled as she headed back to her desk.

"Thanks Doc. Thanks for everything." he said with a huff through his nose and another growing smile across his scarless lips.

"Of course. I'll always be here should you need a sturdy ass kicking." she smiled as she sat.

"I'll keep that in mind." he said as the comm overhead crackled to life.

_"It looks like you're up and about with a new face Commander. How you feeling?" _It was Joker's voice.

"Better. First time in a long time... I'm feeling better." Shepard said, leaning back against a bed and crossing his arms.

_"That's good to hear. Uh... We're coming into range of Illium. Thought you'd might wanna come up as I bring her in." _

Shepard nodded, "Yeah... I'm on my way. Let Lawson and Garrus know we're headed out as soon as we dock." he said, pushing off the bed and heading out of the med bay.

As he walked by, crewmen stopped and made it a point to notice his restored face, most taking note of his vibrant and alluring blue eyes that they didn't know he had. The attention was awkward at first, causing him to blush from all the proclamations that his eyes were the most brilliant things any of them had ever seen, but it soon put a light smile on his face.

Before the procedure, the looks he had gotten from the crew at his hellish scarring were ones of contained fear, all briefly glancing at him only to tear their eyes away, afraid to invoke his violent wrath, but now, things were different. They were better.

Stepping up to the bridge, Shepard found Garrus already there, standing behind the co-pilots seat with crossed arms and Lawson standing right next to Joker and to his surprise, she was in an armored suit that very much covered up most of her figure.

"That's not your usual attire Lawson. Why the change?" Shepard asked, crossing his arms as he stood behind Joker's chair.

"If I remember right, you said that if I didn't acquire a real set of armor, you were going to leave me on the Citadel." she said, trying not to shy away from him.

Shepard groaned quietly and rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah. I guess I did," he blew out a breath, "Even as violent as I ordered you to, you still did it. I appreciate it." he said, uncrossing his arms to place his hands on his hips.

"You're welcome Commander. I see the insulation procedure worked as you were hoping. I hope you believe it was worth it." she said, crossing her own arms.

"Worth every unit we spent." he said, finally looking out at the viewports with the sudden flash of heat entry.

As the orange fire grew brighter, Joker's hands flew over his consoles as he compensated for the sudden onset of gravity. The dull roar of the infinite flames outside gently rumbled through the hull until they broke through to just under a deep purple, blue and red sky.

Once the ship had slowed for its final approach, Shepard turned and headed for his cabin to done his armor. Pulling open his armor locker, he took a moment to drink in the matte black color with the yellow striping down its chest and left shoulder. The right arm was still colored with his blood stripe and the small pinstripes were given a red tint, making his armor look like it was heated coals.

After donning in his armor, Shepard went to the armory and grabbed his weapons, snapping his preferred choices to the points on his back as he felt the gentle shutter of the ship as it docked. That was his cue to head back to the airlock.

"Commander... Looks like you've got a welcoming party." Joker said, motioning towards the viewport that showed a singular asari waiting on the platform, flanked by two mech guards.

"Oh joy." Shepard groaned as he situated himself a bit in his armor.

"She's probably here to receive our docking fees Commander." Miranda said, stepping up to the airlock to open the inner door.

"And how much is that gonna run me?" Shepard asked, his brows furrowing a bit.

Miranda shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine Commander. This is Nos Astra, so I'd expect something outrageous."

Rolling his eyes, Shepard just motioned for the airlock to opened. They had to wait for a few moments for it to pressurize, but once it did, the fresh air that rushed in made Shepard's lungs swell. It just felt nice to breath in something that wasn't filtered.

As they stepped out, the asari and her two mechs stepped up, her face stretched with a wide smile and with her hands clasped in front of her like she was out for a simple stroll.

"Greetings Commander Shepard. My name is Careena. Welcome to Nos Astra." she beamed, holding a hand out for a shake.

Shepard's brows were softly furrowed still, but he shook her hand, "Thank you, but I won't lie, I'm a bit nervous why you met me here."

Careena smiled just a bit wider, "I assure you Commander, I am only here to pass along a request. All your docking fees have been paid in full, so I am not here to ask for that."

"They have? By whom?" Miranda asked, rather surprised that someone on Nos Astra wasn't asking for money for some ridiculous fee or charge they had managed to incur.

"Liara T'Soni. She also wishes to see you in her office." Careena said smoothly, clasping her hands together in front of her once more.

Hearing that, Shepard involuntarily held his breath, as he hadn't expected that he would run into her in a place so ridden with corporate secrets and dirty little truths. She had been so sweet and innocent, like a teenager whom had just left her childhood home for the first time and to venture out into the real word. She didn't seem like the type who could survive in a place like Illium.

"I'll head there immediately. Where can I find her?" Shepard asked, drawing in a deep breath to keep from losing his composure.

"She's in the administration office on the main trading floor. Just head through customs and you should see the large admin sign. She'll be at the top of the stairs." Careena said, her smile growing for a moment as she scanned the three in front of her.

Shepard nodded, "Got it. Thanks." he briefly smiled.

Motioning with his head for Miranda and Garrus to follow, Shepard stepped around the concierge and headed for the door on the far end of the docking platform. They walked through the customs corridor that in all honesty, wasn't all that busy and entered the main trading floor.

Setting his sights on the vista the trading floor provided, Shepard had to stop and take it all in. It was a sprawling city, with massive silhouetted skyscrapers and each was circled by lines upon lines of traffic. The sky was painted with smears of rich color and the air was filled with all kinds of scents that took his nose several moments to separate them all.

"This place isn't small." Garrus said, stepping up next to Shepard and placing his hands on the solid, sturdy railing.

"Not in the least bit. I haven't seen a city like this since I took a trip to San Francisco back on Earth." Shepard said, blowing out a soft sigh.

"How come you went there Commander?" Miranda asked on Shepard's other side.

"I was on mandatory shore leave after Akuze, so I went to help take my mind off things. Kaidan was there for medical training and he'd invited me down to show me around." Shepard said as the corner of his mouth curled upwards softly, his mind bringing forward that particular memory.

"Commander Alenko seems like a good friend." Miranda said, leaning over to rest her forearms on the railing.

"Kaidan's my closest friend. He's been there for me during some of my darkest times and he's never judged me for them." Shepard said with a light rub to his neck to adjust the neckline of his thick bodysuit.

Miranda saw the distant look in Shepard's eyes as he stared out at the scenery, seemingly lost in thought and she knew, there was more to that story.

"What did he do to help with that?" she asked, catching the slight widening of his eyes.

Shepard huffed, "He became the tourist guide from Hell. He dragged my ass to the wharf, to the shops, to the bars, to the gym, to the biotic playground," he started laughing, "He did everything he could to keep my energy so low that I couldn't even dream at night, but... I did something stupid while I was there." he started to gnaw on the inside of his lip.

"What? If I may ask?" Miranda asked, threading her fingers together.

Shepard sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he leaned forward to rest against the railing as well, "It was the _one_ night he didn't keep me busy. He had gone to bed early to get some sleep for his final the next morning, so while he was asleep, I snuck out."

"That doesn't sound too terribly stupid." Garrus said, placing a hand on Shepard's shoulder.

"Oh... It gets better. I made my way to the seedier parts of town, bought a few hits of red sand and smuggled it back into where we were staying." Shepard said, feeling the pang of disgust in his stomach.

"What happened?" Miranda asked, seeing Shepard hang his head and pinch the bridge of his nose at the question.

"I locked the door to my room and shot up. I didn't realize I'd used it all." Shepard admitted, now staring blankly at the cityscape in front of him.

"Shepard... That could have killed you." Garrus said, removing his hand as his mandibles clattered against the hide of his face.

"It almost did. Kaidan found me that morning. He ripped the needle out of my arm and started doing his field medic stuff. I was delirious and high as a kite and my biotics had gotten so hot from the red sand that it fried my amp. Any longer and my implant would've gone too and if that'd happened..." Shepard scratched the side of his head.

"Then you would have had permanent and severe brain damage and most likely would have ended up in a vegetative state." Miranda finished for him.

Shepard nodded, "Exactly." he sighed.

"How did Kaidan save your life? Again that is." Garrus asked.

"He cut into my head and pulled one of the implant leads from my amp jack and then yanked out the amp." Shepard said, shifting his gaze to his hands that picked at his gauntlets.

"That must have taken some extensive repair." Miranda said, her brows lightly furrowed.

Shepard nodded, "It did. It took a surgery to do it. After I woke up, Kaidan and Anderson were there and I got a serious talking to. I wasn't even coherent yet and Anderson was already tearing me a new asshole. He was so mad," he cringed at the memory.

"If Kaidan was there in the hospital, then what happened with his final?" Garrus asked plainly.

"He missed it. I felt awful for it, but he said it was fine. When the instructors found out and the paramedics he called verified what he'd said, they passed him with a commendation." Shepard said, standing up straight, but kept his hands on the railing.

"Sounds like everything worked out then." Miranda said softly.

"For the most part, it did. Anderson signed me into mandatory counseling and I never got to be alone after that. If it wasn't Anderson himself, it was Kaidan. If it wasn't Kaidan, it was someone else. It took years until Anderson felt satisfied enough that I wasn't gonna do something stupid. Another couple years after that, I was assigned to the _Normandy._" Shepard said, managing to crack a relieved looking smile.

"Did you ever take another hit of red sand?" Garrus asked, turning around and leaning back against the railing.

Shepard shook his head, "Hell no. I learned my lesson. Red sand plus a biotic equals not fun times. I was so fucking sick when I was in the hospital that I was force fed through a feeding tube, but that usually came back up anyways. I couldn't keep a damn thing down, not even water. I lost almost fifty pounds and let me tell you something... Trying to pack on that much muscle afterwards sucked even more." he scoffed.

"That doesn't sound fun." was all Garrus could think of to say.

"It wasn't," Shepard sighed as he stood up straight, "Come on... Liara's office should be just over there." he pointed towards a set of ascending stairs near the back of the trading floor.

Nodding, Miranda and Garrus followed Shepard as he wound through the crowd, dodging a volus who was too wrapped up in something on his Omni-Tool to pay attention to where he was waddling to on his way to the stairs. Shepard took the stairs by every other one, nodding curtly at the assistant before stepping through the only office door. By default, it had to be Liara's.

"Have you ever faced an asari commando? Few have... If you don't get me what I want before the end of business today, I will filet you alive... With my mind." she growled, looking at a datapad in her hands.

Shepard slightly reeled, unsure if what had come out of her mouth was really something Liara could say, "Liara?"

Immediately, Liara whipped around to look at her guests, tossing the datapad onto her desk and closed the distance between he and Shepard in nearly one bound. Shepard had to step back to keep from falling over from her impact and once he had overcome his shock, his arms wrapped around her to return the sudden, jarring hug.

"Shepard! I can't believe you're here!" Liara beamed, her arms so tight around Shepard's neck that he was struggling for air.

Shepard quickly pecked her cheek before trying to pry her off his neck, more hoping to get some air, "It's good to see you too Liara, but it'll easier if I could breath." he choked out in a gravelly, strained voice.

Liara immediately leg go of his neck, "I am so sorry Shepard... Please, sit." she grasped his arm and led him to a chair and sat him down.

Shepard cleared his throat, "You sounded pretty upset just a minute ago. Everything alright?" he asked, glancing at the datapad on her desk that she slide away, out of his view.

"As fine as they can be considering. What brings you here?" she asked, already knowing much of his coming answer.

"Well... The concierge said you wanted to see me." Shepard said, leaning back into the chair he was forced into and rested his ankle on his knee.

Liara smiled, "That I did," her smile faltered just a fraction, catching Shepard's attention, "I uh... I wanted to speak to you privately if that's alright." her smile was nearly completely gone.

"Yeah... That's fine," he looked over his shoulder, "You guys mind?" he looked at Garrus.

"Not at all Shepard. We'll be right outside." Garrus said without hesitation as he turned, tapping Miranda on the shoulder to lead them both out.

As Garrus and Miranda stepped outside, Liara and Shepard stayed silent until the door hissed closed and locked via Liara's command. She tapped another command onto her desk and lowered a metal barrier over her panoramic view of Nos Astra, completely sealing them inside and away from prying eyes and listening ears.

"Is everything alright?" Shepard asked, breaking the silence.

Liara's smile returned, "Absolutely... It's just... There are things I wished to speak with you about, but not in front of your Cerberus agent."

"About what?" Shepard asked, suddenly feeling nervous that something was wrong.

Liara sighed, "They're here Shepard."

_They're here? Who's here? _He thought, his brows furrowing the hardest yet, "Liara... Come on... I can't take any cryptic riddles right now. I'm still kinda groggy."

"I apologize Shepard... Kaidan and Lycan are here. On Illium." she said, massaging her hands resting on her desk.

Shepard's heart tightened and his eyes went wide, "They are?" his voice was breathless.

Liara nodded, "Yes. They came by a little while ago." she said, sinking back into her chair a bit.

"Really? Did they say anything? Leave anything behind?" Shepard asked in rabid fire, leaning forward stiffly.

"Easy Shepard... They didn't leave anything behind, unless you count a little tidbit of information." Liara said.

Shepard's eyes went even wider, "She told you something?" he asked, finding that he was tightly gripping his knees.

"Yes, but it was very vague and I had to do quite a bit of digging to gather everything." she said, sliding a datapad across her desk to him.

Shepard took the datapad and skimmed through it, seeing that it was relatively detailed information about the two people he was there to find and convince to join him.

"I was gonna ask you about these two." Shepard said, transferring the data to his Omni-Tool and setting the datapad back onto her desk.

"I know. That's why I compiled the information for you. I'd recommend going to the Dantius Towers first. Go to the shipping office and talk with Seryna. She'll be able to help you." Liara said, resting her elbows on the desk and threading her fingers together.

"I take it Kaidan headed there first?" Shepard asked, crossing his arms.

Liara nodded, "Yes, but for what, I'm not sure."

Shepard sighed, "I'm sure I'll find out when I go," he bit his lip, "Do you know what dock they're at? Can I go see them?" he asked, feeling the ache in his chest and very much wanting to see his friends.

Liara's smile grew, "You won't need to go to them Shepard," she slid him the datapad she had slid away from him, "Once you are done with everything here, meet at that address and dress comfortably. I'd suspect you'll be there for some time."

Shepard took the address from the datapad and couldn't help but think that it looked like an apartment address, mainly because of the letter next to the door number.

"Is this an apartment?" he asked, rubbing between his eyes to soothe and relax the muscles that had been furrowed for much of the time.

"It's mine. Kaidan and Lycan are going to meet there. When you're finished with what you need to do, contact me. They have someone that wants to see you." Liara said, quietly sighing as she stood from her chair and stepped around her desk.

At hearing that, Shepard's chest tightened so hard, that he felt like he was having a heart attack. He didn't need any more explanation then that, as he immediately knew who Liara was talking about.

"Are you serious? They brought her here?" Shepard asked, needing to sate is worry that this was all some horrible joke they decided to play on him.

"They did. She'll arrive in the morning," Liara sat on her desk, "Everything you need to find Thane and Samara are there. We'll be waiting for you." she lightly smiled as she grasped his gloved hand and squeezed.

Shepard couldn't look at her for a moment as he pressed his fingers into his eyes to stop the sting that had built up. He was so close to his friends, so close to seeing the woman he loved again that he needed a minute to center himself. They had truly become his foundation and without them, he would have crumbled long ago into something less recognizable as a man, and more recognizable as a forgotten, lost and broken soul.

Drawing in a lung filling breath, Shepard took his hand away from Liara's and stood, feeling like there was going to be an end to all the insanity, loneliness and all around anger that he had been plagued with for quite some time.

"Thanks Liara. I'll see you in a day maybe. Depends on how long it'll take me to finish up." Shepard said, his voice crackling as he leaned forward and lightly pecked her cheek again.

"Take your time Shepard. We'll be here."

Nodding and giving her another hug, Shepard turned and left the office to find Garrus and Miranda standing at the bottom of the stairs with their backs pressed against the wall.

"Everything alright Commander?" Miranda asked, seeing the intense look of determination dominating Shepard's features.

"I'm fine... More then fine actually. Let's get over to those towers and find Thane. After we get our next two, we'll go help your sister. Is that ok?" he asked.

Miranda nodded, "Yes Commander."

"Then lets go. There's someone I've gotta meet."


	62. Chapter 62

Chapter 62: The Tale of Two Towers

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! Thank you to my beta for all his help. He has been such an integral part of this story and I owe him lots. Love you!)_

The 'God of Hellfire' incarnate was on a rampage. A pure, rage filled and almost desperate fury that left little behind in the way of surviving mechs, or Eclipse mercs for that matter. The wake of destruction was so vast, that while Shepard and his squad tore through the towers of Dantius, even the building materials were used to clear out their opposition.

Shepard plowed through squad after squad of mercs and mechs that Nassana Dantius had hired as her security force to protect her from the rumors of an assassin, hired and ordered to kill her. As far as she was concerned, Shepard was that assassin and was throwing everything she had at him, but they were only serving as cannon fodder.

However, through his rampaging, he had seen an act that only served to fuel his rage even more. Nassana had ordered the execution of all the workers whom were tasked to build her towers and since they weren't unfinished, Shepard had no idea why she would do such a thing unless she intended on finishing them herself. He had saved a few from being wrongfully murdered and even managed to get a few out before he continued trudging forward up the towers.

Now, he found himself glaring at the side of a merc's helmet, listening to him talk into his comm unit, most likely, to one of his fellow mercs. He stood, oblivious to his surroundings, in front of a large window that overlooked a pristine courtyard, facing the only other door that led away from the elevator they had just arrived in and the only reason the merc hadn't noticed Shepard's presence, was that his helmet blocked his peripheral vision.

"No, I haven't seen the assassin man. No one's come by here since Nassana went barging into the penthouse." the merc said, crossing his arms as he looked left, out the window.

Shepard wished he could hear the other end of the conversation, but since he couldn't, he was just going to have to make it up. _It's not the assassin I'm worried about. It's the crazed, psychopathic madman with a gun and outta control biotics that could tear us all to pieces that scares me. _He thought, smirking as he reached forward and tapped the merc on the shoulder.

"I'm busy man. Just wait a second," the merc waved him off without even taking his eyes off the window, "Like I was saying... Nassana's lost it if she thinks all this work is gonna stop an assassin. From what I've heard, this guy's laid waste to everyone on the lower levels." he continued.

Shepard glanced at Miranda and Garrus, lightly shrugging before he tapped the merc's shoulder again, this time with more force.

"Goddammit man! I said I'm..." the merc snapped, this time whipping his head over to finally look at who was bothering him, "Uh... Jimmie? I'll get back to you... No, no... Everything's fine. Probably just one of those new comer mercs looking for a progress report... Yeah... I'll talk to you later." he finally lowered his hand from his comm unit.

"You done?" Shepard asked, crossing his arms again as he glared at the merc blankly.

"For right now I am. What do you want?" the merc asked harshly, crossing his own arms.

"Nassana." Shepard answered just as blandly.

"What for? She doesn't wanna see anybody right now and definitely not a newbie." the merc said with a scoff in his voice.

Shepard really wished he could see the merc's expressions because he had to admit, most of the time, they are quite funny and a good laugh would do him some good.

"I'm not a newbie." Shepard said lowly as his brows pulled down.

"Wait... You're that lunatic who's been blasting Nassana's security force to kingdom come?" the merc said, standing up a bit straighter to match Shepard's height from realizing who exactly was standing in front of him.

Shepard's smirk grew into a crooked grin as he slowly nodded, "That's me. You guys need to train better. Unless you were wanting it to be that easy."

"Well... No. It wasn't actually meant to be that easy." the merc groaned.

"Then do better. I had way too much fun using some of those flammable canisters against your buddies down there." Shepard said, laughing deep in his throat and kind of sadistically.

"I bet you did. Who hired you?" the merc asked, rocking back on a foot.

Shepard shook his head, "No one hired me."

"Huh? You're not the assassin?" the merc asked.

"Nope, but there is one that's after her." Shepard said, trying not to grin too widely.

"So... We just focused all our efforts on the wrong guy?" the merc asked, already sure of what the team in front of him was going to say.

In fact, all Shepard did was nod as his smirk grew just a bit more from contained pride.

"Why are you here then?" the merc asked, his tone betraying the confusion hidden behind his helmet.

"I'm looking for the assassin and to do that, I need to find your boss. Where's Nassana?" he asked flatly, looking through the small, bluish eyeholes in the merc's helmet with narrowed eyes.

"Not gonna say. You're on your own," the merc slowly shook his head, "Now, if you'll excuse me." he turned back around to fully expose his back to Shepard.

The moment the merc's back came into his view, Shepard's eyes immediately gravitated to the red chevroned star that was placed on the merc's left shoulder. He held his breath, knowing full well that Kaidan had had it placed there, but how he had managed it, he had no idea and frankly, he didn't care. It was a hint. A large hint. A large, clear, high hint.

Hissing through clenched teeth and huffing through his nose, Shepard lurched forward, smacking his whole hand into the back of the merc's helmet and gripping it tightly as he thrust the merc's face into the glass.

"Where's Nassana you piece of shit? I'm not in the right frame of mind to be playing these stonewalling games." Shepard growled, firmly planting his other hand on the glass.

"Dude! What the fuck!" the merc yelped, trying to pry himself free from Shepard's grip, but it only spurred the man to press him harder into the glass, causing it to creak from stress.

"Don't fuck with me! Where is she?" Shepard demanded, his hand against the glass beginning to wrap itself in blue.

"In the penthouse! Go across the skybridge! Through there!" the merc yelled, pointing to the door just down the hall.

Pressing the merc even harder into the glass, it began to spiderweb with tiny cracks, squealing like ice under too much weight as Shepard clawed his hand, causing more cracks to spread from the increase of mass he was creating against it.

"Pretty from up here isn't it?" Shepard asked lowly, looking out the window and down to the ground far below.

The merc furiously nodded, "Y-Yeah... Y-Yeah it is! Let me go man!" he pleaded, having to strongly resist the urge to push against the cracking glass.

"I will when I'm done with you," Shepard's smirk turned into an evil grin, "Maybe you can help me out, but I'm curious... What's the quickest way down from here?" he asked, biotically increasing more mass against the window, severely cracking it further to the point of top strain.

"I don't know! The elevator I think!" the merc yelped, his hands hovering just above the glass as he fought against himself not to press against it.

Shepard laughed out loud, "I was thinking something else."

Letting his biotics spike against the glass, the window finally gave way, shattering into a rain cloud of sharp pieces that sparkled on their way down from the dimming light of day, but the glittering sound was shrouded by screams of guttural, unrelenting fear.

As the glass broke, Shepard trust his arm forward, shoving the merc too far forward for him to stop himself from falling from the broken window. As the screaming, wailing merc fell, Shepard flicked his hand towards him, commanding his biotics to pull the coin from the merc's back and brought it to him, coming to rest in his gloved palm where he closed his hand around it. _Another one to add to the collection. _He thought as he turned around to look at his squad.

With coin in hand, Shepard emotionlessly listened as the merc fell to his death, deciding it best not to see the impact since his mood, though violent and very much wanting more bloodshed, wasn't looking to witness what happens when body, meets gravity, meets ground.

"That was uh... not something I expected from you Shepard." Garrus said, lightly scratching the scarring on his face.

Shepard drew in a long breath and held it, "I'm in no mood to put up with this anymore Garrus... I'm just... I'm just in a hurry to get all this taken care of, and make sure Miranda's sister's ok so I can get to Liara's place." he blew out the breath as he tucked the coin into a pouch on his belt.

"Why her place?" Miranda asked, crossing her arms and having to take a minute to adjust so the armor didn't bunch.

"She... has some information for me that could help with our mission." he admitted, rubbing his neck a bit as he thought about Ashley, Kaidan and Lycan, waiting for him.

"Oh... Well we better continue then. Still an assassin to find, a Justicar to convince to join us and my sister to secure." Miranda listed off, lightly smiling as she pulled her weapon and checked it, ready for action.

Shepard's brows furrowed, "That's a stark change from when I first met you. Why the sudden thaw?" he asked, briefly smiling.

"It all comes down to you're helping me with my sister. I tried getting help from The Illusive Man, but he told me that all Cerberus's resources were tied up. You set aside the time, even though we're on a highly important mission to save thousands of human lives." Miranda said, grasping the wrist of the hand that held her pistol down in front of her.

"Something I've learned over time Miranda, is that if you don't pay attention to the people on your team, things can go wrong, and fast. I may be violent, an emotional mess and have one of the worst mouths in the Alliance, but even I know I can't do things alone." Shepard said, rolling out his right shoulder a bit, as it had been bothering him for some time.

"That's a good philosophy to have Commander." Miranda said with a soft, delicate smile across her lips.

"He's always had it too. Back on the original _Normandy_, he helped me close a case I had had when I was C-Sec. In the middle of hunting Saren and he decides to take on a mini job." Garrus lightly laughed with his mandibles scuffing against his jaw.

Shepard's smirk returned, "Hey... The little jobs are what counts sometimes Garrus."

"Interesting thought Commander. I've always worked with the knowledge that the bigger the job, the better the outcome." Miranda said, resting one hand on her hip while she tapped her pistol against her thigh.

"Not always true. Dr. Chakwas told me once when I was younger, that the tiniest ripple can grow into the largest wave given enough time. The tiny moments can make the biggest change Miranda." Shepard said, smiling as he remembered that night long ago when Akuze was still fresh.

"It would seem you've picked up some of Dr. Chakwas's wisdom over the years." Miranda said, softly smiling.

"I've known her a long, long time Miranda. She's pulled me through some nasty times. All my friends have." Shepard said, lightly scratching the side of his neck.

"So the great Commander Shepard relies on others to support him." Miranda said, not condescendingly, but as a realization that Shepard didn't do what he does alone.

Shepard briefly smiled, "I do. A great deal and I'll be the first to admit it. Without my foundation, I would've crumbled ages ago."

"You say that, but I've personally seen you do things that no one else can do." Garrus said, hearing the sounds of emergency vehicles approaching.

"I say that because I wanna believe it. I'm only human and I want people to see that. I rely on my training, my morales and my foundation of people I care about to do what I do Garrus. You take one, just one of those away, and it's over." Shepard said, resisting the urge to look out the window and possibly alert the authorities as to who the... leftovers had gotten to where it was.

"Well, I'm not human. You should be in awe." Garrus laughed, earning one from Shepard.

"I will when you show me something to be in awe about." Shepard gabbed back.

Garrus lightly punched Shepard's arm, "I did survive a rocket to the face." he gloated.

Shepard threw his hands up in defeat, "Alright... I'll give you that."

"We should probably get back to work Shepard. Don't wanna keep Liara waiting." Garrus said with a smile in his voice as he pat Shepard's armored shoulder.

Shepard's smile grew, "You're right. I really want that info." he said, trying not to smile too big at the thought of seeing Ashley again soon.

"I'm sure you do." Garrus said as he followed Shepard towards the door, and ultimately, the penthouse with a good idea as to why Shepard was do determined to finish.

* * *

Having to wait for word from Liara was driving Lycan crazy and no matter what she tried to do, she couldn't get her mind off of it.

She had tried typing away on her datapad, or tinkering with it to get it to stop glitching, but that didn't work thanks her mind locking down with the worst case of writer's block she had ever had. She had tried getting in a work out, but that didn't work because she was too distracted to keep track of how many reps she had done, so she just gave up. But the last straw was that she had tried watching a vid, only to zone out and miss half the thing, which usually just resulted in her being confused and trying to play catch up.

With nothing else to do, she sat at the small dining table in her and Kaidan's quarters, and the only thing that would suggest that she wasn't a statue was the speed at which her bouncing leg was idling at. The holoscreen had long been forgotten, the datapad lay dormant on her nightstand with an abandoned glass of water and she was still wearing her workout clothes. She was simply sitting with a distant stare in her dark brown eyes.

Lycan was so lost in her blank brain ramblings that the hiss of the door linking the briefing room to their quarters didn't even break her from her frozen state.

"Ly? Ready for a training session?" Kaidan asked as he walked in with an armful of datapads, setting them down onto the bed.

Lycan didn't move, well, her fingers did, as they started rapidly tapping on the table, earning a quick glance from Kaidan as he saw her just sitting without even taking her eyes off the bulkhead.

His brows lightly furrowing, Kaidan stepped up to her and lightly placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise and look around as if she had momentarily forgotten where she was.

"Huh? What?" she rattled off, finally looking up to see Kaidan standing over her.

"You ok babe? You look like you're thinking about something really hard." he said, stepping aside to slide the other chair closer to her and sat down.

Finally, Lycan was back with the world of the coherent, "I wasn't. I'm just anxious to hear from Liara so we can head to her place and meet up with Shepard." she said, lightly gripping her neck with both hands to rub the setting stiffness from sitting stone still for so long.

Kaidan lightly smiled, "We can't very well head there without Ashley. I don't know who's wrath I fear more... Shepard's, or hers if we don't bring her along with us." his throat rumbled with a low chuckle as he grasped her hand resting on the table.

"Oh... If we didn't bring her along, I think we'd catch it from both ends." Lycan scoffed, trying not to laugh out loud at the thought of the duel hostility they would catch if they made that decision.

Kaidan smiled along with her, "Yeah... Most likely." he lightly patted her hand.

Lycan pinched the bridge of her nose, "I really need a distraction. I've tried everything, but nothing's worked." she lightly groaned.

Kaidan stood, "Well... I might have something that could take your mind off things." he said with a low purr as he bent down and threaded his arms around her, picking her up into a bridle carry with ease.

With a laughing, squealing yelp, Lycan giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling as she ducked her head to softly brush her lips against his since it didn't take a genius to figure out what he was thinking. She threaded her fingers into his hair as he walked towards the bed, but their feather light kisses were interrupted when a wrapping of biotics encased Lycan and she slowly, delicately lifted into the air.

His arms raised, wrapped in the soft bluish glow of controlled biotics, Kaidan let her hover above the bed, her low chuckles sending warm shivers down his spine as the glint in his eye turned lustful. He let her hover for a moment, watching her, watch him as she twisted and writhed like she was swimming, simply to entice him and he'd be lying if he said that it wasn't something to watch.

This was something she had gotten used to, being suspended by his precisely controlled biotics like a ghost whispering in the air. Not all the occasions were intimate, some had been for their many training sessions, having to learn how to break free from such a hold and others were for Kaidan to hone his skill even further. The sheer amount of control that Kaidan now possessed was into the range of an asari, and was capable of handling vastly fragile items without the threat of damage.

As another shiver shot through him, Kaidan sucked in his power and dropped her to bed before he crawled over her, trailing his hand ever so softly up her stomach to take her workout tank with it. He had to admit to himself that their constant training had done things to her figure that he couldn't help but smile at.

Over the course of their two years in his apartment, the metabolism booster had helped to maintain her weight, but she had gained several pounds from their quiet, day to day life they had settled into. He wasn't complaining by any means, he loved her with everything he had and more, but the athletic figure that she had had, had become softened and not as tight over that time.

Now however, because of their training, her figure was back with a vengeance. Her stomach was flat, but was now defined with ultra soft lines. Her skin had tightened around her newly developed muscle and her hips, having been the place where most of her gained weight had been, was gone and smoothly molded into the rest of her figure. Overall, she weighed more then ever, but it was all muscle.

"Damn you look good." Kaidan rumbled, admiring her new and improved figure as he dropped to an elbow, bringing his lips to her skin for gentle butterfly kisses and earned himself a soft gasp that made his throat rumble with delight.

"Thanks... to you." Lycan breathed, arcing her back a bit and lolling her head back as she smiled.

He lowly laughed, vibrating his lips against her skin, spurring her to thread her fingers into his hair once more, but when he delved his tongue, hot and slow into her navel, she grasped his hair as she started to pant.

"What you thinking about now?" Kaidan asked, taking his tongue back to place light kisses up her stomach.

Lycan slowly drifted a leg up his side, "A few things... Mostly including you." she said, breathing in deep with each of his kisses.

"Good." Kaidan purred, slowly crawling further up her body... until the vid comm unit pinged on the holoscreen.

Groaning loudly, Kaidan's head dropped to her chest, listening to her heartbeat until she started to laugh and wrapped her arms around him. He whined, or tried not to, as she sweetly kissed the top of his head and hooked the leg that rested against his leg onto his hip.

"Why? Why does this happen? Is there some cosmic force out there that is determined to cock block me?" Kaidan grumbled into her chest, releasing all control of his body as he just laid limp on top of her.

Lycan kissed the top of his head again, "I don't know, but the second I do, they're getting a pounding."

"Get in line," Kaidan mumbled, "Well... It looks like my plan worked. You aren't thinking about hearing from Liara anymore." he chuckled.

"How could I think of her when you're kissing and licking and loving on me? It's impossible." Lycan said with her own, soft groan as her leg tightened on his hip.

"Well good... Unless you're into the kinda thing." Kaidan said, lifting his head to look into her eyes.

Lycan kept a straight face, seeing Kaidan's contort into something that resembled shock, but when she smiled, she brought him back to her and kissed him.

"Oh... I'm just teasing you baby. You're all I need." she kissed, humming delightfully against his lips.

Kaidan started breathing again, "Good... I was starting to think I was gonna have to reaffirm that you're mine." he growled, heating up their kiss by pushing his tongue passed her lips.

The vid comm pinged again, earning a stern glare from Kaidan as he pried himself away from her with a groan and pushed himself up to finally answer the awaiting call.

"Alright alright... I'm coming." he mumbled as he quickly flicked a hand over his Omni-Tool, spurring the holoscreen to light up and display who had interrupted them, only to be pleasantly surprised when Ashley's face appeared with a smile.

_"Hey there LT! Surprised to hear from me?" _Ashley smiled, only to have it grow into a devious grin when she saw Lycan sit up and pull her tank down all in the same movement.

Kaidan crossed his arms and arced a brow, "Actually... Yeah. I kinda am. I wasn't expecting to hear from you till the morning." he said, managing to not sound annoyed with the interruption.

_"Well... Normally, you wouldn't have, but the pilot pushed it hard." _Ashley said with a light shrug.

"I'm afraid to ask why." Kaidan said, glancing at Lycan as she came to stand next to him.

Ashley waved at Lycan, _"Hey girl... Sorry I interrupted." _she cringed apologetically.

"It's alright Ash. We were kinda anxious to hear from you, or Liara." Lycan smiled and returned the wave.

_"Really?" _Ashley seemed to perk up with her curiosity.

"Yeah... We'll explain it when you get here. How far out are you?" Kaidan asked.

_ "I'm about an hour out." _Ashley said with a light sigh.

"Why the hard burn if I can ask? You mentioned that the pilot pushed it." Kaidan asked, uncrossing his arms and wrapping one around Lycan's shoulders.

_"That rotten buddy fucker Antella was chasing me down on the docks. I told the pilot to high tail it off the Citadel. I've been dodging him since the reports about Shepard were confirmed." _Ashley said, her brows pulling together in disgust at the man.

"It's been that bad huh?" Lycan asked, leaning into Kaidan a bit.

Ashley nodded, _"You have no idea. Antella's been trying to smear Shepard over the coals with the brass, but Admiral Hackett keeps cutting him off. You should hear some of the crap that spews outta his mouth." _she tried to not laugh with her growing frustration for the situation, but she couldn't contain it.

"I don't even wanna know the crap he makes up. The games never went into much detail so I don't know much other then an instance when Hackett just says 'No' in response to one of Antella's emails." Lycan said with a slow sigh and a shrug.

Ashley laughed, _"That sounds like the Admiral all right. It's gotten ugly though. Antella's been slathering Shepard's past all over the media nets. What happened at Mindoir, Akuze, the investigation after the Normandy went down... everything. He's practically been preaching that Shepard's a lunatic and mentally unstable," _she sighed, _"He's even pinned the destruction of the Normandy on Shepard's 'degrading mental state'."_

Kaidan lightly cringed, "This guy's getting outta hand. We gotta shut him up somehow before he completely destroys everything we've accomplished."

_"I agree, but Hackett's doing a good enough job for right now. I just don't know how much longer his resources'll hold out. The Major's getting more and more backing which is starting to scare me." _Ashley said, her smile long gone as she lightly gnawed on her bottom lip.

Lycan drew in a deep breath, "That's not good news." she said a bit quietly.

_"No, it's not, but I don't know what we can do about it until Shepard cuts ties with Cerberus." _Ashley said, lightly rubbing her neck.

"There's nothing we can do unfortunately, but with Hackett running interference, Shepard'll be ok. I just wish we had more time. We gotta be ready once Shepard..." Lycan started, only to be silence by Kaidan's hand fully cupping her mouth.

Lycan, now unable to speak, just grumbled against Kaidan's palm as she crossed her arms and let her shoulders slump.

_"I take it that she almost went too far LT?" _Ashley asked, trying not to giggle at the glare Lycan was sending to Kaidan.

"Her mouth gets away from her sometimes." Kaidan grinned a big toothy grin, but kept his hand over Lycan's mouth to avoid her wrath for a bit.

Lycan grumbled against his palm again.

_"Well... Make sure she doesn't bite you LT." _Ashley just let her giggles go.

"Oh... Don't worry about that. If she does... well... use your imagination." Kaidan shot Lycan a quick wink that made her smile under his hand as a hot wet slithering began to slim its way across his skin.

_"Right... I didn't need that image. Anyways, I've gotta go. We'll be landing in about forty five minutes so I'll see you two then." _Ashley said, waving goodbye to the pair.

"See you then Ashley." Kaidan said, biting back his cringe as Lycan's tongue attempted to slither between his fingers.

The moment the holoscreen went dark, Kaidan yanked his hand away from Lycan's mouth, wiping it on his pants to get rid of the spit she had covered his palm in.

"You... are so mean." Lycan glared with faux irritation as she stuck her tongue out at him and turned to head to the bathroom.

However, she didn't make it far when Kaidan's arms wrapped around her, bringing her back into his chest where his lips and teeth clamped down onto her neck. She squealed, lolling her head over to give him more access to her neck as he led them towards the bed and gently laid her down, face down.

"I'm mean huh?" Kaidan purred against her neck as he licked a line up to her ear, using his weight to keep her pinned to the mattress.

Lycan hummed, "Maybe not _that_ mean." she lightly smiled.

"Oh... I'm mean," he growled, pushing himself up and off her to stand at the foot of his bed, "Come on. We've got forty five minutes or so to get some training in. You still need work on your double turn back."

Lycan flipped and glared at him, "I rescind my last statement."

* * *

Shepard stood in the penthouse office, arms crossed as he watched the alien that had so swiftly, and efficiently, whipped out Nassana's personal guard and then shot her all in the span of ten seconds. He watched as the strange alien prayed over her body, but why, he had no idea, nor did he care to know since Nassana was such a deplorable creature to begin with.

The alien he was assuming was the assassin, was a new one. He was several different shades of green, with darker emerald stripes and spots over his skin that appeared almost snake like and had a pair of accenting ridges that followed his cheekbones. Beneath his chin was sharp red hide that, if you weren't paying attention, could be mistaken for exposed muscle, but in this case, it was apart of the alien's design. His eyes were as dark as anything Shepard had ever seen before, and he spoke with a tinge to his voice that made him sound like he was gurgling water. He was a drell.

"You must be Thane Krios." Shepard said finally after allowing the drell to finish with his prayers.

The alien lowered his clasped hands and looked at the trio in front of him, "I am. You must be Commander Shepard. I have heard you were looking for me." he said, standing up straight and clasping his hands behind his back as he stepped around the large desk where Nassana's body lay still.

"A well informed assassin. I should've known I guess." Shepard said, never taking his eyes off the drell as he came to stand in front of him.

"It is essential to be well informed in my profession, though, I must apologize to you Commander. I used such information to my advantage. You provided an... adequate distraction for Nassana's forces." Thane said, bowing his head slightly out of respect.

Shepard's brows pulled together, "Distraction huh? Ballsy move using someone you don't even know as a distraction for your own personal gain." his lips pursed themselves together a bit.

"It was necessary Commander Shepard, but I do apologize. It was not intended to provoke your legendary temper." Thane said calmly, unfazed by Shepard's angering glare.

Shepard's throat lowly rumbled, "I can't fault you for doing what you needed to do to get the job done," he lightly shrugged, "Can't say I wouldn't've enjoyed popping one off in Nassana myself though." his lips briefly curled into a smirk.

"That is understandable considering your history with the departed." Thane drew in a long breath.

"I didn't like the woman and solely for the fact that she tried to get me to kill her sister. I would've shot her between the eyes right in the middle of that swanky bar if I wouldn't've been arrested." Shepard scoffed, slowly shaking his head.

"Were you not a Spectre when you met her?" Thane asked, curious above all else.

"Oh I was, but I was in front of a shit ton of uptight politicians that probably wouldn't've taken too kindly to me splattering their expensive suits with asari brain." Shepard said, finding that he was having more difficulty then usual trying not to laugh.

"I am sure they appreciated the gesture, though in my experience, politicians have a tendency to be less then grateful for such kindness." Thane said with a brief, yet faint smirk.

"They never do. I heard your prayers earlier. Why pray for someone like her? She sure as hell didn't deserve them." Shepard asked simply.

"They weren't for her. They were for me. I have just taken several lives Commander. Those prayers were to cleanse my soul." Thane answered motioning with his head for Shepard to follow him to the window.

Shepard followed Thane and looked out over the cityscape that was oblivious to what had happened in the towers, "That... I understand well enough." he said, crossing his arms again.

"Your tone entails past experience Commander." Thane said, sending a sidelong glance towards Shepard to see him nod.

"Yeah, but I don't really wanna talk about it. It's not something that brings the good out in me." Shepard said with a twitch in his lip, sighing as he kept his eyes glued to the darkening buildings below.

"I understand. Perhaps at a later date then." Thane said quietly.

"We'll see." was all Shepard said.

Thane drew in another long breath and ever so softly, coughed, "As I understand, your Cerberus has you assigned to a particularly important mission, correct?" he asked, mainly looking for clarification.

Shepard huffed through his nose, "Cerberus isn't mine, but yes... You're right. I'm here looking for your help to stop the Collectors."

"I have heard this, but... you must know. I am ill." Thane admitted, sighing quietly.

Shepard's brows furrowed again as he looked to his left to Thane, "Ill? How ill?" he asked, trying not to gulp, or take a step back with his worry that Thane's illness might be contagious.

"I have Kepral's Syndrome. It restricts my body's ability to absorb oxygen, but will ultimately spread to my other organs where I will eventually expire." Thane said, his respectable posture never faltering in the slightest as he spoke of his limited time left.

Shepard's anger vaporized, "I uh... Wow... How much time you have left?" he asked, letting his arms drop to his sides as he placed his hands on his hips.

"It is hard to say, but my mortality is not of my concern. I know I am going to die and there is nothing I can do to to stop it. Kepral's is incurable." Thane said with another, ultra light cough.

"I'm sorry to hear that." was the only thing Shepard could think to say.

"My disease is not your fault Commander, but... I would like to do something with my remaining time to saves lives, instead of take them." Thane said with another soft bow of his head.

"So does that mean you'll join me?" Shepard asked, resting his hands on his hips.

Thane nodded, "I will join you." he extended his hand for Shepard to shake.

Shepard smiled with a crooked grin as he took Thane's hand and gave it a quick shake, "Welcome aboard then. Let's get you to the _Normandy._"

* * *

Much like every night, Liara sat at her desk, skimming over the flood of information that never stopped coming in by the droves. Her terminal never stopped flashing with unread messages, her collection of datapads was a nonstop wall of scrolling text and her assistant never stopped informing her that there was something else that needed her attention. Her world was just nonstop.

However, her assistant had gone home for the day, so Liara was simply sitting in silence with a cup of human tea she had bought. She had to admit, she greatly enjoyed it and had since Lycan had brought her that mug just after she had killed her mother.

Getting rather annoyed with the insistent pinging her terminal was doing, Liara finally muscled her attention away from her current datapad to look at what she was sure to be a gaggle of messages and sure enough, she was right. There were messages about the exploits of a prominent politician whom had spent a small fortune on a collection of asari call girls. There were messages about the stocks that were always a constant on Nos Astra, but there was a single message that she couldn't ignore.

She knew its sender well, having been digging and clawing for any information that could possibly lead her to him, but the content of the message was something that made her gulp. Never had this sender made any attempt to contact her directly, but it unnerved her that he would this one time, and for this one purpose.

Swallowing, she clicked on the message to read it.

_To: Dr. Liara T'Soni, Nos Astra Administration, Illium_

_ From: BLOCKED SENDER_

_ Doctor,_

_ I know you were not expecting me to contact you directly, but I do so to deliver an ultimatum. _

_ Do not play dumb with me Dr. T'Soni, as I know your secrets and the secrets of those around you. My network far exceeds yours and I will not hesitate to utilize my ocean of resources to insure that my demands are met. If I have to take what I want, so be it. If I have to kill for it, so be it. If I have to take care of it myself, so be it. _

_ You know of whom I speak Dr. T'Soni. You know who I want. She is unique in this galaxy, and there will never be another like her. I am still trying to understand it myself as to why she was able to arrive here, but that is not why I want her. Her knowledge is so extensive, that that makes her the most powerful being in the known galaxy. With her, I will know the Reapers true intent and with her, I will become the most powerful entity. More so then the Reapers themselves._

_ You would be wise to heed my 'request' Dr. T'Soni, as I still have you friend. I will tell you, he is still alive. I will not threaten that if you wish to see him again, then you will do as I ask, as you know how I operate. So I will tell you this. You have no other choice._

_ Give me the 'Time Jumper'. Give me Lycan Morris. Now._

_ Signed,_

_ SB_

* * *

The sun had just ducked beneath the horizon, casting the whole of Nos Astra into a darkening color wheel of shades that you only found in severe bruises, but it did little to quell the amount of activity. Especially the traffic surrounding the docks.

Kaidan and Lycan stood on the docks, both arms crossed and both armed, waiting for the incoming shuttle that they could see on its approach. It was quite a ways off yet, but from what they could tell, it wasn't very large, being no bigger then a standard Kodiak and colored in a stark gun metal grey that made it quite featureless. They weren't sure if there were more onboard then just Ashley, but as the shuttle drew closer and the white Alliance logo, the chevron and three stars, came into view, they had a strange feeling that she had had it all to herself.

The shuttle slowed and slowly began to turn starboard, exposing its port side to the waiting pair as it touched down and opened its door, revealing a single woman standing with her duffle bag in hand. She looked tired, exhausted most likely from trying sleep on a passenger unfriendly shuttle that wasn't exactly catered for lengthy travel, so the result was slightly mussed hair and light, but dark circles under her eyes.

"Hey guys. Wasn't expecting you guys to actually pick me up." Ashley said, smiling a bit as she stepped off the shuttle and drew in a long breath of fresh air.

"Why wouldn't we? You think we'd just leave you to hunt and peck your way to the _Grimm_?" Kaidan asked, reaching a hand out for a quick shake, which she returned after she set her duffle down.

"Oh... I don't know. Maybe because I'm pretty sure I interrupted you two just before things got... oh... steamy." Ashley said, trying not to giggle as she gave Lycan a quick hug.

Kaidan tried to hide his reddening cheeks by pretending he needed to rub them, "Yeah... Anyways, it's good to have you here Ashley. We've been waiting for you to get here. Now all we have to do is wait to hear from Liara." he said, glancing around the docks for anything the could be construed as suspicious since he started to have that odd feeling that someone was watching them.

"Yeah... You'd mentioned that when I called. What's that all about?" Ashley asked, picking up her duffle as she started to follow Kaidan and Lycan to where, she assumed, the _Grimm_ was located.

"Shepard's here with the _Normandy_." Kaidan admitted as he tapped in a code to gain access to the rest of the docks where the longer term berths were located.

Ashley lightly gasped, "What? Really?"

"Yeah. Kaidan and I set up a place to meet up with him once he finishes with his business here." Lycan said, smiling as she turned to walk backwards so she could look at Ashley.

"So you guys managed to beat him here?" Ashley asked, having a vague, very vague idea of what they were doing.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah, but just. Callaghan isn't back yet from placing that second coin."

"I'd ask but..." Ashley started, only to be silenced when a squad of police and medical vehicles flew by so fast, that it startled all three, "Holy shit... Where's the fire?"

"More like Shepard's found that merc by the window." Lycan said as she followed Kaidan down the long dock that housed many ships from all races.

"Do I even wanna know?" Ashley asked, arcing an eyebrow.

"It was from a coin we placed. He pushed a merc out a window." Lycan said, actually lightly smiling at the image skipping through her head.

"That sounds like him," Ashley smirked, seeing the Grimm further towards the end of the long term docks, "Do you think he knows?"

"Most likely. Liara probably told him when he went to go see her. We're meeting at her place." Kaidan said, doing another scan of the area that seemed to be a bit too quiet for his liking considering the amount of traffic coming and going.

"Can't wait." Ashley smiled.

As the group fell silent, Kaidan really started to notice just how abandoned the docks were. There was no one going to, or coming from a ship. No shipments were being delivered and even the security had been replaced. He thought they used to be mechs, but now, they were men wearing white hardsuits and bore red, three pointed chevron.

They were stationed at every entrance and exit, every gangway to every ship and there seemed to be even more stationed at the end of the docks, nearest the _Grimm._

He stopped, spurring the two women still chatting away behind him to stop as he kept his expression neutral. He eyeballed the guards, not at all liking how heavily armed they were compared to the mechs who only carried pistols.

"Ly... Do you remember the security changing?" Kaidan asked lowly, standing in front of her, but facing her.

Lycan glanced around, her smile fading as she saw what Kaidan was referring to, "Those aren't security." she whispered.

Ashley set her bag down and brushed her coat aside, exposing the small sidearm she carried, "Who are they then?" she also asked in a whisper.

"Are they who I think they are?" Kaidan asked, letting a tiny portion of his biotics begin to show around him, readying to wrap them all in a barrier.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah... They are."

"Who are they?" Ashley asked, trying not to get frustrated from not being told.

"The Shadow Broker's men." Lycan said, silently gulping.

Kaidan looked at the closest station of guards, watching them as they moved from their posting and took several steps towards them, cueing their fellow guards to do the same from all directions and surround them. He quickly counted them, coming up twice with a dozen men, all armed with various weapons and had varying skills from what he could tell. Some appeared human, others salarian, but all were heavily armored and had their weapons pointed at them.

"We're in trouble." Kaidan said, spinning and putting his back to Lycan whom had pulled her simple pistol.

Ashley pulled her sidearm as well and readied it, "No... I think they are." she grinned as she opened fire.


	63. Chapter 63

Chapter 63: Understanding Ourselves

_(Bioware owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: I'm sorry for such a late update all, but thank you for being patient with me. Hope you like!)_

Lycan was used to seeing action and violence and gore in the vids her and Kaidan always watched, but seeing it in person, live and right in front of her, was one hell of a different story.

All she could manage to do, was press herself up against the wall, forgetting about the pistol in her hand as Kaidan and Ashley wrecked the Shadow Broker's men. Every one of Ashley's shots were true, slamming through shields and armor like the mercs weren't even wearing any, and Kaidan's biotics were completely unleashed, tossing aside merc after merc and even beginning to lift loose objects from the sheer amount of power that was left unfocused.

Many mercs were shot, some were tossed over the side of the docks to plummet to their deaths, but with only two of the Shadow Broker's men left standing, Kaidan's fury gained a voice.

"Why did you attack us?" Kaidan rumbled with that threatening, echoing and two toned voice as he clenched his fists tightly, still radiating with blue fire that made him appear as an etherial demon.

"We were ordered to!" one of the mercs on the ground shouted, trying to scamper back away from the biotic fury in front of him.

"By who!" Kaidan boomed, spiking his aura that much higher.

"The Shadow Broker!" the other frighten merc shook.

Kaidan's lips peeled back to bare teeth, "How does he know about her!" he demanded, rocking forward on one foot with more biotic fire raging around him.

"We... We don't know! We're just soldiers! The Shadow Broker just wanted us to get her!" the other merc said, his fear obvious as he helped his friend to his feet.

"Why!" Kaidan roared, taking another step closer to the cowering mercs, which only served to frighten them more.

"We don't know! All we were told was that she would most likely be guarded, not guard by a powerful biotic and a crack shot soldier!" the merc who had just gotten to his feet answered, holding his right shoulder from landing so hard.

Kaidan flared hard just to make the mercs screechy with more fear, watching with a morbid satisfaction as their eyes widened and reflected the blue back to him. His throat rumbled with barely contained fury as his fists tightened to as tight as they could go, turning his knuckles white and churning a dull aching pain in his palms.

He had one more problem to solve, standing there between the frightened mercs and the woman they were after, but he wasn't a man whom was into senseless killing. However, he might make an exception should the Shadow Broker try again.

"Get the hell out of here before I change my mind, and make sure to tell the Shadow Broker that I'll be waiting for the next time he tries." Kaidan rumbled, smirking as the pair turned tail and ran.

With harshly furrowed brows and angry eyes, Kaidan watched as the cowering mercs fled, their fear hidden behind their full faced helmets, but obvious in their body language as they headed far away from the one who could kill then with his brain. His throat continued to vibrate with until the mercs vanished fully from sight where he reigned in his power and turned to look at Lycan.

However, the moment he saw her, his anger instantly vanished as he saw her fear in her wide eyes, in how rigid she had become against the wall and how she had simply let her pistol slip from her hand to lay on the ground. He could see her shake where she stood, the tiny movements almost as if she was cold, but it broke his heart to see her frozen in place, held firm by the natural reaction.

"Oh honey... Come here." Kaidan said lowly, reaching out for her and taking her into his arms.

"The... The Shadow Broker knows about me? W-What are we gonna do with Cerberus _and_ the Shadow Broker after me?" Lycan asked, her voice shaky and muffled against Kaidan's chest.

"We make sure they don't get to you... Either one of them." Ashley said, replacing her pistol onto her hip as she lightly rubbed Lycan's back, hoping the act was reassuring her shaken friend.

Lycan pulled away from Kaidan's warm and steady body and drew in a shaky breath, "I-I can't believe this..." she blew out her breath, "S-Shepard'll take care of that fucker soon enough... We'll be safe soon." she told herself, grabbing a fistful of Kaidan's uniform shirt to help keep her steady.

Kaidan brushed a hand back over her hair, "I'm positive he will babe, but for now, we've gotta get you somewhere safe. Let's get back to the ship before more of those mercs show up." he urged, taking her hand as he made a break for the _Grimm._

Nervously biting her bottom lip, Lycan simply followed without thought, trying to process all that she had seen. It was such a different experience, being in the thick of combat instead of sitting back and watching it from the safety of their cabin. It was something real when she watched through the vid links, but seeing it in person, actually being in danger, she didn't know what to think. It was all a bit too much for her mind to comprehend.

However, she didn't have much longer then a few steps to ponder what had happened as her ears picked up a high pitched whine that seemed to be coming from behind them.

She looked back over her shoulder, seeing one of the mercs they had thought retreated standing with a pistol in hand. It was her pistol. The one she had let slip from her fingers when she was stunned against the wall and was now in the hands of someone willing and able to do them harm. Her eyes were wide, watching in slow motion as the merc aimed, his stance aggressive and she knew he was hell bent on accomplishing his mission. No matter the cost.

Her body must have reacted, because before she realized what she was doing, she snatched Kaidan's pistol from his hip and aimed it at the merc. Her heart thundered in her ears, her breath lumped in her throat and her finger on the trigger, poised to pull, but something was wrong. She wasn't firing.

Her mind screamed at her to fire, to protect herself, to protect Kaidan and Ashley like they had done for her, but her subconscious wouldn't allow it. It was like her mind was fighting with her heart and soul, trying to decide if she should fire or not. Why couldn't she fire? Why, when faced with certain injury, or even death, couldn't she shoot? She wanted to, had to, to protect what she loved, but her soul wouldn't allow her to. She couldn't do it.

In the blink of an eye, an enormous, raging blue ball of biotic fire collided into the merc's chest, twisting and cracking the plates of his armor and spread outwards like the ripple of disturbed water. It began to twist and contort him into something less recognizable as human, but the split second before her stomach began to roll at the sight of a person being warped, someone grabbed her and forced her to look away.

She found herself wrapped back in Kaidan arms, her head pressed and held to his chest as the screams of a dying merc filled the air. She slammed her eyes shut, tightly gripping his shirt as she concentrated on drowning out the sound, simply to preserve her shaken sanity.

After a minute or two, she didn't know, Kaidan's grip on her loosened, allowing her to pull away, but when she tried to look back over her shoulder, his hands grasped the sides of her neck, preventing her from doing so.

"No baby... Don't look." Kaidan said quietly to her, kissing her forehead and holding her from looking back at the mess he created.

"W-Why?" was all she could muscle to say as she tried to pull herself from the stupor that had taken over her.

"Because you don't need to... Trust me." Kaidan said, again in a low voice as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back to him, feeling a wash of relief that she was alright.

"O-Ok..." she stuttered, only to silence herself when she looked up at him with tears beginning to fill her eyes, merely from the shock.

"We should get her back to the ship LT." Ashley interjected, drawing Kaidan's attention away from Lycan and her shaking.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. Let's go." he agreed.

Before Lycan could say anything else, mainly because she was so confused at what had just happened, Kaidan pulled her along, guiding her towards their ship nearby with Ashley walking drag, keeping an eye out for the last remaining merc that seemed to have vanished completely.

Mindlessly following behind the man she loved, she finally had the time to think about all that she had seen. She had thought combat would have been a glorious call to victory, a chance to rid the galaxy of evil, but in person was a whole different story. The noise was earsplitting, the smell of blood made her stomach churn and the gory sight of copious amounts of it and twisted bodies had been burned into her brain. She had wanted to help, to fight and learn, to contribute somehow, but seeing the combat first hand, she was having a hard time wrapping her head around it.

Finally reaching the _Grimm_, and none too soon for Lycan's tastes, Kaidan tossed Ashley their weapons without even slowing his pace through the cargo bay.

"Ashley... Get these checked back in and lock down the ship. Get a couple guards posted at the airlock too. I don't want anyone coming and going without being seen." Kaidan ordered as he started to climb the stairs with Lycan closely in front of him.

"Aye aye LT." Ashley replied just as Kaidan whisked Lycan off to their cabin with barely any acknowledgement to any of the other crew.

The moment the doors closed, Kaidan gently sat her down on the bed, kneeling in front of her as he brushed his hands down over her hair.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt?" Kaidan asked, almost frantically as he looked her over, looking for any sign of injury.

Lycan blinked, "N-No... I... I don't think so." she said, still in a shaky voice and rubbing her hands together nervously.

Kaidan reached up and lightly kissed her forehead again, "Are you ok?" he mumbled against her skin, letting his lips linger against her skin.

Lycan swallowed, "I... I already said I was." she tried to speak, but her shaking was becoming too much for her words to come out without sounding strained.

"No. I mean about the fire fight," he huffed, "That was your first combat experience." Kaidan said, feeling her heart thumping hard against his palm at her pulse point.

"I... I..." she started to breathe extremely heavily as she looked at her badly shaking hands, "W-Why am I shaking? I can't stop shaking."

"Shh baby. Just take deep breaths or you'll start hyperventilating." Kaidan said, grasping her hands to lightly rub them for her.

"Why am I shaking?" Lycan asked again, blinking away the built up moisture in her eyes.

"It's the adrenaline sweetie. It'll pass, but you've gotta control your breathing. I don't wanna give you a sedative to calm you down." Kaidan urged, taking in his own deep breath to show her and spur her to do the same.

Lycan nodded as she followed Kaidan's example, "Ok..." she swallowed as she finished drying her eyes with the back of her hand, "Can I... ask you something?" she drew in another long and deep breath.

"Absolutely honey." Kaidan said, brushing back a lock of hair from her cheek.

"Why... Why couldn't I shoot?" she asked, clenching her fists tightly and hoping it would help stop her shaking.

Kaidan's brows lightly furrowed, "What?"

"Why couldn't I shoot him? I thought that's what we were training for, but I couldn't pull the trigger... Why couldn't I protect you?" she asked, shifting a bit of her confused focus to simply concentrate on breathing.

Kaidan sighed, "Ly... Honey... I agreed to train you so you could defend yourself if anything were to happen to me, but it's not your job to protect me. It's mine to protect you." he said, pulling her from the bed to cradle her, once again, against his chest.

Lycan easily nestled into him, draped across his lap, "I couldn't take a life to protect you..." she said, only to be interrupted when Kaidan cupped her chin to force her to look up at him.

"Don't... Don't you start. You're a bigger person then me because you couldn't Ly." Kaidan said, placing a light kiss to her hairline.

"But you could. You killed Vyrnnus... You helped kill Saren and countless other people that've stood in your way..." Lycan started, but was ultimately silenced when Kaidan placed his thumb against her lips, still cupping her chin.

"But its all changed me. It tore me to pieces when I had my first kill Ly. You know that." Kaidan said, moving Lycan from his lap to sit on the floor in front of him, between his knees.

"No, it didn't change you." she shook her head.

"Yes it did. I'll never be the same carefree little boy my mother knew. Never again." Kaidan said, his eyes saddened as he looked into Lycan's.

"But you're the same man I knew. Even before I actually met you. Why couldn't I do the same thing to protect someone I care about?" Lycan asked, swallowing hard.

"Because your soul wouldn't let you." Kaidan said, brushing a finger under her chin as he tried to make her smile.

Lycan's lips barely cracked upwards, "I thought you and me were supposed to share a soul. Why couldn't I, if you can?" she asked again, grasping both his hands.

Kaidan sighed, but shook his head, "Your mindset's different honey," he looked at their joined hands, "Ly... I can't lie to myself in thinking I could keep you innocent forever. I guess... I guess, at some point, you were gonna need to be exposed to the darker side of what I do."

Lycan nodded in agreement, feeling her shaking finally begin to calm down, "I know. I guess I just wasn't prepared for it. It's different in real life." she huffed, scooting back into Kaidan's lap and cuddled back into his chest.

Kaidan rested his chin on the top of her head as his arms wrapped back around her, "It is, it really is and no amount of training can prepare you for it. That was as real as it'll ever get." he held her to him.

Nodding, Lycan simply stayed silent and listened to his heart beneath her ear as she finally calmed down enough to where the shaking was nearly completely subsided. With no more shaking, she finally realized that her whole body felt as if she had been electrocuted, every muscle having been clenched as tight as it could go and every limb just felt heavy and weighed down.

"I feel like I just worked out. I hurt everywhere." Lycan groaned, finally sitting up on her own with a long, drawn out sigh.

"The adrenaline's wearing off, but you'll get used to it." he sighed and brushed a lock of her hair back behind her ear once more.

Lycan picked at her fingernails, "It's weird hearing you say that. It never crossed my mind that I'd have to get used to combat."

"I know it sounds weird now, but you'll get there. Especially if you decide to go through with officially joining the Alliance." Kaidan said, lightly smiling at her.

Lycan looked up at him, "I know. I've been thinking about that off and on, but..." she sighed as she dug inside her own head for the right words.

"But what?"

"I don't wanna get reassigned somewhere when this is all over. I've done that moving around nonsense and I don't wanna do it again." Lycan said, trying not to cringe at the thought of having to leave him for extended periods of time.

Kaidan smiled, "I'm pretty confident that you won't be, but with Cerberus, and now the Shadow Broker after you, it wouldn't surprise me if Hackett assigned us even more security just to be safe." he said, resting his hand on her knee.

Lycan winced, "Speaking of Hackett... We're gonna have to tell him about those mercs huh?" she asked, not really looking for an answer.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah," he stood and held his hand out for her, "Come on. He's gonna want as much information as we can spare about the Shadow Broker."

With another long intake of breath, Lycan reached out and took his hand, accepting his help to stand before they headed for the holoscreen overlooking their dining table. As he had done so many times before, Kaidan linked his Omni-Tool into the holoscreen and signed into his Alliance account, giving him access to his contacts and the name right at the top of rather sizable list.

_"Commander Alenko... I wasn't expecting to hear from you. Has there been any developments?" _Admiral Hackett's tired face appeared on the screen as he rubbed an eye and removed his hat.

"Yes sir, there has. There's been a situation here." Kaidan said, crossing his arms.

That seemed to perk him up, _"What kind of situation? Is it why Lycan looks so shaken?" _

"Yes sir, it is. We were attacked... Just after we'd picked up Williams from the arrival terminals." Kaidan said, biting back a short lived spike of anger.

Admiral Hackett's thick brows furrowed, _"Attacked by whom?"_

"The Shadow Broker's men. He's got his own army and apparently, he's after me now too." Lycan said, mirroring Kaidan's posture by crossing her arms.

Hackett groaned and plopped his face into his hand, _"This complicates things a great deal Commander."_

"I know sir. It was a short lived encounter, but that doesn't help." Kaidan said, glancing at her.

_"I assume Lycan was present since they're after her?" _Hackett asked as an eyebrow arced.

Kaidan nodded, "Yes sir." he slowly shook his head.

Hackett sighed, _"I guess with her training, we were gonna have to expose her sooner or later. The Shadow Broker did us a favor." _

"I guess that's one way to look at it. I just wish it could've been later." Kaidan sighed.

_"I know Commander," _Hackett shifted his gaze to her,_"Lycan... I hope you're recovering from the shock alright." _he said with genuine concern.

"I'll be alright. I'll be better about it though when the Shadow Broker isn't after my ass." Lycan grumbled with a curled lip.

_"I take it you know something I don't?" _

Lycan just nodded.

Admiral Hackett groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, _"Look... I know you've been doing your best to keep your information a secret, but I think now is an adequate time to tell me a few things." _he said, looking directly at her.

"It's alright. What you wanna know?" Lycan asked, uncrossing her arms to rest her hands on her hips.

_"What would the Shadow Broker possibly want with you?" _

"My guess? He's after information and mine, is the rarest. He probably wants to know about the Reapers." Lycan said, unable to look the admiral in the eyes.

_"And next to Shepard, you know the most about them." _Hackett sighed.

Lycan nodded, "Yup, but that's coming to an end anyways, so there isn't much I can tell him he doesn't already know."

_"That leads me to believe that you don't know how this war ends." _Hackett said, crossing his arms.

Lycan shook her head, "I have no idea. I got launched here before the third game was released."

_"Were you able to hear anything viable?" _

"Nothing concrete Admiral. The developers of the game kept things pretty hush hush. All I heard was rumors." Lycan said, trying not to scoff.

_"When was it released?" _Hackett asked as his eyes briefly narrowed.

"It was slated for 2012. That's all I know." Lycan said, gripping her neck to roll it out a bit.

Admiral Hackett sighed, _"And you know all this information from this trilogy from your time correct?" _

Both Kaidan and Lycan just nodded.

_ "I know this is gonna sound absolutely crazy, but here me out on this... Is it possible to find and obtain a copy of this game you've talked about?" _Hackett asked, his own disbelief evident in his features.

Lycan's eyes widened with brief shock, "That's... ambitious to say the least. That trilogy, now, is damn near two centuries. The tech to play it is long gone and I really doubt any copies still exist." she said, glancing at Kaidan who matched her skeptical expression.

_"I understand, but if you were able to find a copy and find out how these developers thought all this was going to end, then we'd gain the advantage again. With the Reapers on the horizon, we can't afford to lose any advantage we may still have." _Hackett said, his gray eyes boiling with sincerity.

"Admiral... That sounds like a very tall order. That game was from the turn of the 21st. We'll be hard pressed to find a copy of a game that literally predicted the future." Kaidan said, glancing at Lycan with worry deep in his eyes.

_"I know it sounds like a long shot Commander, but with her knowledge nearing its limit, we need all the help we can get against the Reapers. I know you're out trying to help Shepard, but if you could pull this off, it'll be a major win for us." _

"What about our current mission Admiral?" Kaidan asked.

_"I'll leave that up to you Commander. If you find out where a copy of that game is, then contact me and we can work out the logistics, but until then, carry on and take extra precautions now that the Shadow Broker's actually made a move. If he's tried, I'd suspect that Cerberus isn't far behind." _

Kaidan and Lycan both sighed, "We'll see what we can do Admiral, but we make no promises." Kaidan said, unable to stop himself from pinching the bridge of his nose.

_"I know. I'm not expecting a miracle, but at least try Commander. It's at least worth a shot." _

"Like I said, we'll try. We'll stay in touch Admiral." Kaidan said with a curt nod.

_"I'll be waiting to hear from you." _

Before Kaidan or Lycan could say anything else, Admiral Hackett cut the link, leaving the pair standing in their cabin with absolutely no idea on how to proceed. It seemed like Admiral Hackett was off his rocker, but Lycan had to admit, that if they could pull it off, then maybe, just maybe they would have an idea that they could build off of.

However, that thought caused Lycan to worry about the things that might change. Her and Kaidan both had divulged information at times, not really thinking about how those tidbits affected the timeline, but now, they caused her to worry. She just hoped that whatever did change, or was going to change, wouldn't be detrimental to everyone's health and by that, she meant dying.

"Where the hell are we even supposed to start?" Lycan groaned as she turned and slowly paced between the bed and the dining table.

Kaidan shrugged, "I have no idea Ly. This is your department. The only stuff I know about the early 21st is from what I read in history class." he tried not to laugh as he placed a hand on his hip and rubbed the back of his neck with the other.

Lycan sighed and slowly shook her head, "Jesus... I wonder if BioWare knew what they were getting themselves into." she huffed, plopping down on the bed.

Hearing her, Kaidan's attention was immediately drawn to her, "What did you just say?" he gasped, his mouth agape.

Lycan froze, "Uh... What?" she lightly gulped, confused as to why Kaidan was staring at her like he had just reached some legendary epiphany.

"Did you say BioWare?" Kaidan asked, taking a few steps closer to her.

"Y-Yeah? They developed the game." Lycan said, still confused as to why Kaidan seemed to be in shock.

"Are we talking BioWare International?" Kaidan asked, sitting down next to her.

Lycan opened her mouth to speak, but was having issues formulating the words. She had no idea if her and Kaidan were referring to the same thing, so she just shrugged and stared, waiting for Kaidan to continue and hopefully fill in the blanks.

Kaidan shook his head, getting rid of some of his shock, "Are we?" he repeated quietly.

"I don't know. Just... BioWare." Lycan manage to say with another shrug.

"Where were they based out of?" Kaidan asked, unconsciously resting a hand on her thigh.

"Uh... Edmonton, Alberta I think." she said, seeing Kaidan's face light up with recognition.

"I think we are talking about the same thing." Kaidan said, opening his Omni-Tool to begin searching.

"What's BioWare International? They were just BioWare back in my time." Lycan said, watching the screen that had popped up over his wrist.

"Bioware International was the largest financial backer for the Mars mission that discovered the prothean archives. Without their financial support, that mission never would've happened." Kaidan said as he held his Omni-Tool close to her, giving her the best position to read what it displayed.

Lycan just watched as the orange screen scrolled with droves of information about the company, more like major corporation, and how they supported the Mars mission. They helped develop the technology learned from the newly discovered prothean technology, helped to lay a basis for biotic understanding when human biotics began to emerge and even helped to design and produce the skycars that had become their soul method for transportation. It was truly something to see, but something was bugging her about what she was seeing. It almost seemed unreal.

"What is all this?" Lycan asked, having a hard time keeping up with the scrolling text.

"Everything BI's publicly done ever since the archives were discovered," Kaidan shook his head, "Without them, the researchers and scientists never would've managed to figure all that prothean tech out." he said, tapping a few commands into his Omni-Tool.

"Was it like they had prior knowledge?" Lycan asked, leaning closer to him to get a better angle to read the screen.

Kaidan looked at her, "Yeah actually... It was. My grandparents always talked like BI just knew. Like they had some cosmic link to the future that told them everything," he said, lightly smiling, "It makes sense... What if they did?"

"Have a cosmic line to the future?" Lycan asked, her lips ever so softly curling into a barely there smile as she tried her damnedest not to laugh out loud.

Kaidan locked gazes with her, and slowly nodded, "I guess. I don't really know what to call it. You said that if you were launched forward in time, that it could be a possibility that someone, or something could've gone back. What if BI had that something?" he asked, his caramel eyes opening wider the more he churned his brain.

Lycan's brain was starting to hurt, "I guess it's a possibility, but what would they've had? What possibly could've gotten launched back that could've given them a heads up and not been a completely alien thingy?" she shrugged and rubbed her neck.

Shutting down his Omni-Tool, Kaidan slouched at the question, honestly, absolutely and totally having no idea, "I don't know." he leaned over into her shoulder and rested his head against her.

"This is starting to sound like a bad movie." she scoffed as a joke.

"I think we've seen too many vids." Kaidan grumbled, flopping back onto the bed and taking Lycan with him.

"Ya think?" she sighed, "Really though... You think that's what happened?" she asked, cuddling into his side as she let her arm rest over his stomach.

"Babe... You got launched forward in time through a wormhole. I think it's entirely possible." he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to hold her to him.

"It would make sense I guess. I doubt they just got lucky." Lycan scoffed.

"I know, but we'll figure this out somehow. I just really, really have no idea where to start. I don't think Admiral Hackett really knows how difficult it's gonna be to pull this off." he lightly kissed her hairline before resting his temple in the same place.

"He's just looking for hope... Like we all are," she sighed, "We'll figure something out. Maybe Shepard'll have some ideas." Lycan said, drawing in a breath to fill her sinuses with Kaidan's soft cologne.

Kaidan half shrugged, "Maybe. We can ask when we see him," he sat up and stood just as his stomach voiced its two cents, "Come on. Lets take a break from all this temporal physics and time theory to get something to eat. My brain is gonna need some serious brain food if we're gonna figure this out." he said, holding his hand out for her again.

Lycan didn't hesitate as she nodded and took his hand, letting him use his far greater strength to get her to her feet. She took a moment to situate herself, checking herself out in the bathroom mirror to make sure her eyes weren't puffy from her random tearing before they both headed for the mess.

Inside, they found a majority of the crew already seated, having made themselves their own meals from the leftovers from the previous night. They were seated at various spots around the common room, but most were at the long singular table that filled much of the space and chatted happily amongst themselves.

"Oh geez. I'm sorry guys." Lycan cringed, sighing heavily as she headed straight for the small cooking area.

"It's alright Ms. Lycan. We heard you got your first combat exposure today." Hanson said, stuffing a forkful of his meal into his mouth.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah... It was uh... It was a rush. That's for sure." she said, fixing Kaidan a plate and heating it up for him.

"I bet. Looks like you came out of it alright though. Overload anyone's shields, or punch someone in the face?" Ellison asked, as usual, seated next to Lia, which had become the norm.

Lycan started to blush, "Actually... I froze. It wasn't what I was expecting at all." she said, handing Kaidan his plate as Ashley came up and gave her a hug.

"You did just fine Lycan. Lots of people freeze their first time." Ashley said, patting Lycan's shoulders.

"Did you?" Lycan asked bluntly, filling her own plate with per chosen portions.

"At first I did, but... I snapped out of it. Course, my first combat experience was a lot longer then yours and a lot more... dangerous." Ashley said, setting her plate into the sink before refilling her drink and walking with Lycan to the table.

Lycan sat down next to Kaidan, "Ain't that the truth. It was all over in a second." she scoffed.

"That happens when you mess with the biotic rage god." Jake laughed, shying away from Kaidan's glare.

Kaidan swallowed his mouthful, "A biotic rage god?" an eyebrow popped up.

"Yeah! I mean... come on boss! We saw you out there! You destroyed those mercs!" Jake cheered, his face elated.

"Oh! And don't forget the gun wielding wonder woman! She didn't miss!" Jerry added with the same enthusiasm.

"Biotic rage god? Gun wielding wonder woman? What's with the nicknames?" Ashley asked, glancing at Kaidan whom had buried his face in the palm of his hand.

"Because they're true!" Jake was nearly on his feet with excitement.

Kaidan looked up at his pilots, "How did you two see us?" was all he asked.

"We tapped into the security feeds on the docks. It was totally awesome to watch!" Jerry said with a giant wide smile across his face.

"Jesus... You two are like Joker clones." Ashley joked, shaking her head as she looked over to see Lycan trying not to laugh and spray food everywhere.

"Hey! Them are fighting words!" Jake barked, jokingly baring his teeth in protest at the comment.

"Well she's right you know. That's something Joker would do." Kaidan said, picking some food from his teeth with his tongue as he glared at the twin pilots.

"Hey boss... Don't be saying things like that. You'll hurt our feelings." Jerry said, smiling.

"Uh huh," Kaidan deadpanned as the only missing person of the crew walked in, "Callaghan... How'd everything go?"

"I got that last coin placed in the shipping yards without too much trouble. Had to choke out a couple mercs, but that was it." Callaghan said, blowing a long, tired sounding sigh from her lips.

"You weren't seen?" Kaidan asked, taking a gulp of water to wash his meal down.

Callaghan shook her head, "No sir."

"Good. Gear down and get something to eat. You're done." Kaidan said with a curt nod.

"Roger that." Callaghan said and spun in a hurry to change out of her armor.

"I guess that just leaves us waiting to hear from Liara." Lycan said quietly with a small bite of food.

"That's all that's left. Let's hope we don't have to wait much longer." Kaidan said as he settled into eating his meal, happy that the Shadow Broker's plans had been stalled... for now.

* * *

Having seen the Justicar he now knew as Samara in action was something to see, but he had only gotten to see a moment of her skills when she had taken out an Eclipse merc who didn't give her the information she was looking for. He was intrigued by her power level and skill with biotics, having had several issues with his own since his awakening in the Cerberus lab.

Over the course of his mission to stop the Collectors, the buzzing in the back of his head slowly grew to drive him closer to insanity, and the constant electrical shocks and flares made life far more interesting then it needed to be. He had managed to keep a cap on much of it, but more often then he'd like, they always showed up. Shocks when he touched anything metal would cause him to jump like a scared child. Bright flares in the middle of the night always woke him up, covered with cold sweats and the most irritating of the three, the buzzing, was driving him towards the edge of tearing something apart with his hands, or otherwise.

When he had first met Samara, she had mentioned that his upgraded power level was speaking to her, telling her that he was a troubled man, and he had to admit that she was right. She had seemed intrigued by his power as well, but they didn't get much time to converse since he had to go and find the information she sought.

That in itself was an endeavor as he, Garrus and Miranda wound their way through the back alleys of Illium, fighting Eclipse mercs along the way to find out where Samara's fugitive had run to. They all fell to their guns and even the gunship was defeated with a good strong electrical blast from Shepard's arc projector. The whole thing was mundane, save for the fact that he had managed to find, and subsequently shot because she had pulled a shotgun on him, the murderer of a volus whom had been the partner of another rather irritating little sod of a volus merchant.

Having trudged through clouds of red sand and mercs, Shepard and his squad managed to get the information Samara had been after, satisfying her request for her to join them and had replaced Garrus to help Miranda with her sister.

"Commander Shepard... I can still feel the buzzing. Something continues to trouble you." Samara said eloquently from the back seat behind him.

"A whole lot is bothering me Samara. I just haven't had a chance to work it all through yet." Shepard said blandly, flighting his hands over the consoles to bank the car smoothly to the right.

"It is an intense disturbance Shepard. Perhaps some meditation is in order to center yourself before your demons consume you." Samara said, letting her hand become wrapped with biotics which caused Shepard to wince.

"Do you have to do that right this second Samara?" Shepard snapped, somewhat sending her a glare back over his shoulder.

"Hypersensitivity and irritability to other biotics. Perhaps your biotic amp is the source of your troubles." Samara said, reigning her power back in.

"He's outfitted with the L5n at the moment. All the scans we've performed have been within tolerance." Miranda said, never taking her eyes off the front window.

"The L5n is an experimental implant is it not?" Samara asked simply.

"It is, but we tested it thoroughly before we implemented it into Shepard's cranial cavity." Miranda reassured like it was something done everyday to play with experimental amps.

Shepard grumbled low in his throat, but kept driving.

"I hope for his sake that your tests were accurate. Otherwise, his troubles could worsen." Samara said, never faltering from her smooth and elegant tone.

_It's not my goddamn implant. _Shepard groaned in his throat, simply deciding to drive the car, instead of joining the conversation.

"Any problems that could've developed would've been caught during our preliminary tests after the implantation. We sent small electrical pulses along his nervous system to activate his biotics and we tuned the implant from there. We were able to boost his power level to that of an asari commando." Miranda said, her tone giving away some of her pent up pride.

"Impressive. From a previous L3, that is quite the accomplishment." Samara said.

"You're aware of his previous amp then?" Miranda asked, somewhat, mildly surprised.

Samara nodded, "I do. It was common knowledge on the extranet after he had been labeled the Savior of the Citadel. Were the nodules compacted or significant in number that allowed for such an upgrade?"

Miranda shook her head, "When we acquired him, he was what we would consider of a normal exposure, however, when we were working on the biotic portions of his reconstruction, we exposed him again to build more nodules."

Shepard shot Miranda a surprised, yet somewhat angry glare that she happened to miss.

"That was a dangerous decision. An exposure to an individual whom has already grown from their fetal state, could have resulted in quickly developing illnesses, or even have led to death." Samara said, drawing a long breath when a strong, angry feeling spike snapped over the back of her head from Shepard's growing anger.

"He was already clinically dead, so the risk was minimal. His body was functioning, but his brain was 'offline' at the time. If he did develop a cancer, then we would've simply taken care of the situation before it escalated." Miranda said, a little too simply and matter of fact for Shepard's liking in regards to his life.

"That is a rather bold approach to the natural order Ms. Lawson. One mustn't attempt to undermined their gods." Samara said.

"It was a necessary risk. We did what we had to do in order to insure that Shepard had the edge..." Miranda said, only to be harshly interrupted.

With a gut wrenching halt, Shepard brought the skycar to a standstill, throwing everyone forward enough where the threat of smacking into something solid was very real.

"Will you two stop talking about me like I'm some high school science project!" Shepard barked, angrily glaring at both women, one being stunned from the sudden stop, the other not even phased.

"It was merely my own curiosity Shepard. I am intrigued by the amount of power you seem to be radiating." Samara said smoothly, not even flinching from the angry stares coming from Shepard.

Shepard's throat rumbled, "I'm only radiating this much because she plugged me full of tech and an experimental amp!" he thrust a finger towards Miranda whom shied away from the gesture.

"Shepard... I didn't know you were having problems with your amp. You should've said something." Miranda said, worried that Shepard's anger might backfire.

Shepard's brows furrowed hard, "I didn't say anything because I was tired of being poked and prodded! I'm tired of being someone's personal science project!"

"Shepard... Your anger seems to be directed towards the surplus of biotic power. How long have these symptoms been plaguing your mind?" Samara asked, leaning forward a bit to see into the front easier.

"What? What're you talking about?" Shepard asked, arcing an eyebrow with confusion.

"There is something dark in you Shepard. Something you are trying to lock away, but it is becoming far more difficult to contain." Samara said casually.

"Samara... Look," he rubbed his neck, "The more you're around me, the more you'll learn that I'm not the straight and narrow kinda guy all the stories of grandeur would lead you to believe. So unless you wanna get the darker version of events, stop reading my biotics like they're an open book." Shepard said sharply, staring Samara straight into her amazingly blue eyes that rivaled his own, but with far more silver.

"I apologize Commander. I did not mean to intrude." Samara simply said with a short nod as she leaned back into her seat and folded her hands together.

"Commander... If you're having issues, we should run some scans and see if your implant is the cause." Miranda said before Shepard could start the car forward again.

Shepard sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "You wanna know how bad it's gotten?" he asked, drawing in a long breath.

"I'd like to know if the implant is causing any damage to your spinal cord and nervous system." Miranda said, her face actually conveying that she was sincere in her words.

Slowly shaking his head, Shepard nonchalantly reached across the cab with a finger extended and touched Miranda's shoulder, sending a jolt of electricity so strong, that she yelped and immediately shied away from him.

"Oh boy... We might have dialed in too much power. We can bring it back some Commander." Miranda said, rubbing her shoulder from the strong snap of electricity.

For some reason, hearing that dissolved his anger, "I'd appreciate it. My fingertips are numb from all the shocks." Shepard huffed a sad smile.

"Perhaps, since you currently have the extra power, use it to your advantage. It is possible to channel the added power to produce an electrical effect that can incapacitate your enemies." Samara said, still with a completely neutral expression on her face.

"That's good to know, but not right now. Mastered skills only for this mission." Shepard said, finally urging the car onward towards the shipping district.

Samara nodded, "I understand. We have important business to attend to. We should not delay any longer."

"I agree," he glanced at Miranda, "You know where we can find this Niket guy?" Shepard asked, beginning to see some cargo containers being moved in the distance.

"I'm not sure where he is exactly, but we'll find him. What we need to worry about right now, are those gunships over there." Miranda said, pointing out the window.

Shepard followed her finger to see a pair of sleek black gunships, hovering over what looked to be a drop off over the top of a large barrier wall.

"That's not good," he slowed the car to watch the gunships for a moment, seeing several Eclipse mercs deploying from the gunship's small passenger space, "Looks like they're just dropping off to me." he said.

"I would agree. We should land behind some cover and get a jump on the mercs if we can." Miranda suggested, adjusting enough in her seat to pull the pistol from her hip.

"No promises, but I'll see what I can do." Shepard said as we waited another minute for the gunships to finish and leave before proceeding forward once more.

However, the moment the car flew over the grouping of mercs, they all turned, looking at the car as if it had been expected and let their weapons rip, spraying the car with rounds that forced Shepard to bank hard, well out of the car's capabilities. Alarms blared inside the cab, wailing in time with the flashing red alerts that covered the in flight screens, confusing the living nonsense out of all three as the cab gave up the ghost and plummeted from the sky.

Groaning and shaking his head to clear his confusion, Shepard glared angrily out the cracked window as he saw the mercs all staring at the downed car, weapons aimed, but what he found odd, was that none were shooting. _Why the hell aren't they trying to finish the job? _He thought as he gently shook his head from the impact.

"Why aren't they firing?" Shepard groaned, holding the spot on his head from where he'd smacked it against the car's dashboard.

"Ugh... I... I'm not sure, but one of them is looking at us and saying something." Miranda said, holding her own head from a smack to the side window that had cracked.

Shepard glanced towards the merc, "Crap... I bet he's ordering us outside."

"Then we should comply Commander, before they decide to open fire on us any further." Samara said, still in her ever smooth tone that even crashing couldn't shake.

Shepard nodded as he smashed a fist down onto the door release a couple times, getting angry with the infernal contraption the longer it waited, but after a few buzzing moments, the overhead and side doors finally opened.

"About time you got here. We've been expecting you." one of the mercs said, most likely the leader since he was in the front and adorned with a glowing tech armor that mimicked Shepard's own.

"You must be the guy pulling the strings..." Shepard started, only to be interrupted, which he was getting rather tired of.

"How did you know we were coming?" Miranda demanded, aiming her pistol at the merc in charge, which spurred the remaining mercs to return the favor.

"Are you kidding? We knew the second we moved on the brat, you'd be on our tails. Enyala just had no idea you'd be bringing _him._" the lead merc said, smirking as he pointed a finger at Shepard whom had crossed his arms.

Shepard's brows pulled together, "What? You thought she wouldn't bring help? This is Miranda Lawson we're talking about here." he scoffed.

"That's true. You seem to know her pretty good. Been fucking her too?" the lead merc asked, laughing along with the rest of his men.

That only served to piss Shepard off, "No." he said flatly, tightening his grip on his bicep to keep from punching the lead merc.

"Oh come on... You wouldn't tap that?" the merc snickered.

Shepard shook his head, "Not when I have a girlfriend waiting for me when all this business is dealt with." his throat began to rumble.

"Oh? And is this little gem of a girlfriend as hot and voluptuous as her?" the lead merc asked.

And now, Shepard was getting even closer to exploding, "I wouldn't tell you even if I liked you."

"Ouch... You're just as cold as her. Captain Enyala is gonna love you. You might even get to screw her." the merc crossed his arms.

"How did she get involved in all this?" Miranda asked as her thin, neatly kept brows pulled together.

"Simple. She was hired. When your dear old dad caught wind that you hid your baby sister here, he hired us, and your buddy Niket was all too willing to help." the lead merc said with a cocky, all knowing grin that Shepard very much didn't like.

"Niket? He wouldn't do that! He knows I had to get her out of there! He knows I had to rescue her!" Miranda snapped as her grip tightened on her pistol a bit more, bringing her ultra close to pulling the trigger.

The lead merc laughed, "You hardly saved her lady. You took her from the richest guy in the galaxy and robbed her of a life filled with everything she could possibly want."

Shepard's brow popped up, "Richest guy huh?" he huffed, looking over towards Miranda.

"Rich... Yes. Loving... No." Miranda snapped.

"Who cares about love when you've got endless credits to play with." the lead merc started laughing along with his men again.

However, that little testament didn't sit well with Shepard, "Wow... That's uh... I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one." he said, catching the soft gleam of something on the far end of the cargo holding area they were in.

While the band of mercs laughed at Shepard's claim, Shepard focused passed them, looking towards the gleam that was hanging on a large, suspended cargo container. It was hard to see that far away, but the tiniest hint of red against the blue of the crate told him exactly what was hanging there, next to a placard that was printed with the universal symbol for explosive.

"Hey Miranda?" Shepard asked, not caring that the mercs were now paying attention to him.

"Yes Commander?"

"How many coins do I have in my collection now?" Shepard asked, never taking his eyes from the tiny spot of red.

"Um... I think five or so. Why?" she asked, tilting her head out of curiosity.

"Oh... Just asking. Think I can miss one?" Shepard asked, rather enjoying the confused looks on the mercs faces.

"You've got five Commander. I think you can afford to miss one." Miranda said, finally beginning to understand as she looked at the container he was staring at.

"What are you two talking about?" the lead merc asked, getting angrier by the second.

Shepard ignored him, "That's what I was thinking too." he said with a snarl as he lurched forward.

Before the merc could even react, Shepard spun him around and placed his hands on the merc's head, wrenching it to the side with an audible snap. The merc dropped to the floor in a motionless pile as the group pulled their weapons, but just as they were readying to aim, Shepard pulled the trigger.

With a few precision shots, Shepard sent the canister falling to the floor, exploding into a giant heatwave that expanded outwards. The wave took out the distant mercs and without even being ordered to, Miranda and Samara dropped the lead merc's entourage until only a few remained standing, frozen in shock.

"Anyone else wanna dance?" Shepard hollered out, only to smirk when a few more ran from fear.

"Effective. Should be a cake walk to get to this Captain Enyala." Miranda said, pleased.

"Good. This is the last job before we can get some rest." Shepard said, instantly smelling Ashley's scent in his nose, purely from memory.

"Rest?" Miranda simply asked, again out of curiosity.

"I'll explain later." was all Shepard said as he started through the holding area.


	64. Chapter 64

Chapter 64: Reunited...

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: I'm sorry for the long wait for this one all, but it took me some time to weave it just right. I hope you guys like it!)_

The meeting with Shepard had finally arrived and Liara's apartment was exactly how Lycan remembered it. The wide, panoramic windows showed everything still going on in the city, the traffic never even having slowed when the sun dipped behind the distant mountains. The various collection of display cases were filled with the prothean relics and pieces of Ilos Liara had managed to collect and there were even several pictures she hadn't seen before.

With nothing to really do until Shepard arrived, Lycan slowly walked the walls, looking at the pictures Liara had collected of the old _Normandy_ crew. There were photos of her and Kaidan, Shepard and Ashley and even group pictures that had been taken after Saren and Sovereign had been stopped. There were photos of the group from the memorial dinner they had had at Dr. Chakwas's condo, pictures of the girls night out that Lycan, Ashley and Liara had gone on just before Liara had left and there was even a picture Liara had taken of Lycan and Kaidan, both passed out on the couch of their apartment.

"You took a picture of me and Kaidan Liara?" Lycan asked, pointing and smiling as she looked over her shoulder, seeing Liara staring blankly at her private terminal in the office alcove of her apartment.

When Liara didn't immediately answer her, Lycan walked over to the threshold of the alcove and leaned against the wall with crossed arms. She watched Liara's eye dance across the screen, lost in whatever stared back at her, but not wanting to intrude and look over her shoulder, Lycan simply watched from a distance.

"Liara?" Lycan called softly, seeing the slightest jolt in Liara's eyes as she snapped out of whatever held her attention so firm.

"Huh? Oh, uh... Yeah, I did. I thought it was a nice moment between you two. It was either that, or let Ashley draw all over your faces." Liara said, shutting down her terminal and standing from her chair.

Lycan snickered as she glanced at Ashley, lounging on the couch with an old fashioned book in her hands, "You wanted to doodle on our faces Ash?"

"Wanted to, but Liara told me not to. I had everything planned out too. LT was gonna get a clown face and you were gonna get dolled up like a pirate." Ashley grinned with a big toothy grin.

"I hate clowns." Kaidan grumbled from his spot in the oversized chair that looked out at the large bank of windows.

"Hence why you almost became one." Ashley added to Lycan's snickering as she kept reading.

"You would've gotten it later Williams. I have my ways of getting payback." Kaidan said, glancing up at Lycan as she joined him on the chair.

"Like you could've come up with something better." Ashley jabbed, never taking her eyes off her book.

"All those nights I gave you a sedative to sleep, you would've woken up painted like a vorcha." Kaidan said, admiring the view outside the windows as he wrapped his arm around Lycan, pulling her a bit closer.

That earned something Kaidan wasn't expecting, as an accurately thrown pillow puffed into the back of his head and dropped to the floor. He laughed as he watched Lycan stand and head towards a display case next to the office alcove that held a battered piece of armor, but Kaidan knew exactly what it was, if at all from all the things Lycan had told him.

He stood and followed her to the case to stand next to her, studying every crack, every burn of the backplate that had once belonged to their friend. They understood why Ashley refused to look at it, but to them, they wanted to see what Shepard had gone through and it wasn't because of a morbid curiosity.

"It's really torn up. Hard to believe that his hardsuit managed to preserve anything at all." Kaidan said lowly, wrapping his arm around Lycan's waist as they stared at the relic.

Lycan slowly shook her head, "I don't even wanna see what he looked like after they got his armor off. I don't think I could stomach it." she said, keeping her voice low so as not to let their conversation reach Ashley's ears.

"I've seen some bad things as a field medic, but this... This is a new one." Kaidan said, blowing out a long breath through his nose.

"I guess it's a sign of the times. Back then... People never even thought about what would happen to someone if they entered atmo." Lycan said, thankful that Shepard was conscious when it had happened.

"We still don't wanna think about it. We've taken every precaution, but..." Kaidan really didn't know how to finish.

Lycan placed her hand on Kaidan's back and lightly rubbed, not really knowing what to say to him as they stared blindly at the piece that was supposed to protect their friend, but Lycan's attention was ripped from the case when a heavy, disturbed sounding sigh fluttered from the office alcove.

She took a step sideways to peer into the alcove, subtly watching Liara as she seemed to lose herself in her head, staring just as blindly at her own terminal. She could see that Liara was thinking about something, and if the 'deer in a headlights' look was any clue, whatever it was, was not good. Lycan didn't just want to barge into Liara's business, as some things needed to stay private, but asking sure wasn't out of the question.

"Is everything alright Liara?" Lycan asked, lightly crossing her arms and drawing Kaidan's attention away from the display case.

Liara sighed, "Something is... troubling me." she admitted, finally ripping her eyes away from the screen to look at Lycan.

"What's on your mind?" Kaidan asked, having stepped next to Lycan to see what had drawn her attention.

Again, Liara sighed as she tightly rubbed the back of her neck, "I... I received a message from the Shadow Broker the other day."

Kaidan's brows furrowed, "What? What did it say?" he asked, almost breathlessly as he crossed his arms.

Liara shook her head, "Nothing good." she said, motioning for Ashley to come over before before she moved the contents of the terminal to the linked array of screens hanging on the wall behind it.

With the message from the Shadow Broker displayed, no one spoke as they read the words, each one sending chills down Lycan's spine that made her hunker into Kaidan's side without her even knowing it. It made her stomach churn knowing that the Shadow Broker was trying to barter with one of her closest friends, made her angry and filled with hatred that she was so desired for ill reasons. She had to trust that Liara wouldn't fall for the Shadow Broker's ploy, but the thought did sit in the back of her mind. She lumped it in with her paranoia.

"He wants to trade for me? That fucker wants to trade for me?" Lycan barked, getting angrier the longer she looked at the letter.

"He wants me to hand you over in return for my friend's release." Liara said, nervously ringing her fingers together as she hoped no one would direct their anger towards her.

Lycan sucked in a long breath, "I don't know whether I should be pissed off, or flattered that he wants to trade for me." she growled, clenching her fists together over and over again.

"Have you answered the message?" Kaidan asked, moving in to stand behind Lycan to lightly rub her shoulders.

"No. Not yet at least." Liara said shamefully, hanging her head to avoid seeing everyone's faces.

"Not yet at least? You weren't actually thinking about taking the deal were you?" Ashley asked, furrowing her brows hard.

"No! Goddess no! How could you even think that? I would never do that!" Liara quickly defended as she snapped Ashley an angry glare.

"Easy Ashley... I highly doubt she would've betrayed us like that." Kaidan said as he wrapped his arms around Lycan, possessively pulling her back into his chest.

Ashley pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, "You're right. I'm sorry Liara. I should know you better then that by now."

"It's alright. I understand that you want to protect those you consider friends, but I would never betray those I consider mine. I can assure you with every fiber of my existence that the thought never crossed my mind." Liara said with some of her hardened, information broker persona laced in her tone.

"Then you're a step above a lot of people Liara. Some might've if the price was right." Kaidan said, still holding Lycan into his chest.

"I am sure the Shadow Broker is unwilling to pay my price." Liara said, blowing out a soft breath as she glanced at the letter still displayed on her array of holoscreens.

"When did you get the message?" Kaidan asked as he glanced at the screens once more.

"A day ago at the most." Liara said, looking over at Ashley when she placed a hand on her shoulder.

"How come you didn't tell us about it sooner?" Lycan asked, feeling safe behind Kaidan's arms and happy he was there.

Liara sighed heavily, "Honestly... I was afraid of the accusation that I might consider the offer. When a friend's well being is in the balance, one might do whatever it takes to insure their safety."

"Anyone would. I didn't think you were all _that_ close to Feron though." Lycan said, clutching Kaidan's wrists to let her arms dangle.

Liara's brow line furrowed for a moment, "By 'that close', do you mean intimate?"

Lycan shrugged, "Maybe... I don't really know."

"Well... Feron helped me recover Shepard's body from the Shadow Broker before he was able to sell him to the Collectors, but in doing so, he was captured so I could get away with Shepard's body." Liara said, beginning to ring her fingers together again.

"The Shadow Broker was gonna _sell_ Shepard to those monsters? Why?" Ashley gasped, leaning back against Liara's desk and harshly crossing her arms.

"For information perhaps, or technology. It really could be any number of reasons." Liara said as she lightly tapped her thin chin.

Ashley slowly shook her head, "The guy's got balls to use the Skipper as currency. I'm glad you got him outta there Liara... Even if he did end up in Cerberus's hands."

"It was actually Cerberus who contacted me to retrieve Shepard. I knew Shepard's history with them was not a good one, but they promised they could bring him back. I saw the plans they intended on using and..." Liara sighed, "It was a chance I was willing to take." she admitted, unable to look them in the eye so instead, she stared at the floor.

"You saw the plans? What were they like?" Lycan asked, mainly out of her morbid curiosity.

Liara nodded, "Intricate and detailed, almost beyond my own comprehension. The medical knowledge and technical prowess needed was fascinating, but what I found most intriguing was how they planned on reactivating Shepard's neural activity."

"What did they have planned?" Lycan asked, leaning further back into Kaidan's chest, spurring him to tighten his possessive hold on her.

Liara scoffed, "That's what intrigued me the most... There was very little. They had viable theories to restart the neurological operations, but Shepard's morals, personality and all around humanity seemed... miracle based. They had hoped his neural pathways had been preserved by the vacuum cold of open space." she folded her arms.

Ashley barely smiled, "They had no idea if their plan would even work?"

Liara shook her head, "It seemed there was a bit of faith involved in Shepard's resurrection, but whatever they they did, it worked." she smiled a bit.

Ashley nodded in agreement, "You're right. At this point, I don't care how Cerberus did it, I'm just glad it worked."

Liara nodded, "I agree, but Shepard's resurrection aside, the Shadow Broker's plans concern me. He has never contacted someone directly and the fact that he would in this instance, tells me he desperately wants Lycan for himself." she said with another sigh, finally tapping her terminal to command the letter to disappear from view.

"Well he isn't gonna get his hands on her if I have anything to say about it." Kaidan said with more then his fair share of growling anger deep in his throat that Lycan felt against her back.

"I'm afraid that the Shadow Broker has more up his sleeve then just a dozen men with various weapons, so that is easier said then done." Liara said, returning to lightly tapping her chin.

"That's what I'm scared of. If that was just testing the waters..." Lycan started, only to be interrupted by the chime of Liara's door.

Kaidan, Lycan and Ashley all looked at the door as Liara immediately stepped passed them, leaving her office alcove and headed for the door while they went to simply stand in the living room to anxiously wait. They stood in silence, waiting patiently and somewhat on edge until the door unlocked and opened.

As the hiss filled the room, the three smiled as Liara stepped aside, allowing their guest to see into the apartment with eyes lit up in relief and joy. He stood, dressed in his standard Cerberus BDUs with a plain grey sack cradled in the crook of his left arm, but their curiosity as to what was in the sack was vastly overshadowed by the clarity of his face. His lightly colored skin was perfectly smooth, save for the slightly darker shadowing around his jaw and chin in the form of a five o'clock shadow. His eyes nearly glowed blue instead of having the red underlay they had had, being wide with joy as he stepped passed Liara and passed her the sack, all in the same motion.

"Skipper..." Ashley breathed, her smile growing as she starting for him.

Without saying a word, Shepard nearly broke out into a run to get to her, ignoring the décor of the apartment altogether until Ashley was securely wrapped in his strong arms. He lifted her up, burying his face into the crook of her neck as he deeply breathed in her scent, felt the softness of her skin against his freshly healed face and just having her warmth against him was enough to make him whimper against her neck.

After a few moments, Shepard finally set her down and grasped the sides of her neck, quickly blanketing her lips with his own to finally taste her, causing his throat to deeply rumble. Just getting to feel the silkiness of her lips against his mildly chapped ones made his heart pump harder in his chest, thumping against his sternum like the steady beat of a deep sounding drum. It was a feeling he had missed, a feeling that drove him forward to do the impossible and having her in his arms again made all his decisions and encounters worth while.

"God I've missed you." Shepard mumbled against her lips, unable to pull himself away from her.

"I've missed you too Skipper," Ashley pulled away just enough to see his face clearly, lightly fluttering her fingertips down his cheeks, "You had 'em fixed." she said lowly, kissing both sides of his face, enjoying the feel of his stubble against her lips.

Shepard nodded, "I had to. I wanted to be the man you remembered. I did it for you." he said, wrapping his arms back around her in another tight embrace.

"Just like how I remember." Ashley smiled, placing another kiss to the corner of his lips.

Shepard couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face as he finally decided it was time to pay attention to the others in the room, realizing that he was under their watchful gazes. He looked passed Ashley, his arms wrapping around her to hold her close to him to see Kaidan and Lycan smiling back at him while Liara placed the sack he had brought on the kitchen counter.

"You look much better Shepard." Kaidan said as both he and Lycan walked up to him now that their chance to greet him was open.

Shepard extend a hand, "I feel better. Those fifty thousand units were worth their weight in gold." he said, tightly clasping his hand to Kaidan's as they gave each other a short lived brotherly embrace before Shepard went right back to holding Ashley.

"I was wondering when you'd finally stop mulling it over and just cough it up." Lycan smiled as she took her turn and gave Shepard a hug as well.

"I was mulling it over?" Shepard couldn't stop smiling as he placed yet another kiss to the side of Ashley's neck.

"Oh my God... I was about to just tell you off until you finally made up your damn mind." Lycan laughed, spurring the others to smile along with her.

"I wasn't mulling it over that long was I?" Shepard asked, smirking.

"You do have a tendency to hum and haw about expensive things Shepard. It took you three months to finally break down and get that nice Omni-Tool after Sentinel training." Kaidan jabbed, stepping behind Lycan to wrap his arms around her shoulders again.

"Hey... I just make solid informative decisions. Can't fault me for that." Shepard said, smiling wide when Ashley poked him in his side, causing him to jump.

"We can, and we will." Ashley snickered.

Hearing the rustling of the sack still in Liara's possession, the four looked to see her pull a smooth glass bottle from the fabric and held it up. The liquid inside seemed to glow from the rays of soft white light beaming down from the high ceiling, mirroring the deep rich blue of sun kissed ocean waters filled with crystal icebergs.

"By the Goddess Shepard... This is from the Northern Islands Vineyards. Where did you find this?" Liara gasped, smiling at the amazing radiant blue.

"Just kinda happened across it." he winked, never having taken at least one hand off of Ashley.

"Is it some sort of special wine or something?" Lycan asked, purely out of curiosity.

"About five thousand credits special. It is usually reserved for dignitaries and political summits. How Shepard managed to obtain it is quite a feet." Liara said, gently setting the bottle down on the counter as if it was a priceless heirloom.

"Five thousand credits?" Ashley gulped.

Shepard shrugged like it didn't matter, "Figured I'd splurge considering the circumstances. It's not every day I get to meet up with my closest friends without Cerberus looking over my shoulder." he said, grasping Ashley and leading her to sit on the love seat, draped across his lap.

Kaidan sat down on the large couch, grasping Lycan's hand to pull her down next to him where he nestled her in close, "How bad has it been?"

Shepard shrugged as he clasped his hands together, encompassing Ashley's waist, "It's been getting better with each day, but I'm still pretty weary around a good chunk of the crew." he said, glancing up at Ashley whom had settled nicely on his lap.

"Miranda included?" Lycan asked.

"How did you... Oh, right. Uh... well, she's been a tricky one to figure out actually. I wanted to hate her in the beginning, but... when she handed me that intercepted report about you... It kinda threw me for a loop. I really didn't know what to think." Shepard said with a light scoff woven into his tone.

Kaidan's brows furrowed, "Miranda did that?"

"How do you know who she is?" Shepard asked, mildly confused.

"Lycan's caught me up on everything she knows. There's two sources of information now." Kaidan answered like it was no big deal.

"Oh... Uh, yeah, she was. She intercepted the report and ordered the execution of the operatives who found it." Shepard said, resting his hands on Ashley's hip.

Kaidan nodded, "The ones Hackett found three blocks from our place?"

"That would be them. They were damn close to moving on you guys. If Miranda hadn't ordered them killed when she did, they would've made their play." Shepard said, his smile fading.

Kaidan blew out a breath and rubbed the back of his neck, "That's what Hackett said when he gave me the intel."

"The report Miranda gave me didn't say much you probably don't already know, but I'd be lying if it didn't scare the crap outta me." Shepard said, slowing shaking his head.

"Scares me too. Oh... Hackett thanks you for those reports by the way." Kaidan said, silently falling back into the couch.

"Tell him no problem next time you talk to him. Has he said anything about getting me back into the Alliance?" Shepard asked, leaning his head over to rest his temple against Ashley's chest.

"No. Nothing yet, but he may just be waiting till you cut your ties with Cerberus." Kaidan said, glancing up as Liara walked up with a silver tray laden with glasses full of the expensive wine.

Shepard scoffed, "Believe me... I'm working on it, but I'm still trying to figure out their agendas. That AI is something else entirely." that earned him a furrowed glare from the woman sitting on his lap.

"What AI?" Ashley asked flatly, accepting a glass from Liara and passed it to Shepard before taking her own from the tray.

"EDI. She's... Interesting. Every time I go see Joker on the bridge, they're bickering like their married. She's even played a few jokes on him too." Shepard said, taking a sip of the wine and smiling at its flavor, as it wasn't overpowering in the least.

"An AI with a sense of humor?" one of Ashley's brows popped up in question.

"Yeah... Go figure." Shepard shrugged.

Liara quietly set the tray down on her coffee table and took the last glass before she sat in the overstuffed chair, "I have heard very little of this AI, but from what I have heard, it's experimental." she took a sip.

"As far as I know, she is, but I can't access any confidential files. They're blocked off." Shepard said, scooting Ashley off his lap to sit very close next to him.

"You can't hack your way in? You're losing your touch Shepard." Kaidan joked, taking his first sip and very lowly humming in his throat with delight.

Shepard glared, "I haven't lost shit... It's just that I haven't gotten to do much. My amp's been giving me issues lately." he admitted.

"What's been wrong?" Kaidan asked simply.

"Constant buzzing, nonstop shocks and some control issues. Miranda wants to test my amp and dial the power output back, but... I don't think that's the problem." he sighed, wrapping an arm around Ashley and pulling her into him, causing her to lean into his chest.

Kaidan set his drink aside before he stood and went to stand behind the love seat, behind Shepard. He pushed Shepard's head forward with one finger and brought up his Omni-Tool, tapping a few commands into its interface which caused a miniature sized holographic skull with a flashing red dot to appear at its base.

"It's not your amp... It's the implant itself. I'll have to plug in if you want me to run a diagnostic." Kaidan said, manipulating the display so that it wasn't just a skull, but a skull with a brain and central nervous system as well.

Shepard let his head hang limp, "Have at it."

Kaidan nodded as he skillfully removed the amp, briefly glancing at Lycan as she came to his side to watch what he was doing. He handed the small device to her as he pulled a link cable from his Omni-Tool and replaced it where the amp had been, spurring the Omni-Tool to whisk away the skull display, and show a flat screen with scrolling data across it. He definitely didn't like what he was seeing.

"Good lord Shepard... Cerberus dialed you up _way_ too high for your exposure." Kaidan said, slowly shaking his head at what he was seeing.

"They double exposed me." Shepard said blandly.

"They did what? Do you know how long they exposed you for?" Kaidan asked with harshly furrowed brows.

Shepard lightly shook his head, "No. I can't get access to the Lazarus Project files, so I have no idea how messed up I am right now."

Kaidan tapped a few more commands into his Omni-Tool, "Damn," he swore, as he read the newly displayed data, "From what I can tell here, they doubled your nodular count, but nothing cancerous is coming up."

"That's good. What's my count at?" Shepard asked, shrugging off the word cancer like it was just a cold.

"Uh... Hundred and eighty-five thousand, up from a ninety two thousand, five hundred. Cerberus literally doubled your count." Kaidan said, flighting a screen to the side as he brought up his amp modification program.

Shepard scoffed, "Can you dial me down man? The buzzing is ridiculous." he lightly rested his hand on Ashley's thigh.

"Yeah... Gimme a sec." Kaidan said as he started to work the program.

Lycan watched with light amazement coloring her features as Kaidan's fingers deftly worked the screen, bringing up an actual dial and level bar that displayed the amount of power Shepard's implant was allowing to come through. He turned the dial, lowering the power level displayed in the bar, but went incredibly slowly, so not to shock his system.

"Let me know when the buzzing stops Shepard." Kaidan instructed, continuing to lower the level.

The room was silent for a few moments, waiting, watching until Shepard spoke sooner then they expected.

"There! Right there... The buzzing's gone." Shepard sighed in relief, smiling as he resisted the urge to look up from his lap.

"You're definitely more powerful from the double exposure, but it should level itself out now. Just pay attention to how many times you discharge the static." Kaidan said, closing the program and unplugging it from Shepard's amp jack.

"I will. I appreciate you bringing it down. I was getting irritated." Shepard said, finally raising his head once he heard and felt the light click of his amp snapping back into place.

"And you irritated makes for a bad day for everybody else." Kaidan laughed as he returned to his seat on the couch with Lycan right by his side.

"I'm sure my crew will thank you for your aid," Shepard said with a smirk, "So what do we do now? I'd tell you guys what I've been up to, but you already know I guess." he said, returning to enjoying the wine.

"Perhaps we can tell you what we've been up to Shepard. Things are... complicated." Liara said, lowly sighing.

Shepard's brows briefly furrowed, "What's complicated? Is something wrong?" he asked, his smile fading.

"Not really wrong, but... definitely not good." Kaidan said, blowing out a quick breath.

"What's come up?" Shepard asked, having a sinking feeling that he wasn't going to get any time to just sit with Ashley and not think about anything else.

Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck, "The Shadow Broker's men attacked us not long ago, so now, it's not just Cerberus looking for Lycan, it's him too."

"You've got to be kidding." Shepard sighed as his shoulders slumped.

"I wish I was Gabriel." Kaidan said, leaning back against the couch and throwing an arm over Lycan's shoulders.

"How many?" Shepard asked.

"A dozen or so. I'm thinking they were just testing the waters." Ashley said, gently beginning to caress the nape of Shepard's neck.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah... Means he'll probably try again and soon. How long it take you guys to blast them to Hell?" his brows lightly furrowed.

"Only a couple of minutes. The Shadow Broker's men were vastly unprepared for the encounter." Liara answered, crossing her legs and resting her hands in her lap, cradling her glass of wine.

Shepard arced a brow in confusion, "Right... Information broker."

Liara nodded and briefly smiled, "Unfortunately, knowing what I know of the Shadow Broker, he will try again. We just don't know how, or when."

"Where did he attack you guys?" Shepard asked flatly.

"Right on the docks. We were a hundred or so yards from the _Grimm._" Kaidan said, blowing out a soft breath.

"That's a bold move with the rest of your crew so close. He might've been trying to provoke everyone who could stand in his way." Shepard said, slowly shaking his head.

"That would be my guess, but what really concerns me, is what Hackett wants. He wants us to try and find a copy of that third game from Lycan's time so we can try and see how this whole nasty business ends " Kaidan said, shifting the focus of their conversation in hopes of getting to pick Shepard's brain for ideas.

"He wants you to what?" Shepard gasped.

"That's what I said. I honestly have no idea how to pull this off." Kaidan slowly shook his head in disbelief.

"That's one hell of a tall order." Shepard was dumbstruck.

"You're telling me. One of the things that made the franchise so popular, was that you could import your saves from game one, to two, and then into three. I don't have my save files." Lycan added, rubbing her neck from nerves.

"Why would that be important if all you need to do is play it and see what's around the corner?" Shepard asked.

"It's... kinda hard to explain. If I have to use the default settings, then I could miss something that could be a better outcome then the one I'll get in game. I know you're gonna try to get everyone back from the Omega 4 Relay and depending on that outcome, it could vastly affect what happens in three." Lycan said, drawing in a long breath.

Shepard's eyes widened, "Good to know, but in all honesty guys, I have no idea how to help you out with this one. I'm not the physics type."

"That's fine. It's just... It's just gonna be harder then hell Shepard. We barely have any idea on where to start, but get this... The developer of the game from her time was called BioWare."

Shepard's brows furrowed hard, "BioWare? As in BioWare International?"

"That's what we think, but we have no way of confirming it yet." Kaidan said, glancing at Lycan as she crossed her legs.

"Sounds like it's a stretch to be honest." Shepard said, popping an eyebrow up.

"But it's all we've got. It just seems too much like a coincidence to be nothing. I really think Ly and I should look into it." Kaidan said.

"It just seems like your grasping at straws. I don't know man..." Shepard retorted, lightly running his hand up and down Ashley's thigh.

"It's our only shot Shepard. If it turns up nothing, then we'll just have to make our best guess." Kaidan said, pressing into Lycan's shoulder a bit.

Shepard shrugged,"I've been doing that this long. I don't see why we can't keep doing it." he meant it as a joke.

"BioWare International is surprisingly well guarded. The only information I can gather is what is known publicly." Liara said, resting an elbow on the armrest.

Kaidan glanced at her, "I take it you've tried?"

Liara nodded, "I have. BioWare International is a significant contributor to human history. Without them, you never would have expanded out into the traverse." she took a sip of her wine.

"It's also looking like, that without them, we'll never get a decent shot at finding out what happens." Lycan said, more as a scoff as she finished off her wine.

"Unfortunately, you guys can't just waltz up to the front door and ask." Shepard said.

"I'm pretty sure we'll just be stared at like we're crazy." Kaidan scoffed.

"That depends on your approach. A direct inquiry may not be in your best interest in this case. You might need to be more subtle and gather information first before going directly to BioWare International." Liara interjected, finishing her wine as well and setting down the empty glass on the central coffee table.

"How are we supposed to learn anything if their database is locked down tighter then Udina's personality?" Shepard asked, removing his hand from Ashley's thigh to wrap his arm around her shoulders.

"I have some information, but nothing concrete enough for you to use." Liara said as she leaned forward to activate a hidden interface on the coffee table, spurring a screen to display from its center.

The group stayed quiet as their eyes scanned through the displayed words, not readily seeing anything that they made their brains ache, so they glanced at Liara and waited for her to continue.

"From what I could acquire, BioWare International has only displayed figureheads as their public face. There is a secret upper echelon that goes to great lengths to keep their names and faces out of the public eye." Liara continued, tapping a command or two into the interface, bringing up a simply put together list of everything she had.

Shepard polished off his wine, "How many are we talking?" he asked, shifting into briefing mode.

"I was unable to discover exactly how many, but I do know that there is more then one." Liara said, slipping off the chair to kneel on the floor beside the control interface.

"More then one could mean a board of directors." Kaidan said, flicking a finger across the screen to slide aside a window, getting a better look at the one behind it.

"Look at that one Kaidan. Privately owned BI transport that arrived late in the evening at an airport that had been completely bought out. Whoever this upper echelon is, they are serious about not being seen." Shepard paraphrased, taking in a deep breath.

"It would appear so. Even with my connections, I am unable to find anything about who comprises this upper echelon. If I were to guess, they are the ones who control and run BioWare International." Liara said, tapping a command into the interface before shutting the table down.

"I'd put credits on it that they are. Why keep their identity such a well kept secret? What are they hiding?" Shepard asked, mainly brainstorming now that the group seemed to settle into the conversation.

"Corruption?" Ashley provided simply.

Liara shook her head, "The thing with corruption, is that they always get caught sooner or later. BioWare International has been successfully operating for two centuries with no interruption in their profits."

"Do you have anything about their financials?" Kaidan asked.

Liara nodded as she tapped the table once more, bringing up the interface again to display a graph, containing a congested collection of lines that all had one thing in common. They all gradually went up with very few points of going down.

"Every year has been a profitable one for BI and if there is any evidence of corruption, it is extremely well hidden." Liara said, leaning back on her hands, still sitting on the floor.

"The profit margins normally wouldn't mean anything, so why do they in this case?" Shepard asked, standing from the loveseat to retrieve the wine bottle from the kitchen.

"Because it continuously goes up Shepard. Not only are their Omni-Tools and biotic amps the most expensive and hardest to obtain, but every transport and Alliance ship out there has at least one part that was manufactured by them. BI's been dominating the market since they financed the Mars mission." Kaidan explained, meeting Shepard halfway with his glass for it to be refilled.

"Which brings us around to that they might've had prior knowledge." Lycan added her two cents, passing Kaidan her glass to be refilled as well.

"In the form of what?" Shepard popped a brow.

"We don't know. That's part of what we still need to figure out. We're stretched thin here Shepard, and we're reaching for anything at this point." Kaidan admitted, slumping back into the couch with defeat in his posture.

"I can see that. We honestly have no..." Shepard started, only to be rudely, abruptly and shatteringly interrupted.

With a shattering bang, the bottle in Shepard's hand exploded into shimmering, sprinkling shards, raining the bottle's contents down onto the coffee table. The noise startled everyone as all jumped, tossing their drinks aside as they dove to the floor to clammer behind the large wrap around couch as more crystalline bangs snapped through the apartment.

"What the fuck was that!" Shepard barked, angry and covered in the expensive wine behind the couch.

Kaidan sucked in a breath and wrapped himself in a biotic barrier before he popped his head up for the shortest of moments, simply to look at the glass which had several holes punctured through their surfaces.

"Someone's shooting at us! The shots came through the windows!" Kaidan said, letting the shimmer of blue and white fade away.

"It's either Cerberus, or the Shadow Broker..." Ashley started, only to be interrupted, but not by gunfire.

"It's the Shadow Broker." Lycan said with a growl laced into her voice.

"I take it this happens at some point?" Shepard asked with a tightly furrowed brow narrowing his blue eyes.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah... It was a downloadable content pack that was released to add to the core game." she said, ducking her head out of reflex when another shot sounded.

"Then why is it happening now?" Shepard asked, anger coloring his features with more shots.

"Because you could do it at any time." was all Lycan said as one of the large portion of windows loudly spiderwebbed from too many penetrated shots.

"Wonderful," another loud shot, "So what do we do? I have no idea how to track this fucker!" Shepard leaned forward just enough to look at Lycan, seeing her skin pale, but she seemed to be keeping her whits about her as she looked back.

"Do you have any intel sent from The Illusive Man?" Lycan asked, wiping her clammy hands on her pants.

Shepard shrugged, "I don't know. I don't remember seeing anything, but I tend to not look at my messages." he admitted.

"Check!" the other four ordered.

Another crack shot slammed into one of the thick pillars that supported the second story mezzanine, raining down tiny shards of the composite material on top of them, causing them to cover their heads.

"Ok! I'm checking," Shepard grumbled as he opened his Omni-Tool and tapped into the _Normandy, _"EDI... Do I have any messages from the Illusive Man about the Shadow Broker?"

_"Checking... Yes. Shall I send it to your Omni-Tool?" _EDI's quieted voice asked, fluttering through the comm.

"Yes!" Shepard said in a hurry.

It only took a moment for his Omni-Tool to ping with a received message, spurring him to immediately look at it and hold his arm out so Liara could see what the screen displayed.

"No him?" Shepard asked, glancing at the photo of a drell that covered the small screen.

"Yes! That's my friend who helped me recover your body." Liara answered quickly.

At the tap of a finger, Shepard changed the picture to display a galaxy map, and he was about to ask Liara about it, but Lycan answered his question as if she was reading his mind.

"He's on Hagalaz, but I don't know exactly where. You'll need to talk with your buddy Sekat to find out." Lycan said, ducking her head again as yet another shot rang through.

"Sekat? I just talked to him the other day. He said he was on his way here and wanted me to meet him at the Dracon Trade Center." Liara gasped, her eyes widening slightly from the realization that her chance to make a move on the Shadow Broker was close at hand.

"There you go. Now all we've gotta do is get Vasir out of our hair." Lycan said, again with a growl.

"Who's Vasir?" Shepard asked bluntly.

"She's an asari Spectre, but you'll run into her soon. Only problem," another shot, "Is she's the one firing at us." Lycan divulged, keeping her head ultra low out of self defense.

"Then I'll take care of her. Stay here." Liara said as she jumped up with biotics flared.

"Liara! No! Wait!" Shepard yelped, but it was too late.

Before anyone could stop her, Liara was up and in front of the couch, her biotic barrier taking the new barrage of rounds without even phasing. None knew what Liara was doing, as they had hit the floor and covered their heads, but could hear, even through the shots, rustling and scrambling about the apartment.

After several shot filled minutes, everything stopped, falling into penetrating silence. No more shots pierced the windows, no more glass sprinkled the floor. The distant echos of a high powered rifle faded into the late evening traffic and the only sound that any of them could hear, was their moderate panting breath against the polished floor beneath them.

Taking a gander, Shepard cautiously looked up, glancing around the apartment and pushed himself up to slowly stand, still on high alert in case he needed to hit the deck again.

"Liara?" Shepard called, not seeing their friend anywhere in the apartment.

Looking up, Kaidan looked around as well as he climbed to his knees, hovering her Lycan to protect her, "Where's Liara?" he asked, placing his hands on Lycan's shoulders to keep her down for a bit longer.

Shepard shook his head, "Liara! You still here!" he called out again, looking back at Ashley as she got to her feet, seeing the destruction that had become of the windows.

"She's not here Shepard. She took off." Lycan said, crawling up to sit on her backside, leaning against the back of the couch.

"Where'd she go?" Shepard asked, unable to take his eyes off the broken windows.

Lycan shrugged, "Probably to try and track down Sekat or Vasir, but I don't know." she took a deep breath to help calm her heart, finding that it wasn't beating as hard as it had been when the Shadow broker's men had attacked for the first time.

Shepard groaned as the distant sound of police sirens fluttered through the many holes in the windows, "Shit... The cops are coming. What the hell are we supposed to tell these people?" he rubbed the back of his neck as he went for a rag to wipe away the spilled wine.

"Nothing sounds like a good idea." Ashley scoffed as she helped Shepard clean his uniform from the little bits of glass.

"Well, we've gotta tell them something. Some people'll have a hard time accepting that the Shadow Broker is after someone from the past." Kaidan said, deciding it safe to stand and helped Lycan up as he did so.

As she accepted Kaidan's help, her brain ran a million miles an hour, running through everything that had happened in just a short time. She had been shot at, her boyfriend and close friend had both been shot at and now she had an asari Spectre that had tried to kill her closest friends so they could kidnap her. But, there was one thing, one tiny, insignificant thought that wouldn't leave her alone. There was one place were all information could be found, where things of the upmost secrecy were kept despite their true owners knowledge. She knew where to get more information about BioWare International, and she knew just who was going to help her to get a little payback in the process.

"What's up Ly?" Kaidan asked, eyeing her up for any wounds as he saw the distant, realization in her dark eyes.

"Oh... my... God. I think I know what to do." Lycan said, smiling wide as Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan gave her their full and undivided attention.

"What you have in mind?" Shepard asked, softly smiling at Ashley as a silent thank you for her help.

"All we tell them is that we were here visiting Liara when the shots rang out. It's mostly the truth, we just aren't telling them why were visiting her." Lycan said, her dark eyes wide and smile beaming with barely contained excitement over her idea.

"Ok... Sounds viable, but you've got more in that little head of yours hun." Kaidan said, lightly smirking as he tapped a fingertip against Lycan's forehead.

"Oh I do. Liara said she couldn't get much about BioWare International, but I think _I_ know someone who's probably already got a ton." Lycan said, her smiling getting even bigger with a bit of pride mixed in.

"Who?" Shepard asked simply, simultaneously listening to the distant sirens draw closer.

"The Shadow Broker." Lycan's smirk reached it's maximum, and it was beaming without being creepy, but Shepard's eyes were wide, causing her to lightly chuckle deep in her throat at the sight.

"Have you lost your mind? The Shadow Broker isn't just gonna let us meander into his office to browse his stock piles of information." Shepard scoffed, fanning his uniform shirt a bit in hopes of drying it out some.

"That's the fun part of all this. We're gonna find him and take him out. You're about to do it anyways and Liara's gonna take over and once he's out of our hair, it's open season to get information about BioWare International." Lycan said, clapping her hands together like a mousetrap closing on its pray.

Shepard stared at her for a moment, silent and stunned, "You're serious... You wanna use an event that already happens in the game to try and find a copy of that third one." he paraphrased it, but in all honesty, it made Lycan's idea clearer to everyone else.

"Bingo! I'm willing to bet that the Shadow Broker has something we can use." Lycan said, allowing her beaming smirk to soften, relaxing her cheeks.

"Bet what?" Shepard asked as a joke.

Lycan shrugged, "I don't know. Didn't think you'd actually wanna bet something."

Kaidan lightly giggled, "If she's right Shepard, you get buy her a hardsuit." that earned him some unwanted attention.

"Oh hell no... I ain't buying her shit. That's your job... And why the hell do you wanna get her a hardsuit anyways?" Shepard asked, glaring hard at his best friend with a popped eyebrow.

"I've been training her and in all honesty, if we're seriously considering going up against the Shadow Broker, I'd feel a lot better if she had one." Kaidan said, opting to stand behind her with his back to the windows to shield her from view.

"Well then _you_ buy her one. You're her sugar daddy." Shepard joked with a light laugh.

All Kaidan did, for his part, was glare back as heavy pounding sounded from the door. Shepard headed for it, still fanning his shirt and quickly opened it, staring straight into the aimed barrels of a squad of police which made him raise his arms out of habit.

"I didn't do it." he rapidly said, stepping aside for the squad to enter and hoped they weren't looking at him.

"We got a call of shots fired into this apartment. Is anyone hurt?" a dark purple asari asked, dressed in a standard and plain armor suit with gold bars adorning her collar.

"No. We're fine." Shepard said, lowering his arms as he cut through the living room to stand by Ashley's side.

"Is this your apartment sir?" the asari asked, issuing orders to her squad as they entered the abode.

"No ma'am. It's are friend's place. Liara T'Soni." Shepard said, watching a little bit suspiciously as the other cops began searching the apartment.

"T'Soni huh? Where is she?" the asari asked, only to spin at someone's voice coming from the doorway.

"I've got it from here Lieutenant Ronna. Ms. T'Soni is a big name here in Nos Astra, and anyone taking potshots at her deserve to be hunted and dealt with immediately." the voice said, coming from yet another asari, but this one was dressed in a combat ready hardsuit with a very familiar symbol adorning her breastplate; She was a Spectre.

"Who are you?" the asari Lieutenant asked harshly, placing her hands on her hips.

"Tela Vasir. Special Tactics and Recon. You and your men can vacate. It's not like they're doing anything useful anyways." Vasir said with more then her fair share of cocky coloring her words.

The Lieutenant growled, but with the presence of a Spectre, she had very little wiggle room to haggle. With a harsh jerking of her head, she ordered her men out, every one of them following without question since they had froze simply to watch the encounter out of hopes of something interesting happening.

No one spoke as the police left, leaving the apartment in its disarray, but the moment the door closed, Vasir smiled like she had just cornered her pray.

"That's better. Now maybe we can solve this case." Vasir said with a smirk as she crossed her arms over her armored chest.

"Aren't fond of the local authorities are you?" Shepard asked, but already having a sneaking suspicion of what the Spectre's answer would be.

"They're fine when the work is minimal, but anything bigger, they only get in my way." Vasir said.

Shepard's brows lightly furrowed, "Right..." he drawled, finding he was possessively leaning closer to Ashley and noticed that Kaidan had done the same with Lycan.

"So... It's pretty obvious what happened here, but there are a couple things I wanna know. What happened to our little biotic friend? This is her apartment after all." Vasir asked, beginning to walk around the apartment in a lazy scuffle.

"She leant the place to us for a bit while she took care of some extra business." Kaidan answered, his own brows furrowing as he closely watched her, knowing full well that she was the one shooting at them not long ago.

"Interesting... And she just left you in charge to do what you will with it? She's trusting." Vasir said with a light scoff in her sinister like tone.

"We've known her for some time actually. She's a good friend." Shepard said, watching her movements extremely carefully should she decide to make another move against them.

"It would appear so," Vasir mumbled as she came to stand next to the devastated windows, "So... Someone shot through here with a high powered rifle. You're lucky you weren't killed." she fingered a puncture at eye level.

Shepard's eyes narrowed for the umpteenth time, "Yeah... I'm Commander Shepard by the way. Since you hadn't asked yet." he said blandly.

"Oh I know that already. Who doesn't know the great Commander Shepard and gang?" Vasir said with a brief glance over her shoulder.

"It would appear no body, but your not here for me are you." Shepard said like he already knew.

Vasir shook her head, "No. I'm here to investigate what happened." she simply said.

"How did you find out about it so fast? No one here had called the cops yet." Kaidan said, shifting his posture to insure that he stayed between Lycan and Vasir.

"Why is that I wonder? It's obvious that this is a serious situation." Vasir said, finally turning to look at them with her back against the cracked windows.

"They were already on their way here by the time it was safe for us to get up." Shepard answered, slowly exhaling as he crossed his arms.

"Well... To answer your question, I was on my way to meet with her regarding some information she gave me. I heard the shots and hurried over. Figured I'd investigate." Vasir shrugged like it was no big deal.

"What information?" Shepard asked with a harshening of his glare.

"Spectre business." Vasir bluntly said as she started to pace the apartment again, this time looking at the various artifacts in their display cases.

"I am a Spectre." Shepard said.

"Not on my mission your not." Vasir winked and smirked.

"Well... There's nothing we can tell you. We were just talking and having some wine and catching up when the shots started." Kaidan said, taking a step back, lightly pushing Lycan with him until they stood next to Shepard and Ashley.

"There's got to be something you can tell me. Someone shot at you for a reason." Vasir scoffed, stopping to stare at the displayed backplate of Shepard's destroyed hardsuit.

"We have an idea who and why." Shepard grumbled, barely audible for the others to hear.

Vasir shot the lot a studying glance, seemingly to size up the men, but when her eyes met Lycan, they briefly narrowed, and it wasn't lost on Kaidan who's biotics began to subtly make themselves known.

Vasir huffed as she looked away, "So where's this leave us? Are you gonna help me find your missing friend?" she smiled, softening her tone.

Shepard was getting angrier by the second, "Why do you want us to find her?"

Vasir sighed, "She must've left something behind."

"What makes you say that?" Kaidan asked.

"This is her apartment, so whoever wants you all dead, it's collateral damage. They must be after Ms. T'Soni." Vasir said, scuffing her boot on the polished floor to leave behind a black line.

_Liar, _"What you want me to do?" Shepard asked, beating back his anger to play off that he was willing to help.

"Help me look around. She must've left some sort of clue behind for me. She knew I was coming." Vasir said, slowly sighing.

_Oh you lying sack of shit! _"Fine... Give us a minute ok?" Shepard asked, raising an eyebrow.

Vasir nodded as she picked up her lazy pace and headed for the door, stopping to lean against the wall next to Liara's giant painting of Ilos.

Once Vasir was safely out of earshot, Shepard and the crew turned into a mild huddle, leaning into each other so they could keep their voices low as those spoke.

"Can't I just shoot her now and get it over with?" Shepard asked like he was a child asking to open a Christmas present early.

"You'd save us a lot of misery if you did. She's a pain in your ass." Lycan whispered.

"My ass? I'm not gonna like this am I." Shepard sighed.

Lycan shook her head, "Not at all."

"Great. So what do we do? Do we help her?" Shepard asked, lightly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Have to. Play off like your looking around, but eventually, head to one of the prothean display cases and you'll get a data disc Liara left behind." Lycan said, even quieter in her whisper.

"Roger that. Don't tell me anything else. I've got things from here. Kaidan... Don't let little one out of your sight and Ashley... Don't let what's her face out of your sight. I don't want her taking another shot at us." Shepard ordered, his voice still a whisper.

"Shepard... If we're serious about doing this, I've gotta get Ly back to the ship and get them ready to get underway." Kaidan said, looking passed Shepard's shoulder to see Vasir happily studying the Ilos painting.

Shepard shook his head, "I'm overriding you on this one Kaidan. Stick around since Vasir is probably looking for any chance to gun us down so she can take Lycan. We're safer in a group."

"How can you override me? I outrank you." Kaidan popped an eyebrow and a smirk.

"I'm Commander fucking Shepard, that's why." Shepard jokingly snapped back.

"Shepard..." Kaidan tried to argue.

"Don't Shepard me Kaidan... This is what I'm thinking. We'll play Vasir's game until she makes her move. Then, when we head out to find the Shadow Broker, you and Lycan are gonna be on the _Normandy_ with me." Shepard said with a straight face.

"Shepard... What about my crew? I can't very well leave them behind." Kaidan said, slowly shaking his head.

"We'll work out the logistics when psycho bitch isn't looking to pop us off. Until the Shadow Broker is dealt with, you should strongly consider sticking with me until all this crazy is over." Shepard said, drawing in a long, long breath.

Sighing himself and hanging his hand, Kaidan lightly rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced at Lycan, searching her face for what to do. He had to admit that Shepard's plan was probably the best since none knew what was going to be coming their way. He shivered at the thought of getting caught off guard, so he'd be stupid not to agree to it.

"Alright Shepard. We'll stick with you. I'll find an opportunity to get the _Grimm_ ready to follow us." Kaidan said, releasing his held breath.

"That works. Keep sharp. Don't give Vasir the chance to make a move. She's mine." Shepard growled, standing up straight, ready to go up against another Spectre... Again.


	65. Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Not Another One

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: I know the updates are a bit slow right now, but thank you all for being patient. Love you and hope you enjoy! ^.^)_

Shepard had to admit. Lycan's plan of finding, disposing and then using the droves of the Shadow Broker's information to help her and Kaidan find that game was ingenious, but the process of getting there seemed to be out of this world.

Having examined the destruction himself while Kaidan, Lycan and Ashley subtly kept their eyes and ears on Vasir, Shepard found himself standing in the mezzanine that served as Liara's bedroom, looking at a picture of the original _Normandy. _Every suppressed feeling, every emotion that he had locked away was flooding straight to the surface.

He would never forget that day. The day he found out exactly what the vacuum of space does to a living soul. The choking sucking of his breath being ripped from his body, pulling his sternum into his spine like there was no flesh to say otherwise. He burned, he froze, and then there was nothing. Glorious and petrifying nothing.

Those were his nightmares, but now, now that his friends and the woman he loved strived to make him feel human, they were his nightmares of the past.

"That's the first _Normandy_ is it not?" Vasir asked, ripping Shepard from the tempest of his thoughts.

"Yeah... Had some good times on that boat. We all did." Shepard said quietly, never taking his eyes off the frame on the nightstand.

"I'm sure," she stared as the photo flickered and shifted the moment Shepard's hands touched it, "Where's that?"

Shepard's brows narrowed, "It looks like Ilos. Its a prothean planet that Liara wanted to spend some time on to study." he said lowly, turning the frame over to look at the back for just a second.

"Huh... That's strange." Vasir mumbled, her arms never having uncrossed since she had arrived.

"What is?" Shepard shot her a very short lived glance, having heard her.

"It changed when you touched it. Now why would it do that?" she asked, her lips adorning themselves with a soft, yet smug smirk.

Shepard shrugged, "I don't know," _wait... Yes I do! The prothean display case Lycan mentioned, _"Maybe she did leave something behind. Maybe she hid whatever it is with one of her prothean relics around here." he said, playing the part precisely as he needed to.

"Now we're talking. Take a gander. My bet is that if that holo reacted to your touch, then wherever she hid it will to." Vasir said with a slowly growing smile.

Shepard drew in a long breath as he studied her for a moment, feeling a slight buzz at the back of his neck, but he knew it wasn't him. He knew she was powerful, he just didn't know how powerful and he very much didn't like that.

Setting the frame down exactly how it had been, he turned and headed down the stairs. He stopped at the painting of Ilos, lightly running a hand over its frame, but he knew that that wasn't where the supposed data disc was hiding. He walked the apartment, just like Lycan had suggested until his own eyes caught the case housing the backplate of his former hardsuit.

However, his eyes didn't stay on it long, as he had spend enough time sunk into depression over it, and decided it was time to get a move one.

He stepped up to a large display case nearest the kitchen and studied it, admiring the remarkable piece of prothean art nestled inside. It was a bust of the strange statues that they had determined to be prothean, but in his opinion, they looked surprisingly human. Their faces were obscured by cable like structures, plunging deep into their eyes and mouth, and their bodies were sickly thin, contorted by more supposed cabling and completely frozen in nightmare.

Sighing, Shepard lightly placed his hands on the glass, spurring the case to flash before a completely hidden, small sliding drawer revealed itself and hissed open.

"And here we go." Shepard mumbled, flashing the trio next to him a quick glance before removing the data disc from its cradle.

"Did you find something Shepard?" Vasir asked from the top of the stairs, having a clear view of the display case he was standing in front of.

Shepard rolled out his neck, "Yeah... Looks like a data disc." he looked up at her, turning the disc over in his hands.

Vasir smiled, "Good. Let's see what we've got shall we?" she suggested as she descended the stairs.

Hesitant, Shepard clutched the data disc, not wanting to simply hand it over to her so instead, he motioned for her to follow with a jerk of his head towards the office alcove, upon which the whole group followed. He tapped Liara's terminal to life, slipping the data disc into the provided slot and commanded whatever was on it to play.

The linked array of holoscreens flickered to life, showing an armored salarian.

_"Ms. T'Soni... I've got information for you, but I can't give it to you over a comm. Can you meet me at the Baria Frontiers office in the Dracon Trade Center?" _

It was very apparent that the data disc held a recorded conversation.

_"Yes I can. Are you already on Illium?" _it was Liara's voice.

_"No, but I'm in transit. I'll be arriving tomorrow around five in the early evening."_

_ "Understood... I'll meet you there. T'Soni out." _

The whole of the array flickered dark.

"Well... It looks like we're headed to the Dracon Trade Center. I'm a little shocked she's meeting with him." Vasir said, slowly shaking her head.

Shepard's brow lightly furrowed, "Why? Isn't he a contact of hers?"

"Not at all. He's a known agent for the Shadow Broker," Vasir said, glancing at the small human standing next to the dark haired male when she scoffed, "Something wrong?" she was looking right at Lycan.

Lycan bit her tongue, "No. Just clearing my throat." she said with absolutely zero emotion.

However, Kaidan caught the slightest narrowing of Vasir's eyes, beginning to stoke his anger and budding hatred for the woman.

"Hmm," was all Vasir said as she looked back at Shepard, "Well, we should be going Commander. No telling what this person would do should they get... her alone."

Shepard's throat thundered lowly, "We wouldn't want that. Lets go." he was on high alert.

Putting Vasir in front, Shepard walked behind her as Kaidan, Lycan and Ashley walked behind him, keeping Lycan the furthest away from the asari as possible without causing suspicion that they knew what her true agenda was. They left the apartment, allowing the local authorities whom had stuck around back in to conduct whatever investigation they deemed fit and frankly, Shepard couldn't have cared less.

Getting outside, Vasir led them to an already awaiting car and opened it up, slipping into the driver's seat and letting the others fend for themselves with what was left. Thankfully, Lycan was just small enough to cram in the middle, in the back, between Ashley and Kaidan.

Feeling the tension inside the car as it lifted off, Lycan stayed silent and opted, to help make her feel better. She glared angrily at the crested back of Vasir's head. She knew damn well what was going to happen once they arrived at the Dracon Trade center, and it killed her knowing it. The whole situation was going to be different from what she knew, as not only was she now along for the ride, with Kaidan and Ashley, they were at a vast disadvantage. There was no armor, no weapons and the only defensive and offensive abilities they had, were Shepard's, Kaidan's and Liara's biotics. At this point, that's what they had, and it was going to have to do.

Seeing the bright and lighted sign of the approaching trade center, Lycan's stomach started to flip, knowing what was to come next. She knew no one she cared deeply about was going to be hurt, she hoped they wouldn't be hurt, but her infallible empathy wouldn't let her forget those who would be.

Vasir slowed and lowered the car, gently setting it down a ways away from the trading center's main entrance and unsealed the doors to let everyone out.

"If I remember right, the Baria Frontiers office is..." Vasir started, but this time, the interruption was on a far grander scale.

Blowing the whole group back against the car, the whole upper floor of the Dracon Trade Center exploded into a raging, deafening fireball, spraying everyone below with glass and debris. The noise was ear splitting, drowning out the screams of the terrified patrons caught in the blast that had bled down the trade center to billow out of the main entrance like the breath of a fire breathing dragon.

Groaning loudly and holding his ear, Shepard rolled to his stomach, having landed on his back with a painful, heavy thud.

"Son of a bitch! Is everyone alright!" Shepard yelled, having to in order to hear himself over the ringing in his ears.

Kaidan growled from the now thumping ache in the back of his head, "I'm fine... Ly? Are you ok?" he asked, racking his ear back and forth to work the ringing from it.

Lycan nodded with a hand tightly plastered to one of her own ears, "I think so." she said, her voice a bit shaky, but she was getting used to the violence in person, which she wasn't sure was a good thing.

Shepard shook his head as he crawled to Ashley, leaning against the car, "Ash? Baby are you ok?" he asked, far quieter then he had as he gently grasped both sides of her neck.

"I'm fine Skipper. Just rattled, but I'm alright." Ashley reassured, nodding as she softly placed her hands over his.

"I'm fine by the way Shepard. Thanks for asking." Vasir grumbled as she got to her feet.

Shepard shot her a glare, "Figured you were fine. Spectres have a way of surviving a hell of a lot." he stood, helping Ashley in the process.

"Which you have proven a couple times over already." Vasir shot back, pulling herself to her feet, being the last to do so.

Standing up straight, Shepard and the gang looked up, seeing the massive flames still billowing from the blown out windows that dully roared like distant thunder. They let their gazes drift down the ravaged building to see the devastation below, the people having collapsed out of terror and injury, complete with flowing blood.

"Jesus Christ Shepard..." Kaidan breathed, insuring Lycan was close by his side by pulling her into his side.

"Who the fuck do these people think they are?" Shepard asked out loud, glancing at Vasir who had an angry sneer across her face.

"Have any idea who's after you? Someone is trying desperately hard to kill you all." Vasir said, harsher then she needed to.

Shepard was getting close to having had enough of the charade, "How 'bout this... We just concentrate on finding and stopping them before they blow up anymore trade centers." he snapped, his blue eyes angry and reflecting the orange glow of the newborn fires.

"You know Shepard, you're really starting to become more trouble then you're worth." Vasir hissed, turning fully to face the taller human male.

"I do that sometimes. Last time I was with another Spectre, he tried to kill me and the entire fucking galaxy while he was at it, so forgive me if I'm a bit apprehensive." Shepard snarled with his eyes narrowed.

For a brief moment, Vasir bared her teeth, "You're awfully lucid with this whole situation Shepard. You know more then you're letting on!"

"And that would mean I'm a better Spectre then you! Now get your ass, up to the roof and keep anyone from raining down on us!" Shepard howled, thrusting a finger into Vasir's face.

Growling, Shepard and Vasir locked in a staring contest, both sets of fist clenched, but Shepard allowed himself to become rapped in a threatening mist that wasted no time in arcing small lightning bolts into Vasir's armor.

"Your biotics aren't enough to take me." Vasir hissed, her own biotics spiking, flashing from Shepard's charges of electricity.

"You'd be surprised what I've got up my sleeves lady." Shepard growled right back, his face angry and ready to defend should Vasir make the first move.

"Fine. I'll go up, but you better produce results." Vasir threatened as she stormed off.

Shepard instantly relaxed his face as Vasir walked away, roughly getting into her car and took off, leaving the group grounded in front of the blazing trade center.

"Shepard..." Kaidan tried, watching the car maneuver up to the roof.

"We don't have the time to debate this Kaidan. We've gotta move." Shepard urged as he started towards the blaze.

"We don't even have any guns Shepard!" Kaidan yelled, looking at the injured as they passed by and only finding some comfort in the distant wails of sirens that he knew was on their way to the trade center.

"We've got biotics, which is enough to get us armed at least. We've got to get to the Baria Frontiers office before Vasir does, so lets go!" Shepard said, holding his arms in front of his face for protection as he charged through the flames.

Inside the wrecked complex, the lobby had been decimated. Furniture had been blown from their place, plants burned, screens flickered on and off as they fought to function. The sprinklers overhead spewed a rainstorm of water down on top of them, soaking their clothes in a mere instant and emergency alarms screamed over the roar of flames.

"Jesus... How many explosives did they use on this place Skipper?" Ashley asked, watching their six like a hawk for anyone, or anything, that planned on sneaking up on them.

"Not the one you should be asking." Shepard said, not even looking at her as he slowly, carefully stepped forward towards the stairs, wiping away a thick drip of water from his face.

"Hey... All I know is stuff blows up." Lycan said, shrugging as she swept the room, looking around just like Ashley was doing.

"That's not comforting." Ashley mumbled, just as a flicker of white caught her eye.

Having saw it himself, Shepard wheeled and slid in behind a fallen column to just as quickly be joined by the others. They hid there, heads down and listened, sneaking peeks at the large contingent of the Shadow Broker's men as they looked for their targets.

"That's a lot of guns for us to take on with just biotics." Shepard said in a loud whisper, taking another look at the men with guns raised to see where they stood.

"I could erupt again, but I can't guarantee it won't be bad for _our_ health." Kaidan said in the same tone, having pulled Lycan into him to protect her should they be spotted.

"No thanks. I remember the last time you erupted on me. Damn near ripped my head off you bastard." Shepard smirked.

"Yeah well... You deserved it." Kaidan returned the cocky smirk.

Shepard's lips lightly pursed together, "Says you... Alright. How you wanna play this?" he asked, ducking his head a bit to make sure it wasn't sticking up to be shot.

"Anything goes is really the only thing I can think of Shepard." Kaidan said, glancing at Lycan to give her a gentle smile in reassurance.

"It's gonna have to do. Tear 'em apart big man." Shepard said with a nervous twitch of his head as he cracked his knuckles.

"Ash... Keep her safe ok?" Kaidan sighed, lightly squeezing Lycan's hand as he smiled at her once more.

"I will LT." Ashley nodded.

Both men drew in long breaths, their bodies flaring with a contained flash as they stood, wrapped in strong barriers and got the squadron's attention.

"Hey fuckasses! Looking for us?" Shepard called out with a smirk, his skin shimmering with blue and white.

The group of mercs immediately responded to the calling, looking at them with aimed weapons, but they didn't start shooting, which was what Shepard and Kaidan weren't expecting.

Using the stall to their advantage, Shepard barked his biotics and sent two mercs flying back, slamming them into a cracked and mangled pillar that was barely heard over the rumble of flames.

With the game afoot, the mercs started to fire, each round bouncing off of the biotic barriers with tiny flashes of light, but unfortunately for the mercs, that's all they were doing.

With a powerful swing of his arm, Kaidan threw another merc as he moved in behind a still standing pillar, unaware that he had thrown the merc into a blaze of flames that consumed him without even a scream.

The herd thinned, Shepard went to thin it some more, charging into one merc to send him to the ground before tossing aside another, causing her to toss her loaded rocket launcher into an open flame.

"Shepard! Try not to throw the rockets into open flames!" Kaidan barked as he spun, smashing his heel into the face of one merc before flaring his biotics, lifting another into the air to slam him to the ground with a deafening crack.

"Wasn't trying to!" Shepard growled, smashing a fist into the unmasked face of one merc who tried to sneak up on him, "It's not like it's gonna explode anyways!" another swing, and the merc went down, giving Shepard an opening to get into some cover and take a breather.

"Knowing your luck, you'll get the one rocket that does!" Kaidan fired back, raising in arm to lift another merc, giving him the perfect opportunity to use said merc as a weapon.

Stifling a low chuckle, Shepard sucked in another breath, biotics aglow with activity as he took out two more, tossing them aside like limp rag dolls and casting the ruined lobby back into the dull rumble of the bordering flames.

Spent, both Shepard and Kaidan finally let their barriers fade, dropping to their knees in the process from the exhaustion of having to maintain them for so long. Their bodies screamed from the strain, every nerve feeling as if they were being sucked on by an icy fire and it took several moments for them to bring their heartbeats back down out of the clouds.

"Kaidan!" Lycan yelped, rushing to his side to place her hands on the sides of his neck, forcing him to look at her.

"I'm alright hun... Just not conditioned to keep my barrier up that long." Kaidan said, his voice airy and raspier then normal.

Shepard tiredly grinned as he sat on his heels, taking in deep breaths, "Why don't you ever run to me like that Ash?" he joked.

"Because I was getting a gun." she grinned wide, holding up her newly procured assault rifle from one of the many downed mercs.

"Fair enough. Where's mine?" Shepard asked, sucking in another breath as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Take your pick Skipper. It's an open market," she slammed in a fresh thermal clip and smiled.

Shepard winked at her with a soft grin as he swooped down and picked up a pistol, raiding the mercs belt for extra thermal clips and stuffed them into the his cargo pockets.

Having stood under his own power, Kaidan proceeded to do the same, picking up a discarded weapon and searched a few of the mercs for not just thermal clips, but perhaps, if he was lucky, an energy bar. He was lucky.

"Here." Kaidan said, holding his hand out with a bar in it for Shepard to take, upon which he did.

"Thanks," he wasted no time tearing into the snack, "That other explosion looked like it was on the third floor and I bet the elevator's out." Shepard said through his mouthful as he started for the stairs, dodging and ducking away from flames.

"Good thing we didn't make a bet then." Lycan said flatly, swooping down and picking up a sidearm as she followed Shepard and Kaidan, with Ashley behind her.

Kaidan chuckled, as they reached the stairs, having to suck themselves against the far right wall to avoid the licking flames from a bursted rupture. They clawed at the group as they shimmied passed, climbing the stairs until they reached the second level, still being rained on by the overhead sprinklers.

The group slowed their progress, searching, waiting for another group of white clad mercs to show. Shepard didn't need anyone to tell him that there would be more. He knew there would be more. There was always more and sure enough, gleaming through the constant and unnatural rain, more of the Shadow Broker's men came rushing in.

However, this time, Shepard and his team were far more well armed, making that little fact blatantly apparent when they opened fire, taking out the front ranks while they were at it.

The rest of the mercs dashed to the nearest cover, either being intact walls, or large chunks of downed debris as they fired back wildly, not hitting anything they were hoping to hit. All their rounds did was slam into what solid walls remained, far away from the ones they wanted dead, and the one they wanted alive.

Ducking down behind the remnants of a cluster of office cubicles, Shepard and his new point man, actually woman, Ashley, worked to move forward, leaving Kaidan to stay with Lycan and keep her safe should anyone try to come up behind them. They seemed to just know what each other was thinking. Where one would shoot, the other would cover the opposite side, keeping each other safe while thinning the number of mercs all at the same time. When Shepard would drop to a knee, firing and tossing enemies with biotics, Ashley would shoot over his shoulder to take out whatever he hadn't touched yet.

"Jesus... Look at those two." Lycan breathed, slowly smiling as she watched the pair ravage their battlefield like they had practiced the encounter before hand.

"I'm pretty sure we could do that if you were more battle hardened." Kaidan said, taking periodic glances at the pair while he continued to be on high alert, watching and expecting something to come their way.

"We keep going at this rate and I will be." Lycan joked, cracking a slightly wider smile when Shepard whipped around to grab a merc by the throat whom had attempted to sneak up on Ashley.

Kaidan's brows pulled together, but ultimately smiled because she was right. If they kept having multiple encounters a day, or they didn't stop the Shadow Broker soon, then Lycan would go from the sweet, innocent and caring young thing whom had shared his bed for two years, to a hardened, emotionally deadened rock. He admitted he much preferred the former.

Hearing the thunk of a boot against debris behind him, Kaidan spun, seeing a merc that had crawled along the floor, managing to avoid being seen by the destructive force finishing off what was left of his comrades.

Before the merc could even react, before he had a moment to comprehend what he was doing, Kaidan's body flared bright enough to make Lycan squint as he threw the merc aside to slam him hard into the divider of a cubicle. The wreckage tumbled from the impacted, several bits and pieces landing on top of the unfortunate merc which also caused him to lose track of his weapon, but before he could get his wits back, the furious biotic was on him.

With a tightly closed fist, Kaidan slammed it down, burying it into the mercs helmet with unrelenting force that shattered the glass visor. Each punch crumbled the metal more and more until every solid, biotically enhanced hit was crushing the metal into what had to be a mess inside.

After a moment, maybe three or four hits by his count, Kaidan looked over his shoulder when someone placed their hand there, lightly squeezing to make make sure his attention was grabbed. He saw Lycan, her face neutral, which on all accounts, he didn't very much like considering the beating he had just dished out.

"Ly..." Kaidan breathed, feeling his chest tighten with dread that she had seen what he had done, but he was silenced by her fingers lightly touching his soaked lips.

"Don't even dare... I know why you pummeled him, and I sure hope you'd do it again." she said, her lips pulling into a soft, reassuring smile that beat back his dread.

Kaidan sucked in a long breath as he let the merc lay still, "In a heartbeat I would," he rest his palm against her cheek, "You're getting too used to this." he lightly frowned.

"Baby... I'd give you a proverb about how this is war and people change, but I think right now is better spent foiling the dastardly plans of a psycho with his own army." she said, looking up at the pair that had finished clearing the second story of determined mercs.

Kaidan grinned at her as he stood, grasping her hand from his shoulder to bring her along, "Fine, but I want that proverb once we're safe." he joked, brushing his knuckle against the tip of her nose.

"Deal... Now can we continue with the splendid ass kicking before Shepard gets tossed out a window?" Lycan asked, trying moderately to keep herself from smirking too widely.

"Huh? What window? I get tossed out a window? Why didn't you tell me I get tossed out a window, because that's something that's actually one of those needs to knows, you know?" Shepard rattled off, arcing a brow as high as it would go before they furrowed instead.

"Timeline." Lycan deadpanned, as she wiped her palms on her pants from not just her body heat, but the heat wave rising all around them from the fueled fires.

Shepard nodded, "Oh... Right. Got it," he racked his pistol, "Anyways, we're just below the third floor. Hopefully, we don't run into much else." he said, looking down what remained of the offices, towards the stairs.

Lycan's throat rumbled with a barely contained laugh, "Uh huh... When has that ever happened?" she joked as her and Kaidan followed them towards the stairs.

The group slowly, with backs pressed against the bits of wall that weren't engulfed in flames, climbed the stairs, weapons aimed at the floor, but ready to spring into action. At the top, they stared at a sealed door, having been scared by the explosions, but luckily, it still worked, having opened when Shepard had gotten close to it.

On the other side, the third floor was wide open and relatively still intact considering the size of the explosion they had seen. There were black smudges smeared across the walls, small fires contained mainly to the upper level and bullet holes were scattered... Bullet holes?

Shepard's brows pulled together as he stepped up to a wall, placing a finger over a hole left by what had to be from a large, powerful rifle.

"Weapons fire? Why is there weapons fire?" Shepard asked just above a whisper, studying more of the holes that painted across the wall's surface.

Kaidan followed the trail of holes, finding that they led to something far more fleshy, "Shepard... The mercs gunned down innocent people. Why the hell would they do that?" he breathed, kneeling down in front of the dead man whose head slumped against his shoulders, eyes open.

"If they're after Lycan, why would they murder innocent people?" Ashley asked, scanning the common lobby for any movement that wasn't fire.

Kaidan brushed his hand over the dead man's face, closing his clouded eyes, "Maybe to draw us out? Get us to expose ourselves so they could pick us off?" he suggested, rising to his feet.

"It's a different ball game this time around Kaidan. Before, Vasir was after the data disc and Liara, but now... It's all different." Lycan said, sucking on her bottom lip with a soft, nervous flip of her stomach.

"Liara's just a hurdle to get to you at this point, but I don't know why she took off like she did." Shepard said, stepping up next to Ashley, but still on high alert as he looked around.

Lycan shrugged, "She said she'd take care of Vasir, but in all honesty, I don't know what she planned on doing if Vasir was just gonna waltz into her apartment anyways." she slowly shook her head.

"Liara's gotta have something planned, so we'll just have to keep pushing forward until we find her." Shepard said, slowly sighing as he glanced his weapon over.

_That'll be soon. _Lycan thought as she just nodded, following as they all headed towards the central staircase, but once they reached the top, Shepard stopped, staring at the slumped a lifeless body of a woman whom had been shot in the back in front of the ATM.

The others watched as Shepard examined the poor woman for a moment, seeing that she had been gunned down just as she was beginning her transaction, so her credit chit was pinned beneath her. He stuffed his pistol into a cargo pocket before he gingerly grasped the woman, pulling her up and off the ATM and gently, softly set her down on the floor before he closed her eyes with a gentle swipe of his hand. They smiled at the care he took for the wrongfully departed, but it's what he did next that shocked them to no end.

Once the woman had been laid down, he snagged her credit chit and opened up his Omni-Tool, beginning to work the ATM like the woman had been planning on doing before she was blatantly murdered.

"Shepard! What are you doing?" Kaidan yelped, shocked as he witnessed his friend rob the woman of the credits in her account.

"She isn't gonna use 'em." Shepard shrugged, accepting the credit transfer to his established accounts.

"You're robbing the poor woman! How do you know she doesn't have a family that could use the money!" Kaidan blurted out, his caramel eyes narrowing into a furrowed sneer.

"It says she's not married man. I'm gonna need the credits to finance the upgrades I wanna get for the _Normandy._" Shepard argued, finishing with the ATM as he folded the chit and tucked it into the woman's pocket, safely out of view.

Lycan pinched the bridge of her nose, "Good idea, but really bud? You're taking her credits." she groaned, crossing her arms.

Shepard sighed as he reached into his pocket and pulled a coin, etched with a blue wing, and a red chevroned star, "Flip for it?" he arced a brow and waited for Kaidan to make up his mind.

This was exactly the situation they had had the coins made for. Whenever they couldn't decide, they flipped for it and it always worked. They left the tough decision up to Fate as it were.

"Fine. Blue, you put it all back. Red, you get the credits." Kaidan said, his throat rumbling with an airy groan.

"Deal." Shepard smiled as he tossed the coin up into the air.

They all watched the coin spin haplessly in the air, rising above all their heads to hover for the tiniest of moments before coming back down, landing in Shepard's hand that immediately wrapped around it. With a snap of his wrist, he slapped his palm against the back of his hand, pinning the coin between it and let the suspense hang in the air.

"Oh just move your hand Skipper!" Ashley playfully growled as she slapped his bicep, spurring him to move his hand per her request.

To Shepard's delight, the red star stared back at them.

"Ha! I get the credits." Shepard smiled with a big toothy grin as Kaidan pinched the bridge of his nose.

"One of these days, I'm gonna tell Fate to fuck off." Kaidan groaned, annoyed at his friend for his smugness.

"Might wanna tell her brother Chance off too while you're at it. He doesn't like you either." Shepard smirked, still about winning the toss.

Kaidan's brow's furrowed harder, "Shepard..." he rolled his eyes.

"Alright... Alright... Will this make you feel better?" Shepard asked, reaching into his cargo pocket again to pull two more of the 'moral' coins.

"Do you just carry those around with you Skipper?" Ashley asked, popping her eyebrow again as Shepard knelt next to the dead woman.

Shepard shrugged, "Helps me remember what I fight for," he said lowly as he placed the coins on the woman's face, one over each eye, "A gift for such a little while. Your loss just seems so wrong. You should not have left before us. It's with loved ones you belong." he whispered and crossed his chest.

"What was that?" Lycan asked, finding that her throat had begun to tighten at what she just witness.

"I said it over my family's grave when Father Nikolai bought their headstone." Shepard said, still looking at the woman laid neatly on the floor.

"Where'd you get it Skipper?" Ashley asked softly, lightly rubbing his back.

Shepard shrugged, "Found it... I was just a kid, but... it didn't feel right to just stand there with my hands in my pockets." he said, drawing in a long breath that filled his broad chest.

"It's fitting." Kaidan said, wrapping an arm around Lycan's waist.

"Yeah... To date, I've said it too many times." Shepard sighed as he lightly gnawed on the inside of his lip.

"You've said it more then once?" Kaidan asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"Once is more then enough," Shepard motioned with his head towards the far office door, labeled with the flickering neon of Baria Frontiers, "Come on. Lets get this over with."

With one last look at the woman, they stepped passed her and headed for the Baria Frontiers office. They had to force the doors open from some weapons fire that it had sustained, but once they hissed open, they stepped into the vastly roughed up entry lobby.

Seeing a terminal still clinging to life, Kaidan went for it, rapidly bringing up the logbook to read a name he was happy, but also worried to see.

"Liara signed in five minutes before the explosion," Kaidan looked up, "You think she's alive?" he felt a tightening in his chest at the thought.

Shepard shook his head, "I don't know..." he started, only to hear a muffled bang through the opposite door, "What was that?" his blue eyes started to widen.

Hurrying, all four rushed to the door, having to force that one open as well in their hurry to get to the other side. They rushed, worried and frantic that their missing friend had been hurt, or that they might have already been too late, which they refused to think about.

Rushing through, the only thing they could do was skid to a halt, looking on in mild shock at the slumped, bloodied and lifeless body of a familiar looking salarian. He'd been shot, point blank in the chest with a shotgun and the only reason they knew this, was that said weapon was laying on the floor against another dead merc, whom had been shot in the back of the head by someone wearing blue.

"Vasir? What the hell are you doing here?" Shepard asked, his brows pulling together hard.

"Taking care of your business. It's too bad I couldn't get here in time to stop him." Vasir said, tapping her pistol against her armored thigh.

Lycan's throat started to tremble, "Yeah... I'm sure you hurried." she tried to mumble, but it came out just loud enough for the asari to hear.

"You're a spritely one aren't you. Are you always like this towards Spectres?" Vasir snapped, shooting the group an annoyed grimace.

"Only to the ones she isn't too fond of." Shepard answered for her, slightly raising his arm to keep Lycan from snapping back, her desire to do so clearly written on her face from a moderately curled lip.

"Now why is she not fond of me? All I'm trying to do is help." Vasir cooed, grasping the wrist of her hand holding her gun and letting her arms dangle in front of her.

"You have a skewed definition of help Vasir!" came an angered voice from behind the asari.

Vasir visibly stiffened as she looked over her shoulder, seeing an armed and angry Liara, standing behind her with her pistol very much pointed at the back of her head.

"Ms. T'Soni... Thank the Goddess you're alright." Vasir growled through clenched teeth, not at all meaning what was coming out of her mouth.

"You can drop the act Vasir. I know it was you who attacked us in my apartment." Liara said, her aim never faltering from Vasir's head.

Vasir turned fully around, "Did the little dove tell you?" she said, her tone low and menacing.

"She let that one slip." Shepard said, raising his pistol to aim it at Vasir too.

"Figures she'd know. Do you know how hard it is to sneak up on someone when they know every move? The Shadow Broker's paying me a lot of credits to get her, so you, Shepard, or her handsome little _crest rubber_ aren't gonna stand in my may!" Vasir hollered angrily, her eyes narrowing as her body began to become wispy with biotic radiance.

With a snap of her fingers, the room filled with the clicks of racking weapons as a squadron of mercs, at least a dozen by Shepard's count, came storming through a door just to the right of the dead salarian. They surrounded Shepard and his crew, weapons aimed while some of them forcefully yanked their weapons from their hands and tossed them aside, leaving the five unarmed and vastly outnumbered.

Vasir smirked as she aimed her pistol at Liara, "So this is how it's gonna play out Shepard. You're gonna hand her over, or all of you are gonna get shot."

Shepard's and Kaidan's bodies began to radiate with building rage.

"You won't make it out of this building alive." Kaidan hissed, his jaw squared and tensed to the point of pain.

"I beg to differ _crest rubber_! I have the guns." Vasir's smirk was growing by the second.

"You don't stand a chance between three biotics... One of which has a handle on his biotic rage." Shepard said flatly with tightly clenched fists.

Vasir tilted her head in appreciation, "Oh really? Has your little _crest rubber_ mastered his power?" she looked right into Lycan's angry eyes.

"Keep aiming these guns and find out." Lycan spat, crossing her arms and keeping her face deathly blank.

"Ooo... You're feistier then I thought. I do hope you'll curb that tongue in front of the Shadow Broker." Vasir said, her throat lowly rumbling with a laugh.

Kaidan's top lip peeled back slightly from his teeth, "She isn't going anywhere." his teeth were clenched.

"I beg to differ _crest rubber. _This is your last chance. Hand her over, or my men get to play." Vasir demanded.

"I prefer to play." Shepard said with a flare.

Before the mercs could react, Shepard launched forward with his fist pulled back, primed for a biotically charged punch meant for Vasir's face. The full force of his body mass plowed into the asari Spectre, sending her backwards with enough force to make them both tumble to the floor in a biotic fit, both clawing for purchase to harm the other any way they could.

As Shepard fought with Vasir, Kaidan, Liara and Ashley took the distraction to spring into action. They managed to blitz the mercs and take out half with a flurry of biotic throws, pushes and for Ashley's part, she robbed an unsuspecting merc of his weapon and used it as a bat, before she turned it on the ones still standing.

However, everyone was too occupied to notice that Vasir and Shepard were coming dangerously close to the large, panoramic window.

With a deafening crash, the battling biotics shattered the glass, sending it twinkling down to the common lobby below in a downpour. They flipped and flared, still throwing punches, but feeling that ever disturbing sensation of falling, Shepard snapped out of his stupor of wanting to hurt the asari.

As they fell, Shepard attempted to put Vasir beneath him, wanting to use her as a way to break the near two story fall, but she wasn't an idiot, as she caught on. She flared brightly, slowing their descent enough to give her time to flip them, putting Shepard ground first and planted her feet into his chest to push off.

The act sent Shepard falling full force from a story up, landing back first on the hard floor where his breath flew out in a rush, leaving him with nothing in his lungs. The feeling of no air in his lungs rushed every memory of suffocating in space back to the front of his mind. He clutched his throat, clawing, scratching, but in his haze, the blue and white streak that landed next to him gave him enough of a ground to know he wasn't drowning again.

Slamming his eyes shut, still desperately trying to suck in air, Shepard rolled to his hands and knees, coughing and gagging in his plight to get his body on some air.

"Skipper!" a frantic and worried, but hazy voice called, drawing his blurry vision and attention away from the floor to see Ashley sprinting towards him.

"H-How..." cough, "d-did you get..." more coughing, "down here so fast?" he coughed, but he managed to suck in a short, shaky and stuttering breath afterwards.

"Mercs didn't last long, but we heard the crash and saw you go through. Looks like Liara went after Vasir." Kaidan said, his breathing coming in and out just a bit faster as he rushed towards him, grasping Lycan's hand to tug her along.

Shepard coughed again as he just let Ashley rub his back, "W-We've gotta... hurry." he choked a bit on his own tongue, but eventually, his breath started to come back to him.

"Yeah we do. Vasir's got that data disc with the Shadow Broker's exact location on it." Lycan said, helping Ashley to get Shepard to his feet.

"It has his location?" Kaidan asked, taking a minute to check Shepard's pulse.

Lycan shrugged, "I don't know. It might as well considering how hard we're about to fight for it." she said, her tone obviously agitated.

Shepard cleared his throat, "Makes sense. Come on... We've got some ground to make up." he said, his voice a bit gravelly from his airless coughing as he took the pistol Ashley handed him.

Almost like they had been waiting for that moment to spring, another contingent of mercs began to filter in from alcoves, doorways and nooks, all with weapons ready.

Being faced with certain injury, or death, again, Shepard's body flared again as he aimed and pulled the trigger with Ashley's steady hand following suit.

Taking the moment the mercs' attention was glued to Shepard and Ashley, Kaidan grabbed Lycan and dragged her behind cover, his own biotics radiating and ready to wrap them both in a barrier should he need to.

"Go help them Kaidan. I'll be fine here." Lycan said as she handed him her pistol, giving him two to wield.

"Are you sure?" Kaidan asked, his bourbon colored eyes, glowing with a shimmering blue fire, searched hers for reassurance.

"Yes... I'm not totally defenseless now Kai." she lightly smiled and gripped his forearm.

Nodding, Kaidan engulfed himself in a water shimmering barrier as he leapt out from behind the large planter box and started firing. Between him, Shepard and Ashley, the mercs, that seemed to underestimate their true prowess since their numbers were never larger then a dozen or so, fell to them in droves. Between biotic pulls, throws and even strong warps, no merc had shields, or armor strong enough to withstand them, some even simply giving up and laying down to play dead out of fear of being churned into a smoothy.

Once the last undertrained merc was removed from the turmoil, Shepard and Ashley, taking point, led them through the door to rush back down to the ground floor of the burning trade center. They dodged licking fingers of flame, got doused with the raining water from the sprinklers again, but their descent was quick, and without more encounters which they weren't going to complain about.

However, when they rounded the corner to rush out of the burning building, they caught sight of Vasir being chased by Liara, both brightly flared in their hasty pursuit.

"Stop right the fuck there Vasir!" Shepard bellowed, lightly clearing his throat from the remnants of his struggled coughing.

Vasir stopped, skidding to a halt, but she didn't turn around, "I was hoping that landing would've taken you out of the picture Shepard!" she called back over her shoulder, one hand clenched into a fist while the other tightly gripped her weapon.

"Then you shouldn't've slowed our fall!" Shepard snapped, pointing his pistol at Vasir's back.

"I couldn't very well get hurt, so it was a necessary risk!" Vasir barked, turning around to look at the group with guns pointed at her head.

The space between Shepard's brows crinkled, "You've got nowhere to go Vasir! You're done, so hand us that disc and I might consider letting you walk away!" he demanded, huffing a strong blow of air out of his nostrils.

Vasir started laughing, which Shepard and his crew very much didn't like, "Oh how so wrong you are Shepard! You seem to forget whom you're dealing with!" her voice boomed around the burning courtyard.

"I'm dealing with yet another fucking rogue Spectre! Seriously! What's wrong with you people!" Shepard growled, pursing his lips together hard from growing irritation.

"Enough of this nonsense! Hand her over, or suffer my wrath!" Vasir snarled, tucking her pistol into its holster to clench both her fists tightly.

Shepard scoffed, "You don't stand a chance against all of us!" his eyes narrowed.

Vasir started laughing again, "I beg to differ!"

"Why's that!" Shepard quickly hollered back.

"Because the little dove's _crest rubber _isn't the only one whose mastered their rage!"

Erupting into a growing, raging and expanding field of biotic power, Vasir raised her arms over her head, clawing her hands into angry paws that radiated with the continuing to grow power. Powerless and stationary cars rattled against the ground before they began to lift into the air, surrounded by the field before said field threw them away like trash to be burned.

With an angry snarl ripping threw her throat, Vasir threw her arms forward, commanding the field to race towards Shepard and his group at a frightening speed.

Wrapping his arms around Lycan, Kaidan grabbed her and held her against him, turning so his back was facing the tidal wave of biotic power. He held her like she would float away if he didn't, like if she were left to stand on her own, she would vanish into nothingness, leaving him alone, but no amount of physical strength he possessed could overpower the biotic wave that hit them.

Kaidan's grip on Lycan didn't stand a chance against the unyielding field, feeling as if his insides had been beaten out of him as they were all thrown to the ground like they were lifeless. His lungs, heart, ribs, spine, everything inside his chest screamed in pain as he tried gasping and choking, simply to breath in air, but feeling Lycan being forcefully ripped from his arms, all he could do was weakly flail for her.

"L-Ly... L-Ly..." Kaidan wheezed as his starry vision trained on Vasir, seeing her hoisting his love from the ground to throw her over her shoulder like a bundle of wheat.

He groaned as he tried to roll onto his side, rubbing his eyes in hopes of clearing his vision. He looked at Vasir once more, seeing that Lycan, somehow, wasn't harmed from the wave, and was kicking, screaming and slamming her fists into Vasir's back, trying to wiggle free, but the armor was making her hits useless.

Kaidan coughed, "L-Ly!" he called, his voice scratchy and strained as he pulled himself to his hands and knees.

His hearing finally kicked in.

"Kaidan!" it was Lycan's voice, "Let me go, or I swear to the air you're breathing I will make your life a living Hell!" she screamed into Vasir's ear.

Kaidan managed to get his feet back underneath him, "S-Shepard... W-We have to," he coughed, "go." he coughed again, seeing a splattering of blood pepper the floor.

"I... know." Shepard wheezed, having had had enough of not being able to breathe.

Ashley looked up, coughing herself to see Vasir throw Lycan into her car and get in, "S-Skipper... We've gotta catch her." another gut tightening cough.

Kaidan looked up, following Ashley's line of sight to see Lycan's silhouette, still kicking and screaming. Seeing her, fighting for freedom, screaming and shouting as loud as could for him, fueled his desperation to fight passed the painful stun. His heart ached, not from the biotic wave, but from his frantic need to get to his feet and run to her, willing to do what needed to be done to get her back.

"Ly! Ly hold on!" Kaidan called after her, forcing his voice passed the pain and tightness in his throat as he rose to his feet.

Sadly however, she hadn't heard him call after her as the doors sealed on the car, imprisoning her inside.

His biotics glowing with near instant rage, Kaidan raised his pistol, holding his breath to stay a cough as he took aim, finding that his finger wouldn't pull out of fear of hitting Lycan. The very thought of it churned his stomach, making his throat roll with a pending lurch that would empty his stomach of the wine he had had just a short while ago. He wanted to be sick for thinking it, but as the car began to lift into the air, all thoughts were replaced with one. Simply... He wanted to tear the world apart to get Lycan back.

"Lycan!" Kaidan screamed as he ran towards the car, unable to reach it before it turned and spend off, "Lycan!" he drew out, screaming so loud that his throat burst with rippling veins.

"Fuck! What the fuck did she do!" Shepard growled, skidding to a halt next to Kaidan and resting his hands on his knees, out of breath still from being robbed of air for the second time.

Kaidan's shortness of breath finally took hold as he mirrored Shepard's posture, "A controlled eruption... She just erupted without killing us! Shepard... We've got to go after her! Now!"

Shepard stood up straight, "I know... I know... We've gotta get a car." he said, looking around for a car that hadn't been demolished by the biotic force push.

"Then fucking find one Gabriel! We have to go after her! I don't care if I have to fly on a broomstick!" Kaidan was delirious with frantic worry as he wheeled around and slammed a fist into the crumpled remains of a destroyed skycar.

Shepard turned to look at Ashley, helping Liara to her feet, "You two go find a car that isn't upside down. I'll deal with the wicked witch of the west here." he ordered stiffly, looking at Kaidan who was red faced with rage, "Let me see you fly on a broomstick and I'll do the funky fucking chicken with a bowl of ice cream on my head!"

Kaidan, furious as ever, snatched two fistfuls of Shepard's collar, "Then start fucking dancing! I want Lycan back..." he was interrupted.

"I know goddammit! Calm the fuck down Kaidan!" Shepard roared back, pushing the glowing man off of him.

"You calm down when the one you can't live without was just abducted!" Kaidan fired back, clenching his fists ultra tightly, feeling a warm wetness seep from between his fingers.

Opening his mouth to fire back with a reply, he found that he couldn't. Kaidan was right. If Ashley had been the one to be taken, he would turn into the devil himself with enough power and rage to make the largest Reaper tremble itself to scrap.

"Just... Just take a breath. The girls'll be back with a car and we'll go after her." Shepard said with a sigh, "I just hope we can find her. There's a lot of traffic up there." he added, looking up at the sea of flying transports, cars and shipping trucks.

Hearing Shepard's concern, Kaidan's rage vanished as his brain switched from murderous, to logical. He had a way to find Lycan. A perfect, technological way of finding her amongst the hordes of traffic.

He opened his Omni-Tool and his hand erupted into action, working its interface in a hurried rush to find what he was looking for. After seconds, his Omni-Tool pinged and flashed a screen with a small, blinking red dot on a grid.

"That's how we find her." Kaidan said with a growl as he held his arm out for Shepard to see.

"You Lo-Jacked your girlfriend?" Shepard arced an eyebrow.

"I didn't Lo-Jack her. I Lo-Jacked her Omni-Tool a couple years ago." Kaidan pursed his lips together a bit.

"Has it been that long? Shit man..." Shepard scoffed as a car came around the corner and slowed to open its hatch.

"Come on! We've gotta move!" Ashley hollered at them from the front passengers seat.

Shepard motioned to the car with his head, "Lets go. We've gotta get _our _little dove back."


	66. Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Make a Guess

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: Thank you to all my readers for being so patient with me. I really appreciate it and hope you enjoy the chapter.)_

Lycan was making Vasir's life a living Hell.

She had been haphazardly tossed into the backseat like she was the day's groceries, but she had wasted no time in turning her fury on the woman, kicking the back of her chair hard enough to make operating the skycar far more difficult then it needed to be. Each strong plant of her feet rocked the chair forward, tossing Vasir along with it and even making the car swerve from its path.

"Will you knock that off!" Vasir hollered, briefly glancing back over her shoulder at the furious human kicking the back of her seat.

"Let me go and I will!" Lycan spat, sending her foot forward again for another jarring hit.

Having had enough of the human, Vasir's biotics filled the inside of the car from growing irritation, "Keep it up and the only thing the Shadow Broker's getting is a bag of mush." she growled, correcting the car's course yet again.

"Then I'm pretty sure you'd follow suit, now let me go!" Lycan growled, planting her foot into the back of Vasir's chair again.

Vasir, getting angrier by the second, drew the car to a stomach churning halt, nearly throwing Lycan into the front seat head first and the only she didn't, was because she managed to plant her feet, again, into the back of Vasir's seat.

"Knock! It! Off!" Vasir boomed, craning her head around to sneer at the girl in the back seat.

"Fuck off bitch!" Lycan spat, feeling her heart pounding in the veins in her throat.

"You first! I'm not above bribery, so what's it gonna take to get you to shut it and just give in that you've been caught!" Vasir roared, her voice crackling with rage from having to put up with the feisty human.

Lycan swiped her nose with the back of her hand, "And I'm not above accepting. Let me sit in the front seat. I'm not a fucking kid." she hissed, lowering her voice, but it was still laced with anger.

Vasir mildly reeled, "That's all its gonna take? You only wanna sit in the front seat?"

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. If I'm gonna be taken to the Shadow Broker, then fine, but I wanna see where I'm going." her brows never relaxed.

"Fine. Get in the front." Vasir shook her head as she turned back around to start driving again, glancing as the human climbed into the front and plopped down with a series of short huffs.

Lycan huffed as she drew in several, long and unbroken breaths, ignoring the churn in her stomach from what her brain was cooking up. Now that she was in front, she had a clear and unobscured line of sight to start kicking Vasir as hard as she possibly could. She wanted to, God knew she wanted to, simply for the fact that she had kidnapped her, but being in a car, some who knew how many hundreds of feet up in the air, was not the best of ideas.

However, her logical side wasn't prevailing.

"You're an asshole." Lycan mumbled, forcefully crossing her arms across her chest.

Vasir rolled her eyes, "So you've said in many different ways human. You should've known this was coming. The Shadow Broker wasn't gonna ignore the one person in this galaxy who can see the future."

Lycan lightly bit her lower lip as she looked out the window, hoping to see something that looked like a pursuit, but she couldn't see behind them.

"I can't see the future, I just have a pretty good idea of what's gonna happen next." Lycan corrected flatly, slowly shaking her head as watched Vasir pay just a bit more attention to her screens.

"It looks like your _crest rubber_ and Shepard are behind us. They're more resilient then I thought." Vasir growled, rolling her eyes.

"Good. Then you'll get what's coming to you. You just kidnapped Kaidan's girlfriend. Things aren't gonna end well for you." Lycan sneered, her upper lip curling slightly.

Vasir barked a laugh, "Oh I'm sure they are. And just _how_ are they gonna give me what I deserve? Is your _crest rubber _gonna woo me to my grave?" her throat rumbled with laughter.

"Hardly." Lycan said with absolute detest for the woman spilling from between her lips.

"Go ahead little dove. Tell me my future." Vasir, at this point, was egging Lycan on to see how far she would go.

Lycan uncrossed her arms and slowly, nonchalantly turned in her seat to fully face Vasir and planted her palms hard against the door, "Fine. You're gonna crash."

Vasir started laughing again, "Is that so! And just how are they gonna do that little dove?" she couldn't help but laugh as she banked the car, weaving through the lines upon lines of traffic to try and lose her tail, but it wasn't working.

"They aren't." Lycan started to snarl, her upper lip curling just a bit more.

"Well then who? You?" Vasir started laughing even harder, making controlling the car even more difficult.

Lycan half shrugged, "Sure. Why not."

Before Vasir could knew what was happening, Lycan's foot came barreling into the side of her head, over and over again with a painful, brain jarring crack. Her sight was blackened from the blows, her hearing rang like the roar of the horns from the trucks that were having to dodge them and the only thing she could will herself to do, was put her hands up in her feeble defense.

"Agh! Stop!" Vasir cried out, only to receive another blow to the side of her head from Lycan's heel.

"Fuck you whore! Fuck the Shadow Broker, and fuck," she planted her heel, hitting Vasir's crest, "you goddamned," another powerful hit, this time to where Vasir's ear port, "worthless," a crack to Vasir's neck, "rogue Spectres!"

Having rung Vasir's bell a dozen times over with her powerful, trained kicks, Vasir relinquished the car to fly on its own. It banked and swerved uncontrollably, earning blown horns from the lines of coherent traffic, forcing Lycan to hold on with everything she had. She climbed into the back, wedging herself between the back and front seats for protection just as the car smashed into the broadside of a truck with a bone shattering, ear splitting bang.

Ducking and tightly holding her head, Lycan simply squeezed her eyes shut as the car, now engulfed in flames, plummeted from the sky. She could feel the heat trying to claw its way into the cab, felt the sickening sensation of weightlessness as the car fell from the sky, careening towards a tall, illuminated building cast in deep blues, radiant purples and warm pinks.

Gritting her teeth together, Lycan's body tensed until it couldn't tense any harder as the car plowed through the decorative barrier wall of the upper level, obliterating the entire front of the car beyond its recognition. Alarms blared, wailing inside and everything in every nook and cranny rattled from stress as the car screamed across the polished floor, but the car was finished. It had nothing left as it ground to a halt with a loud, nails on a chalkboard screech.

Lycan groaned, "That sucks a lot more in person." she mumbled as she started to wiggle herself out from between the front and back seats.

As Lycan inched her way free, Vasir's groaning drew her attention. The asari was still delirious from having her head kicked repeatedly, but from the heavy blinking of her eyes, Lycan could tell she was quickly coming out of her daze.

Sure enough, as Lycan tried to get the hatch open to get out and run, a hand tightly, painfully gripped her upper arm.

"No you don't little dove." Vasir hissed, her teeth clench, smeared in deep blue blood with numerous cuts all over her face.

Despite her ache from the crash, Lycan started to struggle, "Jesus you're a resilient bitch!" she snapped, trying to yank her arm free in the confined space.

"Keep fighting me, and I'll wrap you in a stasis field so tight your little _crest rubber _won't be able to break you free." Vasir threatened as she slammed her clenched fist down on the dying console, popping the emergency release on the hatch so they could get out.

Pursing her lips together hard, nearly till their disappearance, Lycan rumbled her throat as she realized that sometimes the best option, was to comply. It wasn't her first choice, it wasn't her preferred choice, but knowing that Kaidan, Shepard and the others were not far behind, she had to trust that everything would come together like it should.

"Fine." Lycan grunted, pulling herself, stiffly from the car, still with Vasir's grip on her arm.

"Good little dove. You _can_ be trained." Vasir cooed, wiping her hand across her mouth to remove some flowing blood.

Lycan just sneered instead of trying to come up with a witty, and most likely rude response as Vasir started to pull her along the upper level of the hotel. She kept from smirking as best she could from Vasir's somewhat doubled over limp, having sustained a more serious injury then just Lycan's beating when the car had crashed. She had wrapped her arm around her gut, loosely holding her gun in that hand and Lycan watched it like a hawk, hoping, wishing that it would fall and be forgotten. It didn't.

"Nice limp." Lycan poked, planting her feet a bit harder then needed to keep from stumbling over.

"Shut it!" Vasir snapped, using a biotic push to force a door open that led them into a large, swanky room meant for partying in.

"I guess if we were gonna crash, this place is as nice a place as any." Lycan said, now simply trying to annoy the living daylights out of the Spectre.

Vasir grumbled, "It's the kinda place you and your _crest rubber _would like to spend some time I'm sure." she sneered.

"What the hell does that mean anyways?" Lycan's brows furrowed as they left the hotel room, out onto a wrap around balcony that joined to the next penthouse room.

Vasir loudly snarled, "Goddess! Don't you ever shut up?"

Lycan was smirking, "Not when I'm being dragged by a puppet for the Shadow Broker!" she started to struggle as best she could from getting dragged.

"I'm hardly a puppet." Vasir defended as she pointed her gun at a terrified couple they had surprised when Vasir had shattered a window to enter the second penthouse.

"Let me guess... You're just returning the favor for all the intel the Shadow Broker's given you over the years, thus solidifying your continued use of his near endless stores of information. Am I right?" Lycan rattled off without missing a beat as the courtyard where the final showdown would take place came into view.

Having had enough of the human's smart ass remarks, Vasir forced them both to a stop so she could sneer right into Lycan's deep brown eyes, "You listen to me you little shit... It's a favor for a favor and unless you've been in a similar situation, there's no way you could understand."

"I'll never understand why people can't think about someone else for a change. We didn't make it this far without watching each others backs." Lycan fired back, again, trying to yank her arm free, but again, with no success.

"Times have changed little dove. You don't get what you want in your pathetic, short little lives by wasting time helping others. You've gotta look out for yourself and kill whoever stands in your way." Vasir said, breathing a bit heavily from her strained walking.

"Then you'll live a short, _pathetic, _life." Lycan said through clenched teeth, using Vasir's own words against her.

With a rolling grunt, Vasir yanked Lycan along into the courtyard that was populated with relaxing patrons of the hotel's cafe. The chatter was quiet, filled with the light and gentle clanks of silverware as people ate and on occasion, there were light uprises of laughter from the various tables, but the serene and calm was soon catastrophically interrupted.

"Let her go Vasir!" came an angry, echoing voice from behind them, spurring the Spectre to stop and turn around, putting Lycan in front of her like a human shield.

Lycan's eyes instantly teared when she saw that Kaidan, radiating with rage and power was standing at the onset of the courtyard, flanked by Shepard, Ashley and Liara with weapons and harsh gazes set on them.

"You have no idea how much the Shadow Broker wants her! He won't stop until he has her!" Vasir called out, exhaustion and anger spilling out into her tone.

"He isn't getting his hands on her!" Shepard said, breathing steadily even through his pumping heart.

Vasir laughed, "You've already lost Shepard! I have her and there's nothing you can do about it!" she started waving her pistol around in the air before she planted the muzzle to Lycan's temple.

Seeing the business end of the pistol on Lycan's head, Kaidan's power started buzzing, causing Shepard and Liara to slightly wince from the sensation that they now clearly felt. The blue and white smoke that engulfed him flashed, drawing the attention of everyone in the cafe and courtyard as his throat rumbled as if he was preparing to roar.

"Go ahead and _think _about pulling that trigger Vasir! Give me a reason to quarter you!" Kaidan roared,

Vasir's brows pinched together, "Always barbaric. That's all you humans are good at." she said, pressing the pistol harder to Lycan's temple.

Trying not to panic, Lycan used Vasir's arm as a grip, squeezing as hard as she could through the asari's armor, "You have a gun pointed to his girlfriend's head! You'd be barbaric too!"

"Quiet!" she pressed harder, "You won't make a move. You don't wanna hurt your little dove and that makes you weak!"

"Keep pressing that gun to my head and find out how weak Kaidan is. He'll pull you apart at the seams." Lycan hissed, drawing in a long breath to ignore the tear that was running down her cheek.

"I'd love to see him try little dove." Vasir kissed Lycan's cheek.

Bearing teeth from his sheer rage, Kaidan's biotics expanded, lifting anything that wasn't bolted down into the air where they hovered like they were suspended from cables. There were tables, overturned chairs, plates, food, nearly everything from the cafe was now floating all around them, with the only exception being that of the people who were fleeing for their lives.

Vasir's smirk faded, "Well well. You have some power _crest..._"

She never got to finish her thought as Lycan started to struggle with everything she had, trying desperately to get free, but the harder she struggled, the harder Vasir held her arm to her throat.

Seeing Vasir's attention glued to Lycan's struggling, Shepard took advantage of the distraction. He looked passed them, seeing a table hovering precariously close to the struggling pair. He elbowed the raging Kaidan, grabbing his attention to point to the table, hoping his friend would pick up on that train of thought.

However, Kaidan shook his head.

"I don't wanna hit Lycan." Kaidan said flatly, clenching his fists tightly.

"Kaidan..." Shepard tried, only to be shocked at what happened next.

Getting a wide stance during the process of her struggling, Lycan whipped her fist up, plowing it into Vasir's already bloodied face. Vasir's arm relinquished its hold on Lycan as both her hands cupped her now bleeding and horribly throbbing nose.

"Goddammit!"

Finally loose, Lycan ran forward out of Vasir's reach, giving Kaidan the perfect opening to smash the table into Vasir's back, throwing her to the floor.

Lycan sprinted full bore straight for her friends, more specifically, Kaidan as her momentum nearly plowed them both to the floor. His arms were instantly around her, holding her tightly, but she didn't care. She was back in his arms and away from the Spectre she had always had way too much fun taking out of the picture. She heard the debris crash to the floor as she breathed in Kaidan's scent, a mixture of his cologne and the ozone radiating around him that was beginning to calm itself down.

"You little bitch... You knew this was all gonna happen!" Vasir howled, finally taking her hands away from her face to reveal the painted stripe of blood that ran all the way down her chin.

Lycan turned around in Kaidan's arms, "No shit! You think I would've cooperated as much as I did if I didn't know?"

Vasir pressed her hand hard to her side, "You played me!"

"Again... No shit." Lycan sneered, allowing Kaidan to push her behind him.

"It's over Vasir. Give us the disc and vanish." Shepard ordered, taking a step forward.

Vasir huffed a smirk, "You won't let me vanish. I know who you are Shepard. I know you'll take out whatever obstacle stands in your way." she lightly coughed into the back of her hand.

"I do what has to be done. You of all people should know that." Shepard said, his level gun as steady as can be considering the situation.

"I know that you and me are the same. We make the same choices to achieve the same goals, so don't stand there all high and mighty like you aren't me." Vasir said with a growl, having to lightly cough once again.

"I'm not you. I'll never be you. I've made the choices I've needed to in order to _not_ be you." Shepard said with a deathly straight face.

"You don't really believe that do you?" Vasir started to laugh, but it was laced with more mild coughing.

"I believe every word. Sure, I've done things I'm not proud of, but you wanna know something? I know why I do them. I don't do them for money, or fame. I do them because they need to be done." Shepard said, gritting his teeth together as his patience began to ware dangerously thin.

"Then you and I can actually agree on something. I'm doing this because it needs to be done..." Vasir was cut off.

"No! It doesn't need to be done! The only reason the Shadow Broker wants her is so he can exploit her! Don't be blind in thinking otherwise!" Kaidan fired on all cylinders, rocking forward on one foot to thrust a finger at Vasir.

"All I care about is that I'm getting paid, and there's no one that's gonna stand in the way of my payday!"

Before anyone could say anything else, Vasir's wounded body flushed with blue and white vines of dark energy, but in Shepard's, Kaidan's and the rests favor, Lycan new what Vasir was about to do.

"Move! She's charging!" Lycan barked as she pushed Kaidan into Shepard, throwing both towards the wall as Liara and Ashley dove the other way to take cover behind a large, central planter.

Roaring by in a blazing, icy cold streak, Vasir plowed passed them in nothing slower then a second. The rush of wind was so fast, that it reminded Lycan of a windy day back home at her parents house, surrounded by trees and tucked neatly in a valley that acted like a natural wind tunnel.

Not having time to ask any questions, Shepard, Kaidan and Lycan watched as Liara jumped up to throw as powerful a warp as she could muster. The swirling ball distorted Vasir's shields like a large rock had just thunked into a pond to create rolling and expanding waves, causing them to flash bright before Vasir streaked across the planter to the outside edge of the cafe.

"That's a trick I wanna learn." Shepard said as he hopped up in time to pop off a few shots that whittled away more of Vasir's apparently powerful shields.

"It's a charge. Don't ask how to do it, because I have no clue. It's just a wonder of the universe." Lycan scowled, as she pressed back against the overturned table they were using for cover.

"Wonder my ass. She just warped _through_ the planter!" Shepard yelped in disbelief as Vasir charged away like a blur.

"Yeah... Charge does that." Lycan groaned as she started to crawl between Shepard and Kaidan to get at a broken table leg.

"Ly? What are you doing?" Kaidan asked as he fired off another few shots that managed to find their mark when Vasir stopped longer then usual.

"I like clubs." was all Lycan said as she retook her stop between the men.

Shepard popped a brow, but paid attention to the streaking asari, "We are never gonna stop her if she keeps charging around like that." he fired, but missed, sending rounds off into nowhere in the city skyline.

Needing to stop her hardcore, battle hardened maneuvers, Vasir skidded to a halt, taking cover behind one of the large planters, "You can't keep up Shepard! None of you can!" she boasted.

Kaidan's brows furrowed hard, "Yeah... We'll see."

Taking the opening of stillness, Kaidan jumped up and sprinted for Vasir's cover with biotics blaring. He reached forward, clawing his hands as he spread his power across the planter, causing it to rattle and shake and squeal as it was torn from its mounts. He tossed it aside with unwavering power still encasing him as he took in the wounded and vastly winded Tela Vasir.

"Too slow." Vasir smirked as she whisked away in a blazing blue streak, back across the deserted hotel cafe.

"Dammit! Skipper, I can't hit her with her moving that fast!" Ashley belted out, still trying to land more then a few shots onto Vasir.

"We've gotta slow her down Lycan. Got any ideas?" Shepard asked, scooting over so that Kaidan could retake his spot behind the cover.

Lycan shrugged, "Uh... Fan everyone out? Make sure wherever Vasir goes, she's near at least one of us." she suggested, tightly gripping her table leg club.

"What you have in mind Ly?" Kaidan asked, pressing his back into the overturned table.

"She'll get too tired to keep charging and when she does, she'll be taken out by at least somebody." Lycan said with a halfhearted shrug.

"Well, it's more then we had a minute ago." Shepard said as he rolled out from behind the table to join Ashley and Liara.

After only a minute, Shepard, Ashley and Liara were fanned out, taking cover at far enough intervals along the retaining wall, that if Vasir stopped, she was in close enough range to be in trouble.

Kaidan softly planted his hand against Lycan's shoulder, silently telling her to stay by the table before he jumped up and headed a little ways deeper into what remained of the cafe. He kept his eye on Vasir, still zooming from point to point, shooting and bouncing rounds off planters and biotic barriers and for Ashley's sake, Vasir's wild shooting was going wide.

Watching, waiting for the right time, Lycan tried to follow Vasir's movements as best she could. She knew that her body had to be screaming from the biotically charged use, and she knew that the blistering, terrifying pace had to end sometime. Vasir wasn't a machine, and that break, was going to be their opening.

Just as Lycan guessed, now that physiology and stamina was a factor, Vasir's rampaging stopped as she skidded to a halt, her panting from breathlessness able to be heard from across the cafe. She had stopped nearest Shepard, her back facing her, but either she had had a reserve tank of energy, or the call of her survival instinct was loud enough to snap her out of her breathless state.

As Shepard took the moment, lunging forward with a blue and white glowing fist, the asari saw and jumped back, just out of his arms reach. The action had been so uncoordinated, that she nearly tripped when her heel planted itself into the ground, causing her top half to continue moving backwards, while her lower half, stayed put.

Having moved closer to Ashley, Ashley took her chance and tried to get a hand on Vasir, but only managed to knock the weapon from her hands, which in and of itself, was a small win.

Again, Vasir's jump backwards put her closer to Liara who wasted no time in trying to subdue her. She mustered just enough energy to charge away from the other asari, but from her lack of energy stores, her vision was blurring around its edges as she set course for Lycan.

Seeing Vasir's trajectory, Kaidan started for Lycan, body already awash with smoke, but before he could reach his love, she did something that made him proud.

Standing, Lycan tightly gripped her table leg club as she brought it back like a baseball bat, readying to bring it around with as much power as she possessed. She watched, never blinking and noticed that Vasir's charge was far slower, not nearly as refined and mystical and it more closely resembled that of a child learning to ride a bike.

Thinking back, she knew that in the game, a charge was capable of going through a small assortment of solid objects, but with Vasir, her current charge just didn't have the same flare. She had a hunch that this one charge, wasn't capable of much. She would have to change that.

Judging the distance, Lycan stepped to the side and swung her metal table leg around, bringing the thickest part slamming into Vasir's gut on its downswing with an echoing thunder crack. The sheer vibration of such a blow rattled Lycan's hands, causing her to drop the table leg, but the damage had already been done.

Vasir collapsed to the floor, doubled over in a breathless heap of blue blood covered pain with her arms limply wrapped around her midsection. Broken pieces of her already rattled hardsuit fell to the floor as she shook from the impact, still trying to perform the simplest of tasks of taking a breath, but nothing she did helped. Every breath just sent screaming pain shooting through her chest and now, every movement did too. Nothing she did made the thundering pain stop.

"Shit!" Shepard flinched, placing his hand on his stomach out of sympathy for the massive, charge powered blow.

Lycan shook her hands out, "Jesus I hate that feeling!" she hissed, rubbing her hands together from the numb tingling rampaging through them.

"Nice swing Lycan." Ashley smirked as she walked up to her, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"Crude, but effective." Liara acknowledged with a short nod.

However, Kaidan didn't say anything as he quickly strode up to the downed asari, biotics never dulling for a second as he reached down and picked her up, lowering her mass so he could lift her from her feet like she were a small child.

"Disc... Now." Kaidan ordered, the ghostly echo gone from his voice, but his anger still radiated from his eyes, as well as all around him.

Vasir choked and gagged, but ultimately just hung limp, defeated, "She... isn't... worth... the... money." she wheezed, having to struggle to breath in after each word.

With a shaky hand, Vasir labored to reach into a pouch on her belt and pulled the flat, round data disc and lazily plop it into Kaidan's open and awaiting hand.

Immediately wrapping his fingers around the disc, Kaidan dropped her to the floor without so much of a glance back. He gave Shepard the disc and went to Lycan's side, grasping her hands to gently massage them as his biotic energy faded away to only leave him standing in front of her with dissipating, yet nearly gone, anger.

"Just gonna let her lay there and die LT?" Ashley asked, drawing in a breath as she rested her hands on her hips.

Kaidan shot the writhing asari a glance, "She isn't a threat anymore. She's done."

"You... don't... stand... a... chance... against... the... Shadow... Broker." Vasir coughed out, attempting to roll over, but with no success when a cluster of cracks and pops came from her chest and abdomen.

"We'll be just fine. You, however, won't be, if you don't get those injuries checked out." Kaidan said flatly and with no concern or emotion, still lightly massaging Lycan's hands.

"Screw... you... _crest_... _rubber._" Vasir coughed hard, spraying more blood over the floor.

For Kaidan's part, and more then Lycan could muster, he simply stared, staying quiet as Vasir groaned and rolled on the floor, slamming her hand down on a table to help hold her steady as she pulled herself to her feet. Or at least tried to.

Seeing Vasir, Shepard arced a brow and started tapping his chin, "You know... We should take her with us and see if we can get some information out of her. Could be handy." he suggested, shooting a glance at Kaidan.

His expression never changing, Kaidan just looked back, "Not this time Gabriel. She tried to take Lycan from me. If it was up to me, she'd have more then a collapsed chest cavity."

Shepard wanted to retort, but the longer he looked into Kaidan's seemingly darker eyes, the more he knew that it wasn't going to as simple as that. With Kaidan's mood, attempting to convince of otherwise wasn't going to happen.

"Right... Red star it is." Shepard shrugged.

Without missing a beat, Shepard raised his pistol and fired a shot, shooting Vasir in what was left of her chest just as she turned to face them. Her body shook with the impact, her blood sprayed and dripped to the floor, but with her body in ruins, her blood nearly entirely on the outside of her body, the addition of a projectile was the straw that literally broke the asari's back.

With her last breath leaving forever, Vasir dropped back to the floor, where it stayed.

"She wasn't worth our time Skipper. It's better this way." Ashley half shrugged as she lightly wrapped her arm around Shepard's back.

"Yeah... She probably wouldn't've answered our questions anyways." Shepard nodded, wrapping his own arm around her after tossing his borrowed pistol aside.

Kaidan wrapped both arms around Lycan and pulled her close, "Plus, anything we direly need to know, we could just ask." he lightly kissed Lycan's hair.

"Yeah... I guess," Shepard shrugged as he saw Liara staring off into the distance, "What's wrong Liara? Are you ok?" all eyes shifted to her.

"Just," she rubbed her upper arm, "I'm just anxious to rescue Feron. It has been two years for him and Goddess knows what the Shadow Broker has been doing to him in that time." she said with a slow sigh.

"I know you wanna head out as soon as possible Liara, and we will. We just have to get a few things situated first before we can shove off." Shepard said in as calm a tone as he could muster.

"I understand Shepard. Will the _Grimm_ be joining us?" Liara asked, looking at Kaidan and Lycan for a moment.

"Yeah." Shepard nodded.

"If that's the case Shepard, then I gotta get my people ready to go. You still want Ly and me on the _Normandy?"_ Kaidan asked, stepping in behind Lycan to wrap her up in his arms, not wanting to have her be anymore then a few feet away from him at any given time.

"Oh yeah. The _Grimm_ can be our first line of defense if we get attacked again. They'll think Lycan's on there and hopefully, they'll think twice with the _Normandy_ right there." Shepard said, starting to walk back the way they had run, back towards where they had landed their commandeered skycar.

"You'll have to slow it down. The _Grimm_ isn't as fast as she is." Kaidan said, having moved to Lycan's side so they could walk, but never removed a hand from her.

"I know. Joker will have to keep is lead foot in check."

* * *

Callaghan was relieved. When she had seen Commander Alenko and Lycan arrive back on the ship after the commotion she had heard about, the held breath that stained her lungs flew out in a an airy 'Thank God'.

"Commander! Is everything alright? You never answered my pings, and when I heard about the attack on the docks and the apartment shoot..." Callaghan rattled off without even taking a breath.

"At ease Lieutenant. We're fine, but we've gotta get ready for departure. We're heading out with the _Normandy_ asap." Kaidan said, handing the stolen pistol to a crewmen as he made a beeline for the stairs that would take him to the long neck of the ship.

"Sir?" Callaghan arced an eyebrow, but that was all she was able to get out when Kaidan and Lycan disappeared from sight.

"Jake!" Kaidan hollered from down the body of the ship, drawing the attention of the twin on the left up on the bridge.

"Yes sir!" Jake called back.

"Come with me!" Kaidan ordered as he banked hard and vanished into his and Lycan's quarters.

Jake hurriedly stood from his chair and rushed to the door, knocking to only be dragged into the cabin to watch, stunned, as Kaidan ripped open his closet and tossed him one of his uniform shirts.

"Put that on." Kaidan said, tossing a bag to Lycan who started filling it with overnight essentials.

Jake's brows furrowed as he looked at the shirt, seeing the Staff Commander bars neatly stitched to its shoulder boards, "Um... Sir? It's against regulations to impersonate a superior officer Commander."

"You have my permission to impersonate me. In fact, I'm ordering you to." Kaidan said, pulling some sleeping clothes and another uniform for himself from his closet before he opened his armor locker.

"What? Uh... But you outweigh me by like... fifty pounds." Jake protested, still looking at the uniform shirt.

"Then stuff your undershirt, or something, but you're the only one who can do this because we're close to the same height and you have black hair." Kaidan said, pulling his armor from the closet and placing into the hard carrying case made to transport it.

"Is there something I should know about Commander?" Jake asked, finally looking at the pair.

"Look Jake. The Shadow Broker's after Lycan now too, and his forces just tried to get her. We're headed out with the _Normandy_ just in case they try again." Kaidan said, closing his armor case and setting it down on the floor.

"Oh boy," he rubbed the back of his neck, "Let me guess... We're going after the Shadow Broker." Jake deadpanned.

"You got it, and you're playing me." Kaidan smirked.

"Who's playing you Commander?" a female voice asked from the doorway.

"He is, and you're playing Lycan." Kaidan added, tossing Callaghan Lycan's civilian uniform.

"What! But... But... But I don't have brown hair! How the hell do you expect me to pull that off!" Callaghan yelped in shock, completely dumbfounded by the request.

"Cover your hair, or dye it, or something. I just need someone to play Lycan while we're on the _Normandy._" Kaidan said, slipping into the bathroom for his essentials.

"As a decoy... I'm not stupid Commander." Callaghan said with a low sigh, balling the uniform in her hands.

"I didn't wanna describe it that way, but yeah. That's exactly what I need you two to do." Kaidan said, exiting the bathroom with a small bag he had filled with toiletries to put it into their stuffed overnight bag on the bed.

"Will you be in contact Commander?" Jake asked, folding the uniform shirt and letting it hang neatly over his arm.

"Of course. You're in charge Callaghan, but you have to make it look like Jake is." Kaidan said, closing the messily packed bag.

Callaghan nodded, "Yes sir... Where are we heading? Just in case the _Normandy_ loses us." she asked.

"Hagalaz. I don't know where exactly it is, but I know it's storm torn. The Shadow Broker's ship follows where the day and night meet." Lycan said, pulling a long scarf from her dresser drawer and handing it to Callaghan before pulling another for herself.

"That should narrow it down. I'm pretty sure the alliance databases have something on it." Callaghan said with a short nod.

"Good. If you lose us, once you're in orbit, you should be able to pick up the _Normandy_ from there." Kaidan added, drawing in a deep breath.

"Understood Commander. What if... What if we're attacked?" Callaghan asked, having to suck in a nervous breath at the thought.

"With the _Normandy_ with us, I'm fairly certain anyone would think twice, but if someone does, hail the _Normandy_, and do what you need to do." Kaidan said, his face straight, and blank.

"So the choice is up to me then?" Callaghan asked, not really as a question since she already had a pretty good idea.

Kaidan nodded, "Yes. You'll be fine. I have faith in you Lieutenant." he crossed his arms.

Callaghan swallowed, "Thank you Commander. None of my superiors have ever said that before." she glanced at the uniform still in her hands.

"Really? Don't know why. You're capable, just brash." Kaidan said, lightly rummaging through his nightstand for a few other items, mainly his migraine medicine should one strike.

"Again, thank you sir. Will we be traveling with the _Normandy_ indefinitely?" Callaghan asked.

Kaidan shook his head, "No. Just for this, but afterwards..." he paused and sighed, knowing the rest of his crew was oblivious to what he and Lycan were planning.

"Commander? There's more to this isn't there." Callaghan said, crossing her arms, pinching the uniform between them.

Again, Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. Um... Most of it is classified above your pay grade, so I'll tell you what I can."

"Most of this mission's perimeters seem to be, but I'm over it." Callaghan lightly huffed.

"Ok... On top of trying to get the Shadow Broker out of the picture, we plan on using his information stores to get information about BioWare International." Kaidan said, holding his breath as he racked his brain hard for the right wording.

"What's BI have to do with this?" Jake asked, leaning a shoulder against the bulkhead.

"The brass thinks BI might... know, or have something that we could use. They don't want whatever it is to get into Cerberus hands." Kaidan said, stretching the truth just a bit to make room to maneuver.

Callaghan's brows furrowed, "Vague, but I get it. If anyone's gonna know anything about BI, the Shadow Broker would. Why not just pay for the information?"

"Because if he wants Lycan, then no amount of credits is gonna make him give us what we're looking for. He'll just demand we hand over Lycan in exchange for the information. He needs to be taken out of the picture." Kaidan said, slipping his meds into a small side pouch on the front og the overnight bag.

"Makes sense. Know what BI might have?" Jake asked, crossing his arms again while still leaning against the bulkhead.

Kaidan sucked his lips in, "Yeah... but uh..." he blew out a breath, a little thankful that someone finished his sentence for him.

"It's above our pay grade." Callaghan finished for him, slowly nodding her head.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you more." Kaidan said, rubbing his neck.

"It happens. We'll do the best we can sir and give you hourly updates. Is that satisfactory?" Callaghan asked, spreading the uniform out to look at the size and make sure it would fit somewhat alright.

Kaidan picked up the overnight bag, "That'll be fine Lieutenant. The con's yours."

* * *

The _Normandy_ was ready to depart. In fact, she was always ready to leave at a moments notice, but the only thing Shepard was waiting on, was for Kaidan and Lycan to arrive.

Ashley had come with him and had been completely perplexed by not just her size, but her sleek lines and powerful presence and the simple task of muscling passed the golden diamond emblazoned on the hull was still a job in and of itself.

"I'll give Cerberus some credit... They know how to build a ship Skipper." Ashley admitted quietly, closely walking at Shepard's side as he escorted her through the ship, giving her an impromptu tour.

"There's so much that reminds me of the old _Normandy_, but there's still so much that's different that I can't think of her as anything else but a copy." Shepard said, opening the armory door to allow Ashley a peak at all the lovely little toys spread out across the tables.

"Holy Jesus Skipper," she exhaled, "Look at the party favors!" she smiled wide, reaching for the first gun she could get to, which just happened to be Shepard's arc projector.

"Courtesy of the boss. Thought I'd might like to play the god of thunder while I was out saving the galaxy again." Shepard said, his lips pulling into a soft smile as he stepped up next to her to watch her admire the weapon.

"Wouldn't this little baby make you the lighting god? What's his name?" Ashley smirked, lightly tucking the weapon into her shoulder to see how it fit.

Shepard's throat rumbled with a laugh, "Raiden."

"Yeah him," she set the arc projector down, "I've got a question Skipper." Ashley said, her gleeful smile fading as she spun and rested the small of her back against the table's edge.

"Shoot." he crossed his arms.

"That Vasir... She kept calling the LT a _crest rubber. _What is that?" she asked with gently furrowing brows.

Shepard shrugged, "I have no idea. I assume some type of insult, but I honestly have no clue." he quietly blew out a breath.

"Hmm... It just sounded weird I guess. Halfway expected her to just swear. We might've taken her more seriously if she had just... cussed." Ashley huffed as she slowly shook her head.

"Well... She'll have a nice long while to think about it." Shepard said with a smirk.

"I guess. She really pissed off the LT. I hadn't seen him that mad since Wrex." Ashley said, pushing off the table to resume her tour.

"She was ballsy enough to kidnap his woman. I'd be exactly the same if she got her hands on you." Shepard said, sending a small affectionate smile as he turned right from the armory door.

Ashely light blushed, "That's a lovely sentiment Skipper." they stopped in front of the elevator.

"It wasn't a sentiment." Shepard nearly whispered, locking gazes with her as he opened the elevator door.

Ashley's blush grew hotter as she lightly started sucking on her bottom lip.

"I hate to cut your tour short, but I need to go talk to Liara. You can head on up to my cabin." Shepard said after a short pause.

"Alright Skipper. I'll probably take a shower. You're more then welcome to join me." she whispered coyly with a wink.

Shepard smiled, "EDI... Give Chief Williams full access to the loft."

"As you wish Commander." came EDI's voice from overhead.

Ashley's coy smile disappeared as she leaned in close so she could whisper, "I don't... I'm not so sure about that AI Skipper. How do you know it isn't programed to just kill you all?"

"I wasn't at first either, but she's come in handy. She got us out of the Collector ship when she could've just let us get killed." Shepard said, also in a whisper as he grasped her hand.

"But it's still Cerberus tech Skipper." Ashley said, her eyes showing nothing but concern.

"I'll tell you what... Just trust me. That's all you have to do." Shepard said, giving her hand a squeeze in reassurance.

"I think I can do that. Thanks Skipper." Ashley's lips turn up again.

"Alright. I'll see you up there."

With another smile, Ashley leaned in to softly plant a kiss to the corner of Shepard's lips before she happily spun fully into the car and waved to him as the doors closed.

Smiling, Shepard slowly shook his head as he headed for his private terminal to do a quick check of his private messages, not seeing anything that ultimately required his attention, which gave him a rush of relief. He really didn't want to sift through the droves of useless nonsense of people trying to sell him male enhancement pills.

"EDI... Where's Liara?" Shepard asked, gripping his neck with both hands.

"Ms. T'Soni is currently located in port observation." EDI's voice said, again from all around him.

Nodding, Shepard went to the elevator and rode it down onto the crew deck, returning a few greetings from the crew as he banked left and headed for the door.

Inside, port observation had been set up as a crew lounge of sorts, with several classy editions by the member of his squad that had decided it a nice place to hang up her thieves tools. There was a nicely stocked bar with a lightly glowing counter and a couple of stools for people to sit on. Next to the bar was a relaxation recliner, complete with a holographic dome to help release tension to those who sat in it. Shepard had spent several a hour, just laying back and listening to the sounds, letting the gentle massaging vibrations and heat loll him into a dreamless sleep that he very much appreciated. There was a bookshelf staked with real paper books and datapads alike, complete with various works from a number of different races which surprised the hell out of him, considering that Cerberus was pro-human and generally disliked anything else.

But nothing in the room drew his attention more then the wrap around couch that looked towards the large observation window.

Sitting there with a blank face, Liara sat with her knees curled into her chest, staring out into the stars and obviously lost in thought.

Shepard drew in a long breath as he walked up and sat down next to her, clasping his hands together in his lap, but decided it best to stay quiet. He figured Liara would speak whenever she was ready, upon which he didn't have to wait long.

"I've searched for two years. It's hard to believe that I finally have the Shadow Broker within my reach." Liara said, never taking her eyes off the blackened window.

"He pissed off the wrong people. It was only a matter of time." Shepard said quietly, staring at his hands.

Liara sighed and slowly shook her head, "I reviewed that data disc." she said softly.

"What was on it?"

"The Shadow Broker's location on Hagalaz. Lycan was right." she blew out another, somewhat tensed sigh.

"Knowing what she knows... She can put two and two together." Shepard said, glancing out the window into the blackness of space.

"If she and Kaidan can not find that game they are looking for, then I'm afraid she will have more guessing before all this is done." Liara said, her voice still soft and distant.

Shepard lightly licked his lips, "As long as this Reaper war is threatening everything we know, we'll always have to guess. It was just nice not to have to for awhile."

Liara just nodded, not really knowing what else to say since her mind was only centered on one thing. She wish it wasn't though. She wished she could think about other things, like being on the new Normandy, or meeting the Justicar that had agreed to help Shepard against the Collectors, but none of that interested her. She only wanted to help Feron, to repay the favor, but out of the blue, her brain coughed up something else for her to think about. At least for a short while.

Uncurling an arm from around her legs, Liara reached for her other side and picked up a datapad, handing it to Shepard.

"Here... I apologize for how long overdue this is." she said, finally tearing her eyes away from the window to look at him as he scanned the datapad.

Reading the words, Shepard couldn't stop himself from holding his breath as he read. He had completely forgotten about it, what from dying and all, and let alone having time to think about anything else other then who's going to shook at him next.

"I'd forgotten about this." Shepard finally breathed out, thumbing the text up to continue skimming.

"I should have given it to you before you had left for your holiday, but..." she stopped and took a breath, simply to give herself a moment to cultivate the right words.

Shepard looked up from the datapad, "But what?"

Liara rested her chin against her knees, "I guess I was jealous of what you and Ashley have. I didn't want you to know of your bond." she admitted, her azure eyes glassing a bit at her confession.

Shepard lightly swallowed as he let his hands and datapad rest in his lap, "Ah... I guess that's why envy is one of those seven deadly sins."

"Perhaps, but that aside, your bond with Ashley is just as special as the one between Lycan and Kaidan." Liara said, briefly looking at him, resting her cheek against her knees.

"I'd read it, but I wanna hear it from you." Shepard with the softest of smiles.

Liara returned the barely there smile, "You and Ashley are kindred spirits. You just... fit. You could start a sentence, she would finish it. You think and act in the same ways. She knows what you want and you know what she wants."

"Sounds like the soul bond between Lycan and Kaidan." Shepard said, releasing a slow, quiet breath.

"Not quite. Where Lycan and Kaidan equal one, you and Ashley equal two." Liara said with the most miniscule of growth in her smile.

"Kindred spirits huh?" Shepard mumbled, almost too quietly for Liara to hear.

Liara turned her eyes back to the large observation window, "Yes. It's special. As is your friendship with Kaidan and his bond with Lycan." she sighed.

Hearing the distant in her voice, Shepard looked at her eyes as they just stared out the window, seeing that there was so much more on her mind then he thought.

"What's wrong Liara? I know there's more there." Shepard asked, leaning sideways on the couch, using the armrest as a recliner back.

The glassiness in her eyes shined harder, "It's just..." she sucked in a shaky breath, "I'm scared. I'm actually fearful that we may not be able to do this." a tear began to pool at her bottom eyelid.

"Aren't you supposed to be the fearless paleontologist willing to go anywhere to find her discovery?" Shepard asked, cracking a humored smirk.

Liara huffed, "Goddess, I wish, but... I just don't know what we're going to face. The Shadow Broker is so guarded that he seems more like... a myth then an actual being. The only reason we know he exists at all is because he's shot at us." she said, wiping away the still growing tear.

Shepard's smirk faded, "Not knowing is part of the game Liara, and I don't mean apart of the games Lycan knows. Not knowing is supposed to be apart of life and when we tried to outwit it, it changed it's game plan. " he said, leaning just a bit further back into the couch.

"You refer to the timeline changes." Liara said, lightly sniffling in to keep her nose from dripping.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. We just aren't supposed know what's around the corner. We're supposed to be blind. All we can do is kinda coax our lives in the direction we hope to go." he said, his voice cracking with its low volume.

"Not knowing is an information broker's worst nightmare." Liara huffed, slowing shaking her head.

"You know about things that are happening, or've happened. You don't know what's gonna happen. Sometimes there's exceptions, but for the most part, even you don't know." Shepard said.

"And that's what scares me. I don't know what I'm getting you all in to." Liara said with another tear rolling down her cheek that she didn't bother with.

Shepard couldn't lie to himself and say that Liara didn't have a point, because she did. They had no idea of what the Shadow Broker had in store for them. They had no clue what kind of traps, or weapons, or technology he was chomping at the bit to use, simply to get his hands on the one person who did know and the only she wasn't saying anything, is because Fate was watching.

Not knowing what else to say to help ease Liara's troubled mind, he leaned forward to place his hand on her shoulder, when the soft, soother voice of his resident AI came drifting down from overhead.

"Commander... Commander Alenko and the one you refer to as Lycan have arrived." EDI reported.

"Thank you EDI. Has the _Grimm _departed yet?" Shepard asked as he stood from the couch.

"Yes Commander. The _Grimm _is currently holding position in low orbit." EDI said, never deviating from her smooth tone.

"Roger that. Get us underway and lets meet up." Shepard ordered as he started for the door.

"Shepard?" Liara called to him, looking back just as he stopped at the now opened door.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I don't know what I'm dragging you into. I wish I knew." Liara said, lightly sniffling again.

Shepard smiled, "Make a guess." he stepped through the door.


	67. Chapter 67

Chapter 67: Sleeping Dogs Ly

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: I'm sorry for the wait everyone, but thank you for being patient with me! Love you all!)_

Large.

Large was the only word Kaidan could come up with to describe the massive, shimmering, yet empty fish tank that dominated an entire wall of Shepard's over the top 'loft', as he called it. He couldn't see a point to having such a massive tank of glass and water on board, but considering the ship belonged to Cerberus, perhaps they were hoping to give Shepard a way to find calm. One would need fish to do that.

In the time they had come on board, they had gotten something to eat and had gotten cleaned up to finally find some time to relax, which Kaidan was doing by lounging in the corner of the large couch with a datapad in hand. He simply laid in the rather nice peace and quiet of the gentle aquatic bubbles and the dull thrum of the powerful drive core of the _Normandy_ _SR-2_. He, as well as Lycan, Ashley and Liara had been granted access to Shepard's cabin for the trip, but Liara hadn't taken advantage of the hospitality. Not yet at least. She had found a liking to port observation and Kasumi didn't seem to mind the company.

Having lost track of time, the hissing of an opening door lightly startled him from his reading. He looked up to see a tired looking Shepard toss a datapad onto his office desk before slumping down the stairs like a zombie. His blue eyes were half lidded from mental exhaustion. His brows were lightly crinkled from something he was thinking about and his skin tone looked paler then it normally should. He even groaned like a zombie too.

"Hey." Kaidan said, setting his datapad aside next to him as he crossed his ankles, relaxing with his legs out in front of him.

Shepard flopped down on the couch just a few inches away from Kaidan's socked feet, "Hey." he sighed heavily.

"Been busy?" Kaidan asked, reaching a hand up the sleeve of his plain gray t-shirt to scratch his tricep.

Shepard scoffed, "Man, you have no idea. It's like everyone wants something all of a sudden. I just spent two hours trying to figure out why Grunt is breaking the shit out of everything in the starboard cargo bay." he hung his head and lightly massaged his neck.

"What's wrong with him?" Kaidan asked with mildly furrowing brows.

"I have no clue. EDI has no clue. Together, we have no clue. He rambled on about how he can name warlords and recite ancient battles, but they mean nothing to him. He wants to punch things and break bones and fight, blah blah blah." Shepard said, sinking into the couch to slouch and let his head fall back against the cushion.

"What are you gonna do? You can't have a rampaging krogan smashing everything in sight." Kaidan said, trying not to laugh out loud, or speak too loudly for that matter.

"EDI says we should probably see if there's anything we can find out on Tuchanka, so... when we're done with the Shadow Broker, guess where I'm off to?" Shepard sighed again, staring up at the ceiling.

"Should be entertaining." Kaidan exhaled and glanced towards Shepard's large bed.

Shepard lolled his head to the side to look at Kaidan, "You knew I was going there didn't you." he deadpanned.

"Yup." was all Kaidan said with a hop of his eyebrows.

"Figures... Then I suppose you know that one of Mordin's underlings from when he was in the STG's gone missing and he thinks he's on Tuchanka too. And about Jack wanting to talk about the research facility she grew up in on Pragia... And Jacob getting some secret encrypted message from someone about his dad that went missing ten years ago, and most likely about Garrus saying he's got a lead on the guy who betrayed him and got his squad killed then right?" Shepard listed, ticking each situation off on his fingers without looking at his hands.

"Yup... And about the Illusive Man wanting you to head to some derelict Reaper body to look for an IFF." Kaidan finished off the last thing on Shepard's list, knowing exactly where he was along his journey thanks to Lycan.

"Please tell me I'm not crazy enough to go to some supposedly dead Reaper thinking everything's gonna be hunky dory?" Shepard pleaded, briefly curling his upper lip from disgust at the thought.

Kaidan shook his head, "You know I can't Gabriel. You're just gonna have to trust your gut. It hasn't failed you yet."

"I don't wanna trust my gut. All my gut tells me is that it's hungry, and that's ninety-eight percent of the time." Shepard complained, rubbing his face.

"You're not getting any sympathy from me if that's what you're hoping for." Kaidan deadpanned, loosely crossing his arms over his chest.

Shepard smiled, "Yeah, I figured. Hey, you can't blame a guy for trying."

"That I will give you." Kaidan returned the smile.

Shepard huffed, but it turned into a groan, "Thanks, but really... my to-do list is so damn long. I just wish I could delegate some of it to some peon somewhere... Like talking to the Illusive Man for me so I don't have to." he started to chuckle in his throat as he scrubbed his face, finally lifting his head up.

"I'm sure you'll manage Shepard. You always do somehow." Kaidan said, merely just hoping to reassure his friend.

"At least someone thinks I can..." he started, looking around the cabin to finally notice that it was only him and Kaidan, "Where're the girls?" Shepard asked, still looking around.

Smirking, all Kaidan did was point a finger towards Shepard's bed, making Shepard finally notice that it wasn't made like he had left it that morning. There were two fluffed up lumps on either side with crumpled pillows, and those two lumps were slowly rising and falling from whatever was underneath.

Crinkling his brows, Shepard pushed himself up from the couch and strode over to the bed, picking the right side, the side he usually slept on, and gently, silently pulled back the covers.

Underneath, Ashley lay curled into his pillows, fast asleep with mildly damp hair splayed out in a splash behind her head. She wore one of his oversized shirts, apparently not wanting to dig into her own bag that Kaidan and Lycan were kind enough to pack for her, and had wrapped her arms around his pillow as if she were snuggling into his side. He breathed in to smell her soft scent of jasmine mixed with his shampoo and it made him smile, seeing her at peace and resting after their ordeal.

Even more curious now, he gently replaced the blanket to cover Ashley and went to the other side of the bed, pulling the blanket back just as carefully as he had with Ashley to uncover a vastly passed out and slumbering Lycan. Her hair was still damp as well, but had been pulled back into a loose ponytail resting at the nape of her neck, but she wore a set of her own sleeping clothes, being a tank and knee length pants, and had curled herself nearly entirely around a pillow like it was a stuffed animal.

"Really? My bed?" Shepard laughed quietly, putting the blanket back over Lycan.

"Ashley crashed there, but Ly fell asleep on the couch, so I moved her. I can move her again if you want." Kaidan said, throwing his legs off the couch to sit normally in case he had to move Lycan once more.

Shepard shook his head, "Naw... She's fine. Can't say I blame her after the day we've had." he said, walking up to a small desk with a lamp where a small fridge hid underneath.

"Ly's exhausted. She's gotten shot at _way_ too many times today." Kaidan said with absolutely no amusement in his voice.

"How'd she take it?" Shepard asked as he pulled a bottle from the fridge, along with two cold tumblers and a tray of ice cubes.

Kaidan drew in a breath, "She was shaken at first, but... she got over it pretty quick. I think she was more shaken that she couldn't pull the trigger." he said, blowing out the breath.

Shepard's brows furrowed a bit as he poured some of the amber liquid into one of the tumblers, "Pull the trigger? What happened?" he asked, handing Kaidan the tumbler, which he accepted without hesitation.

"It was the first time the Shadow Broker's men attacked us. We were on the docks not far from the _Grimm_ when one of the last mercs standing tried to shoot us in the back, but Ly caught him. She took my gun, aimed it at him, but... she just couldn't do it. She couldn't pull the trigger." Kaidan explained lowly, taking a sip to find that Shepard had given him a glass of nicely aged spiced rum.

Shepard poured his glass before capping the bottle, "How you feel about that?" he asked, putting the bottle back into the fridge before going back to sit on the couch where he had been.

Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck, "Relieved in a way. I'm happy she was able to keep a bit of her innocence. I think that if she would've fired, it would've changed her." Kaidan said, taking another sip.

"It changes everyone... Even us." Shepard said, throwing an arm over that back of the couch.

Kaidan just nodded, not really knowing what to say next, so he took a sip.

"So what happened next?" Shepard asked, instantly breaking the silence between them from not wanting to just be sitting.

Kaidan inhaled, "She froze, so I warped him six ways from Sunday. Once I got her back to the ship, she started the standard shaking, shortness of breath, yaddy yaddy yada," he took a sip, "She got over it pretty quick actually." another sip.

Shepard swallow tongue full, "Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out." Kaidan opted to stare at his glass and swirl the liquid around in it to study how the ice cubes reacted to the motion.

"She sure cracked Vasir like a pro though." Shepard huffed a light smile.

Kaidan smiled and watched the lump of blankets that contained Lycan slowly rise and fall, "With a table leg of all things. I've been training her with firearms, tech and martial arts and she still smashes someone's sternum with a club." he slowly shook his head at the thought and leaned his head back, still smiling.

Shepard drew in another drink as a soft chime sounded from his door, announcing that someone had arrived. Still holding his tumbler, in fact, taking a sip from it, he stood and headed for the door, only to be somewhat pleasantly surprised at what was on the other side.

"Glad to see you've come out of port observation. Come on in." Shepard said, turning back into his cabin to retrieve the bottle of rum from his little fridge once more.

Stepping inside, Liara took a minute to admire the filled model ship case before she stepped down the small set of stairs, seeing the two lumps in the bed as Shepard and Kaidan both placed a finger to their lips, indicating to keep the sound down.

"Are they alright?" Liara asked, quieter then she normally would have as she accepted a glass from Shepard who had poured some rum for her.

"They're fine. Just exhausted." Kaidan said, getting a refill of his glass before Shepard placed the bottle on the coffee table instead before he sat.

"So what brings you up to my throne room?" Shepard asked pleasantly.

"I mainly wanted to apologize for how I acted back on Illium. I should have stopped to see if you were alright Shepard, and I didn't. I'm sorry." Liara said, quietly taking a sniff of the amber liquid in an attempt to figure out what it was.

Shepard took a rather large gulp of his drink, draining it, and swallowed it for a strong burn in his throat that warmed every inch of him, "Actually, you did the right thing by going after her."

"Really? I would have thought you would be upset with my actions. It was clear that you needed attention." Liara said, deciding to sit in the open armchair next to the small desk where Shepard kept his fridge.

"Yeah... I won't deny that. I couldn't breathe." Shepard said with a growing crooked smile as he refilled his glass and plopped in a couple more ice cubes.

"I am sorry Shepard. I should have moved faster against Vasir. If I had, perhaps I could have stopped you from going out the window." Liara said, just letting her glass rest between her hands, against her lap.

Shepard shrugged, "It wouldn't be the first time I've survived something I shouldn't have Liara." he reassured, still with his crooked smile in place.

Liara nodded, looking down at her untouched glass of amber liquid that the two men seemed to be enjoying a great deal. She really was just trying to build up the courage to taste it, but hadn't realized that both human men were watching her study that glass.

"You ever gonna taste that rum? It's good. It's got a nice age on it." Shepard said, taking a sip for show that it was considered good to the humans.

"What... is it exactly?" Liara asked, holding the glass up to the dim light of the cabin and had to admit that the amber color was rich and vibrant.

"It's spiced rum from Earth." Shepard said, taking another sip.

"Morgans?" Kaidan asked, taking a sip in an attempt to name the rum.

Shepard nodded, "Nice guess there booze guy." he smirked.

Both of Kaidan's brows hopped up for a second as he drained his glass, "Hey... What can I say." he smiled as he went for the bottle to refill his glass.

"Been spending some time with a bottle have you?" Shepard antagonized his friend, taking the bottle from Kaidan once he had finished with it.

"No, but Ly and me did enjoy some adult beverages when we were living on the Citadel." Kaidan said, deciding that this glass would be his last.

Shepard huffed a small laugh, "I bet that was nice." however, his smile started to fade.

"It was. It really was." Kaidan said, looking towards the lump that Lycan was under with affection filling his eyes.

"I heard you guys helped Ash through some pretty rough times over those two years. She moved in with you guys right?" Shepard asked, feeling like he can actually relax for the first time since he had begun his seemingly impossible task.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. I signed her onto my lease just after your funeral. It helped her a lot I think." he said, unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face as he continued to watch the bed.

"Good. I have nightmares thinking about what it was like for her when I was dead." Shepard said, draining his glass and deciding he was done with the rum as well.

"It was bad for all of us Gabriel. You were the glue that held it all together and once you were gone, the Council and Udina and the brass went nuts just trying to prevent the hysteria about the Reapers from spreading." Kaidan said, shifting to lounge on the couch again, kicking his feet up on the cushions.

"We should be worried. If they're as bad as I think they are, then we're all screwed no matter how hard we fight." Shepard said, setting his emptied glass down on the coffee table and slipping the bottle into the fridge.

"Hopefully this whole ordeal with the Shadow Broker pans out Shepard. If me and Ly can get the information we need, then maybe we can find out how all this is supposed to end." Kaidan said, taking a sip of his drink to finished it off.

"I wish you the best of luck on this Kaidan_._.. I hope whatever Fate has in store for us is something we can all live with." Shepard said, drawing in a deep breath for a sigh as he slumped on the couch.

"In war, not all turns out as we hope Shepard. We can only fight and do everything in our power to achieve the outcome we want." Liara said, spinning her glass a bit to mix the thin layer of water from the melting ice with the human rum.

"Believe me... I'm the last person you need to explain that to." Shepard said, rubbing his face with both hands from some mild stinging in his eyes from his persistent exhaustion.

"I know Shepard... I was merely meaning in regards to our hopes and wishes." Liara said.

"That aside, we'll need all the help we can get and if me and Ly can pull it off..." he sighed, "Well, we'd have some minute chance at winning this war." Kaidan said, placing his empty glass next to Shepard's on the coffee table.

"Yeah," Shepard agreed, looking at Liara whom still hadn't touched her drink, "It tastes better when it's not watered down Liara." he very much wanted to change the subject to something less doom and gloom.

"It's just... I've never had human liquors before Shepard. Asari favor the soft flavors and aromas of fruit based alcohols. Not this... what is it again?" Liara lightly cringed.

"It's rum. It's made from distilling sugarcane byproducts." Kaidan said with a ever so soft grin.

"Oh... I've tasted your sugar. This should be sweet then." Liara smiled and brought the glass to her lips.

"Liara... It's not that..." Shepard tried, but it was too late.

Liara sucked down a mouthful of the amber liquid without a single pause, but the moment the rum touched her tongue, she grimaced hard from the sudden shock of heat that engulfed her mouth. It burned, and the flavor was like she had taken a swig of liquid fire, but once she swallowed, she warmed all over like she had been wrapped in a heated blanket.

"Oh my. That is quite strong." Liara said in a bit of a squeaky voice and a cough from the strong, liquid burn.

Unable to contain their laughter, Kaidan and Shepard cupped their mouths to keep the sound down, but their stomachs rolled with the stuff. The look on Liara's face from the burn of the liquor in her mouth made then both think of someone whom had just gotten caught up in the cloud of a stink bomb.

"I tried to warn you its not as sweet as you think." Shepard said through his laughter, still trying to keep it somewhat quiet so not to wake the two sleeping ones not far away.

Liara cleared her throat, "Apparently so. By the Goddess... I wasn't expecting that. Are all human liquors this strong?" she asked in a slightly raspy tone from the persistent burn in her throat.

"No. Most like to mix them in with something like a soda, or something." Shepard said, getting his laughter under control enough where it didn't threaten to wake anyone up.

"I think I would prefer that to drinking it like this. It is... I'm not entirely sure how to describe it." Liara said, deciding she was done with the brew and set the glass down on the coffee table.

"Warm and fuzzy?" Shepard provided with a soft smile.

"Perhaps." Liara lightly smacked her lips together.

As the three feel into silence, a soft rustling from the bed drew their attention. They looked to see the blankets get shoved back as Lycan sat up, keeping her legs tucked into herself as she wiped her eyes with two balled fists like a toddler, complete with a low, grumpy sounding groan.

Standing from the couch, Kaidan headed over and sat down next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and brought her head to his shoulder, all while placing a soft kiss to her sleep mussed hair.

"Did we wake you up baby?" he asked softly, gently rubbing Lycan's upper arm.

Lycan shook her head against his shoulder, "No... I can't sleep anymore. I want to, but I just keep laying here." she mumbled with her eyes closed.

"You want me to give you something? You could use the rest after the day we've had." Kaidan said softly, looking up at Shepard as he stood and headed for his private bathroom.

"I want to sleep so bad." Lycan whined, snuggling a bit into Kaidan's side like a child being woken up early.

Lightly chuckling at Lycan's exhausted whining, Kaidan wrapped her up in his arms as Shepard stepped out of his bathroom with something grasped in his hand.

"Here. This should help her." Shepard said quietly, handing Kaidan a small pill.

"What's this?" Kaidan asked, looking at the tiny white capsule now resting in his palm.

"Dr. Chakwas gave it to me to help me sleep. I was having some pretty hellish nightmares not long ago. They help." Shepard said, reaching into his fridge for a bottle of water for Lycan.

Kaidan offered Lycan the pill, "You wanna take it honey? It's up to..."

Before Kaidan could even finish speaking, Lycan accepted the water from Shepard, snatched the pill from Kaidan's hand and popped it into her mouth to be chased by a long drag of water, washing it down. She took a few more, much smaller sips this time, from the bottle before she capped it and placed it on the night stand and laid back down, curling back into a ball around the pillow like she had before.

Kaidan lightly smiled as he tugged the blankets back to her shoulders, "Get some sleep Ly." he whispered to her as he leaned over and placed a soft kiss to the corner of her lips.

Lycan sighed and lazily nodded her head with her eyes closed, tightening her grip on the large pillow just a bit harder as she let go and just concentrated on getting back to sleep. It calmed her as Kaidan's hand gently brushed her hair away from her face, over and over again with the softest of touches, lolling her mind to just shut off like it was supposed to in the first place. Between him, and the drugs, bliss quickly arrived.

"Thank god for fast acting." Shepard said, still quietly out of fear of waking up the other one asleep in his bed.

"No kidding. She's crashed." Kaidan said, still brushing his fingers through Lycan's hair.

"The adrenaline crashes suck. I hate those damn things." Shepard said, folding his arms as he went back to sit on his spot on the couch.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah... She'll feel it when she wakes up." he quietly sighed as he gently placed one more kiss, this time to her temple and breathed in her clean, freshly washed floral and pomegranate scent.

"You truly love her Kaidan. I must admit... It's refreshing." Liara said, unable to keep from smiling at Kaidan's shows of affection.

"Yeah." Kaidan nodded, drawing in another scent filled breath before standing to let Lycan sleep.

"Just out of curiosity... Why haven't you asked her yet?" Shepard asked, trying not to smirk too widely as he watched one of Kaidan's hop up in question.

"Asked her what?" Kaidan asked, putting his feet back up on the cushions.

Shepard tilted his head, "Come on man. It's been two years. What are you waiting for?"

All of a sudden, Kaidan's brain caught up with what Shepard's was thinking.

"Oh... _That_ ask," he nervously rubbed his neck, "Uh... To be honest, it wouldn't seem fair... To either of us." Kaidan said, drawing in a deep breath to keep the heat of his blush from getting out of hand.

"Why would it be unfair?" Liara asked, curious to understand Kaidan's thinking.

"Well... Because," he sighed, giving him a moment to collect his thoughts, "To be that happy, only for it to be ripped away should this war go south... it wouldn't be fair to her, or me." he said, looking down at his hands that had begun to fidget with his fingernails.

"You wouldn't ask her even if you got the chance to be happy for just that small, miniscule moment?" Shepard asked, kicking his feet up onto the coffee table.

"I'd ask her right now if everything we know wasn't on the chopping block." Kaidan said, not sure he was agreeing with the words coming out of his own mouth.

"So you're playing it safe," Shepard shook his head, "Kaidan... You've never been with a girl longer then a month or two... Let alone two goddamned years. Quit playing it safe and just go for it. Be happy." he said, lolling his head to the side to glare at his friend.

Kaidan pinched the bridge of his nose, "Shepard... What you want me to say? That I'm just plain not ready? I can't say that because I am. I want to, but..."

"Why wait longer then you have to Kaidan? It is obvious that you love her. Is it customary for your race to wait so long?" Liara asked, crossing her legs.

Kaidan was starting to feel pressured, "Guys... Look... I haven't yet because not only am I nervous as hell to even ask, I don't wanna lose the happiness to this war. It would destroy me if I got to be that happy and it was taken away. There's already enough casualties in this war, and I don't want my happiness to be one of them." he admitted.

"Anyone would be Kaidan. I'm not trying to pressure you into anything. I was just curious why it hasn't happened yet. I'd a thought you two would've been married my now." Shepard said, instantly softening his tone.

"I know, and in all honesty, I've asked myself the same question." Kaidan said, shaking his head again.

"You're scared aren't you." Shepard deadpanned with a smirk.

"Terrified. You prick... I'm freaking terrified." Kaidan said, starting to laugh at himself.

Shepard chuckled, "I figured as such. You going to?"

Kaidan inhaled, "The short answer?"

Shepard nodded.

"Eventually. Just not right this second." Kaidan said with a slight cringe.

"Well I didn't mean right now. You try waking her up on those sleep aids. She's out till the turn of the century." Shepard smirked.

"She needs the rest, but since you brought it up... Why haven't you asked?" Kaidan asked, turning the tone of their conversation into small talk.

"Uh... I've been dead for two years there big guy." both he and Liara chuckled.

Kaidan chuckled as well, "Fair enough... But really... Have you thought about it?" he crossed his arms, feeling the beginnings of a chill building on his skin.

"Hell yeah I've thought about it. I'd like to think she'd say yes if I ever asked, but..." Shepard said, stopping himself as uncertainty began to boil in his chest.

"You are not sure she would Shepard?" Liara asked softy.

"It's not that, it's that I really have no idea how to ask. It feels... I'd feel weird just plain asking. I wanna make it special." Shepard said, feeling awkward even talking about it with the other person in question so close.

"I'd wanna make it special too. It's just finding the time and... the right way to ask." Kaidan said, sighing quietly.

Shepard nodded, "I'm fairly certain Ashley would smack me if I just dropped to a knee." he chuckled in his throat again.

"I'm sure Ly would scream and then start tearing, but it's not special... I want her to remember it for the rest of her life." Kaidan said, happy that the awkwardness had vanished from their conversation.

"Me too," Shepard looked at Liara, "What do the asari do? Do you guys propose, or just have a ceremony and be done with it, or what?" he asked, crossing his ankles on the coffee table.

"It depends on the mate actually. If the other is also asari, then the pair could just simply begin their life together without much in the way of tradition. If the partner is of another race, say human, or turian, they could want a ceremony of their respective traditions." Liara explained, clasping her hands together in her lap.

"So they just kinda go along with whatever their partner wants?" Shepard asked, putting his arms behind his head in the form of a makeshift pillow.

Liara nodded, "Yes. For example, if I were to bond with... say... Garrus, he could possibly want a traditional turian bonding ceremony, which would be fine with any asari."

"Ah." was all Shepard said as he nodded his head, not really sure what else to ask to keep the silence from descending upon them.

Fortunately though, the conversation shifted smoothly to another topic.

"Have you heard from Tali at all?" Kaidan asked when the sudden thought of that particular piece of information popped into the front of his mind.

"Yeah... She sent me a message not too long ago saying she was on Haestrom. She's doing some mission for the Migrant Fleet and said she'd message me once she's done." Shepard said, switching his ankles.

Kaidan sucked in a breath to keep his stomach from rolling from anxiety, "Alright." was all he managed, but it tipped off Shepard.

"What's wrong?" Shepard asked, crossing his arms.

Kaidan mildly cringed, "Nothing..."

"That's bullshit. What's up?" Shepard interrupted.

"Gabe... I can't tell you. How many times do I need to remind you of that?" Kaidan sighed, trying his hardest not to groan.

Shepard pursed his lips together and narrowed his eyes, "If you're holding back something that endangers her life, I swear to God Kaidan, I'll pummel your ass." he threatened.

Kaidan's shoulders slumped, but he looked over towards the bed at Lycan, beginning to gnaw on the inside of his lip as he racked his brain for his next course of action. Tali was a mutual friend to them all, and knowing that her mission was soon going to go pear shaped, if it hadn't already, was most definitely hard to keep behind closed lips.

With another heavy sigh, Kaidan pinched the bridge of his nose, "Ok uh... It's not just gonna be a pick up."

"Shit... Is she gonna be ok?" Shepard asked, holding his breath.

"Yeah." Kaidan decided to stick with one word answers.

"You're sure?" Shepard asked, trying to keep from losing it, especially with two sleeping beauties that would most likely kick his ass if he woke them up.

"Yes." Kaidan plainly said.

Not really knowing how to feel about what he had just heard, Shepard just nodded and leaned further back into the couch, crossing his arms in the process. He knew Tali's extensive knowledge about the geth and tech in general would be nothing but a plus in his book, but now knowing he was going to be hearing from her without good news wasn't sitting well with him.

"Ok... So when this is done, I guess I'm headed to Haelstrom after we sack the Shadow Broker." Shepard sighed, rubbing his neck.

"I would if I were you." Kaidan said, locking gazes with Shepard in hopes that it would convey his meaning.

Shepard sighed, "Roger that," he rubbed the back of his neck, "I wish I could stick around and maybe give you a hand with this whole BioWare International business, but it's sounding like I won't be able to." he said, getting up from the couch to get a bottle of water from his small fridge.

"That's fine Shepard. I think Ly and me can manage." Kaidan said, relieved that he had managed to keep details from getting spilled and also happy that the conversation steered away from details.

"What does the crew of the _Grimm_ think about all this?" Liara asked, finally relinquishing her rather formal and rigid posture to curl her knees into her chest.

"They don't exactly know that we're looking for a copy of the third game. In fact, they don't even know that Ly has knowledge of what we're facing." Kaidan said, feeling a short lived pang of guilt for keeping the secret from his crew.

"Well that'll be fun to explain if they ever find out." Shepard said, huffing a smile as he cracked open the bottle and took a swig.

Kaidan rolled his neck out, "I'm actually hoping they don't. I can prove Ly's from the past easily enough, but everything else is a stretch. I really don't wanna get thrown into a padded room."

"We all should've been thrown into one a long time ago." Shepard smiled, sitting back down.

"A padded room?" Liara interjected, slightly confused.

"An insane asylum." Kaidan simply answered, seeing the recognition on Liara's face.

"You refer to the instillation where a mentally ill being is taken?" Liara asked to insure that she was understanding correctly.

"That's the one." Shepard said nonchalantly, taking another drag of water.

"Ah... Then perhaps it is best not to divulge the whole truth to your crew if that would be the outcome." Liara said, wrapping her arms around her knees.

"Hence why I haven't told them." Kaidan mildly rolled his eyes.

"And what if they discover that Lycan does have preexisting knowledge of future events?" Liara asked, slowly releasing a sigh.

"That's one of the things we hope never happens." Kaidan said flatly.

With the day waining on into the evening hours, the three only broke their conversations to get something to eat where they even brought their meals back up into Shepard's cabin. It felt good to simply rest, eat and talk, giving Shepard and Kaidan both a much needed reprieve from thinking about near impossible missions and the hardships that came along with them. It gave them a moment to have a clear frame of mind to easily fall into a desperately needed sleep where they could forget about what waited around the corner.

* * *

The loft was darker then it usually was. The lights were ultra low, the shimmering of the fish tank had dimmed to a barely see through, barely identifiable shade of blue, and the air was filled with a deep silence, one that told Lycan's ears that those inside the cabin were asleep.

Inhaling deeply, Lycan opened her eyes to take in the sight of a display case overhead that was softly bathed in the lighting from underneath that lit the models inside. She made to roll onto her back, but soon realized that her bed was suddenly vastly smaller then it had been when she had fallen asleep. She looked around, seeing that her resting place had somehow changed from the large bed that she had fallen asleep on just after Ashley had, to the couch, and her pillow had become Kaidan's shoulder, whom was laying along the other arm of the large couch.

Sitting up, Lycan saw that Ashley was still asleep in the bed, but was securely wrapped up in Shepard's arms whom had taken his rightful place by her side. _Hmm... Kaidan must have moved me last night... or tonight... or something... Whatever. _She thought as she carefully swung her legs off the couch to sit and lightly rub her eyes.

As she spent a few moments to get her bearings, she felt her stomach contract in preparation for a rumble, which it did only a split second later. She was hungry and she had no idea how long she had been asleep for. Standing, she took her blanket and covered Kaidan with it before she tip toed towards the door.

The sudden radiance of light was blinding for a few moments, spurring her to shield her eyes with a hand while she felt her way to the elevator that luckily was just in front of her. The slight dimness of the car gave her eyes the extra time they needed to adjust to the brightness that never came, as the doors opened into a dimmed crew deck.

Her feet shuffling against the deck plating, Lycan headed for the galley in hopes of finding something to eat, but what she found when she rounded the corner, was Miranda standing at the counter making herself a midnight snack.

Skidding to a halt, Lycan froze, not knowing what to say to the woman who worked for the organization that was desperately looking for her. Hi just didn't seem like it would suit the situation. She gulped, but the action only caused her throat to become filled with a weak burp that she wasn't able to swallow down.

With a hiccup, Lycan's self produced burp popped up and out of her mouth, shattering the silence about the crew deck and ultimately, alerted Miranda of her presence.

Miranda looked up from her work of creating her midnight sandwich, seeing Lycan standing stiff, mostly from shock of seeing someone else awake, and with slightly wide eyes.

"Good evening Ms. Morris." Miranda said as she screwed the top back on some light butter she had spread over the bread.

"Hi." Lycan mumbled, finding that she couldn't look at the woman dressed in nothing more then a button down shirt and shorts.

"I'll be leaving shortly Ms. Morris, then the galley is all yours." Miranda said, looking back to her sandwich to continue putting it together.

"Uh... N-No... You don't have to. I suppose eventually you and me were gonna bump into each other." Lycan said, forcing back her nerves as she padded forward to find herself something to eat.

Miranda exhaled as she carefully placed a few pieces of thinly sliced meats on top of one of the slices of bread, "I supposed you're right. It was bound to happen one way or another." she shot Lycan a glance.

"I'd rather it this way then the alternative." Lycan said, opening the fridge in hopes that a snack would be immediately apparent.

Miranda finished putting her sandwich together and sliced it in half, "I would agree. I suppose you already know who I am." she said quietly as she took a dainty bite of her sandwich.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah." was all she said as she searched through the food for something easy.

"Then I will skip the introductions." Miranda said neatly through her small bite.

"If you want. How's your sister?" Lycan asked, but her voice was void of pleasantries.

Miranda swallowed her bite, but nearly choked on it when Lycan had asked. She thought back to the cluster of reports she had on the one Cerberus referred to as the 'Time Jumper', but none said anything about her knowing things about certain personnel. How in the spiral arms of the galaxy did this stranger know she had a sister?

"How did you know I had a sister?" Miranda asked, washing down her bite of sandwich with a large gulp of cold water.

One corner of Lycan's mouth turned up as she leaned back a bit, bringing Miranda into view and shot her a brief glance passed the fridge door.

"Ah... Shepard must've told you." Miranda said, having nearly completely forgotten about her sandwich on the counter.

Lycan's brows hopped up for a second, "It helps to have friends." she said, drawing in a deep breath.

Miranda nodded, "That is something I'm learning to agree with." she turned her attention back to her sandwich.

"By the time all this is done, I'm sure you'll agree with it completely." Lycan said as she persisted in her futile search.

"I'm sure." Miranda mumbled, taking her second, dainty bite.

The pair, still bathed in awkwardness, just stayed silent as Miranda ate, and Lycan continued to search, but soon shut the fridge with a defeated sigh. Her stomach rolled again, announcing her hunger to not only her, but to her company.

Swallowing down her sip of water to accompany her small bite, Miranda hesitated a moment before sliding the plate towards Lycan, offering the second half of her sandwich to the woman.

"Here... I was only going to finish half of it anyways." Miranda said, taking in a deep breath.

"Uh... Thank you. I appreciate it," Lycan briefly smiled as she accepted the offering, "So... You never answered my question." she continued, taking a larger then any Miranda had taken.

"About my sister?"

Lycan nodded.

"Shepard hasn't told you everything by now?" Miranda asked, tearing a piece off her sandwich to pop into her mouth.

"I know you have a sister. I know she's on Illium, but other then that, I know nothing." Lycan said, swallowing down her bite and trying not to moan from happiness that she had gotten something to eat.

"Ah," she sighed, "She's doing well. She really likes it on Illium. She's just sad she has to leave." Miranda said, taking a sip of water.

"That's good. Did you talk to her at all after you fended off the mercs?" Lycan asked, lightly chuckling when Miranda's eyes widened for a split second.

Miranda lightly covered her mouth to keep from coughing her mouthful all over the counter, "How did you..." she asked, managing to muscle her food down.

Lycan just smiled.

"Right... Shepard," she sighed, "I did talk to her. Shepard was pretty persistent about that." Miranda said, continue to satisfy her appetite.

"I had a feeling he would. How did it go?" Lycan asked.

"It was good to talk to her. We hadn't gotten to spend much time together when we were younger, but I'd like to think that she understands why." Miranda said, popping the last bit of her sandwich into her mouth.

"I'm sure she does. What's her name?" Lycan asked, deciding it best to just let Miranda assume that she knew what she knew because she was friends with Shepard.

Miranda smiled, "Oriana. She's nearly out of high school now and she's already enrolled to attend the Thessian University of Colonization and Exploration. She's very excited." she said, lightly smiling.

"I bet. What do her parents think of that?" Lycan asked, having finished her sandwich around the same time as Miranda from her larger bites.

"They're elated. They couldn't be more happy for her. That school is a very respectable one." Miranda said as her tone lightened and soothed the more she talked about her sister.

"I'm sure it is. What's her degree gonna be in?" Lycan asked.

"She's going for her doctorate in colonization engineering." Miranda said, gulping down the last of her water before turning to press the small of her back into the counter's edge.

"What's that entail?" Lycan asked.

"She'll be sent with the first batch of colonist to settle on a new world. She'll be in charge of establishing the colony until it's self sufficient." Miranda briefly explained.

"Then onto the next colony?"

Miranda nodded, "Yes. It's a demanding career choice, but one that should be satisfying."

"She's not gonna follow her big sister in the ways of Cerberus?" Lycan asked, no really caring in the least whether she got a real answer or not.

"No... My sister believes differently then Cerberus." Miranda's soft smile faded as she stared ahead at he darkened med bay.

Lycan turned and pressed the small of her back into the counter and crossed her arms, "Sounds you're starting to too."

"Perhaps. I owe Shepard greatly for his help with my sister." Miranda said, drawing in a deep breath and mirroring Lycan's posture.

"I'm sure. I'm glad things worked out." Lycan said, lightly scratching her arm.

"As am I. She is the only family I have and I would like to keep it that way." Miranda said simply.

Lycan nodded, "Can I ask you something? If you don't mind that is."

Miranda glanced at her, "I suppose."

"Why are you helping to keep me off Cerberus's radar?" Lycan asked plainly, looking at the taller woman for longer then just a moment.

Miranda sucked in a deep breath and held it, "Well... A number of reasons actually." she said, releasing the breath just as quickly.

"I've got nothing but time." Lycan said, staring herself at the windows of the dark med bay.

Miranda nodded, "Very well. Shepard wouldn't have trusted me if I had turned in one of his friends to the organization that he probably hates most." she sighed once more.

"He probably hates Cerberus just as much as the Reapers." Lycan said, hanging her head and rubbing the back of her neck.

"That is probably true, but in any case, I needed him to trust me. We won't be able to stop the Collectors if he doesn't trust the people at his back." Miranda said, huffing the lightest of smiles.

"He can't do what you want him to without trust. Thank you for helping to keep me out of Cerberus's hands by the way." Lycan said, tearing her eyes away from the windows to look at Miranda.

Miranda nodded, "You're welcome. I'd suspect that if I had allowed Cerberus to acquire you, then it's not just Shepard I would have to worry about." she slowly shook her head.

"Your problems would've lied with Kaidan." Lycan said, knowing full well the rage the man could dish out if given the right stimuli.

"I'd suspect they would. Shepard himself is a force to be reckoned with, but he, as well as Mr. Alenko would be devastating. However, even Cerberus has tricks up there sleeves." Miranda admitted, agreeing wholeheartedly that the woman's significant other could do just as much damage.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah... But I've seen their rage first hand."

"I'm sure... Considering how long you've known the Commander and been with Mr. Alenko." Miranda said, looking back towards the med bay.

"How did you know Kaidan and I've been together for awhile?" Lycan asked, studying the woman a bit.

"I was merely trying to learn more about you, and I found that that included learning more about Mr. Alenko." Miranda said, resting her hand on the side of her neck for a light massage.

Lycan's brows lightly furrowed, "And just how much digging did you do?" she asked, doing her best not to sound invaded, which worked, because she actually felt mildly flattered.

"I did enough to learn a number of things... Mainly the apartment that you and he shared and other various outings that you had gone on." Miranda said, deciding not to go into too much detail.

"We really didn't live an exciting life for those two years. It was nice." Lycan said, smiling.

"I can imagine." Miranda said with a short nod.

"It wasn't all completely relaxing though. We were constantly keeping our eyes open for anything Cerberus related." Lycan said with a deep sigh.

"Smart. Cerberus is... highly, highly intrigued by your presence in our time. They never would've thought that someone from two hundred years ago could... spontaneously show up in our time." Miranda answered with a soft shrug as she raked a hand back through her dark hair to get it out of her face.

"Believe me... It shocked the hell outta me too." Lycan quietly chuckled at the situation.

"I don't doubt that. Tell me... How did you arrive here in our time?" Miranda asked curiously.

"I'm not really sure myself. I had... gone swimming at some restricted reservoir when I just got... swallowed up by this random... I don't know what to call it... wormhole I guess." Lycan explained as best she could, finding that the memory had become fuzzy over time.

Miranda's brows furrowed a bit, "I think I read something to that affect. When I was doing research to learn more about you, I had come across a number of articles pertaining to your disappearance. I believe, if I remember right, that it had occurred at the Rainer Federal Reserve Reservoir correct?"

"That sounds about right. What does Cerberus even want with me? I can't tell 'em how I got here. I don't even really know." Lycan said, her smile gone as a little bit of angst took its place.

"Well... The Illusive Man is hoping that you somehow hold the secret of time travel. He wants to use something to that affect to alter events to give us a better chance at fighting the Reapers." Miranda said, ever so softly smiling.

Lycan glared, "You don't really believe that do you? This is the Illusive Man we're talking about her. Have you ever wondered why he doesn't spell his name with an E?" she asked, not at all trying to be rude towards the woman.

Miranda looked at Lycan, but simply shook her head.

"It's not because he's hard to find. It's because that man is nothing but lies, ulterior motives and hidden agendas. He'll go to any lengths to get what he wants, and he doesn't care who gets squished in the process." Lycan said softly.

Miranda exhaled, "I know." she hung her head slightly.

"And you've seen it in action... Haven't you." Lycan said knowingly.

Miranda nodded, "When he sent us to the Collector ship." she stared at the floor.

"Exactly. That's not the only time either. You're expendable in his eyes Miranda. Everyone is." Lycan said, risking a sympathetic pat to Miranda's shoulder, which the woman didn't flinch, or back away from.

"Except for maybe you. I try not to think what he'd do if he ever found out how to travel through time. The results could be... damning." Miranda said, tearing her eyes away from the floor to look at Lycan.

"Yeah, and I don't wanna see any other threats in this galaxy then the one we've already got. We've got enough on our plate as it is." Lycan said, still with her hand resting on Miranda's shoulder.

Miranda drew in a long, deep breath, "Yeah. This is most likely a one way trip anyways." she looked back to the floor.

Lycan half shrugged, "Maybe, but you are being led by Commander Shepard. How one way could it be?" she softly smiled, hoping to reassure Miranda.

"Good point. He does have a way of overcoming the impossible." Miranda said, unable to stop herself from smiling softly.

"He's good at that. Just... trust him. Trust in his decisions and trust he knows what he's doing. That's the best thing you can do." Lycan said, finally removing her hand from Miranda's shoulder.

Miranda nodded, "So I've been told." she said, looking away from Lycan when the muffled hiss of the elevator door caught their attention.

Looking towards the backside of the elevator, the women waited patiently to see whom had arrived, which they were quickly rewarded with.

Scuffing his bare feet and half walking on the cuffs of his sleeping pants, Kaidan came walk in rubbing his eyes and looking as if he was up way too early for his liking. His hair was disheveled. His tank top was somewhat twisted around his torso and he his eyes were adorned with light circles that darkened his eyes just enough to make him look exhausted.

"Hey Kaidan." Lycan said with a soft smile as she pushed off the counter to walk towards him.

Hearing his name on the lips of the person he was wondering about, Kaidan opened his eyes to see Lycan coming towards him, smiling and with crossed arms. Seeing her caused him to tiredly smile as he reached out for her, taking her into his arms as he saw the other woman watch from the other side of the large kitchen island.

"Ms. Lawson." Kaidan said stiffly, and with a short nod in her direction, but never unwinding his arms from around Lycan's midsection.

Miranda slightly bowed her head, "Mr. Alenko. I'll be leaving. Good night." she said smoothly and elegantly as she put her dishes in the sink and left for her quarters that were just around the corner.

Kaidan watched intently as Miranda left, keeping her arms crossed all the way until she disappeared into the XO's quarters. His eyes were slightly narrowed, and he be lying if he said that he was curious, as well as cautious as to why the woman was talking with his girlfriend.

"Don't look so defensive hun. We were just talking." Lycan said with a smile as she lightly rubbed Kaidan's chest.

"About?" Kaidan asked flatly, arcing a singular brow up his forehead.

Lycan shrugged, "About various things. We talked about her sister... Cerberus... How psycho the Illusive Man is... Stuff like that." she kept smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair in a weak attempt at giving it some order.

"Ah... Girl stuff." Kaidan joked, finally smiling back at her as he kissed her forehead.

Lycan giggled, "Yeah... She's coming around though. She's beginning to realize that the Illusive Man has pretty perverted views of his intentions." she said, nuzzling her forehead into Kaidan's chest.

"That's good to hear. You never did tell me much about that other Cerberus agent... Taylor?" Kaidan asked for clarification.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah... He'll follow Shepard without question. He won't even second guess any of Shepard's decisions. He'll voice his opinions, but that's it." she said, stretching her neck up to lightly kiss Kaidan's lips.

"Good," he smiled at her as he brushed the back of his hand over her cheek, "So why are you down here in the middle of the night?" he asked, locking gazes with her.

"I was hungry. I came down for something to eat and walked in on Miranda making herself a sandwich." Lycan said softly, wrapping her arms around Kaidan's trunk.

"I hope it wasn't too awkward for you." Kaidan said, still with a soft smile decorating his lips, stretching the barely visible scar that bisected his lower lip.

"No... She even gave me half of her sandwich because someone didn't wake me up for dinner." Lycan's smile grew wider.

Kaidan ducked his head and placed yet another kiss, "You were on a sleeping aid... A Reaper scream wouldn't've woken you up." he nuzzled his nose next to hers with closed eyes and his hands on her hips.

"You could have." Lycan grinned, nuzzling him back.

"We were in Shepard's cabin, with other people around. I wasn't gonna do a thing. Besides, you needed your rest. How're you feeling?" Kaidan asked, opening his eyes and straightening up to his full height.

Lycan half shrugged, "Stiff, but I'll be ok."

"You will be for a day or so. Come on," he took her hand, "Lets get back upstairs and go to sleep. You don't need to be talking anymore girl talk." he joked, leading her back towards the elevator.

Lycan lightly giggled, "What? It's not like we talked about marriage or anything."

Kaidan's eyes widened as they entered the elevator.


	68. Chapter 68

Chapter 68: Lair of the Shadow Broker

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect... Including their employees LOL.)_

Hagalaz was truly a sight to behold. From the blackness of space, it slowly spun with a thick band of twinkling lights that stretched around it's girth, but as the _Normandy_ and her companion, the _Grimm_, drew closer, they realized that the twinkling, starry band was anything but peaceful string of lights.

Breaking through the atmosphere on the day side of the planet, Shepard and all his crew and guests realized that the twinkling bad was a raging, violent, fire and brimstone electrical storm that never stopped.

"My God... Look at it out there." Ashley breathed in disbelief, watching out of the viewports on the bridge, along with everyone else that had manage to grab a spot behind the pilot.

"Jesus Christ... Why in the world would the Shadow Broker be hiding out here?" Shepard asked, his mouth slightly agape with uncertainty mixed with shock at the sight.

"Hagalaz is constantly ravaged by the storm. During the day, the oceans boil, but at night, they snap freeze in an instant. The constantly changing air pressure creates this." Liara briefly explained, standing next to Joker to help navigate the ships.

"How does that benefit the Shadow Broker at all?" Ashley asked, somehow managing to tear her eyes away from the viewports to glance at Liara.

"From the data on the disc, the Shadow Broker's ship follows the storm front. It provides the perfect cover since it's nearly impossible for scanners to pick it up amongst all the electric interference." Liara said, still watching intently for any sign of anything on her screens.

"If that's the case, then how're we gonna find him?" Shepard asked.

"That, luckily, was also included on the disc. My contact was able to acquire the ship's actual signal. With it, we were able to pinpoint the Shadow Broker's location within the storm." Liara said while her eyes bounced back and forth in search.

"And?" Shepard coaxed her on, crossing his arms when he felt the urge to wrap one around Ashley's waist.

Liara stayed quiet for a moment as her hand tapped a few commands onto Joker's console, "We have it. The ship is just over five clicks to our port. I would suggest we stay within the storm's interference to prevent the Shadow Broker from detecting us." she said, resting her hands on her hips.

"If he hasn't already," Shepard mumbled, "Joker... Take us in. Liara, Ash... Get suited up and meet in the hanger." he ordered as he drew in a deep breath.

Kaidan and Lycan could only watch as Liara and Ashley immediately turned and headed down the CIC to carry out Shepard's order, but they noticed that Shepard was hesitating, despite that he also needed to get into his combat armor and grab his weapons.

"What's wrong Shepard?" Garrus asked before Kaidan, or Lycan could from his spot near the airlock.

Shepard shook his head, tabbing a finger against his chin, "Just thinking." he didn't blink.

"About?" Kaidan asked, gabbing a finger into Shepard's shoulder.

"Who this guy really is for starters. What kind of guy can organize something like this without ever being known." Shepard said, really just thinking out loud.

"An AI perhaps?" Miranda offered, standing next to Garrus, also with crossed arms.

"Judging by the age of the Shadow Broker's mythology, it is entirely possible that the Shadow Broker is actually an advanced AI." EDI said from her holographic orb hovering above her nearby platform.

Hearing the speculating, Lycan decided it best to simply stay quiet and listen with the occasional glance up at Kaidan, whom seemed to understand what she was thinking. They wanted to help, any dear friend would, but with the present company, knew it probably wasn't the best of ideas, so they just stayed quiet and preferred to be the flies on the wall, as it were.

"It's probably best we assume that the Shadow Broker is nothing to be underestimated." Miranda said, slowly nodding.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah... Con's yours Miranda." he said, eager to get on with things.

"Understood Commander. Orders?" Miranda asked.

"Keep the ship within visual range, and that goes for you too Kaidan." Shepard said, glancing first, at Miranda before looking over his shoulder at Kaidan and Lycan, still standing out of the way in the back right corner of the bridge.

Kaidan nodded, "Alright."

With a curt nod, Shepard spun on his heels, keeping his fingers resting on his chin as he all but marched down the CIC to the elevator to get ready, leaving the crew in silence, still on the bridge.

Drawing in a deep breath, Kaidan took note of the crew that disappeared. Jack had huffed and hurried to vanish into her hole, while Jacob and Mordin retreated to their respective labs on the other side of the CIC. He popped popped an eyebrow as the large krogan he had come to know as Grunt stomped away, nearly pounding his chest from his pent up rage and to his relief, that was the only thing he was pounding. He tried not to chuckle too loudly when Kasumi did what she did best and simply vanished before their very eyes, leaving Garrus as the last man standing, still by the airlock and still with his arms crossed.

"Are you guys taking off after this?" Garrus asked, stepping fully onto the bridge to shake Kaidan's hand, and give Lycan a gentle hug.

Lycan nodded, returning the hug to the much, much taller alien, "Yeah. I'm sorry Garrus. I wish we could've stayed longer, but..." her voice trailer off as she shook her head.

"I'm sorry I couldn't talk more. That new Thanix cannon Shepard wants is arguing with me and it's taking all the calibrations I know to get it to work. I've even had to look up a few things." Garrus said, carefully patting his taloned hand on Kaidan's shoulder.

"Wow... That should pack a nasty punch. When you guys get that?" Kaidan asked, wrapping an arm around Lycan's waist now that Shepard's entire crew wasn't around, giving him a chance to relax a bit.

"Shepard ordered it when we were still on Illium. It's why I didn't do much other then go meet with Liara. I had a lot to do." Garrus said with a soft clank to his mandibles.

"Still have a bit to go?" Kaidan asked.

Garrus nodded, "Yes. I should be getting back to it actually."

"I wish I knew something that could help you out, but I've got nothing." Lycan said, gently squeezing Garrus's arm despite that he probably couldn't feel it through his armor anyways.

"It's alright. I'll make do. Shepard's been giving me as much time as I need to get the cannon integrated, so it hasn't been too frustrating... Yet." Garrus said with his own nod.

"Well... Hopefully everything will come together soon. It's a good cannon once it's working." Kaidan said, returning the short nod.

"Yeah... If I don't get to see you before you leave, take care and be careful." Garrus said, resting a hand on Kaidan's shoulder once more.

"The same goes for you Garrus." Kaidan said, placing his hand on Garrus's forearm as Lycan had.

Lycan smiled as her and Kaidan watched their friend head back to the elevator where he would presumably hunker down in the forward battery to continue his work. She quietly sighed as she stepped away from Kaidan's gentle embrace to step in behind Joker's chair where she softly placed her hands on his shoulders and lightly squeezed.

"Hey..." Joker said, glancing up at her for a moment before looking back in time to see the distant profile of ship with a massive, windsail shaped stern, "Wow... Is that the Shadow Broker's ship?" he lightly gasped.

"Yeah. That's it." Lycan said plainly and almost too quietly for anyone of them to hear.

Joker sighed, "Hang on then. That storm's gonna start messing with us right about..." the ship rattled from the massive display outside, "Now. Hang on. I don't know how crazy this is gonna get."

Removing her hands from Joker's shoulders to grab the top of his chair instead, Lycan widened her stance as Kaidan steadied himself on the copilot's chair, watching as Joker worked his special brand of magic.

All they could do was watch as the distant ship drew closer, revealing it's true size to be one that dwarfed the _Normandy_ and her smaller companion. The ship was long, tremendously so, and the giant shield type piece at the stern made it appear as though she was dragging a bucket through a pond, scooping up anything and everything that came along with it, and the entirety of the ship was constantly being struck by lightning. It was something that Lycan found very hard to forget, especially now.

_"Grimm to Normandy... Come in Normandy." _the comms crackled, lightly accented by static from the surrounding storm.

Hearing the voice of one of his pilots, Kaidan looked out the port viewports to see his ship just off the _Normandy's_ port bow, but she was falling back and that sparked his worry. He slinked around the chair and sat with a rush, flighting his hands over the comm to immediately answer the call.

"_Grimm_, this is _Normandy_, go ahead." Kaidan said with the space between his brows crinkled.

_"Commander? That you?" _

"Yes. What is it? Is everything alright?" Kaidan asked, ignoring the nervous roll of his stomach.

_"We're fine so far sir, but we've gotta back off. The storm's interfering with our systems. All the electric discharge is starting to tap dance on all the electronics." _it was either Jake or Jerry speaking, but Kaidan had no clue since they sounded exactly the same.

"I copy. Return to orbit, but follow our position on scanners as best you can." Kaidan said, glancing over at Lycan who's worry was written in her eyes.

_"Roger that Commander. Thing two out." _

Joker's brows furrowed, "Thing two? Who's call sign is Thing two?" he slowed the ship as he began the approach.

"Uh... Jerry... I think." Kaidan said as he secured the comms and stood, hearing the low rumble of the hanger bay door opening and seeing the small, angular shape of the shuttle come flying out from underneath them.

"Jerry?... Jerry who?" Joker asked.

"Johnson. My pilots are the Johnson twins." Kaidan admitted, seeing Joker's eyes flash wider for a moment in recognition of the name.

"Are you serious! Hackett assigned you the loony twins?" Joker nearly yelped.

"Twins yes... Loony... Probably not. They're good pilots." Kaidan defended, finding that he had come to understand them easier, now that he had forced them to speak one at a time.

"Yeah... You say that now, but wait till you have to outrun something. Those two made seven instructors puke all over the bridge one time because they pulled enough g-force to snap five support girders in the training ship." Joker laughed, maneuvering the ship to follow behind the Shadow Broker's wake where the turbulence wasn't nearly as jarring.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd ask what happened next, but looks like Shepard just touched down on the back of that thing." Kaidan said, pointing out the viewports as the shuttle banked towards them.

"Right... Looks like it's game time." Joker nodded.

_"Joker... This is Shepard. Can you read?" _the disembodied voice of Shepard crackled into the bridge, filled with static.

"I read you Commander." Joker answered back quickly.

_"Good... We just touched down, but we've gotta hike it to find a way in. With all this lightning, I have no idea if we're gonna lose comms or not." _Shepard said with the heavy static making it hard to catch each word, but somehow, each one made it through.

"If we do, I'll be here Commander." Joker said with sincerity.

_"You always are."_

Before any of them could utter any more replies, the comms went dark, casting them in the relative peace of a thunder cracked and lightning flashed bridge. Only two knew of what was to come next for Shepard and their friends, but they were having a hard time stomaching the trial that Shepard was about to face. Both Liara and Ashley were incredibly capable soldiers, and Shepard himself was in his take no prisoners mindset, but they knew what hid behind those closed doors. They knew the beast that lurked in the shadows in the bowls of the lightning ship, and they very much didn't like it.

* * *

The thunder rumbled in their bones with every roll, shaking the ship's hull where they stood. The lightning flashed all around, completely washing out their vision every time a bolt went careening into one of the many large rods that spiked the ship's dorsal. The sky rolled with impenetrable clouds, towering over them like the maw of an enormous predator bearing down on them with only a meal on its mind.

However, the scenery above them was far different then the one from below, as Ashley's eyes went as wide as they could go, looking cautiously over the ship's edge that had nothing to hold onto, not even a railing, to nothing but an expanse of misty, featureless blue.

"Oh... my... god..." Ashley breathed into the comms of her helmet, knowing the other two heard her loud and clear.

Shepard tore his eyes away from the tempest above his head to look at Ashley, "What's..." he finally saw just how high up they were, causing his stomach to roll, "Whoa..."

"According to the data, we're approximately thirty thousand meters above the ocean waters." Liara said, her tone a little too nonchalant for their liking.

"Oh boy... That's uh... That's high." Shepard gulped, taking a step back despite being well enough away from the ship's edge.

"High doesn't begin to cut it Skipper. You fall, you'll have enough time to read war and peace before you hit the water." Ashley said, also taking a step back, but pulled her assault rifle as she did so in preparation for their push to find an entrance.

"Yeah... I think I'll prefer to just scream..." Shepard started when his comms crackled.

_"Commander... We gotta bug out. That storm is wrecking our systems. The Grimm's already returned to orbit... I'm thinking we're gonna have to do the same." _it was Joker's voice in all their ears.

"How bad is it Joker?" Shepard asked, the worry clear in his ton.

_"I have isolated all major systems Commander, but I have lost connection with minor systems in the tertiary sensor suites." _this time, it was EDI.

"I copy EDI. Get the _Normandy_ to orbit. I'll radio when we're done." Shepard said, sighing.

Turning to look at the stern of the ship, the three watched as the _Normandy_ put her nose up and banked off, rising high above them until the clouds completely swallowed her up, obscuring their view entirely.

"I guess we're on our own huh Skipper." Ashley sighed, never taking her eyes off Shepard who was still watching where the _Normandy_ had disappeared.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. Let's move people. We've got an airlock to find."

* * *

Lycan didn't like it. She didn't like thinking about Shepard having to engage in hand to hand combat with a beast nearly three times his size. She didn't like thinking about how Ashley would be knocked out when the Shadow Broker destroyed his desk, and she sure as hell didn't like having to sit and wonder if things were going their way.

With the inability to sit still, Lycan paced inside port observation, back and forth from the minibar, to Kasumi's collection of priceless artifacts and back again. The poor thief could only watch from her claimed bunk next to the large bookshelf in wonder and god help her if her infallible curiosity wasn't taking over.

"Why are you so anxious? It's not like Shep hasn't taken on worse and lived." Kasumi said, curling her knees into her chest.

"He's my friend. I worry about my friends." Lycan said in a bland tone, never even stopping her pacing to acknowledge that someone was even talking to her.

"That's obvious." Kasumi scoffed, now out of disrespect, but out of dumb observation.

Lycan just continued to pace along her path that was beginning to wear into the carpeting that covered the deck plating.

"You know, I can steal just about anything, but getting new carpet is tricky to transport when you're my size." Kasumi said with a smile, hoping to get the anxious girl to crack one herself.

Lycan stopped mid pace and flashed Kasumi an mildly amused glare, "Funny," she huffed and sat down on a couch that looked towards the large observation window, "Seriously though... Not a fan of him going up against that beast." she grimaced as she realized what she said.

"What beast?" Kasumi asked innocently, gently rocking back and forth while still holding her knees.

"Uh... Just the Shadow Broker and his forces in general." she lied, stiffly and avoided eye contact. _Goddamn, I'm a horrible liar. _She thought with another grimace.

"Uh huh... Almost sounded like you knew what Shepard was going up against." Kasumi said with a half shrug as she stretched out on her bed.

Lycan gulped, "Yeah..." her voice trailed off as her leg started to ideal with her anxiety.

Unable to keep quiet, or still, Lycan's heavy sigh filled the observation deck over the thrum of the drive core, but her anxiety was just too much to take. She stood with another huff and hardly said goodbye to Kasumi before she darted out the door and went on a mission to find Kaidan. He was the only one she could talk to about any of this.

Luckily for her, it didn't take long to find him, as he was sitting at one of the tables in the mess with datapad in hand and a mildly furrowed brow on his face.

"I don't like all this waiting Kaidan. I don't care if Shepard can handle..." Lycan started whispering as she sat down a bit forcefully in the chair next to him.

Kaidan hung his head, "Ly..." he sighed.

"Don't Ly me," she poked him in the side, causing him to flinch, "You know just as well as I do that that yahg is gonna lay down some hurt." she said, having to concentrate harder then normal to keep her voice from rising in volume.

Kaidan glanced over at her, "You're sure that the Shadow Broker's a yahg hun? Their planet's quarantined." he said, handing her the datapad so she could read what he'd been studying for some time now.

"Doesn't matter. He's a yahg. A big, fucking, ridiculously huge yahg with way too many teeth and a bad temper. I'm telling you baby... He's three times their size." she argued, quickly skimming through the data with a flick of her finger.

"But all they've gotta do is out maneuver him for a bit till Liara breaks the containment glass in his office." Kaidan said, throwing some of her knowledge back at her.

Lycan thumped her head down on the table, "Kaidan..." she whined, lifting her head, "I don't know for sure, but that stuff is shiny, electrified plasma and I'm pretty sure it's dangerous." she said, leaning close to Kaidan to give her another reason to keep her voice down. She didn't want to blow out his eardrums.

Kaidan sighed for the umpteenth time, "You really think it's electrified plasma?" he asked, looking over to her.

Flaring her nostrils and pursing her lips together, Lycan furiously worked the datapad until a still of said electrified plasma dominated the holographic screen and nearly shoved it back into Kaidan's hands.

"Yeah... Pretty sure." Lycan snapped, not angry at him in the least bit, but rather the situation.

Kaidan sighed again, "This can dissolve anything organic sweetie."

"I know, and I don't think it'll stop at the Shadow Broker Kaidan." Lycan whispered, softening her eyes in hopes that the 'puppy dog look' would persuade him.

Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck, "Crap... I didn't even think about that actually." he relented, lightly licking his lips.

"That worked in game, but I'm not trusting a whole lot of game logic since this is reality." Lycan said as her whisper shifted from frustrated, to a bit shaky.

Kaidan nodded, "I agree. That plasma's gonna rain down on them and anyone that gets hit by it is gonna need some serious medical attention." he said with a deep sigh as his medical training started to kick in.

"Exactly. We've gotta do something Kaidan. I don't care what, just something." Lycan was near the point where she was going to start begging.

Blowing out a breath, Kaidan picked up the datapad once more and stared at the picture Lycan had found. The shocking liquid had doused a poor soul, instantly eating away everything and leaving the man without both his legs and half his left arm. It was a gruesome sight, but hoping for some good news, he read through the short blurb about the incident. However, that good news never came, as the man later passed from his injuries.

"Alright. I'm on board. You have any ideas?" Kaidan asked, leaning into her shoulder as he crossed his arms.

"I've got one, but we'll need help." Lycan said, rapping her fingers against the table.

Kaidan lightly, quietly groaned, "Uh oh. What kind of help?" he asked, trying not to let his upper lip curl with unease.

"The thieving master infiltrator type." Lycan said, knowing full well that Kaidan understood her cryptic meaning.

"Ly... That means filling her in, and she's still apart of the timeline." Kaidan said through lightly clenched teeth.

"We won't have to. We can just say we need her help." Lycan said as the ever so soft sound of muffled chuckling caught her ear.

"Help with what?" came a disembodied voice, only as loud as a whisper that came from somewhere near them, but from where, they had no idea.

Both Lycan's and Kaidan's brows pulled together as they looked at each other, hoping the other knew where the voice had come from.

"Um... What?" Lycan asked, wondering if maybe her mind was just playing tricks with her.

"What do you need help with?" came the voice again, but this time, Kaidan's face told her that he had heard it too which meant, she wasn't losing her mind.

Creasing her brows tighter, Lycan slowly looked up, but the voice started giggling again, "Kasumi?" she called out, but only just loud enough so not to alert anyone else that she was talking to someone she couldn't see.

The voice giggled again, "Mmhmm."

Kaidan glanced at Lycan, but decided to play along and stared at the datapad instead, "How much did you hear?" he asked, acting as if he was still talking with Lycan.

"All of it. I need details though if I'm gonna help." Kasumi's voice said, in a whisper, but from where, they still had no idea.

"We need to get to the Shadow Broker." Lycan said, following along with Kaidan's act of leaning over a bit to look at the same datapad.

"Is that all? And here I thought you were planning something hard." Kasumi's voice giggled.

Lycan stared at her hands as they picked at her fingernails that she had to admit, were getting quite long, "Can you get both of us in?"

The wasn't going to fly with the man sitting next to her.

"Oh no you don't Ly. Not this time. You're staying put." Kaidan snapped at her, looking her with dead seriousness in his caramel eyes..

"What? Oh hell no. I'm coming..." Lycan started to argue.

"No... You're not. I'm not dragging you into arms reach of that guy." Kaidan cut her off and stoned his glare, hoping Lycan would relent and just let him win this one.

Lycan sighed, "Fine... But once he's dealt with, I'm coming on board."

"Deal." Kaidan instantly said, relieved that she had so quickly agreed to stay behind.

"What a fun little lover's quarrel." Kasumi giggled, breaking up the mildly tense moment.

Kaidan leaned over and softly kissed Lycan's temple, "She gets bullheaded sometimes." he grinned.

"I can see that."

Lycan's narrowed with annoyance.

"Can you get me in Ms. Goto?" Kaidan asked, anxious to continue, if at all to avoid the flat stare from the woman next to him.

"Without even breaking a sweat."

"Without being seen?" Kaidan asked.

"In my sleep." another elated giggle.

"Before Shepard gets killed?" Lycan followed up, finally taking notice that her leg was idling underneath the table.

"Sure, but we've gotta leave now." Kasumi's voice said, suddenly changing from playful, to serious in the blink of their eyes.

"Then meet me in the hanger bay. I'll get what I can and meet you there." Kaidan said, exhaling slowly to continue his charade of talking with Lycan.

Staying quiet, they expected to hear a reply from wherever Kasumi was hidden, but none came. She had apparently already disappeared, which meant, they had to move if they were planning on pulling this off.

Casually standing, they played off as if they were simply done sitting at the table as they cleared their things and headed to the elevator to stop by the Loft where their things were stashed. The moment they were out of sight of anyone, they burst into a rush, Lycan grabbing Kaidan's Omni-Tool for him while he gathered a few tech plans to help in case he ran into anything that needed a technological push in the right direction.

Satisfied that he had what he was going to need, Lycan followed him as they rushed back to the elevator and rode it down to the hanger. They saw that the shuttle was already on the deck and ready to go, so wasting no time, Kaidan spun to give Lycan a far too quick hug, kissed her lips, before he stepping inside and shut the hatch.

* * *

Shepard couldn't believe that the Shadow Broker's personal army was large enough to rival that of any of the big mercs bands that dominated the Terminus Systems. It seemed like there were a dozen around ever corner and because of their sheer numbers, it had taken quite a while to get inside the already massive ship.

Finally inside and out of the clutches of the storm and its long fingers of lightning and wind, Shepard, Ashley and Liara had woven their way through the corridors, fascinated by the ingenious of the technology the ship employed in order to maintain its position in the infallible storm. It was a magnificent system that utilized the constant strikes of lightning to power its fields, giving it a completely renewable and constant energy source. In short, it gave the ship a lifetime that rivaled even the Shadow Broker's eons long reputation.

However, they hadn't had much time to enjoy the technology, or learn from it for that matter, as more mercs quickly closed in on them, fighting as best they knew how, but against two biotics and a soldier with an aptitude for assault rifles, they weren't much of a match. It was a constant battle, all the way up until they found the person Liara was so set on rescuing.

"Liara? Is that you?" the drell in the strange chair asked with a shaky, aquatic sounding voice.

"Feron!" Liara gasped as she hurried to his side, "By the Goddess... Are you alright? Are you hurt?" she rattled off quickly as she looked him over, looking for obvious sign of injury, but saw none strangely enough.

"I've been better. How'd you find me?" Feron asked a bit airily as he briefly looked at Shepard and Ashley, standing at his feet.

"We had some help. We've got to get you out." Liara started as she feverishly looked for a way to release her friend.

"No! You can't! It'll kill me if you try." Feron quickly warned with wide, black eyes.

"But..." Liara was about to protest, but the proof was suddenly, and shockingly given.

As Liara inadvertently placed her hands on the chair, Feron instantly went stiff, gritting his teeth together hard enough to cause the light green and brown skin of his cheeks to flex to maximum. His eyes slammed shut as his body twitched and convulsed from the strong electric shock, and a barely contained scream ripped through his throat.

Startled, Liara instantly removed her hands, which caused the torture to stop and allowed Feron's body to relax.

"By the Goddess... I'm so sorry." Liara gasped, balling her fists and pulling them away from the chair out of fear of setting it off again.

"It's alright. It's not so bad anymore. Falling into memory helps, but the only way I'm gonna be able to get out of this, is if you take care of the Shadow Broker. His office is at the end of the hall." Feron said, taking in deep, chest filling depths to help calm him down from being electrocuted again.

"Do you know who the Shadow Broker is?" Shepard asked, still with gun in hand in case even more mercs showed up.

Feron shook his head, "No. Even here the Shadow Broker works through agents. He never, and I mean never comes out of his office."

"Christ... What is this guy? A hermit?" Shepard grumbled, glancing at Ashley who shrugged.

"What's a hermit Shepard?" Liara asked with a quick glance his way.

"Someone who doesn't go out much." Shepard said bluntly and with a grimace plastered on his face.

"That sounds about right. Look... The Shadow Broker knows you're here. If you don't go now, you'll lose your chance." Feron urged, gulping air down as a particularly loud thunder boomer sounded through the ship's hull.

"Then lets get moving." Shepard said, motioning with his head towards the direction Feron had indicated.

With Ashley taking point, as she often did, the three of them quickly made their way down a the corridor until they came to a joint where the corridor turned left, but not before it ran smack dab into an office alcove.

Sitting inside, at a large desk, were two more mercs, presumably on guard duty, that attempted to reach for their weapons, but were far too slow as Ashley put several rounds through the head of one, and Liara biotically pushed the other into the wall until a series of cracks were heard.

No longer hindered, Shepard made a beeline for the door, ready to finally put an end to the chaos that the Shadow Broker had caused, but the moment the door slid open, and the three rush inside, what sat in front of them, was not what they were expecting.

Behind a large desk that would have normally dwarfed anyone else, was the largest bi-pedal creature any of them had ever seen. It was double the size of any krogan, even Wrex, with four times as many eyes and a mouth with what looked to have three jaws, lined to the limit with teeth and its bulk was so thick, that it was a chore to simply determine where its limbs were.

"Commander Shepard... I've been waiting for you." the creature said with the most baritone, base voice that Shepard could swear he felt in his chest.

"You're sentient?" Shepard gasped, unsure if what he was seeing was real.

The creature nodded once, "I am... Though, I do not suspect you know what I am."

"You're a yahg... I've read about your species. The yahg are so violent, that the Council quarantined your planet after you slaughtered the initial contact team." Liara said with narrowed eyes.

"Ah yes... Dr. T'Soni. You've always kept interesting company." the creature said, interlocking his massive fingers together on top of his desk as he shifted his gaze to his left, "Operations Chief Williams... I see the depression has eased. Has spending time with Commander Shepard helped with that? I wonder if it was reveled to you that you have been spending time with a terrorist. I do believe your family name can't take much more punishment."

All Ashley could muster was a strong growl as she tightened her grip on her assault rifle, staring hard at the beast and hoping, praying that Shepard would let her shoot him.

"And I must thank you as well Chief Williams, for bringing me the infamous Commander Shepard, but despite having three of the most priceless beings in my presence, the pair I truly want, are on the _Normandy._" the Shadow Broker continued, studying them like a potential employer does during an interview.

Shepard bared teeth, "You aren't getting you paws on them." he sneered.

"So I've gathered would be your response. Perhaps we can make an arrangement that will benefit everyone. You hand over Mr. Alenko and the one named Lycan, and I will not only clear the Williams name, but exonerate your reputation and prove to the galaxy that the reapers exist." the Shadow Broker said, rapping a thick finger on his desk that spurred the extensive bank of holographic terminals behind him to display the trough of information at his disposal.

Trying to contain his gasp, Shepard couldn't help himself as he admired the precious treasure behind the massive creature. It was all there, everything he needed to not only prove that Ashley's name wasn't some curse that none spoke of, but would give him the ability to make the Council see the reapers as a real and honest threat. It was the very thing that would make his life easier if it wasn't for one thing. He'd be damned if he was going to hand his best friends over like possession to be traded.

"Not a chance in hell." Shepard growled, finding that he had begun to smirk with a crooked grin.

"Perhaps it's more that you desire? I can give you everything. Simply name your price." the Shadow Broker said, raising a hand towards his terminals as an unlimited offering.

Shepard shook his head, "No. You can't afford my price." he said flatly, his face turning emotionless and completely serious.

"I beg to differ. Everyone has their price." the Shadow Broker's throat, at least what Shepard considered a throat, began to rumble.

"Oh I didn't say I didn't have a price. I just said you couldn't afford it."

"This is becoming redundant Commander Shepard. Tell me what you desire, or the consequences with be dire." the creature threatened, somehow managing to make his voice even deeper and more menacing.

"You wanna know my price?... Fine... Give me my family back. Exonerate Ashley's name. Get rid of Cerberus. Get rid of the Collectors. Prove the reapers are real and then get rid of them, and to top it all off, I wanna be set for life with a place on Earth... I'm thinking Canada." Shepard quickly rattled off, drawing his brows down into a hard sneer.

Hearing the deep rumble once again, the three of them stiffened in preparation for the blowback to Shepard's demands, but to their surprise, all the creature did was continue to sit and stare at them.

"You are asking for more then anyone has ever wished of the Shadow Broker. Your demands will take time, but they are not out of reach. My desire to obtain the Time Jumper and her bedmate is severe." the Shadow Broker said, raising his head up a bit which in itself, brought his sitting down height to Shepard's standing height.

Shepard gulped. _Holy shit... He actually wants to meet my demands! _He thought, forcing his face to stay blank of any emotion which was a monumental task as it was.

"That's all fine and dandy if I were actually selling, and uh... I hate to break it to you, but I'm not." Shepard said, drawing in a deep breath.

Huffing a strong snort, the Shadow Broker planted his large hands on the top of his desk, pushing himself up onto his feet to a height that shocked Shepard and his squad stiff. He was more massive then Shepard had originally thought, standing at a full height of over ten feet and Shepard could swear the beast weighed as much as a skycar, if not more.

"My god..." Ashley breathed, still trying to determine if she was actually seeing what was in front of her.

"This is your last chance Commander Shepard. Give her to me." the Shadow Broker demanded, this time in a tone that clearly told them that he was not going to ask again.

"Fat fucking chance." Shepard spat.

"So be it."

Haunching his shoulders and clawing his hands, the yahg crouched down, snarling with the kind of growl that only comes from a pack of hungry and rabid varren. He roughly grabbed the edges of his desk, digging his claws hard into the metal as he ripped it from the floor and threw it, sending it careening towards them like a spinning, hulking bulldozer.

Holding his breath, Shepard hit the deck, assuming the others would as well, but when he looked over to prove his assumption to himself, time slowed.

"Ashley! Hit the deck!" Shepard screamed at the exact moment she took action.

Gasping, Ashley spun to do just that, but her reaction time was too slow from the shock of seeing the beast's enormous size. As she spun, the desk collided with her back, sending stars and pain all through her body, but it was only a flash as her entire world went dark, right in front of the man that loved her.

"Ashley!" Shepard yelped, feeling his heart immediately stop from terror that he had just witnessed himself losing her.

Panicked, Shepard scurried over to her, scooping her up in his arms as he checked her pulse and more then relieved to feel it still thumping hard against his fingers.

"You'll pay for this! You won't make it out of here in one piece!" Shepard threatened through clenched teeth that ground in his ears.

"I highly doubt that Commander Shepard. You are weak because you care too much for those around you. Your bedmate has been injured, thus leaving you weak." the Shadow Broker said, hunching over further into a sort of battle stance that Shepard recognized was similar to those of the trained Alliance vanguards.

"That's how my priorities are set up. My crew comes first, but it doesn't mean I'm weak." Shepard said, locking gazes with the Shadow Broker as he gently handed Ashley off to Liara who had rushed over as well, and stood, clenching his fists.

The Shadow Broker began to sidestep, stomping his massive feet in intimidation, "We shall see."

Growling, Shepard took a step forward into a charge as he drew a fist back that was already wrapped in a biotic mist as he reach a level of pissed off that allowed him to go straight at the massive creature with neglect for his own safety and well being. His throat ripped with an angry snarl, a growl even, as he drew close, ready to throw his punch, but once he was within arms reach, the yahg went on the defensive.

With a single swing of his tree trunk like arm, the Shadow Broker slammed it into Shepard's abdomen with such force, that every molecule of air was ripped from his longs. He was thrown back onto the floor where he skidded along it all the way to a barrier that sat in front of the door that was most likely used to funnel attackers away from the Shadow Broker's desk.

Coughing, Shepard forced air back into his lungs by sucking in breaths, despite the pain they caused, "It's... gonna... take... more... then... that." he panted, forcing himself to speak.

"As you wish." the Shadow Broker thundered as he crouched down more, bringing up his arm in defense.

With a fearsome, gut rumbling roar, the Shadow Broker's entire arm lit up in a modified Omni-Tool, not only covering his entire body in a white honeycombed grid, but expanded up and out into a full blown shield.

Seeing the Shadow Broker's newfound defenses, Shepard groaned as he tiredly pulled himself to his feet and grabbed his weapon from the floor at the same time. He drew in another deep breath and aimed his gun, firing only to have to duck when the Shadow Broker's tech armor and shield bounced his rounds back at him. Each shot that hit the Shadow Broker was sent in another direction like he had fired them himself, leaving behind ricochet marks all along the outer walls of the large lair, and some even came dangerously close to Liara, still holding the unconscious Ashley in her arms.

"Fuck! Liara... Why aren't my shots hitting him!" Shepard demanded as he dodged another massive swing that knocked the overturned desk into the wall where it smashed into kindling.

"His shields are kinetic! They're reacting to the speed of the rounds! They won't work so long as he has them up!" Liara hollered back as she carefully, but quickly pulled Ashley towards a wall, away from the battle.

"Fuck my life..." Shepard growled under his breath as he holstered his weapon, finishing just in time to roll away from another of the Shadow Broker's charges.

As Shepard realized that this fight would be determined by hand to hand prowess, he immediately began to shift and move, using his superior agility against the Shadow Broker's sheer brute force. He ducked and wove through and away from the swings and charges from the shield, planting his own punches where he could, but with little affect. He knew his punches were strong, as when they made contact, his whole arm would jar, but the Shadow Broker didn't seem phased at all by the attacks, despite them making it through the immense tech shield.

"Ha! You are weak Commander Shepard! You will never succeed and once I banish you, I will take the Time Jumper and her bedmate for myself!" the Shadow Broker gloated, swinging his entire being around in hopes of landing his shield into Shepard for a full body slam.

Shepard opened his mouth, ready to fire back some raunchy insult he could dig up from the bowels of his brain, but the moment his lips broke apart, the grinding sound of metal on metal caught their attention. He hurriedly looked around for the source, but couldn't see it until he saw the Shadow Broker looking up.

Over the beast's head, a grating over an air duct had slid back, but nothing was coming out and the Shadow Broker sure as hell wasn't seeing anything from his standpoint either. They both stared, waiting, as if expecting something, but when nothing came, the Shadow Broker looked back to his pray.

"Of no importance. You will not last much longer. Another hit like before and you will fall." the Shadow Broker taunted, taking a step forward.

However, when he planted his foot, a sudden weight pressed down on his shoulders and gripped hard, but no sound was heard. He looked around once more and raised his hands, hoping to grab ahold of something, but nothing was there. It was a phantom weight.

"What manner is this? Who else have you brought with you?" the Shadow Broker asked, still trying to discover what was causing the added weight.

Shepard stared without blinking at the nothing the Shadow Broker was reaching for, "No one. Just the three of us." he said blandly and confused, taking in deep breaths to steady his racing heart.

"Well... He didn't intentionally." came a ghost of a voice, giggling from seemingly all around them.

Shepard immediately knew that voice, "Kasumi?"

Just then, a shimmering figure appeared on the Shadow Broker's back, revealing the thief to Shepard as another person dropped from the air duct. A person he very much thought he had left on the ship.

"Now Kasumi!" Kaidan belted as he ran around the beast to come to Shepard's side.

"What the fuck!" Shepard yelped, unable to get anything else out as the entire space was filled with a pained scream.

Having dug her hands into the yahg's back, Kasumi sent wave after wave of electric current through the beast, hanging on with an admirable strength as he thrashed from the pain. Every muscle spasmed out of his control, tightening to near bursting and the pain sent stars twinkling in his vision. There was nothing he could do but scream like a drowning animal.

Before long, the white honeycombed grid of the Shadow Broker's shields flickered and vanished, leaving him completely defenseless. She jumped up and flipped backwards, clearing the databanks of terminals to land on the raised balcony where she smiled and disappeared once more in the blink of an eye.

Seeing their chance, Kaidan's body flared, "Follow my lead Shepard!" he boomed, reaching both arms out to capture one of the Shadow Broker's truck arms in his manipulated field.

Having no time to think, Shepard followed suit, grabbing the other arm in his own field, "Now what!" he demanded.

Watching Kaidan lean over, her mimicked the motion and saw that their actions where pulling the yahg down, pinning him to the ground where he screamed some more and thrashed.

"Do it Liara!" Shepard called, eager to be done with it.

Liara knew exactly what Shepard wanted.

Standing, she pulled her pistol and rushed to stand in front of the struggling foe, taking aim at his head and pulled the trigger without a breath in between. The rounds sprayed dark blood all around, including covering Liara's white and blue armor as the Shadow Broker's head blew open, mangling his face to the point that it was no longer recognizable as something sentient.

Feeling satisfied that the Shadow Broker was dead, Shepard and Kaidan pulled in their power, but instead of finding out why the hell Kaidan and Kasumi had snuck onto the ship in the first place, Shepard sprinted to Ashley's side.

"Ash... Come on baby... Wake up." Shepard whispered to her, bringing her into his arms once more where he softly stroked her cheek.

"What happened?" Kaidan asked as he came to them and kneeled down.

"She got hit with his desk. Knocked her cold." Shepard said, continuing to stroke her cheek and watch her closed eyes.

Kaidan brought up his Omni-Tool and began to scan her, "I don't see any lasting damage." he said as Ashley's throat groaned.

"Wha... What I miss?" she groaned, holding her head.

"Nothing special Ash. Take it easy." Shepard smiled, relieved as he brought her up a bit to lightly kiss her forehead.

"Did we win?" she asked, smiling a bit tiredly up at him.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah... Look who showed up?"

Ashley smiled lazily at Kaidan as Liara headed towards the databanks, "How'd you guys get here?"

"He had a little help." Kasumi giggled again, reappearing by the motionless heap to inspect it.

"What the hell were you thinking by the way? Why didn't you stay on the ship?" Shepard asked, trying to be mad, but finding that he couldn't since his best friend had just helped to end the fight sooner rather then later.

Kaidan just pointed up at the glass keeping the electrified plasma at bay, "That's why."

"Wasn't gonna be good huh?" Shepard sighed, brushing aside a piece of Ashley's hair that had fallen loose.

"No." Kaidan shook his head.

"Thanks... I appreciate it. That guy hits like a runaway shuttle packed with Eezo cores." Shepard scoffed, still feeling the after affects of his first hit.

"I'm just glad it worked," Kaidan said, placing a hand on Shepard's armored shoulder, "I gotta call in the shuttle. Lycan's waiting." he added, smiling.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. Bring her in. She'll wanna see what the Shadow Broker has anyways on BI... If he's got anything at all." he said as Kaidan stood and took a few steps away to hail the _Normandy._

"That was an interesting maneuver you did Kasumi? What was that?" Liara asked, looking over to the thief as she knelt down by what was left of the Shadow Broker's face.

"A shield fry. It pretty much electrocutes the shield emitters. It's good fun." Kasumi explained like she was walking her dog.

"Apparently." Shepard chuckled, glancing back to Ashley to help her sit up on her own.

Kaidan returned to Shepard and Ashley's side to look her over a bit more just for peace of mind's sake, which Shepard greatly appreciated. There were a few bruises, a nicely shaping lump on the back of her head, but other then that, she was fine.

As Kaidan gave Ashley a couple mild painkillers to take the edge off, the door to the office lair opened, giving Lycan entry, upon which she immediately looked at the dead lump in the middle of the floor.

"Whoo... That's dead." Lycan gaped, waiting not another second to avert her eyes and head over to Kaidan.

"Yup... Just the way I like 'em." Shepard joked.

"I think we all like it better this way." Ashley chuckled, but grimaced when her head started to throb.

"I don't mean to interrupt Commander, but I've got full access to the Shadow Broker's information stores." Liara interrupted.

"Anything on BioWare International?" Kaidan asked as he stood and headed over to her.

"I'm looking." Liara said.

Lycan sent Shepard and Ashley a short smile as she stood and head over as well, coming to standing next to Kaidan as both watched Liara work the terminals. There were droves upon droves of information about every major corporation in the galaxy from nearly every race. There were tech schematics, upper echelon dossiers, financial statistics from as far back as when the prothean ruins were discovered on mars, and even histories that detailed each ones mostly humble beginnings.

"Ah... I believe we have something." Liara said, glancing over her shoulder as Ashley walked up, helped along by Shepard.

Kaidan moved in and began to manipulate the interfaces himself, "Lets have a look," he mumbled as he brought up a few screens, "BioWare International was founded back in 2130 by a... Cassandra Hudson who..."

"Hudson?" Lycan gasped.

Kaidan nodded at her, "Yeah... It says that she and two others took the company in a different direction when her great grandfather wished it. I guess it was his final wish or something." he continued, skimming the unfathomable amount of information he now had to try and understand.

"Great grandfather? Who was he?" Lycan asked, finally looking at him.

"Uh... Someone named Casey Hudson." Kaidan said, lightly furrowing his brows when Lycan started to laugh.

"What? You know that guy?" Shepard asked, still supporting Ashley.

Lycan nodded, "Kinda know him. It's more like I know of him. He was the project director for the Mass Effect series."

"Really? Now that's interesting." Shepard grinned.

"No kidding... Apparently, he took over the company when the CEO at the time died unexpectedly." Kaidan was almost having trouble keeping up with all the information.

"How'd he die?" Lycan asked plainly.

"Uh... car accident. A hit and run... Authorities suspected that the driver was drunk at the time." Kaidan answered.

"Huh... So, this Hudson guy took over the company that apparently developed the game that Lycan played and just happened to predict the future?" Shepard dumbed it down for himself.

"In short... I guess." Kaidan shrugged.

"So what happened to all the references to the games? Why didn't people start to connect the dots when the prothean ruins were found?" Lycan asked, sighing.

"It looks like BI was paying the Shadow Broker a lot of money and have been since 2149." Liara said, having been searching the financial reports.

"One year later? We didn't even know aliens existed then. How'd they know before everyone else?" Ashley asked, using Shepard as a support wall.

"They must've known ahead of time." Shepard said, slowly shaking his head.

"But how? How could they've known?" Lycan asked, trying with everything she had to mentally grasp ahold of what she was hearing.

"They must've had prior knowledge of it. It's the only way they could've tapped into the extranet so quickly and contacted the Shadow Broker." Kaidan said, still combing through the droves of data.

"Ah... Perhaps this can help. Here's a correspondence chain between Cassandra Hudson and the Shadow Broker." Liara said, sliding the message chain to the middle of the banks for everyone to read.

Sure enough, it was a series of messages written between Cassandra Hudson and the Shadow Broker. None were particularly long, in fact, they were mostly one sentence messages and none were any longer then a short paragraph. No details were given and no names were used. It was about as discrete as someone could be and Cassandra was asking if the information had been removed, upon the Shadow Broker had responded with a simple 'Yes'.

"No shit... No wonder no one connected the dots... Cassandra erased the dots." Lycan gasped, tapping a finger against her chin as her brain worked to its max to fill in details.

"She had the games wiped from the books... No wonder we couldn't find anything." Kaidan said with a sigh.

"And that brings us back around to BI knowing beforehand what was gonna happen. How'd _they_ know?" Shepard asked, finding that he was awfully curious the more digging they did.

"Are the Hudson's still part of that upper echelon?" Lycan asked.

It didn't take Kaidan long to find the answer, "Yeah... All three of them are. They're Cassandra's children."

"So BI's a dynasty." Shepard breathed.

"Pretty much..." Kaidan started when he saw Kasumi standing on the elevated walkway with a white tech drone in hand.

"Look what I found in the back. Should help make some sense of all that data the Shadow Broker's got." Kasumi said with a smile as she let the drone go to float around on its own.

The drone went about its business, floating from terminal to terminal until it came to the main bank where everyone stood. It stopped and seemingly stared at them, twitching a bit as it turned to look around a bit, but after a few moments, a scanner beam emerged and went to work.

First, it scanned Shepard, flashing red once before it scanned Ashley, doing the same. It moved sideways and scanned Kaidan, flashing red once more and then scanned Lycan, but this time, it flashed green.

The little drone beeped as it pushed passed them to the databanks and linked into it, still buzzing as the many screens moved aside to make room for a larger screen to pop up upon the drones command with nothing on it, but a name, and a large prompt to enter a password.

"Time Capsule? Did you look that up?" Shepard asked with a crinkled brow.

"No... I didn't touch anything. The drone brought it up." Kaidan said, hands slightly raised to show he wasn't touching the terminals.

"This place is haunted... I know it." Shepard grumbled, popping an eyebrow up.

"It's not haunted Shepard. It appears that there's a secret run program embedded in the databanks. It was laced in with that last correspondence between Ms. Hudson and the Shadow Broker." Liara reported, still working the terminals like a pro.

"So what's the password?" Kaidan asked, hoping there was at least something to go off of.

"All that I can find is this." Liara said.

"What is it?" Shepard pushed, his curiosity at an all time high.

"The one who started it all." Liara read aloud.

"What? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Shepard griped, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I don't know Shepard. That's all it says." Liara shook her head.

"Ok... Uh... Try BioWare." Lycan suggested.

Kaidan entered the password, but was faced with a just as large crimson flashing access denied, "Nope."

"Ok... Shepard?"

Kaidan shook his head.

"Hudson?"

Again. Access Denied.

"Oh? Something just popped up, but its just looks to be a headline of a news article, or a poster of some kind." Liara interrupted.

"What's it say?" Kaidan asked.

"Missing." Liara said.

Lycan's breath stopped, "W-What?"

"That's all it says. Missing... Just missing." Liara repeated herself and shrugged.

Lightly pushing Kaidan aside, Lycan hurriedly typed in what she thought the password to be. It was only five letters, starting with L and sure enough, she was right. The password was L-Y-C-A-N.

Flashing green, the screen winked a short and simple message into existence, and to everyone's shock, it was address to the one person it shouldn't be addressed to.

_To: Lycan Morris_

_ From: C. Hudson_

_ Subject: About time._

_ Ms. Morris,_

_ If you are reading this, then it is time._

_ BioWare International Edmonton_

_ 200-4445 Calgary Trail NW_

_ Edmonton, AB_

_ Canada T6H-5R7_

"Uh... I'm confused." Shepard groaned, unable to tear his eyes away from the screen.

"I think everyone is Shepard." Kaidan said, glancing at Lycan who was as riged as a statue.

Not really knowing what to say, everyone just watched Lycan, waiting for her to do or say something, but the only thing she was doing was standing there, blinking and staring with shifting eyes that told Kaidan she was rereading the message.

"Ly?" Kaidan asked, placing his hand on her shoulder in hopes that the contact would snap her out of it.

It worked.

"That's... That's their address. I... I think whoever planted this wants me to go there." she said, lightly gulping and finally willing herself to breath.

"Then that's where we'll go." Kaidan said, looking over at Shepard.

"I guess this is where we part ways then." Shepard said, wrapping an armored arm around Ashley to hold her, not wanting to see her go so soon.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. I don't need to tell you to be careful I hope." he said, extending a hand towards Shepard, which he took.

"I think it's implied by now. I'll say the same to you though. We don't know what BI has up their corporate sleeves, so watch your six." Shepard said, pulling Kaidan into a brotherly type hug.

"Will do," Kaidan sighed and grasped Lycan's hand, "Let's get going. We've got some distance to cover to get to Earth." he said, looking at Ashley.

Ashley nodded, "Roger that LT."

Grabbing Shepard's hand, Ashley smiled sadly at him as he led her a short distance away from the group, feeling the physical ache in his chest knowing they were going to have to separate. He didn't want her to go so soon. He didn't want her to go at all, but it brought him solace knowing she was with Kaidan and Lycan and the _Grimm._ She would be out of harms way and it helped to know that. It helped to keep his focus.

Closing the distance between them, Shepard delicately placed his hands on the sides of her neck, capturing her lips with his own in a slow, sweet and loving kiss that told her he didn't want it to end. They each held their breath, hoping that the action would stop time and for a brief moment, it felt like it did, but too soon did their kiss break as Shepard rested his forehead to hers.

"I love you. You know that right?" he whispered, ghosting a smile across his sad lips.

"Yeah... I know. I could never forget that." she said, brushing her hand down his grown out, mussy hair.

"Good." his smile broadened.

_"Commander... We just got a message in from Tali. Somethings wrong." _Joker said, sounding worried even for him.

"Shit... I'll be there in a few Joker. Send a shuttle." Shepard said, letting his hands slide off Ashley's neck.

_"On its way."_

"I love you Skipper. Be safe out there." she said, resting her hands on his armored chest.

"I will."

Quietly sighing, Shepard watching her as she headed for Kaidan and Lycan by the door, waiting to head to get picked up by the incoming shuttle that was to take them to the _Grimm. _He couldn't stop the smile that he at least got to spend a little more time with her, but it also gave him the motivation to give the Collectors some serious hell. They started the fight. He was determined more then ever to finish it.

Once the door sealed behind them, Shepard snapped out of his reverie to see Liara still by the databank terminals. She had the face of a child on Christmas morning, getting to open her presents and he couldn't stop the low laugh at the sight. She looked like a deer caught in headlights, or like a pedestrian staring at a particularly bad car accident, or even someone on a particularly enjoyable drug trip. It was funny, but it also worried him.

"Ok Liara... We've gotta talk about this whole information high you're on."


	69. Chapter 69

Chapter 69: Effect

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: Good lord this one was tricky to write, but I think I got it. Hope you all enjoy!)_

Sleep was nowhere to be found. It had taken a vacation, left without a word, and even gave her the finger on its way out the door. Not even any of the little home remedies that used to help when sleepless nights were upon her were helping, and no matter what hour the small holoclock read on her bedside table, sleep wasn't going to come. Her only solace, was that she wasn't the only one.

It was the second night that they hadn't slept well at all since they had set course for Earth, and it wasn't because they had willing done so with more strenuous activities. They would have much preferred that, then to staying up until the alarm went off, digging through information.

Liara had downloaded all the information she could gather regarding BioWare International and other related materials, and had given it to them so they could try and learn as much as they could while they traveled to Earth. It had been a box of datapads, one datapad for each letter of the alphabet, and that box, having been emptied of its contents, now rested on the floor with every datapad it contained strewn all around it.

Rolling over onto her side, Lycan blew out a long breath of irritation as her tired, dark brown eyes set onto Kaidan's wide open ones, seeing him laying on his back and staring up at the ceiling with his fingers interlocked behind his head. She let out a long, drawn out sigh for the second time as she sat up, raking both hands down her face from the building exhaustion and lack of sleep that encrusted her eyes.

"This sucks." she groaned, rubbing her eyes until they were free from sting of being open for so long without true rest.

"Yeah... It does." Kaidan nodded, blowing out his own breath as he sat up as well, letting the covers fall from his bare chest.

Huffing, Lycan crawled forward onto her stomach to lay at the foot of the bed, letting her arms dangle off the end and grasped the closest datapad that rested on the floor.

"It's so hard to believe that BI knew about all this ahead of time and we still don't know how." Lycan said, flicking a finger across the datapad's interface to scroll through the mass of data.

"Unless we ask the Hudson dynasty directly, I doubt we'll find out why on our own." Kaidan said, rubbing his own face before laying on his stomach next to her.

"It'd help if we had some idea of what to look for, but Cassandra's done an epic job scrubbing the files." Lycan said lowly, not even having the energy to comprehend the words on the screen.

Kaidan just stared at the screen in Lycan's hands, "There's gotta be something she's trying to hide." he said, throwing an arm across Lycan's tank top covered back.

"There's gotta be, but there's not even missing chunks of paragraph to give us a hint." Lycan huffed, tossing aside the datapad that contained the A files up onto the bed on the side that wasn't occupied by Kaidan.

"Why would there be missing chunks?" Kaidan asked, arcing a brow as he gave her a sidelong glance.

"Redacted... There's no sharpie anywhere. It's like whatever she's trying to hide actually just doesn't exist." Lycan said, going limp under the weight of Kaidan's arm.

"What are we on now? D?" Kaidan asked, leaning into her to kiss her temple.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah... I think so." she said, stretching her arm out as far as it could go in an attempt to grab the datapad with the D files.

Seeing that the datapad was just out of her reach, Kaidan flicked his hand towards himself with a soft biotic glow surrounding it, pulling the datapad straight into her outstretched and open hand.

"Thanks." she said softly.

Kaidan kissed her temple again and smiled.

Smiling, Lycan leaned her head over to rest her temple against his forehead as she thumbed through the files, really only reading the names in hopes that something would pop out at her, but it wasn't her that something popped out at. She would have entirely missed it if it wasn't for Kaidan's sharp eye.

"Hey... Click there." Kaidan said, pointing his finger at a large file named BI donations.

Lycan did just that with a short tap of her finger, slightly reeling at the wave of smaller files that flooded the screen. The file contained a massive amount of history connected to BioWare International, all pertaining to a long, long series of donations that the company had made, but by just reading the names, neither could determine who the recipient of those donations were.

With a shrug, Lycan decided to just go for broke and opened the files, flooding the screen with photos, news articles and press releases from as far back as the year 2021. It was all overwhelming at first, but the more they read, the more their curiosity took hold and willed them on.

Tapping the interface, Lycan brought up one of the oldest articles, a news article from April 20th, 2021.

Staring back at her was a group of people she hadn't seen in a little over two years. The people she had missed terribly, but had come to terms that she wasn't going to see them again. Her mother and father stood on Kristy's right side, while Kristy's left was occupied by the CEO of the not yet BioWare International, as it wouldn't be formed until much later, and happened to be the same man whom had been the project director. Her brother and sister were on her parents' other side, but everyone there, had forced smiles. They weren't genuinely happy, but they put on the show because of the massively generous offering written on the check they all held.

"$4,202,183 _dollars_? That's a huge donation!" Lycan gasped, her eyes wide at the sheer size of the number that the company had donated to, at the time, the fledgling charity.

"Is that a mistype?" Kaidan asked, scooting a bit closer to her to look at the information better.

"I don't think so." Lycan said, swiping her finger to bring up a press release from nearly two decades later in the form of an anniversary piece of the charity.

"BioWare International's unprecedented donations to the Lycan Dareden Fund have helped to find and return countless people over the years. In the charity's first year alone, they were able to find over a dozen lost children, thanks to the generosity of the corporate giant..." Kaidan read verbatim, feeling his heart thump hard in his ears the more his eyes took in.

"Here's another donation for $4,222,183... What's with these weird ass numbers?" Lycan asked, crinkling her brows as she swiped through the droves of donation pieces over the years.

Kaidan slowly shook his head as he looked at the two numbers, wondering to himself why in the stars a company would pick such an odd number, but staring, glaring even, at the first number, his brain suddenly clicked.

"Oh my god..." he breathed, sitting up to sit on his butt as he took the datapad from Lycan's hands.

"What's wrong?" Lycan asked, rolling over onto her side again to watch Kaidan's reactions.

"The amount." he said, arranging the photos so that they were side by side.

"What's wrong with it?" Lycan shrugged, placing her head in her hand as she leaned on her elbow.

"Four-twenty, twenty-one-eighty-three. April 20th, 2183..." Kaidan repeated.

"What about it?" she shrugged again.

Kaidan finally looked over to her, "That's the date you showed up on the _Normandy._"

Lycan took in a sharp breath, "What?" she said airily, sitting up.

"That's the date you fell through that maelstrom onto the crew deck." Kaidan said, finding that his breathing had quickened a bit.

"W-What about that other amount?" she asked, unable to ignore the anxious roll in her stomach.

"Uh... Four-twenty-two, twenty-one-eight-three... That's two days later... What happened two days later?" he asked, looking to her.

Lycan closed her eyes as she thought, desperately raking her brain, but the only thing that popped into her head, was the Citadel, "Uh... We were on the Citadel... I think. What happened there?" she asked, hoping Kaidan could fill in the blank.

Kaidan shook his head, but then sucked his lips into his mouth, "Shepard being appointed as a Spectre is what happened."

Taking the datapad back, Lycan began to furiously find all the publicity check photos she could, finding a total of six, each with a different CEO, that had strange amounts, while the rest were whole numbers and infinitely smaller. She brought the six front and center, ordering them according to their amounts.

"I know most of these... My birthdate... The date the prothean ruins on Mars were found... The date I showed up on the _Normandy, _and the date Shepard was appointed a Spectre, but these other two... I don't know." Lycan said, slowly shaking her head.

Kaidan leaned in close to take a look for himself, "I don't know either... Hey, there's something written in the memo lines." he pointed at the tiny, thin line of blurry script at the bottom of each of the six checks.

Lycan squinted a bit in an attempt to make the script clearer, but it was so faint, so grainy even that the only thing she could make out was that it was written there.

"I can't make it out." she tried bringing the datapad closer to her face, but that didn't help in the slightest.

Trying not to giggle at Lycan nearly squishing her nose into the datapad to make out the words, Kaidan plucked the datapad from her hands and got out of bed. He walked over to the large holoscreen across from them and linked the datapad into it, transferring the images from the small six inch screen, to the far larger one where all of a sudden the script became legible.

Reading the lines, both held their breath as they simply stared, trying to comprehend the one sentence lines. Singularly, they wouldn't make any sense, not to anyone, but lined up the way they were, and knowing what they had managed to put together about the mega corporation, the one liners made complete sense.

"We found it... We believe... We will wait... We will listen to you... Come see us... We have much to talk about." Lycan read in order, unable to tear her eyes away from the screen.

"Are... Are they talking to someone?" Kaidan asked, crossing his arms with a furrowed brow.

Lycan shook her head and shrugged, "Who though?" she asked, not really believing what she was seeing.

"I don't know... The dates the donations were made are the same dates that correspond to the amounts on the checks _and_ the timeline. It's like they were gifts for anniversaries that hadn't happened yet." Kaidan theorized, blowing out a long breath as he reached for a warmed glass of water on the small dining table.

Lycan honestly didn't know where to go from here. The more she tried to think about it, the more her brain went completely blank. Her imagination was providing absolutely zero ideas and if she was to be honest with herself, she doubted she could even come up with something that even remotely fit with what they were learning.

However, there was still more to learn from the pictures.

"Looks like that one was taken after Casey took over the company," she pointed to the oldest of the six, "They became BI when Cassandra rose to power right? It was Casey's last wish?" she asked sweetly, climbing off the bed to look for a datapad herself.

"Yeah. They became BI right before Mr. Hudson passed away, but the donations started a number of years before that." Kaidan said, looking through a datapad containing the G files, in a general history.

"What did they start doing after they became BI?" she asked, taking the glass Kaidan had taken a sip from to take a drink herself.

"Well... It didn't help that there was a mass entertainment censor, so they shifted from game development to technology research and development to survive the censor." Kaidan said, scrolling through the detailed history.

Lycan cringed at the thought, "Then what?"

"Um... They developed a few pieces of technology before they funded the Mars mission and then... they helped develop all our mass effect tech. That launched them into power." Kaidan said, setting the datapad down on the dining table.

"Nothing about finding anything huh?" Lycan asked with a long sigh, remembering the first memo line staying that they had found something.

Kaidan shook his head, "Nothing babe."

Gnawing on her bottom lip, Lycan disconnected the datapad and picked up another, looking for more pictures, since anything with words was doing a fine job confusing the hell out of her. She found a few others, some of when Mr. Hudson was publicly anointed as the new CEO, and others that led all the way up to when Cassandra had passed the position on to her children.

"They all look happy at least." Lycan said lowly, still gnawing on her lip.

Kaidan quietly sighed as he stepped in behind her, wrapping her up in his thick arms as he lightly kissed the crook of her neck, holding her close to his chest so he could look at the photos along her. The span of the family had extended into technological greatness, changing faces after decades, but there was one thing that remained a constant, and it didn't quite make any sense. Not to him at least.

"Hey... Were any of the Hudsons linked to the military?" he ask softly into her ear, placing a just as soft kiss in hopes of drawing her attention away from their fish hunt.

Lycan shrugged and leaned into Kaidan's embrace a bit more, "No... Not that I know of. Why?" she asked, looking back to the screen.

"Well, because all of them are wearing a dog tag. Odd thing to wear if you aren't in the military, or had someone special in the military." he said, slowing rocking her from side to side.

"Oh like you're one to talk. The extent of your jewelry wearing never exceeds passed yours." she chuckled, feeling the warmed metal rest against her back.

Kaidan playfully growled into her ear as he tightened his grip on her, lifting her feet from the floor as he spun them both to waddled back over towards the bed, which was where he wanted to be.

"And yours doesn't extend passed this." Kaidan shot back at her, grabbing the small ball chain around her neck between his teeth to lightly tug on it.

Lycan lightly bit her tongue as Kaidan leaned forward to drop them to the bed, "It does too. I wear other stuff like the bracelets and the other necklaces you got me." she chuckled, moving her head over so Kaidan could have unrestricted access to her neck, lightly licking, still with the chain in his mouth.

Kaidan hummed against her skin, tickling her with the vibration that rumbled through his lips, "You only wear them when we go out, but otherwise, it's this one." he said in a whisper, finally releasing the chain from his mouth to run the tip of his tongue along it with the tang of metal against its tip.

"Of course... It's the only thing I have from when I came from." she said, letting out a long breath as Kaidan's tongue softly trailed up her neck and along her jaw.

Hearing her voice change from breathless to sentimental, Kaidan stopped his ministrations and lifted his head to be able to look into her eyes without them being blurry in his vision, "I never wanted to replace this Ly... I just wanted you to have nice things." he said, pushing himself up so that she had room to turn over and face him, pinned between his arms.

"I know you do, and I do. It's just hard to take this off since it's the only thing I have from my old life." Lycan said, placing a hand on the side of his neck as she watched his eyes study the small silver pendant laying against her collarbone.

"Is this new life so bad?" Kaidan asked, leaning on an elbow as he softly brushed his knuckles back over her cheek.

"My old life is just a memory now... I can't see myself going back there... not after everything we've been through." Lycan said with a smile.

Kaidan smiled, half lidding his eyes in the process, "Good, because I don't think I'd let you if the chance ever came along. If you did... I'd come with you." he said, dropping his head to ever so softly kiss her rosy lips.

Lycan's throat closed slightly, making it a bit hard for her to swallow, "Kaidan..." she breathed.

"I couldn't stand it if I had to live my life without you. Where you go... I go Ly." he said, ghosting another soft kiss across her lips.

"Kaidan... I don't wanna go back. I haven't wanted to go back since that night on Noveria." Lycan said, stroking her thumb along his jawline.

"You mean that night I choked under pressure and just made out with you for awhile?" he asked, mocking himself for, at the time, not having the courage to do more then barely kiss her.

Lycan silently laughed, "Yeah... That's the one."

Kaidan's lips stretched with the softest of smiles as he continued to brush her cheek, unable to tear his eyes away from her affectionate gaze. So many nights he had spent looking into those eyes, wrapped in her limbs while he showed her how much he loved her. So many nights he had laid awake to watch her sleep, lightly and lovingly trailing his fingertips along her exposed skin with the upmost of care. She had changed his life, changed the way he thought and had made him feel like the one thing he hadn't felt since he was a young child. She made him feel human.

Forcing himself from his head, Kaidan held his breath, and went for broke, despite his brain screaming to overpower his heart. However, his heart won.

"Ly... I... Will you m..." his mouth said on its own accord, but shut when she wiggled to sit up and slide off the bed.

Furrowing his brows, Kaidan watched her as she stepped back up to the holoscreen, seeing that her dark eyes were furiously studying each of the pictures that were still up. For a breath, he was angry that she had slipped from his grasp before the words had finished spilling from between his lips, but something had captured her attention with such force, that his own curiosity had reignited.

"What is it?" he asked quietly as he stood to come and stand next to her.

"I... I'm not sure, but..." Lycan trailed off, her expression obvious that she was still in the process of formulating her thought.

"But what? Do you see something?" he asked, watching her face for an answer.

Lycan nodded, "Maybe." she said, staring even harder at the holoscreen.

She could see it. It had to be it. It had to be the very thing that they had been looking for. It had to be the connection that linked past and future and considering that it had gone down through the ages, being seen without so much as a question as to why, it was perfect.

"It can't be." she breathed, arranging the photos in some kind of order so they were all, for the most part, visible.

"What? What is it?" Kaidan asked again, eager to be let inside her thoughts.

"It may be far fetched, but... In every single picture, that dog tag's there. Casey's wearing it in every picture and then his kids have it on, then their kids... All the way up to Cassandra's children." she said, scanning over the plethora of photos that showed the descent of the singular dog tag through time.

Kaidan drew in a long breath as he looked at a recent picture of the newest CEOs. Cassandra's three children, and the dog tag was, indeed, nestled around the neck of the only daughter, standing between her two brothers.

However, as he looked closer, along with her, they both began to see something that made their hearts skip a beat.

"Wait a second... Is that... Is that the..." Kaidan started, only to be cut off by her.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah... That's the Systems Alliance logo." she said, still looking at the collage of photos in awe.

"What in the hell are they doing with a dog tag with the Systems Alliance logo on it?" Kaidan asked lowly, not even expecting an answer.

"It looks exactly like yours Kaidan, right down to the matte black, but... A cheap dog tag wouldn't go through generations like that. Why did that one?" Lycan asked, her brows furrowed hard as she thought.

Kaidan's eyes narrowed even more as he stared at the photos, desperate to see the detailing closer, but none of the photos provided the kind of detailing he was hoping for. He thumbed through more photos, hoping to find one that would allow him to see the dog tag more clearly, but he wasn't having much luck. Lycan was however.

"Here! I've got one." Lycan said, hurrying to transfer the picture onto the larger holoscreen.

Once the photo was at their disposal, Kaidan expanded it, drawing the dog tag closer and closer until not only the Systems Alliance logo was clearly visible, but the name beneath it as well. The name of its owner.

"Holy shit... That can't be right... That's... That's Shepard's dog tag. That's his!" Kaidan gasped, cupping his hand over his mouth.

"How do you know?" Lycan asked, feeling her heart begin to hammer in her chest.

Kaidan thrust a finger to point at a long mark cut into the matte black powder coating, revealing the metal beneath it, "That... That's from sentinel training. Our sparring match turned into a full blown fight just before he cracked me in the back of the head and I erupted. I put that there." he explained briefly, pursing his lips together.

"So that's..." Lycan started, her shock rendering her speechless and unable to continue.

"That's his actual dog tag." Kaidan breathed out, placing his hands on his hips.

"I... I don't understand... Why do they have it? What makes it worth passing down through generations?" Lycan breathed out, still trying to comprehend everything that was slapping her in the face all at once.

"Because our dog tags serve more of a purpose then to just ID us if we're killed." Kaidan said, pulling out one of the chairs at the table to sit.

Lycan followed suit, and sat herself, "What?" her brows crinkled.

"Go get yours." Kaidan said with a quick toss of his head towards Lycan's night stand where she kept her civilian dog tags she had received when they were given the _Grimm._

Still with a ruffled brow, Lycan went and retrieved the tags from her stand, bringing them to him as he cleared the holoscreen of the gaggle of photos, leaving them with a clean slate to work with.

"Our tags are actually storage devices. They're used for all sorts of things. Unlocking lockers, getting onto ships... our medical records." Kaidan said as he clutched the slightly thicker of the two dog tags and slipped it into a small slot that nearly all computers and tech possessed.

With a small beep of acceptance, the holoscreen displayed the information contained on the dog tag, showing Lycan's picture, full name, doctored birthdate and all the other information they had put together with Councilor Anderson. It had a short listing of medical information, including her blood type, if she had any allergies to medications and her next of kin... which only listed one person. Kaidan Alenko, and that was at his request.

"So that's why Anderson wanted that information." Lycan said with a short huff.

Kaidan nodded, "For the most part." he lightly sighed.

"Yours has the same stuff?" she asked.

Again, Kaidan nodded as he pulled his over his head and replaced hers with his in the slot on the holoscreen. Her file disappeared to be replaced by his, displaying all of the same information, but where his medical records were, it extended much further down and blew hers out of the proverbial waters.

Kaidan's medical history was extensive, but not because he was ill. It listed every single broken bone, starting from when he was only four years old. There were broken arms, broken legs, a plethora of broken fingers and a few broken toes. There was a cracked jaw, chipped teeth, a few broken ribs, and a surgery to fix an illy set broken ulna that refused to mend properly.

At the age of eight, he was taken to BAaT where he underwent the extensive surgery that implanted him with the L2, and listed after that, in a sub category, was the just as extensive testing that showed his development of migraines and his biotic progress all the way up until he was seventeen, where he suffered his greatest listing of injuries to date.

Lycan knew that that was when he was beaten by Vyrnnus, where he defended himself and killed the turian, but not unscathed. His right rib, third from the top was so shattered, that it had to be removed and was subsequently replaced with a fully synthetic one. His right eye socket had been cracked by the turian, but there was little the doctors could do, other then tell him to take it easy while it healed. His lip had been split, resulting in five stitches to close the wound and after that, he underwent cosmetic dental work to fix the six cracked and broken teeth that resulted from the repeated blows to the face. It was amazing he had made it out of there still as handsome as he was when he went in.

"Good god babe..." Lycan said airily, shocked by the laundry list of past injuries he had suffered in his lifetime.

"Yeah... Biotics and kids usually equal lots of broken stuff, but because of how large my exposure was, I was always in a cast. I couldn't control the power." Kaidan said, slowly sighing as he mentally recalled each painful experience, especially the recovery period from receiving a synthetic rib.

Lycan grasped his hand and lightly squeezed it, "Wow... I bet you were excited when you learned to control it." she softly smiled at him.

Kaidan returned her smile, "It was nice to go longer then a year without breaking something, but... I traded broken bones for migraines."

"I'd prefer the migraines to be honest. Being stuck in a cast sucks." Lycan lightly laughed.

"True... But as you can see, these can hold a lot of information." Kaidan said, steering the conversation back on track.

"So you think that dog tag's like that?" she asked, standing to go behind him and affectionately massage his shoulders, earning a low moan of approval.

Kaidan nodded, but then hung his head from her work, "I do. It's the only reason someone would pass down a dog tag through generations. It's got something on it." he glanced back over his shoulder at her and placed his hand on her thigh.

"I hope your right." she sighed and patted his shoulders.

Kaidan nodded as he stood and pressed his lips to her hair, finally taking note that it was getting close to the time that they would normally be waking up. The night shift would be ending soon, which meant that they should consider starting to get ready for the day.

Sighing lightly into her hair, Kaidan went to the closet to pull a fresh uniform for the day, but when he got there, and opened a drawer where he kept his underwear and undershirts, he had to stop. His mind forced him to.

He mentally kicked himself for opening his mouth only a few minutes before, but laying over her, stroking her cheek and falling deep into her eyes, he couldn't stop his mouth from attempting to spill the words. He hadn't realized just how much Shepard's drilling had rattled him, but ever since that night, talking up in the Loft while the girls slept, it hadn't left his mind alone since.

Over the past couple of days, any silent, alone moment he had, his mind reminded him of the possibilities of having Lycan change her last name one last time. He found that he had repeated her name over and over again in his head, loving the way her name sounded with the surname he had in mind, but dammit if he wasn't upset with Shepard for causing this seemingly unending train of thoughts.

However, through all those thoughts, and repeated names, he was upset with himself for nearly saying it without anything to show for it. He had no ring, despite nearly asking Lycan to marry him.

"You were about to say something earlier... Everything ok?"

Kaidan had to snap himself out of his mental torrent at hearing her voice, "Huh? What?" he asked, having missed her question entirely as he chastised himself for not thinking.

"You were gonna say something before I got up." she said, walking to her side of the closet to gather her clothes for the day.

"Oh... Uh... Don't worry about it. It's nothing." he said, giving her a smile to reassure her that he was alright.

Lycan watched him for a moment, studying his eyes for any telltale signs that he wasn't telling her something, and they were there in the form of his gaze saddening a bit, but the expression was so soft and so brief, that she questioned she saw it at all.

"Alright." she softly nodded as she leaned close to him to place a just as soft kiss to his cheek.

_"Commander... We're just about within comms range of Earth." _one of the twins voices came in, breaking up Kaidan's self imposed tension, which he was thankful for.

"I'll be up in a few." Kaidan said, pulling his uniform and underthings with a purpose now.

After the comms clicked off, it didn't take much time until they were dressed, but they were only mildly refreshed considering how tired they still were, so they stopped by the mess for some coffee before migrating up to the bridge where the twins were furiously at work.

"How close are we?" Kaidan asked, taking a sip of his coffee as he shot Lycan a glance, rolling her eyes at the taste of the brew. He agreed that it wasn't the best coffee in the galaxy.

"We're within visual range. You finally gonna tell us where on Earth we're headed, or are we gonna have to throw a dart and pick one?" Jake asked with a grin plastered across his lips.

"Edmonton, Alberta." Kaidan said, taking a moment the admire the blue green marble that no one had seen in quite awhile.

"Canada?... Hey wait... Aren't you from Canada Commander?" Jake asked, his amusement clear in his tone.

Kaidan glanced over his shoulder as Lieutenant Callaghan came walking up to the bridge as well, coffee in hand, "Yes... Vancouver. Why?" he asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

Jake and Jerry smirked at each other, which made Kaidan nervous.

"You gotta say it." Jerry said, gleaming with a hope filled smile.

Kaidan arced a brow, "Say what?" he asked, taking another sip.

"You know what we're talking about... You gotta say it. Come on Commander." Jake encouraged, matching his brother's smirk.

"Say what? I have no idea what you two are talking about." Kaidan said, glancing at the giggling women next to him.

"I think they're talking about 'eh' Commander." Callaghan said, pulling her lips into her mouth in an attempt to keep herself from laughing. She failed.

Kaidan's eyes widened, "I don't say eh! I have _never_ said eh, and have no plan on saying eh for as long as my heart beats!"

"Bullshit! You're Canadian Commander... You gotta say it." Jerry said, his expression as if he was a twelve year old boy waiting for a long awaited present.

"I'm not saying it... Ever." Kaidan said with a straight face.

"Please Commander? Pretty please with an eh on top?" Jake and Jerry pled at the same time.

Kaidan rolled his eyes and swore under his breath, "Fine... Take us in... _eh_." his throat rumbled with an irritated growl.

"Yeah!" the twins roared with glee as they proceeded to contact the spaceport where Kaidan wanted them to land.

Kaidan rolled his eyes and looked at the giggling women once more, glaring at them hard enough to make Callaghan immediately cease, and vacate. Just in case.

"Sorry, but they weren't gonna let you off the hook." Lycan said, smiling at him as she winked, innocently taking a sip of her coffee in the process.

"Yeah yeah... You two better've gotten a recording because I'm not saying it again." Kaidan said, flicking both pilots behind the ear.

With the pilots rubbing their newly flicked ears, Kaidan and Lycan just watched as their home world drew close, slowly spinning like it was on display at an art show. The ship maneuvered around the orb until the distinguishable continent of North America came into view, where it banked and followed its given vector to approach, breaking into the thick atmosphere with an orange fury.

It didn't take long until they had broken through the protective layer, but they noticed that a majority of the country they were destined to land was shrouded in cloud cover. Kaidan sighed heavily as the thought of rain crossed his mind, and he could see it on Lycan's face that she was thinking the same thing.

Their suspicion of rain was confirmed when the _Grimm_ broke through, finally exposing the city below and the darkened gray sheet of rain that fell all around them. The cityscape was aglow with the city lights, and it made Kaidan wonder what time it was. Having spent most of one's adult life in space has a way of messing with one's internal clock.

No one spoke until the _Grimm_ touched down at its designated berth and the landing crew rushed in to begin their new arrival ship maintenance.

"We are down and secured Commander." Jake reported as Jerry secured their terminals and began the procedure to open the cargo bay door.

"Understood. Have everyone meet in the briefing room." Kaidan said as he stood from his chair and headed straight there with Lycan right at his side.

As was to be expected, Kaidan and Lycan were the first to arrive in the briefing room, but it didn't take long for Hanson, Ellison, Lia'Vael and Callaghan to arrive, just as they had been summoned to.

"Something going down Commander?" Hanson asked, crossing his bulky arms.

"Not for you guys. Lycan and I have something we need to take care of, and... The pay grade required to know what it is... astronomical." Kaidan said, feeling a pang of guilt for having to keep so much from his crew.

The frustration on Callaghan's face was blatantly obvious, "Commander... Don't you think it's about time we were grandfathered in? I mean, we were assigned to this crew, with a mission and so far, we haven't really seen anything that require three N7s." she said, keeping her tone neutral and not hostile.

Kaidan sucked in a deep breath as he set his coffee cup down on his desk, crossed his arms and leaned back against it, "I don't have the authority to do that, but... I can get in contact with the people who do."

"It would be appreciated Commander. Don't get me wrong, it's been a blast just working and learning the ship, but we didn't spend the time becoming N7s just to be johnny crew member." Ellison said, standing close next to Lia'Vael who had begun to fiddle with her fingers.

"I know... I know. Look, I understand its been hard being kept in the dark, but trust me when I say we've been dealing with some seriously sensitive stuff. If it's not handled... delicately, then things could very quickly spiral out of control." Kaidan said.

"We understand that part Commander, but I won't lie and say that I'm not confused. Has everything we've been doing recently been because Ms. Lycan's from the past?" Hanson asked, shifting his weight to his other leg.

Kaidan nodded, "Yes... It has. That's all I can say."

"It's something Commander. Do I have permission to use the funds to get a few parts for the engines?" Ellison asked.

"Something wrong?" Kaidan asked, lightly furrowing his brows.

"Nothing serious Commander Alenko, but a few of the Eezo seals and other rubberized connections could use a changing." Lia'Vael spoke up.

"Do what you gotta do to keep us space worthy guys. Lieutenant Callaghan's in charge while we're gone, so no trying to kill the twins while we're out." Kaidan said, cracking the barest of smiles.

"No promises Commander." Callaghan smiled and lightly laughed.

"Um... Hanson, I know tech isn't your thing, but see if you can give Ellison and Lia a hand with whatever they need. We've got the chance to upgrade what we need to upgrade and restock with some special things, so lets take advantage of it." Kaidan said as he crossed his ankles, still leaning back against his desk.

"I'll do what I can Commander." Hanson said with a sharp nod.

"Alright... Lieutenant Callaghan, you've got the con. If anything needs my attention, just buzz me." Kaidan said as he pushed off the desk and started for the door.

Lycan, however, stood for a moment and walked up to Callaghan, a little nervous, but confident since they had started talking more.

"You need something Lycan?" Callaghan asked, having stayed behind for a minute while Hanson, Ellison and Lia'Vael headed out to get back to work.

"Actually, I was hoping you could do me a favor." Lycan said, putting on the sweetest face she could muster.

"Depends on what it is, but I'll see what I can do." Callaghan said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Could you get the galley restocked while I'm gone? I won't have a chance to get it done before we get underway again." Lycan said, lightly gnawing the inside of her lip from nerves.

Callaghan cracked a small smile, "I can probably do that. Where do you keep your inventory manifests?" she asked.

Lycan exhaled with relief, "Next to the cold storage. It's all on a datapad." she said, feeling her muscles relax now that Callaghan had agreed to help.

"Alright Lycan. I'll take care of it. You better get going before the Commander leaves without you." Callaghan said, coaxing Lycan towards the door.

"He wouldn't dare." Lycan smirked as she stepped through the door.

"Oh? And why's that?" Callaghan asked, firmly planting her hands onto Lycan's shoulder blades as she pushed Lycan through the door and aimed her to the captain's quarters.

"Because I'd kill him." Lycan chuckled as Callaghan pushed her into the cabin.

"Oh ok. I'd like to see that." Callaghan joked, giving Lycan one final push.

"Thanks Sarah!" Lycan called behind her as the door closed.

"What's going on now?" Kaidan asked, having changed out of his uniform into a pair of black slacks and a light gray, button down shirt.

"Oh... Sarah's gonna take care of the galley for me while I'm gone. Why'd you change?" Lycan asked as she headed to her closet for the second time that morning.

"It's probably not the best idea to show up on BI's front door in a military uniform." Kaidan said, tucking in the ends of his shirt into his undone slacks.

"Why not?" Lycan asked plainly.

"Well, for starters, you aren't military." Kaidan said, giving her a wink.

"Oh, well since you put it that way..." Lycan winked back as she proceeded to pull some civilian clothes for herself.

Once dressed in her own pair of slacks, dark blue blouse and a pair of black heeled boots, the pair headed for the cargo bay and stepped out into the spring rain. It wasn't pouring hard, but it was enough to make someone think twice about leaving the house without an umbrella. The sun was completely covered by the thick blanket of clouds, and it showed no signs of coming out anytime soon.

They hurried to the nearby hanger where they were lucky enough to procure a ride to a place where they could get a car. The transport truck wove through the throngs of Alliance personnel, all busy taking care of other ships that had arrived at the Alliance spaceport, but the moment the transport truck stopped at the rental office, their attention was drawn to a man in a black suit standing with his hands clasped in front of him, next to a large, just as black limo.

"Staff Commander Alenko? Ms. Morris?" the man called as they stepped out of the truck.

"Who's asking?" Kaidan asked flatly.

Without saying anything, the man in black opened the door where the exclusive had the pleasure of riding in the luxurious back and motioned for them to get inside. Kaidan wasn't sure, he was on high alert, but when they had apparently taken too long, a voice came from inside the dark car.

"This rain is awful Mr. Alenko. Perhaps getting into the car would benefit you both." said the voice, laced with the groaning of real peeled cow as its owner moved inside.

"I need more then that." Kaidan said, still flatly and all business.

"Ah... I forgot you're charged with keeping Ms. Morris safe. I assure you, I mean neither of you any harm... save for maybe a drink should you choose." said the voice with amusement.

Taking in a deep breath, Kaidan continued to mull it over, but Lycan, getting tired of getting rained on, went to get into the car and dragged Kaidan along with her. They easily slipped across the fine genuine leather at the very back of the limo and the second they were inside, the door shut behind them, closing them off from the outside.

The inside of the limo was extravagant, but practical. The seats were kept nice with a fine layer of polish to keep the constant use from wearing the hide down, and the ceiling of the limo was finely decorated with long ropes of softly phasing lights. The entire left side of the car was set up as a moving bar, complete with holoscreen, glasses and a rather fine assortment of beverages ranging from club soda, to the finest bourbons to fill the approximately five feet of hand carved wood.

However, their attention migrated from the decorum to the uncharacteristically young man in his mid thirties sitting at the other end, drinking a glass of ice water. His dark brown hair was neatly cut and slicked back, with kept eyebrows and a clean shave. His eyes were the darkest shade of brown they had ever seen, nearly appearing black and he wore a dark gray suit that had been perfectly tailored and pressed to fit his frame.

Seeing the familiar features, Lycan's eyes widened at the recognition, and she tried not to gasp, but it came anyways.

"And there's the recognition. My mother's always told me I have a bit of my great great grandfather in me." the obviously well off man said, lightly smiling at the pair.

"Who are you?" Kaidan asked, this time not as hostilely as he had before.

"My name's Jonathon Hudson. I'm one third of the current CEO dynasty of BioWare International, but... I'm fairly certain you know that already." the man said as his smile grew a bit wider.

"You're one of Cassandra's children." Kaidan said, still a bit tense and leaning forward, ready to get between Lycan and the man should something be amiss.

The man nodded, "I am, and we've been waiting a long, long time for you to arrive... Both of you, in fact." he said, setting his glass of ice water down in the nearby cup holder.

"Why both of us? Why not just her?" Kaidan asked.

"Where she is, you are Mr. Alenko. We've known that for nearly two centuries." he said, crossing his legs as the car gently shuttered and rose into the air.

Kaidan's brows furrowed, "Two centuries?"

"That is what I said Mr. Alenko. I'm sure by now, you have plenty of questions for me." Jonathon Hudson said, leaning over onto an elbow, on the seat.

"That's putting it mildly." Kaidan grumbled.

"Where are the other two? CEOs... I mean." Lycan asked, nervously fidgeting with her fingers.

"Ah... Well, they were, of course, hoping that they could be the ones sitting here, but as it was my turn to wait, business called them away." Jonathon said, drawing in a calm breath.

"Why were you waiting?" Kaidan asked.

"One of us is always at the BioWare International headquarters to wait for when you arrived." Jonathon simply said, switching his crossed legs.

"How long have you been waiting for us?" Lycan asked, placing a hand on Kaidan's back in hopes of calming him a bit. Luckily, it started to work.

"A long time Ms. Morris. As far as your questions are concerned, it is best saved until we arrive back at my office." Jonathon said, retrieving his drink from the cup holder.

Wanting desperately to continue to ask her nonstop list of questions, Lycan opened her mouth to simply continue despite his wishes, but nothing came out. She had no idea where to begin. Her head was spinning, near literally, as she looked out the deeply tinted windows of the car, out into the darkening city. It seemed surreal, but in a way, it was brief calm that somehow, someway, let her thoughts begin to organize. She just hoped that once it came time to ask her questions, she could still pull them up off the list.

As she watched, she saw the car begin to lower, bringing a wide spread, well taken care of asphalt lot into view. It stretched all the way around the massive tower and expanded for quite some time, completely surrounding the smooth glass sky scrapper with only a minuscule amount of greenery, simply to give the place some color.

But the grounds failed in comparison to the building they surrounded, as it was a super tall, gleaming and glass skinned structure with a massive, yet elegant B, interlaced with an I and the smaller, block letters to complete the corporation's name. It was a beautiful sight to behold, despite the lack of foliage, but both knew, that underneath the elegant, trimmed and polished exterior, was a history that was somehow intertwined with hers.

"Have you eaten?" Jonathon asked, shifting his posture in preparation to exit the car as it steadied and began to land.

"Pardon?" Lycan asked, ripping her eyes away from the sight outside and back into reality.

Jonathon smirked, "Have you eaten?" he repeated.

"Not recently. We've had a lot on your plate." Kaidan said, finally relaxing a bit.

"I can imagine. Follow me and I'll make sure to have some food brought up." Jonathon Hudson said as his door opened and he shifted to slide out.

Just as he had stepped outside, Lycan's door opened, allowing her and Kaidan to exit the car. Jonathon Hudson motioned for them to follow, sticking one hand into a pocket as he walked with purpose towards the two large glass doors that opened before he had even gotten close.

Inside the foyer, the grand and elegant, yet simple corporate foyer, Kaidan and Lycan could only follow the CEO as he nodded once to the receptionists, sitting behind a large black reception desk with the corporation's logo adorning the wall behind them. He headed for a singular elevator behind the two women, standing directly in front of the BioWare International on the wall and waited as a scanning beam emerged from the W in the name.

"Trisha... Could you arrange for a meal for three to be brought up to my office please?" Jonathon asked kindly as he sent the woman who answered a wink that instantly made her blush.

"Of course Mr. Hudson. How many biotics are dining with you this evening sir?" she asked ultra politely.

"Just two my dear."

"Two?" Kaidan's brows furrowed.

All Jonathon did was look at them and smile as he stepped through the freshly opened elevator doors and waited for them to step in as well.

"I'll take care of it immediately Mr. Hudson." the woman known as Trisha said with a soft nod, standing from her comfortable looking office chair to head off on her errand.

The brushed metal doors of the elevator closed at Jonathon's command and the group rode it to the very top of the building, the two hundredth floor to be precise, and were presented with the most spectacular view of the city, dwarfed in the shadow of the super scrapper. Every building seemed like they were simply models put together by a child, and the traffic below and around the city was so small, it was hard to see them at all. The fact that there was no sun did absolutely nothing to help see anything passed the gray sky, but the black and white seemed like a picture from an old movie.

"Marvelous view isn't it? Despite the weather." Jonathon said, stopping and giving the pair a moment to admire the breathtaking vista.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. It's amazing." she agreed without hesitation.

"It never gets old. It was a chore just trying to determine which way the family wanted the CEO offices to face when the building was being built, but they eventually decided that they wanted the setting sun... when you can actually see it." Jonathon joked, still with a smirk across his lips.

"The CEO offices?" Lycan asked, lightly furrowing her brows in question.

Jonathon nodded, "This floor only has three offices on it. One for each of us." he said, motioning with his head for them to follow as he headed for a set of deep cherry oak double doors.

Reaching the doors, Jonathon opened them both, revealing a large, wide open office, complete with a large desk, a bank of holoscreens the size of a theater screen along an entire wall and another set of large doors, but they were closed, hiding whatever was on the other side. The carpet was a drab gray laced with strands of a lighter gray, and it was adorned with only a few potted plants, again, simply to add color to the corporate décor.

"Wow... Nice place." Kaidan said, stepping in behind Lycan and placing his hands on her shoulders, keeping her close.

"It's served its purpose over the years considering I never bothered to get my own place." Jonathon said as he walked around his large desk and sat, motioning with his hand for the pair to take a seat in the chairs across from him.

"Why not?" Kaidan asked, leading Lycan to sit before taking his own.

Jonathon shrugged, "Never seemed pertinent. Threw those doors is my private suite. I'm not attached, and I do rather enjoy being a bit of a... playboy philanthropist." he said, slouching back into his chair and leaning on an elbow.

"Taking a page from the Tony Stark book of CEO-ing?" Lycan asked, trying not to laugh.

Jonathon chuckled, "Perhaps. I have been referred to as such." he said, picking up a pen to fiddle with it in between his fingers.

"Charming." Kaidan deadpanned with a flat expression.

"I've been referred as that as well, but that aside... Please feel free to ask whatever you want." Jonathon said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the desk, interlocking his fingers together.

"I would, but... I don't even know where to begin." Lycan said, looking to Kaidan for support and hopefully direction.

"You can start anywhere you'd like." Jonathon said with a halfhearted shrug.

Lycan shook her head, again, opening her mouth to speak, but her mouth and brain failed her. Now that she was faced with the chance to let her questions fly, to find out what exactly was going on, she couldn't do it. Every thought she had put into order on the ride there had scattered to the four winds, leaving her stuck to sit and feel like an idiot.

Seeing her internal struggle, Jonathon Hudson decided he would get things started.

"I understand this is overwhelming Ms. Morris, so I'll start. How'd you learn that we wanted to meet with you?" he asked, leaning back into his chair again to continue playing with the pen.

"We... From an embedded message we found." Lycan managed to say, again, glancing at Kaidan when he placed his hand on top of hers, on her thigh.

"Ah... Then it would appear my brother won our bet." Jonathon said, slowly shaking his head.

"Bet?" both said I unison.

Jonathon chuckled, "Yes... A bet. My siblings and I bet on which... bread crumb you would find that would eventually bring you here."

Lycan's brows furrowed, "The donation checks?"

"That's the other one we'd left. Two in total." Jonathon said, standing from his chair as a gentle knock sounded at his door.

"So why both?" Kaidan asked, turning in his seat to keep a paranoid eye on the man.

Staying quiet as he opened the doors, Jonathon quietly gave Trisha his thanks as he stepped aside, allowing her entry into the large office with a cart laden with food. Kaidan and Lycan watched as the woman drove the cart towards the other set of double doors, being opened by Jonathon from his Omni-Tool so she could take the food to a real wood dining table inside his private suite and from what they could see, the suite was just as massive as the office was.

Once Trisha had delivered the food, she turned and smiled at them as she started for the door to leave, but not before receive another wink from the CEO as the doors quietly shut behind her.

"Right... Meal time," he clapped his hands together and motioned for them to follow, "Well, we chose both really so that it didn't seem so cryptic. If you had randomly seen a message telling you to come to some address, you'd think twice. Finding and connecting the messages on the checks, it was a little less so." he said, taking a seat at the head of the table and removed the cover of his meal to reveal it to be a modest cut of real steak, steamed vegetables and, the more shocking part, instant mashed potatoes.

"Instant?" Lycan tried not to chuckle.

"I like instant. Kind of a vice really. I have the best in cuisine at my disposal, but I just like the simplicity of instant mashed potatoes. It's a nice reprieve from the crazy the CEO life brings." Jonathon said, shoveling a forkful into his mouth with a smile.

"At least you haven't let the power get to your head." Kaidan said, unable to ignore his stomach when it screamed for him to transfer the steak from its plate, to his belly.

"On some things. I have a love of expensive cars from the twentieth." he chuckled, putting a cut of the meat into his mouth.

"Can't blame you for that. So those messages on the checks were meant for me?" Lycan asked, diving into the steamed vegetables first.

"They were." Jonathon said, taking a sip of cold fresh water that Trisha had poured for them before leaving.

"In all honesty, those messages only solidified that we needed to come here." Kaidan said, cutting off another bite of the steak at the behest of his stomach.

"Then that's good. There is a lot we have to talk about Ms. Morris..."

"Lycan's fine." she interrupted, not wanting to be addressed as if she were a teacher, or an old lady.

"Alright," he nodded, "Lycan, you may not understand it now, but you've played a bigger part in your own past and our futures then I think you realize." Jonathon continued, his tone becoming serious.

"How? She's been with me since she arrived." Kaidan said, probably more defensively then he needed to be.

"That's true... She has, but that doesn't change the fact that we've been following her lead for five generations." Jonathon said, setting his utensils down to lean back in his chair, sipping on his glass of water.

"What? H-How?" Lycan asked.

Setting his glass down, Jonathon reached for a chain that lay hidden behind the collar of his shirt. He pulled it up and over his head, cupping the small object that dangled from it in his palm before placing it on the table between them. It was the dog tag.

"So we were right. The dog tag has something on it." Kaidan said, swallowing.

Jonathon nodded, "Quite a few somethings actually. We've been using the information on it to steer what we could of the timeline." he continued to eat.

Kaidan and Lycan simply remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"It contains a journal. It detailed just enough to give us a heads up, but it left enough out that we still had our freedom of choice, thus leaving the future unaltered. It's been our template to build the corporation on and steer the timeline to meet up with you Lycan." Jonathon said, finishing off his instant mashed potatoes.

"A journal? The person who sent it?" she asked, taking a modest bite of steak into her mouth.

Again, Jonathon nodded, "Yes."

"Who sent it?" Lycan asked.

"You did."


	70. Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Cause

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: I am so sorry for the long ass update everyone. I've been out of town and finding time, let alone internet has been a chore. I hope you guys all like the chapter and thank you again!)_

It couldn't be true. There was no way it _could_ be true. How could she have sent something back near two hundred years, if she didn't even have the object in her possession? Just hearing the man at the head of the table say that she had sent it back was far too much for her head to comprehend, but none the less, she had to. She had to, even if it gave her the worst headache imaginable.

At least she would have some support from Kaidan if said headache were to happen.

"W-What'd you say?" Lycan choked out, too stunned to even move to even set her utensils on the table.

"I wish there was an easier way to say it, but you were the one who sent the tag back... Or rather, you will be." Jonathon said, taking a sip of his water to wash down his bite of steak, but his expression was sincere.

"B-But how?" Lycan asked, looking at Kaidan who seemed to be in just as much shock as she was.

Jonathon sighed, "That we don't really know. It wasn't in the journal." he said, reaching out to grasp the dog tag off the table.

"Then lets go with something you do know. How did your great great grandfather get ahold of it?" Kaidan asked, taking over to give Lycan a chance to come down from the shock.

Jonathon drew in a long breath, "It was back in 2005 when my great great grandfather found. It appeared much the same way Lycan did actually." Jonathon said, finishing his cut of steak.

"Through a wormhole." Kaidan said, keeping a close eye on Lycan to make sure the shock wasn't getting to her. She seemed to coming out of it a bit as she acknowledged that he was looking at her with a soft, reassuring smile.

"Yes. My great great grandfather was out for a walk when a wormhole appeared and the only thing it left behind was a small box." Jonathon said, picking his teeth with his tongue.

"It had the dog tag in it?" Lycan asked, turning her attention back to at least enjoying her meal.

"Yes it did. At first, my great great grandfather was in shock, rightfully so, but he took the box home and opened it. He found the dog tag inside with a small, handwritten note that told him to see what was on it." Jonathon said, refilling his glass with water from the crystal pitcher that sat on the cart.

"And?" Kaidan asked, accepting a refill when Jonathon offered with the pitcher.

"The dog tag contains Lycan's journal, detailing what she knows to the best of her knowledge. It describes the people she's met, the different races, the Citadel, just about everything including the infighting within the Quarian flotilla and the struggle with the geth. It also included key events along our timeline like when Mr. Muzyka was sadly killed in the accident and when Shepard was appointed to Spectre." Jonathon said, sighing quietly.

"That's... a lot." Lycan said lowly.

Jonathon nodded, "Very much so. At first, my great great grandfather didn't believe any it, and had used the concepts on the dog tag to pitch the ideas for the game you came to know as Mass Effect, but after the accident, he revisited the information with a new light." he said.

"It's too bad it took someone dying to get him to believe any of it." Kaidan said, finishing with the last bite on his plate and looking to the cart for something to put back on it.

"It's unfortunate, yes, but the journal had been right. Mr. Muzyka left the company to my great great grandfather. That's when he decided he would fallow the information in the journal." Jonathon said, standing from his chair to take another steak from the tray in the middle tier, and placed one on Kaidan's plate before placing one on his own.

Lycan silently refused a second offering of steak from the CEO, "So why tell us this? Why risk the timeline change?" she asked, setting her knife and fork down on her cleared plate.

"Well that's the thing," Jonathon huffed a laugh, "It's because I'm telling you all this that you load up a dog tag with your journal and send it back in time, though how, I have no idea." he said, retaking his seat to continue eating.

"That doesn't help us much." Kaidan said flatly.

Jonathon shook his head, "Well... We've only got theories at the moment, but they're solid theories we've developed over the course of the timeline gap."

"That leads me to believe that you've been studying them." Kaidan said, taking a sip to accompany a chunk of steak down his throat.

Again, Jonathon nodded, "We have. When my mother... ascended the company to BioWare International, she devoted an entire R&D department to building an understanding of the wormholes." he said, leaning back into his chair to let his food settle for a few minutes.

"What'd you come up with?" Kaidan asked, sitting up straight and, if his ears could, he could swear they perked.

"Not a whole lot, but unless we can make our own wormholes, or accurately predict when one is gonna appear, we have no way of proving our theories." Jonathon said, cracking the knuckles of his right hand with his thumb.

"You think the wormholes happen naturally." Lycan said, crossing her arms.

"Sort of, but we aren't able to track them. All we're able to discern is when they're currently occurring and the proximity of where they are. We've cataloged only a dozen electrical storms powerful enough to maintain a wormhole for a short amount of time." Jonathon explained as simply as he could, standing from his chair to activate a hidden bank of holoscreens along the wall nearest the table.

Kaidan's brows furrowed, "Electrical storms? Like the one that interfered with the relay and delivered Lycan."

"Exactly, but these storms require, and when I say require, I mean require a relay, otherwise, the wormholes don't occur." Jonathon said, tapping his Omni-Tool to bring up a series of computer generated wire type grids that showed a wormhole coming out of a mass relay, at the heart of an enormous storm.

"I'm not sure we follow." Lycan mumbled as she looked at Kaidan, seeing that he was in the same boat she was with not understanding.

"At the heart of these wormhole phenomena, is a mass relay. If a cosmic electrical storm occurs around one, the massive amounts of power surge through the relay. From what the R&D scientists can tell, the cosmic radiation interacts with the power of the relay and causes that relay to have an influx. That influx is what causes the mass relay core to form a wormhole for a brief time." Jonathon explained, activating a simulation of such an event.

"What makes the storm cause a wormhole?" Kaidan asked, never taking his eyes off the simulation.

"As the storm gains strength, it begins to draw power from the relay's Eezo core. Once it reaches a certain point, we've started calling it the accretion threshold, the storm releases its power in a series of lightning strikes and the only conductor around, is the relay itself." Jonathon continued, forgetting about the simulation as it ran on a loop.

"So it strikes the only available contact." Kaidan said, drawing in a deep breath.

Jonathon nodded.

"Then why wasn't the _Normandy_ _SR-1_ destroyed when it was hit?" Lycan asked, crinkling her brow.

"Well... that's what we can't quite figure out. We think the relay is what took the brunt of the power, but some of it bled off like when a lightning bolt hits the ground." Jonathon said.

"The electricity spreads along the ground." Kaidan added.

Jonathon nodded as well, "Exactly. We think it had something to do with that, but the influx in the relay caused... something to happen. The _Normandy_ attracted the receiving end of the wormhole and you, Lycan, fell through. That's all we've been able to understand thus far."

"That's a hell of an understanding." Kaidan scoffed, releasing his breath to take a drink of water.

"You have to understand Mr. Alenko, that we've been at it since my mother was CEO. In all that time, that's _all_ we've been able to figure out." Jonathon said, resting his elbows on his armrests to place the pads of his fingers together.

"How is it that you were even able to compile that much anyways? What was it? Since 2130 that you've been studying these wormholes?" Kaidan asked.

"Once the company tapped into the galactic community, the technology became available to us. My mother new it was coming, so she wasted no time in setting up the R&D department to get a jump on it." Jonathon said, sighing.

"But it didn't help you to determine when and where these storms show up." Kaidan said.

Jonathon shook his head, "No, but not for a lack of trying."

"If you guys don't know how to predict these storms, let alone how they actually work, then how could I've possibly sent back a journal?" Lycan asked, leaning back in her chair.

"We don't know." Jonathon lightly licked his lips and reached for his glass of water, strongly considering getting something with more of a kick.

"That's frank." Kaidan scoffed.

Jonathon shrugged, "Only way I can be Mr. Alenko. No sense in beating around the bush with such unique circumstances."

"It was worth a shot I guess." Lycan shrugged as she released a slow sigh, glancing down at her hands resting in her lap.

"I agree. You have the chance to learn as much as possible, so it's wise to take it." Jonathon said in a reassuring tone.

"It's just too bad you can't tell me how all this ends." Lycan said, lightly gnawing on the inside of her lip as she just stared at her fidgeting hands.

"Actually..." Jonathon drawled out, not having the will to look the pair in the eyes as they immediately stared hard in his direction.

"Pardon?" Lycan held her breath.

Rolling his neck, Jonathon stood and headed for the doors that led back out into his office, disappearing for a number of moments before returning with three tumblers in hand, each with a couple cubes of ice, and an unopened bottle of what had to be the most expensive bottle of bourbon in the city.

"My great great grandfather not only set this entire thing in motion, but he also left something for you Lycan. My mother told us that whenever you finally arrived, we were to give you the package." he said, looking ever more nervous the more he sat under their gazes.

"Really? What is it?" Lycan asked, her curiosity ignited with renewed vigor.

"I don't know. The only person who knew was my great great grandfather." Jonathon admitted, skillfully opening the bottle and pouring the caramel colored liquid into the glasses.

"Well, then where is it?" Kaidan asked plainly.

Jonathon pursed his lips together, "And there in lies the catch. My great great grandfather was so worried that someone would find and exploit the package, that he had it locked away." he took a swig of the bourbon.

Lycan threw her napkin on the table, "Fuck... Why would he do that if he wanted it to be given to us?" she asked, nodding an apology for her outburst as she accepted a glass from the CEO.

"Well, in his defense, he believed so much of what your journal said, that he was terrified that the Shadow Broker or Cerberus would come after it if they ever found out it existed." Jonathon said, passing the third glass to Kaidan.

"He knew about them?" Lycan asked in a low gasp.

Jonathon nodded, "He did."

"Then this package must be dangerous in the wrong hands." Kaidan said, taking a quick sniff of the bourbon before tasting it. It was damn good and he really didn't wanna know how much it cost.

"Probably." Jonathon said as one of his eyebrows popped.

"Then we have to find it." Lycan said, taking a rather uncharacteristically large gulp of the fire water and swallowing it down without a hitch.

Jonathon's eyes widened slightly as he looked at Kaidan, "Impressive Mr. Alenko. A girl after my own heart."

"She's taken." Kaidan said flatly and possessively.

"Relax Mr. Alenko... I'm more then aware." Jonathon said, putting his hands up in defense.

Kaidan's eyes briefly narrowed, "Good... because I'd hate to beat up one of the CEOs of the most powerful mega corporations on the planet." he deadpanned, taking a sip of the bourbon as he kept eye contact.

Jonathon smiled, "As an L2, I'm fairly certain you'd be able to. I'm unimplemented."

Kaidan's brows furrowed, "Why?"

"Well... My mother decided not to have it done. My exposure was so low that I barely have enough to manifest any usable fields, but I inherited the ravenous appetite." Jonathon explained, draining his glass.

"Welcome to the club." Kaidan rose his glass for a moment in a sort of mock toast before draining the glass himself.

"Boys," Lycan mumbled, shaking her head, "Mr. Hudson..."

"Jonathon, please."

"Jonathon... If you don't know where the package is, how're we supposed to find it?" Lycan asked, sliding her tumbler away from her.

"I didn't say it was missing my dear, I said it was locked away. I know where it is." Jonathon said, topping off his glass one last time before capping the bottle.

"You do?" Lycan asked immediately, eager to find out.

Jonathon nodded, "I do." his infamous smirk returned.

"Then where is it?" Kaidan pushed through softly clenched teeth, having reached his limit of cryptic.

"Follow me."

Standing from his chair, Jonathon replaced the cover over his cleaned plate and waved for Kaidan and Lycan to follow, upon which they wasted no time in doing so. They left the corporate office and returned to the elevator, but instead of stopping on the ground floor, it continued down into the sub levels. The many sub levels.

Glancing at each other with the same looks of confusion, Kaidan and Lycan waited to see what was going to happen as the elevator continued down, but by the relaxed state of the CEO, there didn't seem to be anything to worry about.

"Where are we going?" Kaidan asked quietly as he stood close to Lycan, allowing a bit of his overprotective nature to shine through.

"You'll see." Jonathon said, smiling as he stuffed both hands into his pockets.

After several minutes, the car finally slowed and came to a stop, opening up into a long, straight corridor with nothing else in it but a large, thick door at the other end, but instead of being a square door like all the rest, this door was massive, round and strongly resembled that of a vault. The corridor was lit by recessed lighting in the ceiling, and several security cameras hung in between them, tracking their every move as they exited the car.

When the group passed under the first security camera, a scanning beam emerged like an energy wall in front of the opposite door. It stayed still for a few breathes and flashed before it zipped down the corridor to scan everything inside. However, the scanner never even finished its first pass, as when it washed over them, it stopped to turn a bright shade of red and sounded an alarm.

_"Warning... Synthetics detected." _a mechanical, yet smooth female voice sounded from all around them.

"Report." Jonathon ordered robotically.

_"Report: Synthetics detected in male guest... Note: L2 biotic implants with Gen X biotic amp... Note: R3 replacement. Synthetic Calcium with Titanium injection... Note: Serrice Council Savant X Omni-Tool... Report: Synthetics detected in female guest... Note: Standard Alliance issue Omni-Tool... End report." _the female voice reported without a break in its speech.

Jonathon let out an impressive whistle as he looked back at Kaidan, "I knew about the implant, but the rib? And that tech?" he arced a brow.

Kaidan nodded and forced himself to breath, "Yeah... The tech I was privileged enough to get on the hunt for Saren, and the rib was an accident when I was seventeen. It was so shattered I needed a replacement." he said with little emotion in his voice.

"Very interesting. I've heard the recovery time from receiving a synthetic bone is... long." Jonathon said as he continued back down the corridor towards the large door.

"Took about five months to finally be able to walk with doubling over." Kaidan said flatly and with a low, drawn out sigh.

"Well kudos to you for recovering successfully." Jonathon said.

"Thanks... Does it always announce tech like that?" Kaidan asked, looking around the empty corridor.

"Yes it does. Its been programmed to scan for foreign tech and anything more then that, there's automated weapons that come out of the wall. It's supposed to protect what's inside." Jonathon said as he continued walking down the corridor.

"And what exactly is inside?" Kaidan asked flatly.

"It's just on the other side of that door."

As Jonathon stopped in front of the massive vault type door, another scanner emerged, scanning all three, but without the blaring alarms this time as Jonathon tapped on his Omni-Tool. With an approving beep, the beam vanished to be replaced by the low groan of machinery as the door's many locks around its perimeter unsealed, opening into a massive, cavernous and truly underground and manmade safe.

"Welcome the vault." Jonathon said with a hop of his brow as he stepped over the threshold into the massive cavern.

The vault was a sight to behold, as its ceiling rose high above their heads and was filled with thick walls that were covered with smaller individual safes, each numbered and cataloged. The lighting was kept low, giving the manmade cavern an air of mysticism to it, and the air itself was cool, as if the space was kept that way for what was hidden within it.

But it wasn't the vastness of the vault that was the most eye catching to them, it was the large central and singular vault in the center of the cavern that was the most dominant. It was cylindrical in shape and dark gray with a singular door, similar to the door they had come through, with the only exception being that it was somewhat smaller.

"Wow..." Lycan breathed, her eyes never stopping for an instant as she tried to take in the entirety of the vault.

"What do you keep in here?" Kaidan asked, his expression matching that of Lycan's.

"Mostly prototypes of tech we've developed over the years, but that doesn't mean there isn't a few juicy corporate secrets hidden in those safes." Jonathon smirked as he waved a hand over the many walls that housed them.

"I'm sure. What's in there?" Lycan asked, pointing to the central vault at the center the of the room that they were heading for.

Jonathon glanced back as the massive entry door closed behind them, just to make sure it was, "That's where we keep our most prized possession."

His smirk fading as he released a long sigh, Jonathon stepped up to the closed and locked circular vault where he was, yet again, scanned with a biometric scanner. However, the beam didn't just simply open the door like the others had, it opened two panels instead, revealing two identical hand scanners that he placed both hands on to. Once his hands were placed on the scanners, it activated the fourth scanner of the day and this scanner, finally finished the process.

With a hiss and a low groan, just like before, the large singular door unlocked and popped back before rolling open, operated by what was sure to be giant cogs and disappeared into the thick vault wall entirely.

Expecting to immediately see what was inside, all they saw was a black space, swallowing up any sort of light that might have been able to filter inside. Jonathon stepped in first, motioning for Kaidan and Lycan to follow, and they did, but not before grasping each others hands and stepping over the threshold.

Once inside, the orange glow of Jonathon's Omni-Tool lit the inside of the vault, but only just enough to make out a small area of wall. He swiped his Omni-Tool over a hidden interface along the wall, activating it to show a wheel that he placed his hand on and turned, commanding the vault door to roll back into place, sealing them in.

Sealed in the dark, the lights finally dimmed on.

Inside, was a singular glass case with a very well preserved collection of actual paper, resting on a pedestal like they were coveted jewels, or priceless artifacts. The papers were slightly yellow from discoloration, but the red and blue coloring of official seals was remarkably still easy to see. The black ink was scripted like calligraphy all across their surfaces, and they seemed to be in some kind of order.

"What is it?" Lycan asked softly, hunkering into Kaidan's side from nerves and uncertainty.

"It's my great great grandfather's will." Jonathon said quietly as he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms.

"Does it say what he left for me?" Lycan asked, forcing herself to take her eyes away from the encased will.

Jonathon shook his head, "All it says is that he wanted the package given to you when you arrived." he said, just watching.

"Where is it then?" Kaidan asked, crossing his arms as he kept an eye on Lycan as she stepped closer to the case.

"It's in here, but... I can't get it. It has to be her." Jonathon said.

"Why?" Kaidan asked.

Jonathon shrugged, "It's part of what my great great grandfather wanted. No one was to open the package under any circumstances. It's only supposed to be opened by her." he said, planting his foot flat against the wall.

"Do you know where to start?" Lycan asked, looking back at the men.

"I don't. I'm sorry."

So it was up to her. It was up to her to retrieve what had been waiting for her for a century and a half, but how, she could only guess. The will said nothing that supported any kind of hint. There were no clues, no shiny arrows acting as signs to help direct her, and her brain had reached its limit a long time ago, so of course, it was absolutely no help.

Holding her breath, Lycan stepped up close to the case, lightly placing her hands on the glass, but the moment her hands made contact with the glass, another biometric scanner shot up and down Lycan's height.

With a short flash of red, Kaidan's fists balled and his stance widened, ready to pounce should some sort of defense system attempt to harm her, but the female voice was the only thing to emerge.

_"User unknown... Identification required. Please enter passcode." _the female voice announced as the lights dimmed slightly and a small tray opened in the pedestal.

Inside the tray, was a simple keypad, lit with only with the numbers zero, through nine. Her brows furrowed with confusion even more when a small holoscreen emerged just above the tray, displaying a simple question.

_"The first day of the rest of your life." _

Lycan was confused, as she had no idea what the question wanted, let alone what it was referring to. It was obvious that the answer was in numerical form, and considering the wording of the question, it had to be a date, but which, Lycan couldn't even begin to think.

Holding her breath, Lycan slowly reached for the keypad, stopping when she felt Kaidan's hand on her arm.

"It'll be ok." Lycan whispered, giving him a shallow nod.

Pursing his lips together, all Kaidan could do was trust her. It didn't mean he had to like it however.

Releasing a slow blow of stale air, Lycan resumed her study of the keypad, and let her fingers enter a date.

_04 20 2183_

However, the keypad flashed red, and a small number in the corner counted down from three, to two, telling Lycan she only had two chances left to get it right.

_The first day of the rest of my life? I... I don't know... If it wasn't the day I arrived on the Normandy, then... _

She suddenly gasped. There was a distant memory that had been locked away, pushed back to make room for more and all revolved around her time with Kaidan. The night they had first spent together, the night in the mako that they had finally given into their desires, she had woken in the night to watch him sleep. In the dark of the mako, she had admired how his eyes fluttered beneath his eyelids, how his breathing was so steady, that it seemed mechanical. She admired how his muscles, even asleep, rippled beneath his skin and every line, every curve seemed perfectly cut from stones by the finest of blades. She admired how every time the slightest grimace of discomfort, or sadness grace her face, he was always there for her in an instant, and she admired that no matter the understanding, no matter the words unsaid, he would always love her.

She had told herself that night, that she was more in love then she had every been. She had told herself that that night, was the first day of the rest of her life.

Rapping her finger against the keypad interface, Lycan typed in July twenty-second, twenty-one-eighty-three, to be rewarded by the soft flash of green and this time, a systematic _male_ voice.

_"Welcome to BioWare International. This program has been waiting a long time for your arrival." _the male voice said as the pedestal with the encased will lowered into the floor to be replaced by a holographic emitter.

Stepping back into Kaidan's awaiting arms, Lycan could only watch as a VI hologram projected from the emitter, taking on the form of a man she very much recognized. He had much of the same features as Jonathon Hudson, with the same dark hair and dark eyes, but those features were slightly faded from age. His height was the same, his build was the same, but Lycan knew they weren't the same man. She knew who the image belonged to, and he had been dead for quite some time.

"C-Casey Hudson?" Lycan breathed out, looking around briefly as the lights dimmed around them again, ever so slightly to make it easier to see the image in front of them.

_"This VI is only programed to appear and sound like Mr. Hudson." _the VI responded, simply, yet smoothly.

"W-Why?" Lycan choked out.

_"With the intent on making the encounter easier for you." _the VI answered, still with the systematic, yet recognizable voice.

"A-Are you the one supposed to give me this package Mr. Hudson left for me?" Lycan asked, shying away a bit more, which put her back into Kaidan's chest all that much more.

_"Correct. The package of which you speak was left by Mr. Hudson prior to his death. Cassandra Hudson was responsible for securing the package in the BioWare International vaults." _

"So where is it? Where's the package?" Lycan asked, feeling more and more safe wrapped up in Kaidan's arms.

_"Please hold... Processing request... Please accept the package." _

Lycan looked down to the floor, watching stiffly as a pillar rose to stop between her and the VI. It was a shiny metal pillar with a flat top where a simple case sat. It wasn't a particularly large case, but it was older, much like a Pelican case that the military used to transport sensitive equipment. It hadn't seen the light of day in generations, and had been waiting in darkness and silence for Lycan to find it.

She took in a deep breath as she stepped forward out of Kaidan's reluctant arms, cautiously stepping up to the pillar and reached out for the case. Nothing happened when she touched the case, as she was halfway expecting for it to, but it was just, a case. A simple case.

With her thumbs, Lycan released the clasps of the case, and slowly opened it, holding her breath as if she was opening something dangerous, but when the light hit the object inside, the only sound she heard was her heartbeat.

He had saved one for her, kept it locked away for just the right time and had followed a journal she had apparently sent back to the letter. Even after all these years, all these decades and generations, a man she had never met was doing everything within his power to help her fight the reapers. He had left the means, the knowledge, and the will to keep going into the dark of night.

Inside the case, was what they were looking for. Inside this seemingly, unobtrusive case, was Mass Effect 3.

* * *

Shepard really had no idea how he felt. He wanted to feel relieved, but he also wanted to feel angry, and violent, and he wanted to rage without a care as to what got in his way. He wanted to sleep, and feel a sense of calm. He wanted to feel good and happy, and ultimately, he wanted to relief, but there was no way he was going to be able to figure that out on his own. He had an entire spectrum of emotions running through him that the only emotion he could honestly say he was feeling, was confusion.

Since departing the Shadow Broker's, now Liara's, base, he had gone galavanting around the galaxy to help his team settle some business, as well as gone to Haestrom to pick up Tali. That alone had been a clustered mess since the moment he set foot on the planet. If it wasn't having to dodge the throngs of geth that were trying to kill them all, it was the unnatural and deadly heat that didn't give a flying frog's fat ass what it burned and the side of Shepard's face had been no exception. Shields apparently don't protect against sunburn.

In any case, at least Tali had joined his crew and he had saved one of her marines, Kal'Reegar, in the process.

But despite that small piece of good news, there was still plenty that didn't sit right with him. Through all his peoples requests, from helping Thane reconnect with his son, to ripping the jewel from the head of a dead thresher maw, Shepard was exhausted, and he couldn't stop thinking about all that had transpired in such a short amount of time.

Thane, thankfully, had reconnected with his son, Kolyat, and Garrus had faced off with a shadow of a man, but Shepard's tongue had been silver enough to talk him down from killing the turian. No high powered rounds through the back of his head was something to toast to, and he subsequently did when he and Garrus were waiting for Thane to conclude talking with his son.

After their short stop at the Citadel, he had gone to help Kasumi and Zaeed with their requests. Zaeed's had been pretty straight forward... well... would have been if Zaeed hadn't set the place on fire, but his attitude had been adjusted with a sturdy punch to the face and a good round of cursing from Shepard's stiff mouth. Kasumi's however... not so much, but getting to take out Donovan Hock had been way more gratifying then he had thought. He even got a new gun out of the deal.

As if pretending to be a prestigious merc leader, or jumping through fire like he was a trained dog wasn't the weirdest, being bait to lure out Samara's daughter had churned his stomach into something less recognizable as something you put food in. She had tried to bed him to satisfy her need to kill, but had failed because he refused to look her in the eyes and once Samara had gotten there, it was all in her hands. No parent should outlive their child, let alone kill them.

That request hadn't sat well with him, but Jacob's had been worse. Jacob's father had turned up alive after a decade of being thought dead, but what he had done with that time was deplorable in Shepard's eyes. He had cast out the men in order to have the women for himself and thought it had been alright. That earned the man a shot to the knee and the only reason the man hadn't been killed was because he thought rotting in prison for the rest of his life was a far more acceptable punishment. Now the victims were in the proper hands to hopefully recover. He just hoped they wouldn't remember what Jacob's father had done to them.

Some of the anger he had built up from that had gotten blown when he had gone to Pragia upon Jack's request. He had watched her push the button on a very large, very powerful bomb that might have been a bit on the overkill side. Watching the mushroom cloud and shockwave coming at them like a starving lion chasing a piece of meat on a stick was exhilarating, and got his adrenaline pumping so fast, that he had forgotten just how angry he was. For a moment.

What remained had carried over onto Tuchanka, where he had helped to track down one of Mordin's past underlings. It had been tricky, but finding the coin hung on the gas pipe had shortened the job considerably. He even got to keep the coin when all was said and done.

But his favorite, out of all the requests his crew had asked of him, was helping Grunt. The rite had been nothing but an anger blow all together, getting to fire relentlessly at whatever critter had come at them, but when the thresher maw had burst from the ground, Shepard's anger had turned to all out rage.

From dodging the acid spit, to rolling away from falling pillars and whipping tentacles, Shepard and Grunt had won against the thresher, and as a reward, Shepard was awarded, by Wrex's daughter, with the grapefruit sized crimson jewel that sat atop the beast's head. He didn't care if that thresher hadn't been apart of Akuze, but it was liberating to be holding the jewel in his hands.

Grabbing the half emptied bottle of rum from the coffee table, Shepard sucked back a long drag, slightly grimacing from the burn of the alcohol as it singed his mouth. He hadn't paid attention to the time as he sat on the floor between the couch and coffee table, so when EDI voiced that chow was ready, it had been a surprise.

_"Commander... Dinner is prepared in the galley." _she said smoothly, shaking Shepard from his mental reminiscing.

"I'm not gonna go EDI. Not hungry." Shepard said flatly as he took another long gulp from the bottle.

_"I must insist that you intake food Commander. With the heavy ingestion of alcohol you have __been taking, it would be wise..." _

"I'm not hungry!" Shepard snapped, putting the bottle down a bit hard on the table, splashing a bit from the top.

_"Very well Shepard. I will instruct that sustenance be saved for when you are." _EDI said.

"Thank you." he lipped, looking back down at the jewel in his lap.

The cabin going silent once more, Shepard just watched the red color of the jewel shift under the overhead lights. He couldn't lie to himself and say that the gem wasn't beautiful, because it was, and getting to meet and talk with Wrex's daughter and brother had been a treat. He had thought that Wreav was going to be a gruff militant ready for war, but he hadn't been. He had been trying to turn his people around with Grexa's help, and thus far, all seemed to be going the way Wrex would have done it with a few twists here and there, and it made Shepard happy. It seemed that Kaidan and Lycan had been very busy.

Lightly smiling, Shepard drained what was left in his bottle before tossing the gem onto the couch and pulled himself up off the floor. He went to his small fridge and searched its contents, hoping to find another bottle of something, but all that was in there was water. There was no more full bottles of hard liquor for him to consume.

_"You have consumed three bottles of alcohol Commander. You have drained the rest of your supply." _EDI said, earning a groan and a hung head from Shepard.

"Great. Could you search around for some more?" Shepard asked, very much wanting to have enough to make him feel _good._

_"I will see Commander." _EDI said softly before presumably whisking off to commence her search.

Sighing hard, Shepard ran a hand back over his mussy hair, cringing that he had let it go for so long without a care. He scuffed his way up his stairs to his bathroom where his grimace got even worse when he saw just how messy his hair had gotten. It had grown to several inches long and went every which way without a care in the world. Its color had thinned and given way to one, or two hairs of gray, which of course, didn't last long when Shepard plucked them from his head.

"Its gotta be the stress." he grumbled to himself as he yanked a hair from his head with a cringe.

"What does?" a female voice said from his doorway, startling him from plucking the show of age from his head.

"Jesus Tali! Don't you knock?" Shepard yelped, blowing out a long breath he had sucked in from being startled.

"I'm sorry Shepard... You didn't answer when I did and I thought... I don't know... that you might have been in trouble, so I hacked the door." Tali said, ringing her fingers together with nerves that she had intruded.

Shepard sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, "Why does everyone think that I'm in trouble when I lock myself up here? I'm not carving myself... I promise." he said, turning on the water to splash some cold onto his face.

"It has been talked about, yes. I was surprised to hear that you had... wounded yourself like that." Tali said, stepping out of the doorway as Shepard walked passed her and sat in his office chair.

Shepard closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, resting his elbow on the desk, "It was..." he sighed, "I wasn't in the best frame of mind at the time."

Tali nodded, "What happened?... If you don't mind my intrusion."

Shepard sighed, "What's there to say? One minute I was looking into the mirror in there," he motioned with his head towards the bathroom, "and the next, I was half dead on the floor and covered in my own blood. It was great. Fantastic." he huffed, slowly shaking his head.

"I wouldn't say that was fantastic." Tali said, leaning back against the bulkhead.

"I was being sarcastic Tali. I wasn't being serious." Shepard said, flighting a hand over his terminal to wake it up.

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Nothing to be sorry for. It's over and done with." Shepard said as he turned his attention to his terminal to begin checking his messages.

"I understand." Tali mumbled, continuing to fidget with her fingers.

Shepard huffed as he skimmed through the collection of messages that most, had nothing to do with anything important. There were a few that he actually looked through, but for the most part, it was just a collection of junk. 22nd century and he still got inundated with spam.

After a short, quiet few minutes, Shepard looked back over his shoulder to see Tali still standing by the wall with her fingers interwoven together, but she hadn't moved.

"You didn't just come up here to check on me did you Tali." Shepard said flatly, shutting down his terminal once he had deleted the last of his spam messages.

Tali shook her head, "No... I didn't." she almost sounded ashamed.

Sighing, Shepard turned in his chair to face her, but stayed sitting as he leaned back as far as the chair would let him, "What's wrong?"

Tali fidgeted more with her fingers, "Shepard... I know you've been extremely busy with everyones requests, but... something's come up."

"What's happened?" he asked, resting his ankle on his knee.

"I've been summoned back to the migrant fleet." Tali said, obviously still nervous about what she was trying to collect the words to say.

"Just spit it out Tali. I don't bite. I promise." Shepard said flatly.

"I've been charged with treason Shepard."

"What?..." Shepard breathed, slowly standing from his chair.

"I've been charged with treason. The admiralty board wants me to come back to the fleet for the trial." she said, lightly rubbing her upper arm so not to ruffle her silken decorative scarf.

Shepard shook his head and gripped his hair with both hands, "Ok... Hold the phone. What's going on now? Why the hell are you being charged with treason?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"I don't know why Shepard. The admiralty board didn't say." Tali said.

Shepard sighed, "You've gotta be joking. You don't think it's because you joined my crew is it? You said they gave you the clearance."

"I know they did, so I'm fairly certain that that's not the reason," she sighed, "I don't want this to seem like a threat, but if the _Normandy_ can't take me, I'll book passage on another ship." Tali said, looking down at her hands instead of looking at Shepard.

"Now hold on a second Tali... You're charged with treason here so every step you take has to be carefully planned. Wouldn't that come across as you're trying to run?" Shepard asked as he uncrossed his legs to instead, just cross his ankles.

"No... If I just don't show for the trial, I'll be exiled. If I do, then evidence is shown and the admiralty board with decide from there. There's no political loopholes or tricks used. It's simple." Tali said, willing herself to look up from her hands to Shepard.

"Being charged with treason is hardly simple Tali. Where's the migrant fleet?" Shepard asked.

"They are in the Valhallan Threshold, at Raheel-Leyya." Tali said, slowly releasing a low breath.

"We can't wait on this Tali. The longer we wait, the worse it could get." Shepard said.

Tali nodded, "I agree."

"I'll have Joker change course and head for the migrant fleet." Shepard said, slowly releasing a sigh as he slowly shook his head.

"Thank you Shepard. It means a lot to me that you would do this... Especially with what else you have to do." Tali said, the nervousness coming back into her voice.

Shepard's brows briefly furrowed, "That derelict reaper'll be there when this is taken care of Tali. It's not going anywhere."

Tali took a step forward, "I hope so Shepard. I've heard its orbiting a brown dwarf. Is that correct?"

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. The Illusive Man says it's stable at the moment, but who knows with him. He's not known for laying out all his cards." he said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, he is Cerberus. At least you know and aren't trying to defend him." Tali said, placing her hands against the wall behind her as she leaned back against it.

"I wouldn't defend him against a rabid thresher Tali. The man can suck krogan nuts for all I care." Shepard growled as he pushed off his desk and headed down into his living space, motioning for Tali to follow.

Tali hesitated a moment before stepping down the stairs to see Shepard pulling a bottled water from his fridge, "I'm sure by now The Illusive Man knows your feelings." she said, taking a seat on the very edge of the couch.

"Oh he's more then aware. He knows I'll shoot him in the face if I get the chance." Shepard said, tossing back a healthy mouthful of cold water.

"I bet he's wondering if the cost to rebuild you was worth it." Tali said, starting to relax a bit now that she knew Shepard wasn't angry with her, or angry in general any longer.

"I'm gonna make him regret it... Though I won't lie and say I don't appreciate it." Shepard admitted as he plopped down on the opposite side of the wrap around couch.

"Is that why you're helping him?" she asked plainly.

Shepard shrugged, "I don't know... Maybe. I'm more doing this to stop the Collectors from helping the reapers, but... I guess it's hard to be ungrateful to someone who gave you a second chance at life." he said, leaning back far into the couch to lounge.

"I wish I could say I understand, but..." she shrugged.

"I know. I'm really the only one who does and ever will." he sighed, letting the cold bottle rest in his lap.

_"Commander... I have located more alcoholic beverages suitable for human consumption. Do you wish them brought up to you?" _EDI politely intruded into the dead space in their conversation.

"Uh... Yeah. That's fine." Shepard answered a bit timidly, looking at Tali and wishing he could see her face to judge her reaction.

_"Very well Commander."_

Suddenly, the silence in the room was awkward.

Gripping the nape of his neck, Shepard stood from the couch and went to his armor locker, simply to do something in hopes of making the silence more bearable, but it only made him hyper aware of a pair of masked eyes boring into his back.

"How long have you been drinking Shepard?" Tali asked, causing Shepard to instantly stiffen.

Shepard closed his eyes, but stayed facing his locker, "Since we got back." he said lowly, hoping she wouldn't hear.

"That was five hours ago Shepard. How drunk are you?" Tali asked, her concern evident in her voice.

"I'm not." Shepard said, thunking his forehead onto the door of his closet.

_"Due to Shepard's increased metabolism and cybernetic implants, the affects of alcohol are greatly reduced. It will take approximately seventy-five percent more to achieve Shepard's goal of intoxication." _EDI chimed in.

Shepard sighed as he turned around and leaned back against the locker.

"Shepard..." Tali breathed out until Shepard's hand went up to silence her.

"Don't. I don't need a lecture. I'm not drunk, and I'm pretty sure there isn't enough on this boat to get me there." Shepard said a bit sharply as he lightly licked his lips.

_"There is not." _

Shepard rolled his eyes, "See?" he hung his head and tightly gripped the thick of his neck with both hands.

"Have you... always had a problem with alcohol?" Tali asked.

"I wouldn't consider this a problem. I can't even get drunk unless I suck on some wine barrels for awhile." Shepard scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"But that's only a recent development..." Tali started.

"And before then, I only drank when I wanted to remember my dad, which only really came around on the anniversary of their deaths. I only drink now, because I hate Cerberus just as much as I hate the reapers." Shepard said as he sighed.

"So you keep a stock?"

Shepard nodded, "Yeah! The first time we visited the Citadel, I bought a hundred thousand credits worth of booze! I can't fucking stand having this damn diamond on my shirt!" he gripped a thick handful of his shirt sleeve and yanked on it to make his point.

"So it drives you to drink?" she asked plain.

"Absolutely! I'm gonna survive this suicide mission Tali, and I gonna get everyone out while I'm at it! Wanna know why?" Shepard asked sharply, rocking forward on a foot and thrusting a finger forward.

"W-Why?"

"Just outta spite, and for the chance to flip The Illusive Man the finger with a smile on my face!" Shepard snapped.

"Ok... ok... I only ask because I worry. You're my friend." Tali said, slightly raising her hands in defense.

Shepard let his arm flop back to his side, "I know Tali, and I appreciate it. I really do." he said, much calmer now.

Tali nodded, "Alright," she sighed, "Well... I guess I should be getting back to my station. Thank you again for being willing to help me with this." she said, standing and starting for the door of his cabin.

"It's not a problem Tali. I'll let Joker..."

_"I have already informed Jeff of your intentions Commander. Our coarse has been altered accordingly." _EDI chimed in.

Shepard scratched his nose, "Thanks." he deadpanned.

"If you need anything Shepard, you know where to find me." Tali said, stopping at the door.

Shepard nodded, "Thank you Tali, but I think I'll be fine. I just need the time to myself to keep from doing something stupid." he forced a smile.

"Alright Commander. Have a good night," she turned to leave, but stopped once more, "Oh, and the sunburn is looking better. You don't look like a burned varren burger anymore." she lightly giggled.

Shepard cracked a smile, "Thanks Tali. At least it doesn't sting anymore."

As Tali stepped through the door, Shepard watched and quietly sighed as the door closed. The silence that had been his company returned with its companion of the dull thrum of the ship's drive core, leaving him to think. It was a relief in a way, but with nothing else to distract him, his brain continued to mull over the gobs of thoughts it had been before Tali's unexpected arrival.

Perhaps she had a point. Maybe he was drinking too much, but it was either that, or pick up smoking and he wasn't the biggest fan of that. Drinking at least didn't make his clothes stick to high heaven.

With a sigh, he went back to his small fridge for another bottle of water and stared at his growing collection of empties that he hadn't even managed to throw away yet. There was at least a dozen emptied bottles in the fridge along with the water bottles and the sight only made his head shake. Tali was right. He had been drinking a bit more then usual.

"EDI... Cancel those drinks. I'll make do with water." he said, kneeling down to beginning cleaning out his fridge.

_"Very well Commander." _

"Still have the guy coming up though. These gotta get thrown out." Shepard said as he gathered the bottles on his coffee table.

_"Understood Shepard. I do recommend however, that your decision to lower your intake of alcohol be postponed until tomorrow. Zaeed is on his way with his stash." _

Shepard groaned, "Crap..." he sighed, "Alright. Bring on the drinking games." he said, smiling.

_"What are drinking games?" _

"Stick around. You'll find out."


	71. Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Times Change

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: Oy Vey... Talk about being late on this update. *sighs* This one's all my fault guys. If it wasn't writer's block, it was playing video games *Darksiders II and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron* and if it wasn't video games, it was doing chores and blah blah blah. I'm sorry for the late update. Hope you guys enjoy!)_

Three days. Three days it took Lycan to play her way through, and three days it took for her and Kaidan to learn what was in store for them. For all of them. Three days it took for them to realize, that they were a long ways away from ending this war.

Three days prior, Lycan and Kaidan had returned to the _Grimm_ with the case and all its contents. Not only had the case contained a copy of Mass Effect 3, but it also housed a way to play it. Upon greater inspection, Kaidan and Lycan discovered that the case was actually a personal, and portable gaming console set up. It had a screen with speakers, a console strapped inside with a controller and the game was resting neatly on top of it all. When she had gotten it power, she learned that Jonathon's great great grandfather had also left a profile, complete with a save game file for her to use that was even one hundred percent completed and the memory, to their surprise, was even loaded with all the subsequent downloadable content. There was nothing she wasn't going to be able to see.

Over those three days, she had played while Kaidan watched. He was there for her when the tears poured from her eyes, and when it came down to the very end, they were both so stunned, so silent, that their heartbeats howled in their ears.

Three days was all it took for them to refuse to accept what had been shown to them.

Sitting cross legged on the bed, Lycan stared at the screen as the credits rolled by, controller still in hand and with Kaidan sitting behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder. He held her as she let the silent tears spill from her eyes, burying his face into the crook of her neck as his grip tightened, pulling her further into his chest.

Lycan lightly sniffled, "Is that how this is supposed to end?" she asked quietly, dabbing her nose with the sleeve of her sweater.

Kaidan held his breath and slowly shook his head, "That doesn't seem right... It doesn't seem fair." he managed to say, resting his lips against her skin.

"No... It doesn't." Lycan said just as quietly, finally letting the controller slip from her hands to land silently on the bed.

"How can Shepard stomach making that kind of decision?" Kaidan asked, slowly sighing as he lightly placed a kiss to the base of her neck in hopes of helping her feel better.

Swiping away a tear from her cheek, Lycan closed the case softly, "I don't think he can. I don't think anyone can." she said, sniffling as she watched Kaidan pull her hand away from the case by her wrist.

"I know I couldn't. I couldn't force every organic into an evolutionary turn like that... let alone sacrifice my friends... Synthetic or not. It just seems like all this work doing is just... It boils down to picking the lesser of four evils." Kaidan said, holding her tighter against her chest as if to keep her from being ripped away from him.

"I don't know if I can accept that Kaidan." Lycan said, leaning her head over to rest it against his as both slowly began to rock from side to side.

"I know babe, but it doesn't look like we have much choice." Kaidan said, swiping a lingering tear from just under Lycan's eye with his thumb.

Lycan nodded, "What're we gonna do? Are we just supposed to accept his fate with a smile?" she said lowly.

"I don't know Ly... I really don't know." he said as he loosened his grip, allowing her to turn a bit more to face him.

Lycan slowly sighed, "If I wasn't living this Kaidan, I would've been fine with those, but... I can't swallow that down. I can't live knowing that Shepard's gonna have to face that." she hung her head as she watched her fingers pick at each other.

Kaidan exhaled as he lightly cupped her chin and forced her to look at him, "You don't have to explain it to me honey. I watched it right along with you." he said, leaning forward to gently bump foreheads.

Lycan's eyes started to water over again, "I don't like it Kaidan. I don't wanna just sit back and let that happen." her voice cracked with emotion.

Kaidan sat up and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back into his chest, "I know Ly... Shh... I know." he whispered, cradling her head against him.

"How can you be so damn calm knowing that that's what we're headed into! Shepard's going to jail for christ sake!" Lycan snapped, pulling herself free of Kaidan's arms as she hopped off the bed and picked up the case.

For his part, Kaidan continued to sit on the bed as he leaned back on his hands and crossed his ankles, watching Lycan as she unfolded some freshly cleaned clothes, simply to fold them again and huff while she was at it.

After a moment of tension that only Lycan felt, she forcefully dropped her hands onto the laundry pile and dropped her head back to look at the ceiling.

"I don't... I can't... I don't know whether to be angry, or upset, or happy that we even know what to expect, but..." Lycan started as she forgot about the shirt she had unfolded and went to sit back down on the bed.

Once she had sat, Kaidan scooted in behind her and placed his legs on either side as his arms, once again, snaked themselves around her, "I wish I knew what to say to make it easier, but... I don't. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it too."

"I don't think we're meant to. I don't think we're supposed to know where that..." she held her breath as she racked her brain for the right word.

"The star child?" Kaidan provided her, only to watch her head shake.

"No... That just sounds... off. I was thinking etherial, or... something. I don't really know." Lycan sighed, slumping and giving Kaidan the job of holding her up.

He lightly kissed her hair, "Whatever we call it, it didn't answer a lot of questions." Kaidan said, taking in a deep breath to smell her hair.

"If I thought about it hard enough, I could probably come up with something reasonable, but... I don't even know where to begin." Lycan said as she closed her eyes to enjoy the feeling of Kaidan's lips against her scalp.

"You can start simple. Like why that thing took the form of the boy who died." Kaidan said lowly, never lifting his lips from her.

Lycan shrugged, "Could be because it wanted to blatantly remind Shepard of how mortal he is, or to shake him hard enough to pick one of those choices, or something... It could be anything." she said with a slow sigh.

"Or its in his head, like a hallucination or something." Kaidan said.

Lycan's brows furrowed, "You know, you bring up a good point. What if it was a hallucination?" she asked, turning in his grasp again to face him.

"Drug induced?"

Lycan shook her head, "No.. Stress induced. He's gonna get severely hurt. You really think he'd get up after taking a Reaper beam to the face?" she asked, holding his gaze with hide eyes that flooded with her thought.

"Yeah... I really think he would." Kaidan said with a scoff.

"Seriously?" Lycan deadpanned with a dull look on her face.

"Dead serious. Shepard's a spiteful, stubborn bastard and he'd get up just to piss Harbinger off. Bleeding out of multiple orifices or not." he said, arcing a brow.

"Ok, I'll give you that, but... Seriously, after that, do you think he'd be thinking clearly?" she asked.

Kaidan shook his head, "No... Not in the least bit."

"So it's possible then?" she asked plainly.

Kaidan sighed, "It is, but I'd be more willing to think that Harbinger had something to do with it. We already know he's been gunning to indoctrinate Shepard." he said, scooping Lycan back into his arms.

"True, but we just saw that that wasn't the case." Lycan said, leaning her head against his collarbone.

"I know, but... the signs were there. The nightmares, the whispers of the dead... It's enough to shake anyones resolve." he said, sighing and rustling her hair.

"So you think he's gonna be already weakened because of how much stress he's gonna be under?" she asked, straightening up to look into his eyes.

Kaidan nodded, "I do. He seems to be doing alright right now, but... We don't know what's gonna happen once he's arrested. He could spiral out of control."

"You really think so?" Lycan asked as she scooted off the bed again to sit on its edge.

Kaidan followed to sit at the edge of the bed with her and gently rubbed her back in slow lazy circles, "Yeah. Shepard's been dealt a rough hand, but he's done the best he could with it." he sighed, hanging his head.

"Yeah. Ashley's helped to settle him I think." Lycan said with a soft smile.

Kaidan nodded, "She has, but when he gets arrested for what happens in the Bahak system, It's gonna be a shit storm and I don't know what's gonna happen to him mentally." he said, looking over at her as he leaned back to rest on his hands.

Lycan lightly smiled as she placed her hand on his thigh, "We'll have to do whatever we can for him." she said in reassurance.

"That's all we can do Ly. " Kaidan said as the corners of his lips turned down in a frown.

Lycan nodded, "So what're we gonna do Kaidan? Are we just gonna sit back and let all that happen?" she asked as she laid back flat on the bed, watching Kaidan turn to his side and rest his head in his hand.

Kaidan rested his hand on her stomach, "We have to. The time..."

"The timeline... I know, but... what if we just said screw it and did whatever we could to fuck with it? What if we just... didn't care about it anymore?" Lycan asked, resting her hand over his.

Kaidan released a breath, "Ly..." words had failed him.

"Why can't we just say forget the timeline and just... save that little boy? He doesn't deserve to die like that. No one does." she said, saddening her eyes as she spoke.

"I agree about the little boy Ly, but... we aren't meant to control what happens. Fate is." Kaidan said, ducking his head down to lightly bump her temple with his forehead.

Lycan shook her head, "Fate can go fuck herself. She's done nothing but give us a hard time and I'm tired of it." she growled as she sat up and stood.

"We can't predict what's gonna happen Ly. We could make things worse." Kaidan said, watching her begin to scuff her feet as she paced.

"Does it really matter? The way I figure it is anything could give Shepard a better chance at surviving this." Lycan said, shooting him a concerned glare.

Kaidan sighed, "It isn't just Shepard we've gotta be concerned about Ly. There's the rest of the people who're involved in this war we've gotta think about." he said, sitting up on the bed himself.

"We start thinking that big a number and we'll get overwhelmed." Lycan said with a grin.

Kaidan huffed, "Yeah... Think about the hear and now." he returned her smile, "Well, if we're gonna start playing some practical jokes on Fate, what do you wanna do about Udina. That rat bastard's reached a new low." his smile faded.

Lycan's throat rumbled, "Oh that sack of shit is gonna get it. I bet Liara can get something on him and we can use it to railroad him." she smirked evilly.

"You wanna bring him down before the coup huh?" Kaidan asked, leaning back on his hands.

"I didn't liked him the first time I saw the man. He's a snake." Lycan said with her returning snarl and a furrowed brow.

"Hey now... Don't be mean to snakes." Kaidan snickered.

"You like snakes?"

"Not really, but they don't deserve to be compared to Udina." Kaidan grinned.

"Nice. So do you wanna take him down? I mean... We'd be heros for that alone." Lycan said, padding back to the bed and plopping down like a five year old.

Kaidan chuckled, "Probably, but I'd rather take out Antella. The way he's gunning for Shepard scares me."

"Me too. Even more so since we don't know how he's involved with the trial or Shepard's arrest." she said, releasing a long sigh.

"I'm willing to bet he's involved quite a bit." Kaidan's eyes narrowed for a brief moment.

Lycan glared at him, "I don't make sucker bets."

"I'll be honest though Ly... I'm more scared about the stuff I don't know then the stuff I do. I can do something about the stuff I know's coming." Kaidan said as he stood and headed for the bathroom for a glass of water.

"Oh believe me, I'm right there with you, but we don't have a whole lotta time here Kaidan. We've gotta act now." Lycan said plainly.

Kaidan swallowed his mouthful of water, "I agree. Where you wanna start first?"

"Contact Shepard and tell him what to expect at the Collector base and Bahak if we can." Lycan said, cringing a bit when Kaidan moderately choked on some more water.

After a couple of coughs, Kaidan set his glass down and cleared his throat, "Wow uh... Already?"

"Sure. Why not." she shrugged.

"Alright... Lets hope he hasn't gone through the Omega 4 then."

Before Kaidan could even react, Lycan hopped up and went straight for the large holoscreen across from their bed. He sat down as she hurried to enter in the last contact information they had for the _Normandy_, and waited as the screen went dark and proceeded to follow Lycan's commands.

Sixty seconds later, they breathed again.

_"Hello?" _

The screen went from black to a dimmed room with Shepard's face the dominate feature. They could see an open bathroom door behind him and a couple shelves full of old books that he had most likely picked up along his travels. They could see the top corner of a holoframe that both of them knew contained a picture of Ashley at the very least, but the dark circles under Shepard's eyes was certainly harder to ignore then the top of a bottle in his hand.

"Hey Shepard. How're you doing?" Kaidan asked, popping the chair out for Lycan to sit down.

_"Exhausted. Tired. Not nearly drunk enough, but hey... Ops normal otherwise." _Shepard said, running a hand over his hair that caused it to become even more disheveled.

"Have you gone through Omega 4 yet?" Lycan asked bluntly.

Shepard blinked, _"Headed there now. Those fucking Collector bastards too 'em. They took Dr. Chakwas guys... They took her." _he said, the glass in his eyes becoming extremely noticeable.

Kaidan's chest tightened, "Gabriel..." he breathed, not having the words to help comfort his friend.

_"They took her. We... We were implementing an IFF into the ship and it was bugged, and they found us when I was out and they took everyone except Joker." _Shepard said, taking a fast pull of liquid from the bottle as a tear leapt from his eye.

"Easy Gabe... Calm down. It'll be ok." Kaidan said softly.

_"Will it!" _Shepard barked.

"It will be Shepard. Your crew's loyal to you right?" Lycan asked sweetly.

Shepard nodded, _"Yeah. Everyone is... Even that... talking geth." _

"Kept him huh?" Kaidan asked.

_"Yeah. I didn't wanna give Cerberus any kind of ammo they could use. I kept him around. Figured it'd come in handy at some point." _Shepard said, this time much more calm.

"Legion will. He's good people." Lycan said with a soft smile that Shepard returned.

_"I hope so. I hope I just didn't make the biggest mistake of my life." _Shepard said, taking another long drag from his bottle.

"Easy there Shepard. Don't make yourself sick." Kaidan said with a short swallow.

_"I don't have nearly enough alcohol Kaidan. I had to buy the bottle off Zaeed. My metabolism moves too fast for me to get drunk, let alone buzzed." _the thunk of the bottle sounded softly in the background.

"Either way." Kaidan sighed.

Pursing his lips together, Shepard stared at his desk for a moment before capping the bottle and pushing it aside, _"I'll stop. I'm just... nervous about heading through this relay." _

"You have every right to be Shepard, but you've upgraded the ship... You have upgraded right?" Lycan asked.

Shepard nodded, _"Yeah. First chance I got."_

"And you've helped your crew... You've done everything right. Want my advice?" Lycan asked.

Shepard brows furrowed, _"What? What about the timeline?"_

Lycan waved a hand, "Fuck it."

Shepard smirked, _"At this point... Any would be great."_

"Legion goes into the thermal tube. Garrus leads the fire team. How long ago was Dr. Chakwas and the crew taken?" she asked.

_"Not long. It was just after I helped Legion. We got back, Joker told us and we set course immediately." _Shepard said, swiping his eye.

Lycan nodded, "Ok. Have Jacob escort the survivors back to the ship and have Samara protect you with her biotic fields."

Shepard nodded, _"Ok. I will. Anything else?" _

"A couple more things, but... They arne't gonna sit well." Lycan said, glancing at Kaidan who never took his eyes off of Shepard's stunned look.

_"What are they?" _Shepard asked with a furrowing brow.

"Bad. That's what it is." Lycan said, slowly sighing.

Shepard hung his head, _"Great." _he grumbled.

"Just blow that fucking base to hell Shepard. Don't let The Illusive Man have it." Lycan said with a snap to her tone when she talked about the secretive leader of Cerberus.

Again, Shepard nodded, _"Over my dead body is The Illusive Man getting ahold of that base." _he growled again angrily.

"He'll ask, but don't let him push you over Gabriel. Everything Reaper needs to be destroyed, not harnessed." Kaidan said, taking another sip of his water.

_"Oh believe me... I'm right there with you Kaidan." _

"Has Admiral Hackett talked to you lately?" Lycan asked quite bluntly again.

_"Yeah. He wants me to help a friend of his in the Bahak system." _Shepard said with the lightest of sniffles as he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes.

"Ok uh..." she held her breath, not really knowing where to head to next.

_"What? What's wrong?" _

"A lot," she exhaled, "Shepard, three hundred and forty five thousand batarians are gonna die and you won't have a choice." Lycan said, glancing at Kaidan whom this time, returned her worried look.

Shepard's throat audibly growled, _"Fine. Fuck the batarians. They aren't worth a shit." _he slammed an open hand down on his desk, shocking both Kaidan and Lycan to the point of jumping.

"Shepard..." Kaidan tried, only to be interrupted.

_"No! Those people took my family from me and forced me to make the worst decision of my life! If it wasn't for their slaving believes, then I'd still have my sister!" _Shepard roared, forcefully grabbing the bottle of alcohol and chugging down several gulps that swelled his throat.

"Shepard... Not every batarian is to blame for what happened at Mindoir. You know that Gabriel." Kaidan said, stiffening his tone to prepare for going toe to toe with the man.

Shepard pursed his lips together hard, but that didn't last long as he sighed, _"I know... I know... I __just... It's hard to look at them and not remember what happened." _

"I know Shepard, but you can't damn an entire race. You never damned the rachni for what happened, so why damn the batarians for the actions of a few?" Kaidan asked, knowing he had stumped the man on the screen.

_"I'd be more willing to agree with you Kaidan if they weren't still raiding colonies." _Shepard said as he hung his head and rubbed that back of his neck.

"It's a hard decision Shepard, but do you really wanna sign the death warrants of three hundred and forty five thousand men, women and children?" Kaidan asked, only to drive the point home.

Seeing Shepard's face drop, Kaidan knew instantly that he had asked the million credit question. Shepard wasn't as cold as he would want people to believe, but in fact, had a heart that was simply buried behind a hard wall that he had erected. So many times his heart had been broken, beaten and bloodied, that he had forced it to hid behind strong armor, so not to ever again feel the pain of heartache and despair. It was that heart that wouldn't let him sleep at night, should he damn over a quarter of a million souls.

_"No... I don't really want to, but I don't know what I'm gonna do to convince them to listen to me. Its no secret that I'm from Mindoir." _Shepard said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"You won't be able to do anything but warn them. I wish there was something else, but if we try to do anything other then that, it'll throw things _way_ too out of whack." Lycan said.

_"Isn't that what you're trying to do?" _Shepard asked with arced brow.

"Not to that extent. If those three hundred and forty five thousand live, that's three hundred and forty five thousand more forces the reapers gain." Kaidan said as his gaze turned around to look at Lycan.

_"Shit... Sacrifice them now, so we don't have a harder time later kind of thing... That's gonna go over well." _Shepard said, slowly shaking his head as he hid the new moisture in his eyes that had formed from talking about batarians.

"It's not. Just do what you can to ease the blow I guess. That's all the advice I have for you." Lycan said with a slowly released sigh.

_"That's easier said then done." _Shepard said as he took a drink from the bottle, not even caring anymore that Kaidan was glaring at him for it.

Lycan shrugged, "Either way Shepard, you won't have a choice. It'll end with you getting arrested for it."

Shepard's eyes went wide, _"Well that's just great," _he sighed, _"Wouldn't be the first time. Why so gungho to tell me these things? Aren't you guys worried about that timeline anymore?" _Shepard asked, wiping his mouth dry from his latest drink.

"We have our reasons Shepard." Kaidan said as he silently sucked in a breath.

Shepard nodded, _"I trust you guys. Do whatever you have to do." _he sighed.

"We will Shepard," Kaidan licked his lips, "Do you wanna talk to Ashley?"

Shepard sat up straight, "Y-Yeah... Yeah I'd love to." his spirit seemed to immediately perk at the thought of talking with her.

"One sec, I'll get her." Kaidan said as he stood.

Drawing in a deep breath, Kaidan headed for and stepped through the door that lead into the briefing room where he sat at his desk and opened the internal ship's comms.

"Chief Williams?"

_"Yes LT?" _

"Someone's on the vid comm for you. Can you come to the briefing room please?"

_"On my way LT."_

Switching off the comms, Kaidan waited for Ashley, crossing his arms and lounging back in his chair until the hiss of the second door alerted him that she had arrived.

"What's up LT?" Ashley asked, wiping the grime from her hands on a rag.

Kaidan motioned with his head for the door that led back to his quarters, "Come on."

As the doors to his cabin opened, Ashley stopped dead, rag in hand, as her dark eyes laid on the holoscreen to see an exhausted, almost sullen looking Shepard looking back at her with ultra glassy eyes.

Seeing that their conversation was meant to be private, Kaidan and Lycan backed up and out of the cabin, leaving the pair to their privacy as they headed for the bridge to see how the twins were doing.

The pair was hard at worth playing a card game and laughing, both sets of feet kicked up on the consoles, and both sucking back large glasses of soda. However, Jake's attention seemed to be glued to the closest screens.

"Hey you two. How're things up here?" Kaidan asked as he sat down in the central chair while Lycan took one of the always empty science seats in either corner of the bridge.

"Hey Commander. Just in time. I was just gonna call you because it looks like someone's here to see you and Lycan."Jake said as he pointed to the screen that displayed the view from outside.

"Who is it?" Kaidan asked, standing up.

Jake's and Jerry's brows furrowed, "You're not gonna believe this." they both said at the same time.

"Try me." Kaidan deadpanned.

"It's the Hudsons. All three of them."again, in unison.

Kaidan's and Lycan's eyes shot open as they payed close attention to the screen. Sure enough, there were three well dressed people, two men and a woman, standing next to the cargo bay door with a team of freight workers behind them with a load of cargo.

"Well I'll be damned. Tell 'em we'll be right there." Kaidan said as he and Lycan headed down the body of the ship.

In the cargo bay, they found a majority of their crew standing and staring at the trio dressed in expensive business wear with looks of shock plastered across their faces. Callaghan, Ellison, Lia and Hanson were at least trying to maintain an air of professionalism by not having their mouths agape, but even they were staring with star struck looks.

"Alright people. Don't stare like they're a train wreck." Kaidan said above his normal volume, smirking lightly as his crew scattered to the four winds.

"Ah. Mr. Alenko... I'm glad to see we didn't interrupt anything." Jonathon said with a smile as he extended his hand in greeting.

"No you didn't." Kaidan said, shaking the man's hand.

"Wonderful," Jonathon smiled, "They insisted they meet Lycan before you left. This is my sister, Amelia," he motioned to a modestly attractive woman with shoulder length, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, "and my brother, David." he said, motioning to the other man with a shaved head, but with the same dark brown eyes.

Lycan extended a hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you both. It's too bad we couldn't meet earlier." she said, smiling and sending both a short nod.

"Business does have a way of getting in the way, but the pleasure is ours Lycan." Amelia said, shaking Lycan's hand.

"Hardly, but thank you. What brings you all here?" Lycan asked, extending her hand to David for a shake.

"Well... As Jonathon seemed to 'forget', it was up to us to make sure that our parting gifts were given in a timely manner." David said simply and with a soft and crooked grin across his lips.

"But, we already got the package your great great grandfather left. Was there more?" Kaidan asked, giving Amelia and David both hand shakes.

"Not by our great great grandfather's order. We wanted to give you something else to help with what's to come." David said, snapping his fingers that cued the freight crew to begin escorting the small lift platform into the cargo bay.

Kaidan's brows furrowed as he stepped aside, giving the movers room to set the crates down next to them. His curiosity was peaked as the movers unloaded the collection of five crates next to the group and turned to leave without so much as a nod hello, or a spoken word.

Once the crew had left, Kaidan studied the crates to see that they were emblazoned with BioWare International's logo. They weren't the largest by any means, but each were sizable by their own right, but what they were loaded with, he could only guess. He really wanted to know what was inside.

Smiling at the curious look on Kaidan's and Lycan's faces, Jonathon's arm lit up with his Omni-Tool as he swiped it over the control panel of the closest crate and tapped in the proper code. With a soft click, the crate hissed and popped its top where the lid slowly and automatically opened to reveal its spoils.

What sat inside in their own individual spots in the cradling foam, were an assortment of tech that instantly made Kaidan's heart thrum with delight. There were Omni-Tools, amps, weapons mods and, inside the largest of the crates, sets of BioWare International hardsuits.

"My god." Kaidan exhaled, staring wide eyed in awe at what was sure to be an astronomical price.

"Ladies and gentlemen... A full compliment of BI tech for your pleasure." Jonathon said with the biggest and proudest grin he could muster.

"You've got to be kidding me. There's gotta be millions of credits worth of stuff in here." Kaidan gasped, slowly, but carefully, reaching out to pick up one of the Omni-Tools.

"Ten million five to be exact." Jonathon winked.

Lycan coughed, "Holy shit. Is all this for us?" she asked, just as stunned as Kaidan was.

Amelia nodded, "It is. It's got all the latest tech we have on the market. The Omni-Tools are Gen X BI paladins. The biotic amps, which were specifically designed for your implant Mr. Alenko, are Solaris 9 Sentinel bio-amps and the hardsuits are a brand new design fresh from the R&D department. The Crisis Gen X power suits with a little BI flare. We've installed the latest VI with the power of the Series 11 six core." she said, tapping each piece of equipment as she listed them off.

Kaidan carefully examined the Omni-Tool in his hand, turning it over to study its lines and the fact the it melded so effortlessly with its casing, which was a stark difference then the one he had been so used to for so long. It looked more like an everyday watch then an advanced piece of technology.

"This is incredible. Does it have the..." Kaidan started.

"The series 11 six core? Of course it does. We can't very well have an Omni-Tool with less processing power then the hardsuits now can we." David laughed, cuing the rest of chuckle along with him.

"That's a good point." Kaidan smiled, still admiring the Omni-Tool.

"They also have multiple fabrication modules to make things easier for you, and... can even manifest a usable blade. They're the most advanced to date." David said with a growing crooked grin across his face.

Both Kaidan's and Lycan's eyebrows pinched a bit, but they knew exactly what that meant.

"Go ahead. Try it on and give it a spin." Jonathon said, still smiling.

Trying not to smile like a child opening his presents on Christmas, Kaidan removed his well used Omni-Tool and slipped on the state of the art one. He admired how well it rested against his wrist, molded around his skin without chafing it, and the best part, was how nearly weightless it seemed, almost like it wasn't even there to begin with.

Finished admiring the expensive tech, Kaidan tapped a finger on it, commanding it to wrap his arm in the familiar orange glow. The moment the interface was lit, he was immediately prompted with a series of questions and set up procedures, only taking all of a few minutes that no one minded since they were eagerly, and awe inspiringly watching how the latest and greatest worked.

"Sheesh it's fast." Kaidan said, smiling and continuing to explore what the knew Omni-Tool had to offer.

"As fast as they come. Check out the Omni-Blade feature we added." Jonathon said, coaxing Kaidan to enter the personal weapons feature menu, which was new.

Once Kaidan had entered the submenu, he was given a small list of various types of object penetrating weapons that the Omni-Tool was capable of fabricating. There was a short blade, the default, an icepick type weapon, and a blackjack in case something needed to be pummeled.

"Just accept the default." Jonathon said, taking a step back to give Kaidan's arm plenty of room.

Kaidan nodded as he accepted the prompt and, once the Omni-Tool indicated that it was ready, he drew is arm back like he was getting ready to throw a punch.

With a small chime and the sound of metal on metal, just for affect, the Omni-Tool shifted and morphed, forming a fifteen inch long blade that rotated out from the fabricating module. It whipped around and came to a dead stop in the span of only a couple of seconds, directly in front of Kaidan's knuckles where it was in prime position to makes someone's day a bad one.

"Say hello to the new Omni-Blade. It's fully capable of piercing armors and goes through shields because it's a melee weapon. It's perfect for close quarter combat " Jonathon said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Kaidan flexed his hand as he turned it over, examining all angles of the blade, "How long does it stay active?" he asked, aiming the blade up towards the ceiling, but still continued to examine it.

"At first activation, until you shut it down, but you can program it so it only stays active for a short time." David said, clasping his hands behind his back.

"Brilliant," Kaidan played up that he hadn't already known of the tool, "Is there a way the Alliance can get their hands on these?" he asked, tapping the interface that shut down the blade in the same way it had snapped it into existence.

Amelia smiled wide, "We ship next week."

"Outstanding." Kaidan returned the smile.

"On a smaller scale, there's enough gear here for you, Lycan and your crew Mr. Alenko. I hope you put them to good use." Jonathon said as he picked up an Omni-Tool and tossed one to Lycan, that she caught.

"Oh believe me Jonathon. It will be." Lycan said, hesitating a few moments so not to seem like she was too excited about receiving a million dollar Omni-Tool for nothing.

"We really appreciate this Jonathon. It was very kind for you guys to do this for us." Kaidan said, shutting off the high priced Omni-Tool to place it back into its spot in the foam.

"Anything we can do. If you need anything else, please... you know how to get ahold of us." David said, extending his hand once more for another shake.

"I... I'm sure this'll be more then enough. We weren't expecting to be handed a load of the best tech available." Kaidan said as he grabbed David's hand without hesitation.

"Consider it a gesture of good will Mr. Alenko. You've trusted us to guide the timeline this long, it's time for us to trust you to end this journey." Amelia said, bowing her head slightly as she clasped her hands behind her back.

"I just hope we don't disappoint." Lycan said, holding her breath for a moment from not really knowing the right words that would fit the situation.

"I'm sure you won't." Jonathon said softly.

Saying their final goodbyes, the three Hudsons and the crew of the _Grimm_ parted ways as the executives stepped off the ship to an awaiting legion of armed escorts and a flock of black skycars that flanked a massive, equally black limousine where they all climbed in and headed off towards the dominating skyscraper in the distance.

As the cargo bay door groaned closed, Kaidan turned to see his crew of N7's still standing in the same spot, eyeballing the haul like a pack of starved dogs staring at a pile of fresh meat.

"Come here." Kaidan deadpanned, glancing at Lycan as she started to giggle, watching the group hurry over like playful children.

"Holy shit boss! Look at all this stuff!" Ellison beamed as he snatched up an Omni-Tool in the same breath.

"Easy easy... Those're million credit Omni-Tools." Kaidan said, picking one up himself to insure he got one.

Callaghan went to one of the closed crates and opened it, revealing it to contain a small assortment of weapons, including a state of the art sniper rifle.

With a high pitched squeal, she snatched up the rifle like it was the last one on the shelf and immediately expanded it, "Oh my god! Look at this beauty! She's amazing!" she said, nearly screaming as she brought the weapon to her shoulder to see how it fit.

"Isn't that the new widow Lieutenant?" Hanson asked innocently as he started poking around a few of the weapon mods and Omni-Tools.

"Hell yeah it is! This baby can plug a target from eighteen hundred yards without even breaking a sweat." Callaghan said as she ran her hands along the lines of the rifle.

"Bet it's farther in your hands." Jake said with a wink, having followed Kaidan and Lycan with an insatiable curiosity to see why such important people would come to their small and unobtrusive ship.

Callaghan glared at the remark, but after only a few moments, she grinned and went back to playing with her new rifle.

With their bounty needing to be sorted and handed out, the crew picked through it as if they were shopping through the clearance racks.

Kaidan of course got a new Omni-Tool with a lovely collection of technical specs and programs to go with it and had free reign of the biotic amps since he was the only one capable of using them. He got a new pistol, complete with mods, and sure enough, one of the new hardsuits was nicely painted with his name on the shoulder plate.

To Lycan's surprise, she too received a new Omni-Tool, but she did not wish to have a new weapon since there were others with far more skill then she who could put them to better use. She did accept however, a few tech programs that went well with her skill set, but what shocked her the most, was that one of the hardsuits was designated as hers.

"This... This is incredible Kaidan." Lycan breathed as she softly ran her hand down the sculpted chest plate of the brand new, not even scratched hardsuit.

Kaidan lightly smiled, "It really is. I never thought you'd end up getting your own hardsuit. I guess you've come a long way since that scared and confused young thing that dropped into my lap." he smiled, gripping the new pistol in his hand a bit tighter to keep from touching her in front of the crew.

Lycan smiled back, "I guess so," she sighed, "I'm worried Kaidan. We're headed into our hardest fight yet and..." she sighed again, "I guess I'm just scared we won't be able to do this." she hung her head and turned her new Omni-Tool over in her hands.

Kaidan's grip tightened, "I'm worried too, but all we can do is fight the best we can. That's all any of us can do." he said quietly.

"I just hope it's enough Kaidan."

"Me too." Kaidan said with another smile as he removed Lycan's old Omni-Tool and replaced it with the new one.

* * *

Before Ashley could tell Kaidan and Lycan that they didn't have to leave, they had quietly slipped out while her and Shepard's eyes were locked, despite that they were looking at each other through a comm link.

Either way, she was grateful that they had left her a quiet moment to talk with the man she loved.

"Hey Skipper. How're you?" Ashley asked, still a bit dreary eyed from getting to see Shepard again.

_"Hey Ash... I'm uh... I'm doing ok. You?" _Shepard asked, quickly swiping the back of his hand over his cheek to rid it of a lone, but large tear.

"I'm doing ok," she finally started to breath again, "I miss you Skipper." she said, taking a step closer to the holoscreen.

Shepard huffed a smiled, _"I miss you too Ash. It's been tough out here without you." _

"I wish I could be there. I hate that you're out there with all those Cerberus agents and... that AI." Ashley said with a strong frown turning her mouth down.

_"EDI's not what you think. She saved the ship and Joker when the Collectors ambushed us." _Shepard said with his smile fading.

"Why not save the whole crew?" Ashley asked, her tone betraying that she didn't want to believe that an AI could be used for good.

_"By the time Joker got her unshackled so she could do something, it was already too late. The Collectors got the crew." _Shepard said, taking a mouthful of liquid from his bottle.

"I guess it's just hard to believe that an AI isn't trying to kill us. If you say she's trustworthy, then I'll stand with you Skipper. I can't say I'm not apprehensive about it though." Ashley admitted as she released a sigh.

_"I know, but... Just give her a chance. She might surprise you." _Shepard said as his smile returned.

Ashley sighed, but nodded, "Alright. What you drinking?" she asked, eyeballing the bottle whose label was obstructed by his hand.

_"Oh uh... Just rum. I bought it off one of my squad members." _Shepard said, nearly sounding ashamed that she had seen it.

"Have you been drinking a lot?"

Shepard nodded, _"Kinda. I trust my crew and my team, but I don't trust The Illusive Man. I hate taking orders from him Ash. I really hate it." _he said, twisting the cap back on the bottle and shoving it aside, determined to be done with it.

"I know you do. I can't wait for you to come back to the Alliance Skipper. It's not the same without you." Ashley said as her expression softened.

_"The second I'm done here Ash. I promise. I can't just leave this unfinished." _Shepard said, sighing.

"I'd argue with you but... I know you wouldn't go for that." her lips ghosted a smile.

_"We've gotta stop the Collectors... They can't be allowed to keep doing whatever it is they're doing." _Shepard said.

"I agree with you. One hundred percent, but I can't say I'm not terrified." she said, her lips parting with worry.

_"I know Ash, but you know it has to be done." _Shepard said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I know," she sighed, "I won't lie Skipper. I don't like that your going through the O4R. No one whose ever gone through has ever come back, and I don't want that to be you. I've lost you once already. Don't make me lose you again." Ashley said, her tone nearly pleading as her eyes started to lightly sting with sadness.

_"Babe... I will do everything I can to come back to you." _Shepard said with parted lips, as it nearly hurt to breath from seeing the worried look on her face.

"Make sure that you do Skipper. I don't think I could live through another heartbreak." Ashley said, sucking in a long breath to keep herself from succumbing to the strong emotion in her chest.

_"You won't have to Ash. I love you too much to put you through that again. I didn't wanna do it the first time, but I came back." _Shepard said, his breathing a bit shaky.

Ashley rolled her eyes and sat at the table where her hands begun to pick at the tabletop, "It's not like you had much of a choice."

_"I did have a choice... I think. I had this... dream, or hallucination, or drug induced coma, whatever you wanna call it, but I saw her, my sister, and she said I had the choice." _

Ashley's brows furrowed slightly as she looked up at him, "What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

_"I don't really know myself Ash, but I was in this white meadow with my sister sitting on a bench, under a willow tree. She said my mom and dad were proud of me, and that the 'Big Man' wasn't done with me yet. She said I still had more to do." _Shepard explained as best he could.

"Sounds... I'm not really sure how that sounds." Ashley said as she rubbed her neck.

Shepard shrugged, _"You sound exactly like me." _

"It's just... weird, I guess would be the word. You don't usually hear your boyfriend talking about the afterlife like this." she huffed a laugh.

_"Yeah no kidding." _he said, slowly shaking his head as he stared at his hands.

"What made you decide to come back?" she asked.

_"I only saw Michaela and your dad. That's it." _she asked, lightly sniffling and hoping it wasn't heard.

_ "Michaela gave me a choice... Well, more like relayed the message. Your father said you needed me so... I came back. I thought I'd wake up in a hospital with you there, but... It wasn't a hospital." _Shepard said, sucking in a long breath to fill his lungs.

Ashley's eyes stung more, "Skipper... I wish I could give you something to help you remember what we had. I know we got Horizon, and that small amount of time we got at Liara's, but..." she sighed.

_"Those helped so much Ash. You have no idea how much those few moments meant to me." _Shepard said, nearly placing his fingertips on his screen in a desperate attempt to touch the woman on the other end.

"They meant a lot to me too Gabriel. I just wish we could've had more time." she said, standing from the seat to step closer to the screen as well.

_"Me too. I want so many more moments like that, I can't even find the right words Ash. I just want you by my side for everything we're gonna have to face." _Shepard said with a tremble that made Ashley's heart pine to be there with him.

"You know I will be Skipper. No matter what comes up, I'll always be there." Ashley said, placing her hand over his on the holoscreen.

_"I know that... but I want everyone else to know too." _Shepard visibly gulped.

Ashley's brows furrowed for a moment, "W-What'd you mean Skipper? I'm certain everyone already knows." she said as her lips curled up for the briefest of moments.

Shepard blew out a breath that sounded nervous to her ears, _"Ash... This isn't how I envisioned __this. I wanted it to be something special. Not over a vid comm." _

"What're you talking about Skipper? This isn't how you envisioned what?" she asked, her brows pulling together harder.

With nerves coursing through his veins like the very blood that filled them, Shepard looked up at the ceiling and sucked in as much air into his lungs as he possibly could. His stomach wretched with the thought of what he was about to say, but there was no more delaying. There was no more time.

_"Marry me Ash." _Shepard blurted out with another strong gulp that she could see go down his throat.

Ashley's chest tightened, "W-What? Now?"

Shepard smiled wide, _"Not now. When I get back." _

Ashley forced herself to breath, "You sound confident that you are." her eyes filled with moisture.

_"Say yes and I can guarantee it." _Shepard said as his smile faded until his lips here flat.

The look on his face said it all. His loving blue eyes were wide, glued to hers without so much as an inkling that he was going to look away. Those eyes, the eyes she had come to love and cherish with every fiber of her heart and soul, told her he was deadly serious. He would come back should she say yes. He would beat the odds again to have that moment of happiness he so desperately wanted, and nothing the reapers, or the Collectors could throw at him would stop him from being back in her arms.

"I'll make a deal with you Skipper." Ashley said, just then realizing that she had stopped breathing.

Shepard smiled again, _"What?" _

"Come back to me and I'll give you your answer." she said with a soft, but feminine crooked grin.

Just as Shepard opened his mouth to reply, the comms clicked on and the very familiar voice of a friend could be heard on Ashley's end.

_"Commander... We're coming into the Omega 4 Relay. It's game time." _it was Joker.

Ashley's stomach flipped, "Give 'em hell Skipper." she kissed her fingers and blew a kiss at the holoscreen.

Shepard smiled, _"You better have that answer ready. I love you." _

The screen went black.


	72. Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Shattering Conceptions

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: I LOVE YOU BETA!)_

The waiting was killing her. Every second that passed by was agonizing torture that slowly cut at her heart a thousand times over. Her chest ached with every thought that he wouldn't come back, that he had parish just like the rest that had ventured through the forbidden relay. She choked on the possibilities of all the different ways his mission could go bad, but she refused to believe that he would simply succumb, especially when she was sitting, staring out the window at the very thing she was scared would consume him.

The Omega 4 Relay was still dormant, and Ashley was still waiting for Shepard to get back.

She had been waiting for hours, how many however, she had no idea. Time had blurred for her since the _Grimm _had arrived at the restricted relay, and while the rest of the crew went about tinkering with their new toys, she sat, waiting silently, hoping and praying that Shepard would stick to his word and return to her. She had an answer for him.

"Ashley?" a soft whisper of a feminine voice said from the doorway of her quarters.

Quietly gasping from the sudden intrusion of sound, Ashley looked over her shoulder to see Lycan, standing in the doorway with a tray in her hands that was laden with some food and a drink.

"Oh... Hey Lycan. Lunchtime already?" she asked, combing her fingers through her hair to prepare it to be thrown back up into a bun.

"Dinner." Lycan said with a mild cringe.

Ashley groaned, "Shit... I'm sorry." she sighed, clearing off a space on her bunk for Lycan to set down the tray and sit down.

Lycan softly smiled as she fully entered the room and set the tray down next to Ashley, "It's ok. I know you've been kinda antsy lately." she said, still standing and resting her hands on her hips.

Ashley nodded, "That's putting it mildly. How long've we been waiting?" she asked, turning away from the window to eat her food.

"I don't know... Few hours I'd say," Lycan sighed as she sat in the lone chair at the small desk across from Ashley's bed, "He'll come back Ashley. He's done everything right."

Ashley washed down her bite with a gulp of water, "I hope you're right Lycan. Did you know he asked me to marry him?"

Lycan gasped, "Really? You're serious?"

Ashley nodded, "Yeah... I... I was shocked. We've spent most of our relationship apart, and most of it he was dead..." she pinched the bridge of her nose as her words left her.

"What did you say?" Lycan asked, crossing her legs as she held onto the back of the chair, resting her chin on her hands.

"I..." Ashley held her breath, "I haven't answered him yet." she admitted, continuing to eat.

"What? Why not?" Lycan asked, a bit shocked herself that Ashley hadn't given him an answer.

"I made a deal with him that I'd give him my answer when he got back. I just hope I didn't make a huge mistake." Ashley said, taking a bite.

"Well that's a hell of a motivator. I bet he'll be back any minute then." Lycan said with a huffed smile.

Ashley returned the brief smile, "I hope... It's killing me waiting like this. I would've thought he'd be back by the time we got here. He was just going through when we were still on Earth." she said, never taking her gaze off her plate.

"I know Ash, but we don't know how long it'll take him to give those Collectors hell." Lycan said as she shifted her weight to her other butt cheek.

Ashley shrugged, "I know. I'm just terrified things'll go wrong. We have a lot of friends on that ship."

Lycan sighed, "Yeah. I hope they're ok too. We all do. I know Kaidan's worried sick about Shepard and Joker and Garrus and everybody."

"Can't say I blame him." Ashley mumbled.

Lycan lightly bit her lip as their conversation seemed to be losing steam, but knowing her personality, she wasn't one to just be quiet. She was blunt, so she was going to be blunt. Why not.

"So what're you gonna say? Are you gonna marry him?" Lycan asked quietly, at least having the sense about her not want that question to filter out into the hallway.

Ashley lightly coughed and finished chewing her food, "Yikes... You don't waste time." she smiled.

Lycan smiled and shrugged, "You should be used to this by now."

"True," she swallowed, "Well... Between you and me... I'm gonna say yes, but don't tell anyone. Just keep that between us ok?"

"Of course. I wouldn't spoil the pleasure of seeing the look on Shepard's face. I bet it'll be awesome." Lycan said with a beaming grin.

Ashley giggled, "Knowing him, he'll probably squeal and tackle me." she took a drink.

"Probably, but still, I bet your family's gonna be so excited." Lycan said as her grin softened.

"Yeah. Mom'll be... elated and all my sisters'll scream and jump up and down... It'll be chaos." Ashley said, smiling at the thought.

"But a good chaos. Have you thought about what kind of wedding you want?" Lycan asked, rather enjoying the girl talk, as it seemed to be distracting Ashley from the wait.

Ashley finished off her sides and turned her attention to the main portion of her meal; the rather tender varren steak, "I have no idea. I never thought I'd be getting married, let alone to my old CO. Do you have any idea what you want?" she swallowed her bite, "I mean, if you and the LT were getting married that is." she added.

Lycan shook her head, "I could walk down the aisle barefoot for all I care, but I'm pretty sure Kaidan would get a bit pissy with me if I did that." she winced at the thought.

"Probably. He is the hopeful romantic type." Ashley said, washing back another mouthful with some water.

"Completely. I'm sure if he ever did ask me that he'd want a nice ceremony and I'd have to wear a dress, and have bridesmaids and all that crap. I'd really be fine with a courthouse ceremony." Lycan said with a half assed shrug.

Ashley scoffed, "Yeah... Like that would go over well with the LT and his family." she grinned.

"Oh it won't," she chuckled, "So who're you gonna have as your Maid of Honor?" Lycan asked, again, as blunt as possible.

Ashley's grin faded as she sighed, "Well, here's the thing... This is probably gonna be the wedding of the century."

"Probably."

"And I don't know if any of my sisters are gonna be up for that much attention, so I was thinking," she quietly gulp, "Will you do it?"

Lycan held her breath, "W-What? You want me to be your Maid of Honor?" she said airily.

"Yeah... I do. I mean, you were there, by my side, when I was at my worst and it means a lot to me. I love my family, don't get me wrong, and I'd do anything for them, but knowing them, they wouldn't be too keen on the limelight thing. Hell, I'm not too keen on the limelight thing." Ashley said, finishing with her meal with a few scrapings of her fork across her plate.

"I don't think you're gonna have much of a choice on that one Ash. It'll leak somehow." Lycan said, gripping the chair back as she sat up to stretch out her back.

"Do you know?"

Lycan shook her head, "No. It was always a wish of the fans to see something like that, but it never happened."

"Oh. I was hoping I guess." Ashley shrugged.

"Never hurts." Lycan smiled.

"Yeah. You know, if you and the LT get married, it'll probably be high profile. The LT's pretty famous too." Ashley said with her grin returning.

Lycan's eyes went dull, "Yeah, I know. Remember those outings we used to go on? How we were ignored six ways from Tuesday and all those bimbos would just run up to him?"

Ashley nodded, "Yeah. It's like you just flat out didn't exist. They didn't even notice that half the time the LT was holding your hand." she scoffed.

"No kidding. There were a few of those sluts I wouldn't've minded punching in the face." Lycan said with the barest hint of a growl in her tone.

"I would've helped. It was ridiculous the way they flaunted their cleavage at him like he had eyes for anyone else." Ashley said as she uncurled her legs from her chest and leaned back on her bunk against the bulkhead.

"Lycan gonna choke a bitch." she grumbled at the thought.

Ashley chuckled, "I'm sure you would've too. The look on your face was hatred."

"I had hate on the brain. The look on my face was the look of wanting to do much harm to those _ladies._" Lycan said, using the word loosely, just like the women she was referring to.

"Oh I'm sure, but I overheard him and Shepard talking when we were heading for the Shadow Broker's ship and..." Ashley started, only to interrupted by a flash of red coming in from the window.

Their attention ripped away from their conversation, Ashley and Lycan looked out the window at the Omega 4 Relay in time to see its red core flash once more. The rings began to spin faster around its core as its power output increased, turning the entire window red and both Ashley and Lycan knew what it meant. Someone was preparing to come through.

Jumping to their feet, Ashley and Lycan rushed from the small quarters and made a beeline for the bridge where they found Kaidan anxiously standing behind his pilots as Hanson and Callaghan manned the scientific stations at each corner of the utilitarian bridge. The atmosphere was tense to say the least and the looks on everyone's faces was one of worry and anxiety. None knew what was going to happen.

"What's going on?" Lycan asked as she watched out of the viewports, seeing the Omega 4 relay come into view.

"Bring her about to bearing 157 and hold fast. Keep monitoring those readings," Kaidan relayed before looked over to Lycan, "Someone's coming through and we aren't sure who it is. The IFF is damaged." he whispered to her.

"Bearing 157. Relay is hot. Incoming target in three... two... one." Jake relayed just as the relay flashed its brightest.

Everyone on the bridge covered their eyes as the relay's bright red seared through the viewports, stinging their eyes but the brightness didn't last long as the ship they were awaiting to come through, came through.

She was beaten and damaged, but she was operating under her own power. Her hull was littered with holes that had been sealed with mass effect fields and her gleaming paint lines had been marred with harsh scars from battle. It was clear she had been in a fight, many in fact, but she was intact, and those inside didn't wait to let the crew of the _Grimm_ know that.

"Commander, we've got an incoming hail from the _Normandy._" Jake reported with a tone that said he was vastly relieved.

"Put it up." Kaidan said as he stepped in behind Jake.

After a moment of tense silence, a screen popped up in front of the pilot, displaying the bridge of the battered _Normandy_ and her pilot, whom also looked a bit worse for ware, but he was very much alive.

"Joker?" Ashley exhaled as her heart dropped with dread.

_"He's alright Ashley. We're all ok." _were the first words out of Joker's mouth to immediately alleviate the worry on everyone's faces.

"Thank god," she sighed, "Where is he?" Ashley asked before she even drew in another breath.

_"He's in the med bay. Doc and Mordin are working on him right now." _Joker said, ducking away from a rain of sparks from somewhere offscreen.

"What happened to him?" Kaidan asked, crossing his arms as his brows furrowed with again, more worry.

_"He took one of Harbinger's... fire... energy... something balls to the chest. It shattered his chest plate and peppered him." _Joker said, scratching the side of his neck.

"That doesn't sound good." Lycan said flatly and quietly.

_"It's just surface damage. He'll be fine." _Joker said with little worry in his tone, unlike the rest of them.

"What's your guys's status?" Kaidan asked with a strong exhale.

_"We're in rough shape man. We've got a dozen hull breaches, systems're offline all over the place and The Illusive Man is still trying to call us, but other then that, we've got engines, atmosphere and everyone still has a pulse, so I think we did better then the other guy." _Joker said with a smirk across his face.

"Sounds like it. We'll stick with you and help however we can." Kaidan said, uncrossing his arms to place his hands on his hips.

_"It's appreciated," _Joker sighed as a muffled voice came up from his console that the rest couldn't hear, _"Hey... Shepard wants to see you guys."_

"Ok. Is your umbilical still working?" Kaidan asked.

_"Yeah. That still works... Kinda."_

Kaidan's brows furrowed yet again, "Kinda?"

_"It's hanging up at deployment, but I'll get it," _Joker grabbed a felled tube and smacked his console, _"There we go. It's ready to go." _

Kaidan tried not to chuckle out loud, "We'll come along side then."

Having given the order for Jake and Jerry to bring the _Grimm_ alongside the injured _Normandy_, and giving Callaghan the con, Kaidan, Lycan and Ashley waited the few tense minutes for the umbilical to finish connecting before they briskly walked over to the _Normandy_ and took a moment to see how Joker was doing before they headed straight for the elevator that would take them to the crew deck.

When the doors opened, they emerged out in a mess of broken bulkheads, downed cables and a few sparks that made them jump. There was crew strung about working their asses off to repair the critically damaged systems and structural breaches, hauling large slats of repair material up from the cargo bay to crudely cover the hull breaches until they could get somewhere where they could properly repair the damage that had been done. There were scorch marks, mildly injured crew getting care from other crew and lights were flickering like mad as they struggled for steady power.

However, despite the snapping sounds of sparks and welding and metal clanking, the sounds of someone screaming in pain coming from the med bay is what drew their attention the most.

They hurried through the doors that had been forced open to see the salarian known as Mordin Solus, Jacob Taylor and Garrus, holding down Shepard on a bed as Dr. Chakwas carefully removed his obviously shattered chest plate, piece by broken piece.

"Shepard... You have to hold still. We don't know if that hit broke any of your ribs." Dr. Chakwas urged as she slowly lifted a large chunk of his chest plate and tossed it on the nearest bunk.

"You try sitting still when shrapnel is digging into your gut!" Shepard snapped back, gritting his teeth together as he finally caught sight of the trio that had just arrived.

"Skipper." Ashley exhaled as she ran straight for him.

"Ash."

Wanting very much to hold the woman he loved, Shepard struggled even harder against those trying to keep him down. His adrenaline was still rampaging through his veins, making the pain bearable, making his desire to hold her even stronger and instead of fighting him and increasing his possibility of further injury, Jacob, Garrus and Mordin let him go.

Their lips slamming together, and arms wrapping around each other in the same motion, Shepard leapt from the bed, ignoring the pain in his abdomen and chest as he relished the feeling of having Ashley so close once again. His heart hadn't even slowed down from his run for the _Normandy _in his desperate attempt to get away from the Collector base, but this time, it wasn't from physical exertion that made it hammer. It was the elation of having her in his arms after being apart for far too long.

But all too soon, the pain screamed and forced his throat to rip with a shutter and a grunt as the unnatural heat blazed a trail all through his torso with no remorse.

"Fuck me... This hurt." Shepard grunted as he fell back, holding onto Ashley and the others caught his fall and slowed his decent.

"Take it easy Skipper... You need to get looked at." Ashley urged as she helped Garrus, Jacob and Mordin get Shepard back onto the bed to lay down.

"Please listen to her Shepard. You have shrapnel that needs to be removed before it causes any internal damage." Dr. Chakwas said as she went to get a sedative to knock him out.

"I don't want a sedative Doc. I've been unconscious enough this damn trip." Shepard snarled with a snap of his teeth as Mordin lifted another broken piece of armor away from his chest.

"It's gonna be painful otherwise Shepard. I'm going to need to pull the shrapnel from your skin." Dr. Chakwas said smoothly, hoping to shock Shepard into accepting the sedative.

"No." Shepard said flatly as the last piece of his armor was removed by Mordin.

With Jacob, Garrus and now Kaidan, holding Shepard down while the wounded Commander gripped Ashley like it was going to be his last moment alive, Mordin and Dr. Chakwas carefully cut away the thick bodysuit underneath his armor, around the protruding pieces, revealing the true extent of Shepard's injuries.

Sure enough, it was as Dr. Chakwas had said. Chunks of Shepard's ceramic armor plating had broken when struck, digging the pieces into his chest and abdomen through the bodysuit. His softly tanned skin was smeared with blood and the flesh surrounding the wounds was red and swollen. It was clear that the armor pieces were dug in deep, but it was also clear that they hadn't done anything lasting that Shepard wouldn't be able to recover from. Eventually.

"Dear god Skipper. Why didn't you duck?" Ashley gasped as she stood at the head of Shepard's bed and cradled his head, gently caressing his cheek.

"Oh, you know... I noticed Garrus doesn't, so I thought what the hell." Shepard fired without missing a beat.

"I see your humor hasn't taken any hits." Dr. Chakwas sighed as she set the syringe aside.

"You mean you finally grew a pair?" Garrus joked, snickering as he firmly held Shepard's legs down.

"Fuck you Garrus." Shepard spat, blowing out a harsh, sharp breath to keep from grunting hard from the pain, or screaming, whichever came first.

Ashley smacked Shepard's bicep, "Skipper." she chastised.

"Ok fine... The real reason is we were so close to being done Ash. All we had to do was blow that fucking base up, so I took the hit to end the fight faster and get the fuck outta there." Shepard admitted as he grit his teeth together hard from a harsh rocking of pain.

Blowing out breath after breath, Shepard forced his arms free from Jacob's and Kaidan's grip to reach his arms up and hold onto Ashley like his life depended on it and from where he lay, it sure looked that way. All he could do was watch as Dr. Chakwas steadied her own breathing and bring her tweezers to a shrapnel piece, but he very didn't want to actually pay attention, so he decided he'd hold a conversation. He was sure anyone would do that same. He thinks.

"Ash... You haven't given me... Gah!" Shepard started until Dr. Chakwas pulled a chunk from his left pectoral, sending stinging hot pain through him.

"Given you what?" Ashley asked, softly wiping a bead of sweat from his brow and leaning over him as he held onto her tightly.

"An answer. I think I've earned... Son of a bitch!" Shepard yelped.

Dr. Chakwas yanked another piece from his flesh while Mordin immediately went to work dabbing medi-gel over the now free to bleed wound that wasted no time in streaming a long, hot line of blood down his side.

"What answer?" Garrus asked, unable to stop himself from listening in.

"I asked her to marry... Fuck me running!" Shepard blurted out as yet another piece was pulled, this time from just below his right pectoral.

"You did?" Kaidan lightly reeled as he handed the doctors anything they needed since he no longer needed to hold onto Shepard's arm.

Shepard nodded as he continued to force his breathing, "Yeah. It just shot out of my... Son of a motherless goat! Fuck!" a piece from in between his ribs on the left side came free.

Ashley lightly kissed Shepard's forehead and continued to hold him, "Easy Skipper. Keep breathing." she coached, moving her hand to caress his cheek again.

"Tell me Ash... Please tell me... Goddammit!" he gritted his teeth together hard as he ignored the pain that ripped from his lower abdomen where another piece withdrew from his flesh.

_"Commander... The Illusive Man's calling again." _Joker's voice interrupted.

"For fuck sake! Why can't a man just get a fucking, goddamned... Motherfucker! I hate shrapnel!" he sucked in a long breath and panted for a few moments as the largest piece was removed from just above his navel.

"Yes... I'll marry you Skipper. Just breath ok? She's almost done." Ashley said quietly, placing another kiss to his forehead.

Those words. Those simple words. It had all been worth it. The fighting, the planning, the dealing with the lies and deceit and the hidden agendas. It had all been worth it. He had fought through throngs of geth and collectors, hordes of husks and reaper forces and had even fought to keep his sanity whilst working for a man whose head he very much wanted to put a bullet through. The whole thing had all been worth it.

Having zoned out while his mind whirled, his eyes watered from the sudden rush of joy through his adrenaline and it took Ashley whispering in his ear to finally snap Shepard back to reality where he found his torso wounds being dressed with medi-gel and gauze patches. He went to sit up, but when his muscles flexed, his torso screamed, so when Ashley and his friends helped him to sit up, his sigh of relief was heard by all.

"Fuck that hurt." Shepard breathed out with an arm wrapped around his gut.

"Well, if you'd taken the sedative like Doc'd offered, it wouldn't've hurt so much." Kaidan jabbed as he wrapped an arm around Lycan's waist, pulling her close into his side.

"No thanks. I wanna be coherent for what's coming next." Shepard growled with a smirk, slowly shaking his head as Ashley wiped the sweat from his forehead one last time.

"The Illusive Man?" Jacob asked, crossing his arms.

Shepard nodded, "I've been waiting a long time for this. Joker, patch that rat bastard through."

_"With pleasure."_

All inside the med bay stayed quiet as the lights turned low and the shaky, distorted image of an aged man appeared from emitters in the ceiling. The man was all too familiar to all in the room, especially Kaidan as he nudged Lycan in behind him to hide her from his view. The man was angry with narrowed, cybernetic eyes and a near constant stream of cigarette smoke drifting from his nostrils as if he was a dragon, but he never stood up from his chair. Lycan was curious if Shepard could manage to get him to do it.

_"That was a fool's mistake Shepard. That base could have secured our dominance in this galaxy and given us the upper hand with the reapers." _The Illusive Man said with his anger evident in his voice.

"You're delusional. That base was nothing but a slaughterhouse and I sure as hell wasn't gonna let you have it. Thousands of humans were turned into smoothies for that _thing_ and you wanna keep it as a pet? You're fucking insane!" Shepard shot back, gripping the edge of the bed harder and harder to keep from jumping up, which his torso wouldn't appreciate.

_"Is it insanity to want the best for our people? Is it insanity to want to win against the reapers? __Is it insane..."_

"Fuck yeah it's insane! We can fight and win without that fucking base and I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that happens! We're doing this my way so you can either join me, or get the fuck out of my way!" Shepard spat with clenched teeth and his finger pointed at the hologram.

_"Your way is old fashioned Shepard. Old morals for lost ideals. You can't win with outdated thinking like that Shepard." _The Illusive Man took a drag from his cigarette and blew it out, all through his nose.

"I can and I will. You watch from your little self proclaimed throne. I'm gonna take this boat, her crew, your people, your money and I'm gonna do what you say I can't." Shepard said, still with an angry snarl ripping from his throat.

Sure enough, The Illusive Man stood from his chair, _"If you steal what's mine Shepard, then you're going to make a very powerful enemy." _

"I'll just add you to the list." Shepard frowned hard.

_"So be it Shepard. You very well may have damned your entire race from your foolhardy stubbornness." _

"I've heard that more then once. Oh... One more thing before we part ways." Shepard added with a returning smirk.

_"What." _The Illusive Man deadpanned, still standing.

"Fuck... You!"

Before anything else was said, the call was ended as if someone was just itching to cut it from somewhere else, but Shepard knew that Joker was the likely culprit. It made his smirk grow into a beaming smile knowing that he wasn't the only one who hated The Illusive Man's guts.

"I've waited so long to say that to him." Shepard said with a low chuckle tumbling around in his throat.

"I bet you have." Lycan said as she stepped out from behind Kaidan.

"I'm just happy all this's over. Now I can concentrate on getting back into the Alliance's good graces." Shepard said, accepting some painkillers from Dr. Chakwas to help ease the stinging ache all over his torso.

"Which isn't gonna be easy Shepard." Kaidan said, drawing all eyes to him and locking eyes with Shepard to convey his true meaning.

"Never thought I'd be looking at the Alliance again." Jacob rolled his eyes, shifting his weight to his other leg.

"Now that we've told Cerberus to fuck off, it's either appease them, or try to fund this ship ourselves and I don't know about you, but I can't do that." Shepard said, holding Ashley against his side with no intention of letting her go anytime soon.

"I don't think any of us can Commander." Jacob said, slowly shaking his head.

"Didn't think so," Shepard sighed, "Jacob, Mordin... Could you guys give us a minute?" he asked, only looking at them for a moment.

"Of course Commander. We'll be right outside." Jacob said as he turned and headed for the door, closely followed by Mordin, whom simply nodded.

Once the door closed, Shepard whisked Ashley around to stand in front of him where he tightly wrapped her up in both arms and kissed her jawline, neck and back up to her ear until he finally came to rest at her lips.

"You can't even wait to get up to your room can you Shepard." Garrus deadpanned as he crossed his arms.

All Shepard did, without even taking his lips off hers, was flip his friend off.

"Oh come on Shepard. We didn't come over here to watch you make out with your girlfriend." Kaidan said with a groan as he mildly cringed and glanced at Lycan with a contained laugh.

"Fiance." Shepard grinned wide as he rested his forehead against Ashley's.

Kaidan grinned, "Right... Fiance. What made you finally decide to ask?"

Shepard shrugged, "I couldn't tell you, but hey... Give a guy a break. I just came back from a suicide mission. I think I'm entitled to a little nooky don't you?"

"Not with us around." Dr. Chakwas laughed as she sat at her desk.

"Man... Fine. You guys win." Shepard smiled.

"So the Bahak system's next huh?" Garrus said with a slow exhale as he leaned back against an empty bunk.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. Hackett needs me to take care of something for him, but the catch is, is I have to go it alone." he said with his smile vanishing.

"I don't like it." Garrus said.

"None of us do, but he's got little choice in the matter." Lycan said, crossing her arms.

Garrus's mandibles clanked, "What? Why doesn't he have a choice?" he asked, uncrossing his arms.

"He just doesn't." Lycan said simply.

"I don't understand..." Garrus said, slowly shaking his head.

"Lycan and Kaidan've starting to tell me stuff again." Shepard said, sucking back a thick mouthful of water to toss back the painkillers.

"What? What about the timeline? I thought we didn't want it to change." Garrus gasped, looking back and forth between all in the room.

"We didn't, but that changed once we got to BioWare International." Kaidan said as he sucked in a long breath to hold it for a moment.

Shepard's brows furrowed, "What you find?"

Both Kaidan and Lycan exchanged glances.

"We found out what happens at the end of all this." Kaidan said lowly as he crossed his arms again.

Shepard sat up straight, "Why aren't you smiling about it." he said with a swallow.

"Because it's not something we wanna smile about Shepard." Kaidan said with another glance at Lycan.

Lycan sighed, "We decided it's in everyone's best interest to change what's gonna happen." she said as she nibbled on the inside of her bottom lip.

"Is it bad?" Dr. Chakwas asked, standing from her seat to stand with the group.

Kaidan nodded, "It's not the best. Look Gabe... I don't know the specifics of what's gonna happen after Bahak, but six months after that... They're gonna be here." he said, locking gazes with his best friend.

"The reapers?" Garrus asked.

All Kaidan and Lycan did was nod.

"We don't have a whole lotta time then do we." Shepard said, looking at Ashley and tightening his grip on her in the process.

"No. We don't." Kaidan said.

"Then I guess we better get to Bahak. If I just don't go... What happens?" Shepard asked, wincing ever so slightly when a spike of ache ran through his torso.

"Then the reapers'll be here in two days." Lycan said.

Shepard frowned hard, "Fuck... We'll have to repair on the run. EDI, how're systems?"

_"Most primary systems are functioning Commander. Structural breaches are contained and __holding. We are capable of FTL flight and interactions with relays. However, I would not recommend FTL flight at length, so to allow for structural repairs to continue." _EDI reported.

"We'll suspend repairs until we're in the system and I'm off on this one man mission." Shepard said, placing a soft kiss to the side of Ashley's neck and resting his forehead against her temple.

"I don't like you going alone Shepard. What are we gonna do if something happens to you and you vanish?" Garrus asked plainly.

"He's got a point Shepard." Dr. Chakwas said.

"How about a tracker? I can install it on your Omni-Tool." Kaidan offered as he stepped up to Shepard's available side.

"Is it that Lo-Jack thing you did with Lycan's?" Shepard asked, relinquishing control of his arm to his friend as he began to work his Omni-Tool.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. With the exception that I just got this one from BI and its signal's powerful enough to track anywhere in the system." he admitted.

"Whoa whoa whoa... Run that one by me again? Did you say you got some BI tech?" Shepard asked with the playful jealously evident in his tone.

"Yeah. Among other things." Kaidan said with his own wince, but it was for the outburst that was about to occur.

"Dude... Did you score BI tech?" Shepard asked, nearly demanding that he know.

Kaidan cringed, "Yeah."

"Oh man! That's so not fair! I've wanted BI tech since I went to Sentinel training! What'd you get?" Shepard whined like a five year old who didn't get what they wanted for Christmas.

Kaidan's cringe hardened as he mumbled, hoping it would be enough to sate Shepard's demand, but it wasn't.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't hear you. You were sucking on your own tongue. Wanna say that again?" Shepard snarked as he glared, acting as if he was irritated with his friend.

Kaidan pursed his lips together, "A Gen X BI paladin and some Solaris 9 Sentinel bio-amps." he deadpanned.

"What? Are you serious?" Shepard's shoulders slumped hard.

"Yeah." Kaidan sighed as he simply kept his eyes on his work to Shepard's less advanced Omni-Tool.

"You suck man! You're a prick! You've known I've been drooling over that tech for ages and here you are, waltzing right up with my dream 'Tool on your wrist! You're going to hell!" Shepard whined as he hung his head and groaned out of jealousy.

"Oh relax Shepard. You'll get one after your let outta jail." Lycan chuckled, slowly shaking her head.

"Oh goody." Shepard grinned, again, acting like a child.

"You're such a dork Shepard." Kaidan snickered, "There. The _Normandy_ should be able to pick up your signal from anywhere in the Bahak system." he said as he finished working on Shepard's Omni-Tool and let his wrist free.

"Sweet. You have the signal EDI?" Shepard asked as he lightly massaged his wrist.

_"Yes Shepard. I should be able to easily acquire your signal." _EDI reported without so much as a hesitation in her voice.

"Good," Shepard nodded, "I'll do what I need to do in Bahak to try and track things true, but tell Hackett what's going on. If you guys try to pull the strings in the background while I steer things up front, it could help keep things close to the original, but give us options to change it when we need to." he said, slowly sliding off the bunk to stand on his own feet with one arm back to holding his stomach.

Kaidan's brows hopped, "It's an idea, but it's still a risk. You thinking we can steer the timeline like BI has?" he asked.

Shepard shrugged, but winced when the action didn't agree with him, "Ow... It's worth a shot. I don't know what's in store, but I don't see why we can't do it too." he leaned back against the bunk and hunch over when Ashley started lightly scratching his back.

Lycan gently placed her hand on Kaidan's bicep, "I'm game for it Kaidan. Shepard'll keep things tracking like they should until just the right time. We'll set up what we can before the shit hits the fan." she said softly.

Kaidan sighed, then nodded, "Alright. We'll head back to the _Grimm_ and give Hackett a call. Be safe in Bahak Shepard. Nothing is as it appears." he said with a stern look at his friend.

Shepard's eyes narrowed for a moment, then he too nodded, "Will do. I guess I'll see you guys back on Earth." he said, turning towards Ashley and softly brushing aside a piece of her hair.

"See you back on the _Grimm_ Ashley." Kaidan said as he wrapped an arm around Lycan and led her away, followed by Garrus and Dr. Chakwas to give Shepard and Ashley a moment to themselves.

"I love you so much Ash." Shepard said in nearly a whisper as he grazed his lips over hers, having heard the door close behind the group.

"I love you too Skipper. Be safe out there. I don't wanna bury my future husband... again." she said, returning the chaste kiss.

Shepard shook his head, "Never again... Not until I'm old and our kids are grown and their kids are grown..." this time, he did whisper.

"I'll hold you to it Shepard. Dad doesn't wanna see you again." Ashley said with a growing sting in her eyes.

"No offense, but I don't wanna see him either." he huffed a short lived smile.

Ashley chuckled, "I'll come see you when you're in jail Skipper. I promise." her smile faded.

"I'll look forward to it. I don't think I'll get conjugal visits, but I'll take what I can get." he said, brushing his knuckles back across her cheek.

"I will too. Can I ask you something?" she asked, lightly pressing her forehead to his.

"You don't have to ask." his eyes were half lidded.

"What kinda ring you get me?" she smiled.

Shepard laughed, "That little secrets mine. You'll just have to wait and see." he grinned back.

Ashley pouted, "Daw... Alright Skipper. I'll give you that. I'll see you on Earth Gabriel. I love you." she said, placing her lips a bit harder to his for it was the last they would have for awhile.

Wrapping his arms tightly around her, Shepard pulled Ashley against him, ignoring the aching pain in his trunk as their tongues darted to meet each other. Her warmth, having her so close and in love with him was his greatest reward for all he had done thus far. Getting to tell The Illusive Man to eat it was only the icing on his little cake, but hearing her say yes, hearing her that she was more then willing to spend the rest of her life with him was nothing short of his wildest dreams. He knew now that he was just as lucky a man as any you could find, even with his checkered past. The past that was simply that.

His past.

After too short a moment, Ashley pulled away and headed for the door to leave, mouthing her final 'I love you' before the doors closed leaving only him, and the ears of EDI.

"EDI?" Shepard asked, knowing she was there.

_"Yes Commander?" _

"Do a search for engagement rings on the extranet will you?" Shepard cringed.

_"Any specifications you like me to search for?" _

"Something shiny, but not too much bling. Send the results to my private terminal please." he said as he tried to stand up straight, which took a little patience and effort.

_"Very well Commander."_

* * *

The sun, Sol, was dipping low on the horizon, casting the sky into a smear of deep blues, oranges and yellows that the richest colors ever created by man couldn't stand up against. The air was cooling as it fluttered into the office's open window with the sweet scent of kept landscaping as its perfume, giving the musky, military style décor a fresh, and almost happy atmosphere that frankly, the office's occupant needed.

He had not been expecting the call he had finished with a little while ago. The information, the worry, the apologetic faces as both told him of what to expect. It all sunk his heart down into a depth that needed a flashlight to see. It was going to take all his resources and will to get everything ready, but to be totally and completely honest with himself, getting the chance to shoot the hated Major Antella down several notches was too good to pass up. This was going to be one hell of a ride.

Hackett pinched the bridge of his nose as he stood and shut down his terminal, groaning as he went to his small kitchenette and poured himself a glass of water. It wasn't the coldest, nor was it the greatest tasting, but it wet his palette and that's all he was looking to do.

Finished with his water, he set his glass down as a gentle, nearly shy knock sounded at his door. It was his personal assistant.

"Admiral, your transport is here." the middle aged man said as he poked his head through the office door.

"Thank you Commander. Has the Fifth Fleet XO called in yet?" Hackett asked as he gathered his small travel bag and jacket from behind his desk.

"Yes Admiral. She reports operations are normal." he said, opening the door fully so Hackett could step through without having to step around him.

"Understood. Tell Captain Hikida to maintain position and continue monitoring." Hackett said as he rested his cover on the top of his head.

"If I'm not intruding Admiral, what is the Captain monitoring for?" the Commander asked a bit quietly.

Hackett stopped and sighed, but after only a second, looked back over his shoulder, "She'll know it when she sees it."

With that, Hackett walked out of Alliance Headquarters and outside into the evening air where his transport awaited.

"We're cleared for immediate departure to the Citadel Admiral and your meeting with Councilor Anderson is scheduled for when you arrive." the pilot relayed as he handed Hackett a datapad with their itinerary on it.

Hackett took the datapad, "Thank you Lieutenant. Get us in the air. I don't have a lot of time to carry out my business." he said, handing the pad back to the pilot after a short glance.

"Understood Admiral. ETA is about five hours." he said as he sat in his seat at the front of the transport.

"Joy. Wake me when we get there."

Hackett set his travel bag and jacket down on an empty seat, just like every other private transport he had ever taken. It was a perk of being an admiral, let alone the commanding officer of the Fifth Fleet, but the boredom was always a killer. Five hours of nothing but black and stars to look at, and he hadn't even had time to get a new book to read while he traveled. The somewhat emergency visit to the Citadel hadn't been planned for his evening, but with the current circumstances, he had little choice.

So with nothing to do but hurry up and wait, he got as comfortable as he could to try and get some sleep, but even that was going to be hard to find. It just wasn't his night.

Luckily however, Hackett found a game on his Omni-Tool to play, which helped pass the time. Matching various tiles in an attempt to clear the board was at least mind numbing enough to make five hours seem like nothing at all, and when the pilot gently tapped his shoulder, he realized just how mind numbing it had been.

"We're there Admiral." the pilot said softly.

"Wha? Oh Jesus... I didn't realize. Thank you Lieutenant. I appreciate how quickly you jumped to the call that I needed to get to the Citadel fast." Hackett said as he stood and gathered his things.

"It's no problem Admiral. I hope whatever business that needs your attention is quickly resolved." he said, snapping his right hand into a sharp salute.

Hackett returned the salute, "You and me both Lieutenant, but I don't think it'll be that easy."

The Lieutenant dropped his hand, "Never is Admiral. Good luck to you."

With a curt not, Hackett stepped from the transport onto the giant space station and hailed a cab that quickly whisked him off to the Presidium where he spotted a cafe that looked pretty appetizing. He made a note to himself that it was a possible place for something to eat, but that would have to wait till after his meeting with Anderson, which was right then.

The doors to the human embassy slid open upon Hackett's approach in time for him to see Anderson sitting at his desk with a distant look on his face. His old friend and colleague was seemingly deeply immersed in something on his terminal, and judging by the furrowed brow, it was something that didn't quite sit well.

"Something good on TV?" Hackett asked as he set his things down on a vacant table just inside the door.

At the sound, Anderson snapped back to reality, "Steven... I would've thought you would've gotten something to eat before stopping by." he said, standing from his seat and stepping around it to give his friend a hand shake.

"It'll have to wait David. We've got some serious things to talk about." Hackett said as he removed his cover.

"I got your message. It didn't sound good." Anderson said, offering a seat to his friend which he refused since he'd been sitting for five hours straight.

"It's not. I talked with Commander Alenko and Lycan earlier and they had some... disturbing things to tell me." Hackett said as he set his cover down on Anderson's desk.

"Like what?" Anderson asked plainly.

"Like what's about to happen in the Bahak system." Hackett said with a heavy, dreary sigh.

"With Shepard?"

Hackett nodded, "Yes. If we don't work now, we'll have a possible war with the batarians on our hands."

"What happens?"

"They said Dr. Kenson and her entire team is indoctrinated by a reaper artifact they found." Hackett started, now taking a seat since he figured he was going to be there for awhile.

"That's bad." Anderson said flatly.

"Very. They also said that this artifact helped them to determine that the relay in that system is going to be the one the reapers come through in two days. They named it the Alpha relay." Hackett said, crossing his legs.

"That's a short window Steven. Is Shepard gonna be able to stop it?" Anderson asked with worry plastered all over his face.

Hackett nodded, "Alenko and Lycan say yes, so that's what I'll say too, but it's not going to be that easy for him. Because of the project's indoctrination, Dr. Kenson is going to try and stop Shepard, but Shepard'll get the project started... but at a cost." he sighed.

"What's the cost Steven?" Anderson asked, again with more worry.

"Three hundred and fifty thousand batarians. When the relay goes, it's gonna wipe out the entire system." Hackett said, scratching the side of his neck.

Anderson sighed heavily, "Oh no... The batarians are gonna think Shepard did it as revenge for Mindoir."

"Yes they are and they're going to want war, or Shepard. If we wanna avoid an all out war, we're going to have to get them Shepard." Hackett said, slowly shaking his head.

"I don't think so Steven. They aren't getting their hands on him. They'd torture and kill him." Anderson said with a near gasp, forcing his hands to stay planted on the desk so he didn't slam them down.

"I have no doubts about that David, but it's going to happen regardless. Major Antella's going to have boat loads of new ammunition against Shepard and you and me both know he has it out for him." Hackett said.

"Why though?"

Hackett shrugged, "I don't know David. I don't want to give the Major a chance to railroad Shepard into the ground. What can we do?"

"This is probably going to spark a trial against Shepard. I don't think we can save his career... Even with our pull." Anderson said with a stern expression set in his features.

"I think you're right. We'll need to gather Shepard's files, his achievements, his psych profiles... All of it." Hackett said.

"I'll get started on that now. I have immediate access since I'm on the Council." Anderson said as his hands flew into action.

"I've got a lawyer already on his way here from the JAG core on Earth to be Shepard's defense council. What else are we going to need?" Hackett asked.

"Character witnesses, testimonials from people who know him. I think Shepard's and Chief Williams's relationship might come to light with this." Anderson said, again with worry covering his features.

"That's not going to bode well them, but it shouldn't be too much of a blow. Easy explanation is that Shepard's a Spectre."

"True, but that doesn't mean it's not gonna be fuel for Antella's fire." Anderson said with a quick glance across his desk.

"I heard after Mindoir that an old priest took Shepard in. That true?" Hackett asked, having pulled out a datapad he had brought with him.

"Yes. Father Nikolai Pretrofski. He's still there last I heard." Anderson said.

"We'll need him. He'll be vital to helping Shepard through this." Hackett said, furiously tapping on his pad.

"I agree. I'll contact him right away and get him on the first transport available." Anderson said with a short nod.

"Good. What are we going to do about the rest of the Council?"

"I'll handle them."

"Alright, but keep that idiot Udina in the dark. He'd probably just join up with Antella." Hackett scoffed.

"I'll do what I can, but I can't make any promises that it won't happen." Anderson said with a long sigh.

"I know," Hackett sighed, "The shit storm's coming again isn't it David." he rubbed the back of his neck.

Anderson nodded, "I think so Steven. I think so."

"In more ways then one David."


	73. Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Arrested in Silence

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

It shouldn't hurt this much. His heart and soul shouldn't ache as if he had just lost his family all over again. Why did it hurt? Why was the pain gripping his chest as if someone had their hand around it, squeezing the life from it while it still beat? He was the first in line to hate the batarians and he had just slaughtered three hundred and fifty thousand of them. He should be happy. The little devil on his shoulder told him he should be happy, but he wasn't. He couldn't be happy. Happiness was as alien as any race known to the galaxy. Happiness was a ghost, a _lost_ _ideal_, a distant memory.

There would be no happiness for Gabriel Shepard. There would only be despair.

Over and over again he watched a recording of the galaxy map as, from a distance, three hundred and fifty thousand lives were destroyed, simply snuffed out because they had picked the wrong system to colonize, while he had the luxury of fleeing for his life. He watched as an entire system was vaporized, erased from the galaxy as if it was drawn there with pencil. It was gone for good, and so where the lives that were now added to his growing body count.

He told himself at a constant pace that it had to be done, that the relay had to be destroyed to keep the reapers from arriving too early. He bought the galaxy six more months, but at the cost of over a quarter of a million lives. It was too much a cost, and one he hadn't been willing to pay. He had been forced to pay.

Having received a few injuries from his ordeal, Shepard lay in a bunk in the med bay, in the dark, with only the soft glow from a datapad as company. His wounds from the Collector base had reopened and had needed to be patched up once more, so he lay, shirtless, with fresh dressings blotting his torso. So long as he didn't move, or flex, he was in no pain. That wouldn't last.

With a quiet hiss from the med bay doors, Shepard's attention was drawn to the silhouette of a man in uniform. The light from outside stung his eyes, but he knew who the man was. He knew all too well. There was no mistaking the shear commanding presence of an admiral. Especially that of Admiral Hackett.

"Admiral." Shepard said quietly as he slowly pushed himself up to sit on the bunk.

"Take it slow Shepard. Carolyn told me about what happened to you." Hackett said with a sigh as he fully stepped inside, allowing the doors to close and cast Shepard back into the shadows.

"I'm sure she told you more then just about my injuries." Shepard said with a harsh wince as he finally finished sitting up and allowed his muscles to relax.

"She did. I'm not going to bother asking what happened. I already know." Hackett said, exhaling slowly as he switched on the lamp on the doctor's desk.

Shepard winced from the sudden intrusion of light, but his eyes quickly adjusted, "Did Kaidan and Lycan talk to you?"

Hackett nodded, "Yes... Anderson and I've done what we can, but we can't stop what's coming. The Major's already putting together a team to arrest you."

"I knew it was coming. Antella's had it out for me for years." Shepard scoffed, unable to look Hackett in the eyes.

"Do you know why?" Hackett asked plainly.

Shepard shook his head, "No. Wish I did."

"In any case, Antella's got more then enough to arrest you and I'm afraid the Tribunal is backing him on this. If it were up to me, you'd be getting an award for delaying the reapers a bit longer, but they want to avoid an all out war with the batarians. They're gunning for blood." Hackett said, pulling a chair up to sit.

"The batarians, or the Tribunal?" Shepard asked, finally looking at the Admiral.

Hackett shrugged, "I wish I could say it was only one, but I can't."

Shepard scoffed, "Wonderful," he sighed, "I don't wanna go to jail Admiral. I didn't do anything wrong." he said, sniffing in a harsh breath through his nose as he battled to keep his wild emotions at bay.

Hackett quietly sighed as he stood from the chair and sat down next to Shepard, much like a father would their son, "Gabriel... I know you didn't. You did everything right and you did what you had to do. I've done what I can to help, but right now, you need to watch your step. Don't give Antella any more ammunition to use against you."

Shepard's brows furrowed, "I should turn myself in then huh." he said, having a good feeling he already knew the answer.

Hackett nodded, "It would put a few points in your column. I don't wanna see you in jail either Gabriel, but we don't have a choice. We have to play by the rules on this one." his tone was quiet, soothing even, which was different then his usually hard and gruff demeanor.

Shepard nodded and sighed, "Ok." he said ultra quietly.

Hackett nodded and placed his hand on Shepard's shoulder, "I'll meet you on Earth. It's not going to be easy Gabriel, but just hang in there. You have people in your corner."

"I know. You have my report?" Shepard asked, looking over at Hackett.

Hackett nodded, "I have it. So does Anderson. Also, your JAG lawyer'll come and see you when you're in custody, and I'll make sure you aren't isolated." he even offered a soft smile.

"Thank you Admiral. What about the Council? How do they feel about this?" Shepard asked with slumped shoulders for a defeated posture.

"Well," he exhaled, "I don't know too much of the details, but Anderson tells me that they're more or less on middle ground with this one." Hackett said, removing his hand from Shepard's shoulder.

Shepard's lip curled, "What's that mean?"

"The treason charge is sticking because of your alignment with Cerberus, but your Spectre status is in question. They're withholding judgement to see what happens at the trial." Hackett said, standing from the bunk to slowly pace around the med bay, looking at the various equipment and things that Dr. Chakwas kept.

"So I might lose my Spectre status?" Shepard asked, wrapping an arm around his torso as a dull ache started to thrum evenly all over him.

"Unfortunately, yes, but the Council is willing to hear us out because you stopped the Collectors and immediately ended your relationship with Cerberus. They're pretty much giving you the benefit of the doubt." Hackett said, picking up the yet to be opened bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy that the doctor kept on display on her desk.

"I'll take what I can get." Shepard said with another exhale.

"I've got my best working on this Shepard. All you need to do, is head to Earth. We'll take care of the rest." Hackett said, setting the bottle back down.

Shepard nodded, "I will. Where's the _Grimm_ now? If I can know."

"By now, they should be in Vancouver at Alliance HQ." Hackett said.

"Is that where I'll be?" Shepard asked.

Again, Hackett nodded, "Yes."

Shepard drew in a deep breath, "Joy." he deadpanned.

"I wish I had more for you Shepard. I really do, but..." Hackett's voice trailed off as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"I understand Admiral. Thank you... For what it's worth." Shepard said, slowly, carefully standing from the bunk to shake Hackett's hand.

"Don't thank me yet. Thank me when this is over." Hackett said, returning the hand shake.

"I'll make sure to do that."

With nothing left to say, Shepard and Hackett parted ways, leaving Shepard to carry out his only option. He knew it was the best option for him, turning himself in, but he would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't scared. He didn't want to go to jail, didn't want to be charged with the murder of that many lives. He feared it would mark him a killer, the murderer of more people then he could possibly imagine and he didn't want that reminder. He didn't want to be seen as a killer. He wanted to be faceless, nameless, just another person in the fabric of life, but now, after everything that has happened, there wasn't a soul who didn't know who he was, and not everyone liked him.

Wanting to simply lay in the dark, Shepard went to Dr. Chakwas's desk and found the pain killers she had left for him. He picked the up and downed them quickly with the help of the warm glass of water that sat next to his bed.

There was nothing left for him to do but wait and think, so slowly crawling into the bed, Shepard lay and watched the reason for this whole mess on his Omni-Tool. Poof. Gone in an instant.

* * *

Hackett must have given the order to Joker for them to head to Earth, because before Shepard knew it, Dr. Chakwas was waking him up. He had fallen asleep on his bunk after the painkillers had kicked in and knocked him out for the entirety of their wounded journey back to Earth.

"Commander. We've landed." Dr. Chakwas said with sincere worry on her face.

Shepard inhaled deeply as he took a brief moment to get his wits about him before he sat up, still trying to avoid wincing from the ache all over his chest, upon which he failed miserably.

"Landed where?" Shepard asked, still a bit dopey from the drugs.

"Earth. We're at Alliance HQ and there's a squad outside. Major Antella's out there waiting for you." she said, slowly releasing a breath.

"Alright Doc. I probably won't see you a whole lot after this so... Thank you. For everything you've done for me. I know I've been an emotional wreck lately, but... It helped having you here with me." Shepard said, grasping her hand and holding it between both of his.

Dr. Chakwas lightly smiled as she placed her other hand over his, "I consider you a son Gabriel, and I wouldn't think twice about being there for you. You can count on me to be on your side when it really counts." she smiled.

Shepard nodded, still holding her hand and leaned in to place a light kiss to her cheek, "Thank you... Carolyn."

"Karin." she said, almost as if she corrected him.

"What? I thought your name was Carolyn." he said, ruffling his brows in the process.

"Technically it is. It's my middle name. My first name is Karin. Karin Carolyn Chakwas. My mother's name was Karin too, so I began to go by my middle name to alleviate any confusion." she said, lightly smiling as she gently padded the back of his hand.

"I never knew." he said, huffing a soft smile that showed the smallest, simplest hint of honest happiness.

"Not many do. You're one of the few Gabriel." she said sweetly.

"It's an honor then. It really is." Shepard said as he lightly kissed her cheek once more and released her hand.

Looking away from her to hide the growing emotion and tightness in his throat, Shepard stepped around her and left the med bay, only to see that his squad had gathered just outside and had been waiting for him to emerge.

"We can still run Shepard." Jack said, crossing her arms as she planted a foot strongly onto the crudely repaired bulkhead.

Shepard's smile faded, "I can't do that. It would hurt too many people I care about and I've done enough of that." he said softly as he scanned the group of twelve before him.

Jack scoffed, "Softy." she briefly smiled, but made every effort to hide it.

"We'll fight for you Commander. We'll do whatever we have to do to give you the best chance." Jacob said, extending a hand towards Shepard.

Shepard shook Jacob's hand, "Thanks... Just be ready. That's all I can ask of you. Of all of you. The countdown's still ticking and it's not a long clock."

"I'll work with the turian hierarchy Shepard. Get them to see reason." Garrus said, resting his hand on Shepard's shoulder.

Shepard nodded, "Thank you Garrus. I means a lot," he looked to the rest of his team, "We need to prepare guys. We all do. We've got six months to try and get as ready for this as we can." he said, clapping his own hand on Garrus's back.

"We'll do what we can Commander. Good luck... From all of us." Miranda said, extending her hand.

With a curt nod, Shepard shook her hand and the rest of his squads, saying good bye to Mordin, Grunt, Samara, Thane... Everyone that had helped him survive what was supposed to be a suicide mission. All twelve of them had helped to secure six more months; six more months that would prove to too short.

As Shepard reached the airlock, Joker stood and embraced his friend, knowing that he was stepping into a nasty shit storm that would task everyone involved to their breaking points. He too said his goodbyes and watched as the airlock opened onto the private Alliance dock.

Standing with hands at his side, Shepard stepped forward to be faced by half a dozen men, led by the rather short, thin stature of Major Caleb Antella. His dark hair was styled back against his scalp and his uniform was pressed to perfection. His pale yellow eyes portrayed the joy he harbored for the privilege of arresting him and his skin reflected that with a healthy, bright glow. Something that was uncharacteristic of the man. The Major's face was drawn down into a sneer, accented with a smug smirk as he stepped forward and came face to face with the man he loathed the most.

"So you decided to turn yourself in. Pity... I would have rather liked to hunt you down." Antella sneered with that arrogant, diluted English accent Shepard hated just as much.

Shepard shrugged and studied the Major's men, "Well you know... I figured it would've pissed you off more if I showed up here without a struggle." he said, looking down at the short man.

"You still have a chance to run... Give me that pleasure." Antella said, both mens' voices low and filled with discontent.

Shepard leaned over slightly, "No. Not in the mood." he said, smirking, as he knew just how much he could ruffle the Major's feathers.

Antella's brows pulled down, "That's too bad. In any case, I still get the pleasure of placing you under arrest." his smug smirk was still across his pale, thin lips.

"That's only because I'm letting you. If I wanted to, I could easily evade you without even breaking a sweat." Shepard said, never blinking as the pair locked eyes.

"Please try... It would give me reason to forcibly contain you." Antella said, this time with his smirk fading.

"Now why would I do that? It's much more fun pushing your buttons." Shepard said, very much wanting to do just that.

"Well I'm sorry to say you won't get much chance to continue. Commander Shepard... You're hereby under arrest for the _murder_ of over three hundred thousand batarians and treason against the Alliance and her allies." Antella said in a louder voice as his smirk returned, loving that he had finally been able to utter those words after so long.

"That's funny coming from you Antella. It's no secret you're a racist. Why be their puppet?" Shepard asked, mainly out of curiosity.

"You're a killer Shepard. You slay all who come in contact with you. You're the most prolific serial killer in human history and I intend to prove it to the rest of the galaxy." Major Antella said with pride dripping in his tone.

"You're motives're starting to sound personal there Major. That wouldn't be why your pushing so hard are you?" Shepard asked, ignoring a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that told him there was something there, but he just didn't know what.

"I'm just doing my job Commander," he took a step back and snapped his fingers, "Place Commander Shepard into custody." Antella ordered of his men.

At the order, the half dozen men stepped forward, two pulling cuffs, three pulling their weapons and the last pulled a device from his belt that was hidden in his palm. The two with cuffs stepped behind him, one grabbing his wrists where the trooper slapped the cuffs on them while the other knelt down and shackled his ankles. The three with weapons aimed them at him in case he decided to retaliate against his arrest, but the one with the device in his hand, seemed to be waiting for the two cuffing him to finish.

"Kneel." Antella ordered Shepard, getting far too much enjoyment out of this.

"No." Shepard said as his brows furrowed hard with growing anger.

Antella frowned, "Kneel. Your biotics need to be contained." he said flatly.

"No." Shepard repeated, determined to hold his ground in the matter.

"Suit yourself. Force him." Antella snapped.

As one of the men, a thing man, with a rifle brought the butt of his weapon up to bring it into Shepard's stomach, an angry, feminine voice roared from the airlock of the _Normandy._ Shepard knew that whenever he heard it, you were meant to duck. His head did so by shying into his shoulders and silently thanked God he wasn't on the receiving end.

"Stop right this instant!" Dr. Chakwas roared as she stepped from the ship with the angriest look across her face that made even Shepard quiver.

"What is the meaning of this? Dr. Chakwas... You cannot interfere with these arrest proceedings!" Major Antella snapped back harshly with a strongly furrowed brow.

"Like hell I can't Major! Why are you attempting to force the Commander to kneel?" Dr. Chakwas demanded, placing her hands on her hips as she looked over her shoulder at Joker's slow approach.

"He is a biotic who needs to be contained. We have to remove his amp and plug it before we take him into Alliance custody." Antella barked as his fists curled tight.

"It won't be removed by you. As Shepard's CMO, I will do it. Not you with that damn suction cup." Dr. Chakwas pointed angrily at the amp puller in the hand of one of the Major's men, which was a crude looking device that connected to an amp to remove it without touching it.

Antella's angry sneer grew into a full on look of respite, "Very well. Remove his amp and plug him." he ordered of the doctor.

With a growl rumbling deep in her throat, Dr. Chakwas pushed aside the man with the amp puller and forcibly took the plug from his other as she took his spot behind Shepard.

"If you could Commander?" Dr. Chakwas said quietly with a tap to Shepard's shoulder, needing him to kneel down to put his amp jack within her view and reach.

"Do you have to?" he asked with a saddened expression on his face.

"You have no choice." Antella said with the overload of pride dominating his tone.

With his own angry sneer directed towards Antella, Shepard knelt down, allowing Dr. Chakwas to pull his amp out and free his biotics to buzz out of control as if he was attached to an electric generator. It hurt, causing his entire body to shutter from the shock, but after a moment, the painful buzzing vanished without so much as an aftershock.

He could feel the biotic plug in his amp jack, as it wasn't nearly as streamlined and flush with his skin. With no amp, he was no longer able to create the fields he had become so accustomed to, and was rendered incapable of freeing himself from his bonds. With no biotics, he was powerless against six armed men, a number of which were hulks of meat and muscle and could easily toss him around as if he was simply a child. He would not fight back. Not without some sort of advantage. Even then, he wouldn't fight back.

"I'll see you later Commander. Be good." Dr. Chakwas said quietly with a soft pat to both his shoulders.

Shepard looked over his shoulder at her, "I will Doc. Thanks." he smiled lightly.

"Good. Now that you are no longer a threat, we can finally take you to the brig where you belong." Antella interjected with his returning smug grin.

Shepard looked up at Major Antella, sneering angrily with partially bared teeth, "Don't think I won't give you hell Antella just because I'm capped." he hissed, jerking his head to the side to move a long piece of hair away from his eyes as he stood back up.

Antella chuckled, "We will see _Gabriel_ _Shepard. _We will see."

Motioning for his men to follow, Antella turned and walked down the Alliance dock as Shepard was forced forward to follow the Major's lead. All he could do was look back at his friends as the pang of shame filled him from head to toe, tightening his chest with aches that made his head hang to watch each step he took. His shame was only compounded by the fact the Dr. Chakwas and Joker were there to see him be carted off like a common criminal, like he was nothing more then a thug. Having two of his closest friends watch him walk away in cuffs was nothing short of humiliating.

Several elevator rides and a long walk down a featureless corridor later, the group arrived at the Alliance brig. It was a narrow room, gray with nothing to look at but the lines of seems in the walls. The cells were simple rooms, housing a bed, a toilet and a sink, with nothing else. There were no windows to tell whether it was day or night and the air smelled of regret and wallowing misery.

The group stopped as Antella entered the required code, dropping the mass effect field that served as the containment field on the last cell on the left. The one most out of the way.

"Enjoy your accommodations Commander. They're likely to be your last." Antella chuckled as his men, but one, shoved Shepard into the cell where Antella immediately sealed him in.

"We'll see about that." Shepard shot back, using the Major's own words against him as he stopped himself from running into the wall with his hands.

"Yes, we shall, and I look forward to it," Antella said as he turned to one of his men, fully clad in armor and a helmet, but even that was not enough to cover the hulk that must have been underneath, "You... Guard him and make sure he doesn't try to escape. The Commander is a known tech expert and is more then capable of disabling the biotic dampening field in his cell." he ordered sharply before turning to leaving without even acknowledgment from the man.

The group left without so much as a word with the exception of the man Antella had ordered. Shepard was weary, especially since his new bodyguard was working for Antella and was twice his size, and with no biotics, taking him on would be a bit tricky, but something seemed off. The man kept looking between Shepard and the group as if he was waiting for them to leave, yet making it appear as if he was still carrying out his order.

"What's your deal?" Shepard asked, deciding to sit down on the generic, bland and hard cot along the wall.

After a moment of silence, the guard lowered his weapon and placed it on his back before he gripped his helmet and removed it with a soft hiss of release.

Certainly, the man underneath was not what Shepard was expecting. He was a darker man, obviously of hispanic decent with a scar jutting across his face and over the bridge of his nose. His eyes were dark, much like his hair which was cut into a short cropped mohawk. His neck was thick, as thick as Shepard's arm he'd say and the side of it was clearly tattooed with interwoven bands that clawed their way up his skin.

"Commander Shepard?" the man inquired with a short nod as he tucked his helmet underneath his thick arm.

"Yes?" Shepard answered, simply wanting to make idle conversation to keep the deafening silence away.

"It's an honor to finally meet you sir. I've heard a lot about you." the man said, his voice low and strong.

"I'm sure Antella's made sure to play up all my dirty deeds." Shepard said, shaking his head as he rested his elbows on his knees.

"No sir. I mean I've heard about all the good with only some of the bad. You're pretty famous around here." he said simply.

"Don't you mean infamous?" Shepard asked, feeling more then a little hostile.

The man sighed and set his helmet down on the floor, "If you wanna look at it that way, sure." he said, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms, causing his armor to groan from having to stretch around the tree trunks that served as his arms.

Shepard's brows furrowed for a moment, "Why are you working for him? Why be a pawn for that son of a bitch?" he asked, still with an angry snarl in his tone.

"I don't exactly work for him sir." the man said with a short lived smile that told Shepard he knew something he didn't.

Shepard's brows furrowed harder, "It sure doesn't look that way from where I'm sitting." he said with a scoff.

"I actually work for a friend of yours. Commander Alenko." the hulk of a man said with a shrug.

That immediately diffused any of Shepard's anger.

"What? You've talked to Kaidan?" he asked, tensing up every muscle in his body on accident from the proclamation.

The man nodded, "Yeah. I ran into him at HQ not long ago and he and his assistant pulled me aside. I've never seen an assistant know as much as she does."

"Kinda short? Dark brown eyes? Shoulder length brown hair?" Shepard rattled off, listing Lycan's basic description.

The man nodded again, "Yeah. Yeah, that's her. Paled skinned little thing she is."

Shepard relaxed and leaned back against the wall, "She's not his assistant. She's his girlfriend." he corrected with a slowly growing sideways smile.

The man's arms uncrossed, "Really?"

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. They've been dating for like two years now." he lowly chuckled.

"Well I'll be damned. I thought she was his assistant. Wait... If she's his girlfriend, then how come she's just as much in the know as he is?" he asked, crossing his thick arms again.

Shepard shook his head, "Don't worry about it." he sighed, "So you got a name?"

"James. Lieutenant James Vega. I'd shake your hand but..." he shrugged.

"No worries. Gabriel. Gabriel Shepard, but you probably knew that already." Shepard said, waving him off as he studied his cell, which didn't take long.

"It's hard not to know sir." the man known as Vega said with a short smile.

"So what'd Kaidan say to you?" Shepard asked.

"Not a whole lot. He said he needed a man on the inside to keep an eye on you while you were in here and he asked me to do it. He seemed... worried that the Major had something sneaky up his sleeves." Vega said, shrugging again.

"He probably does. He's had it out for me for years. It all started after Akuze actually." Shepard said, slowly shaking his head as he stood from the hard bed and went to stand by the containment field.

"I heard about that. Must've been rough." Vega said.

"More then you know. Why you think Kaidan's worried something might happen?" Shepard asked, leaning his right shoulder against the wall, facing the man on the other side of the field.

Vega shrugged, "He's in line with you. He thinks the Major's got some kind of hidden agenda we don't know about."

"What makes him think that?" Shepard asked plainly.

"Well... Udina's fully backing Major Antella. Everything the Major says, Udina agrees with. They're spreading that you killed all those batarians out of revenge for what happened on Mindoir." Vega said, lowering his voice.

Shepard looked at the floor, "Believe me... That was the furthest thing from my mind at the time."

"I'm in your corner sir. All the way. I can't say I'd say same if I were your shoes." Vega said, glancing down the hallway from the approach of distant voices.

"Sounds like people're coming. Better pretend you hate me." Shepard whispered as he stayed put, arms crossed and watched, waiting.

Lieutenant Vega reached down and scooped up his helmet to place it back on his head and pulled his rifle, getting back into character that he was simply a guard ordered to watch the prisoner. Shepard listened, hearing the muffled voices of two men he couldn't stand, and one he was more then happy to hear, accompanied by one he didn't recognize. They came closer as the group entered the brig and headed for the last cell on the left.

Vega snapped a salute, "Prisoner hasn't moved sir." he reported to Antella.

"Good. You're to be his permanent guard. Go change." Antella ordered sharply.

"Yes sir." Vega nodded as he dropped his salute and left, leaving the confined Shepard at the mercy of Major Antella, Ambassador Udina, Admiral Hackett and a stranger standing next to him.

"Are both containment measure necessary Major?" Admiral Hackett asked with pinched brows and hands on his hips.

"You've said yourself Admiral that Commander Shepard is a powerful biotic. I cannot risk his escape." Antella said without hesitation.

"The dampening field only works on active biotics Major. You removed his amp. He's not active." Hackett said with a stern glare at the Major.

"The Major is acting in accordance with Shepard's arrest Admiral. The Council wishes that all measures be taken to restrain Shepard to limit the possibilities that he could escape and defect back to Cerberus." Udina said, his tone as if Shepard wasn't even there, listening to every word.

"I thought they knew I told Cerberus to go blow themselves?" Shepard butted in.

"They don't want to risk that Cerberus might still have a hold on you." Antella snapped back, crossing his arms.

"They don't." Shepard spat.

"We don't know that. They could very well be controlling you right now." Antella said with a hint of that smug grin Shepard wanted to punch so much across his lips.

"That's enough Major. You know as much as I do that Shepard isn't being controlled by Cerberus." Hackett seemed to growl.

"There's no proof of that Admiral, so I'm afraid it's only speculation." Antella said, getting far too much joy out of this.

"You want proof? Go through the _Normandy's_ files. You'll see." Shepard said, staring down Antella with hopes that he could set him on fire. Sadly, that didn't happen.

"Oh, I intend to Shepard. As we speak, the _Normandy's_ being impounded and combed through by Alliance officials. They'll find whatever dirty little secrets you're hiding." Antella said, his smirk growing which only grated on Shepard's nerves even more.

"I'm not hiding anything." Shepard growled in return.

"We all have secrets Shepard. I intend to find out yours." Antella said coldly.

Shepard leaned forward slightly, "I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours." he grinned.

Without another word, Major Antella and Ambassador Udina turned and left, both with smug and proud grins on their faces that told all three men that they were enjoying this way too much. Shepard wanted to remove them, either with his hands, with a weapon, or by outsmarting them in this entire mess. He didn't care how, he just wanted to do it.

"Wow... You two really don't like each other." the nameless man said, watching the pair leave.

"I hate that fucker." Shepard said angrily between clenched teeth.

"That's apparent." he said.

"Shepard, this is your JAG lawyer. Commander Higgins." Hackett said, motioning to the rather skinny man with graying brown hair and pale green eyes.

"Pleasure." was all Shepard said, not feeling the need to introduce himself.

"If it's alright Commander, I'd like to ask you a few questions so I can begin building our case for the defense." Commander Higgins said, pulling a datapad from his bag he carried in his left hand.

"Go ahead. Fills the time." Shepard said with a tilt of his head as he stared at the wall.

"Alright... Now, I know this question may seem moot Commander, but I have to ask it. Do you have any family?" Commander Higgins asked with a mild cringe.

Shepard sighed, "Not by blood." he said, beginning to gnaw on his bottom lip.

"Is there anyone that can serve as a character witness? Maybe someone that has insight in your... ways of thinking?" he asked softly.

Shepard nodded and sighed again, "Yeah... There's a priest on Mindoir who took me in after the raid."

"Yes... A Father Nikolai Pretrofski. He's listed in your file." Commander Higgins said, glancing down at his datapad.

"Yeah. That's him." Shepard said, almost emotionlessly and still chewing on his lip.

"Anyone else?"

Shepard nodded, "Kaidan Alenko. Ashley Williams. Carolyn Chakwas. Jeff Moreau... Pretty much anyone I've served with on the _Normandy." _he listed.

"Both of them?"

"Yeah. Both." Shepard said, still staring at the wall.

Commander Higgins jotted a few things down on his datapad, "Alright Commander. I'll be in touch. I should start right away." he said, slipping his datapad back into his bag.

Shepard nodded, a motion in which he was getting tired of doing, "Ok... You know where to find me." he joked.

Cracking a short smile, Commander Higgins nodded and left, leaving only Admiral Hackett as Shepard's company. The silence was getting closer to wrapping itself around him and it wasn't something he was looking forward to.

"I'm sorry about this Shepard. We'll do what we can out here. Having both containment measures is a bit overkill." Hackett said lowly, a little too quietly for Shepard's tastes.

"I know." was all he had to say.

With a final sigh, Hackett left, giving way to the silence that was all too willing to consume Shepard's world; the world that was now nothing more then a gray room. The silence allowed the hum of the containment field to scream at him as he returned to sitting on the uncomfortable cot, simply watching how the soles of his boots made contact with the metal floor, seamless floor.

As there was no window to look out of, he was left to simply think, wondering where he had gone wrong in his life. Was it killing his sister to save her from a life of abuse and slavery? Was it for being the one and only surviver of an unwarranted and senseless attack? Was it wanting to stop a race of super machines from harvesting them as if they were crops meant for market? Or was it falling in love with a subordinate? All these questions were left unanswered, and would remain unanswered.

At the end of his rope, alone and confined like a rabid dog, Shepard's eyes spilled over as he buried his head in his hands and wept.

* * *

Lycan had always wondered what Alliance HQ looked like in detail, as what she had seen when she had played the third game didn't do it justice. It was a massive complex, with many wings, departments and secret areas that only those with the upmost security clearance could gain access to.

She hadn't gotten a real chance for a tour however, since she was only reduced to following Kaidan around, but all they went to was the cafeteria and then back to a temporary office they had been assigned by Admiral Hackett. She hadn't gotten to see much of anything.

Quietly playing a game on her new Omni-Tool, Lycan said in a chair in the corner while Kaidan worked on his reports at the desk. Every now and again, he would ask her for a detail, but that was few and far between. Silence was the only constant.

Releasing a heavy sigh, simply to break up the monotony, Lycan shut off her Omni-Tool and flopped her hands into her lap as she curled into the chair and leaned against the plush armrest.

"Everything alright?" Kaidan asked quietly as he glanced over at her, his hands never stopping their work on the terminal.

"Yeah... Just tired of waiting I guess." Lycan said with another sigh.

Stopping his work, Kaidan leaned back in his chair and watched her for a moment before he stood and walked over to her to kneel down, grasping her hands in the process.

"It'll be ok Ly. We'll get word soon. I know we will." he said lowly, placing soft kisses to her knuckles.

Lycan nodded, "I hope so. I just thought we would've heard by now. The _Normandy_ landed an hour ago." she said as her features turned down into a look of sadness.

"I know. I'm sure there's reasons why we haven't heard anything yet, but... We'll go see him soon. If anything, Lieutenant Vega'll come and get us." Kaidan said, standing to sit in the chair next to hers.

"Ok. I'm glad we were able to find him and get him on our side before Shepard was arrested." Lycan said, slowly releasing another sigh.

"It was a good idea. Hopefully it helps keep Shepard from going insane when we're not there." Kaidan said, releasing her hands.

"You think we'll be able to visit him?" Lycan asked, shifting sides so she can be a bit closer to him.

Kaidan shrugged, "I'm not sure, but we'll try. It probably won't be for awhile though. I know access to him is probably pretty restricted."

Lycan smiled and reached over to grasp Kaidan's hand, giving it a light and tender squeeze, but she immediately took it away when there was a knock at the office door.

At the interruption, Kaidan stood and headed for the door, waving his Omni-Tool over its lock to unlock it and opened it, revealing James Vega on the other side, wearing a t-shirt and his uniform pants. The look on the man's face was nothing short of worry and disgust, and when he barged in without so much as an 'excuse me', Kaidan wondered if something had happened.

"Vega? What's wrong?" Kaidan asked shutting the door and turning around in time to see Vega go straight for the holoscreen.

"Yeah. You need to see this." Vega said sharply.

Turning on the holoscreen, Vega quickly found the news where the latest in a breaking story was being featured. The reporter was all too familiar to Kaidan and Lycan, as she was the woman who had tried to make Shepard look bad on more then one occasion. Khalisah Bint Sinan Al-Jilani.

_"Khalisah Bint Sinan Al-Jilani here with the lasted in breaking news. The latest rumors regarding Commander Shepard are disturbing ones. It's said that he's been arrested. Is this true?" _she thrust her Omni-Tool into her interviewee's face.

_ "Commander Shepard is in custody, and charges are being brought forth for his actions in the Terminus Systems." _it was Major Antella.

_ "Do you believe that Commander Shepard is responsible for the crimes he is said to be guilty of?" _

_ "That remains to be seen. The evidence is still be studied and compiled." _

_ "What kind of evidence?"_

_ "I'm sorry Ms. Al-Jilani, but I am not at liberty to discuss the intimate details of the case outside of confidential and secured areas." _

_"Do you believe that Commander Shepard has hidden and personal agendas?" _

_ "Again Ms. Al-Jilani, all other questions will need to be funneled through the Alliance's PR department. This is something you should know by now." _Antella actually seemed mildly irritated by the woman as she persisted for details.

_ "But Major Antella, the world deserves to know what kind of man the Commander truly is!"_

_ "And I, personally, agree with you Ms. Al-Jilani, but there are protocols and doctrine that need to be followed. One misstep could result in a grave injustice."_

_"You mean like allowing a man to get away with assault!" _

_ "I'm sorry Ms. Al-Jilani that you were harmed in your attempted interview with Commander Shepard while he was in the Terminus Systems, but with his past actions, it should be known to you that the Commander is believed to be unstable. Good day to you."_

With that, Major Antella stepped off screen, ending the interview outside the Alliance headquarters building and leaving the nerve grinding reporter standing with a vastly disappointed and pretty angry look on her face.

Having heard enough, Vega muted the program, not wanting to hear the reporter rant and rave and spin whatever she saw fit to make the Commander look even worse in his people's eyes.

"At least he's sort of playing by the rules." Vega groaned, still a bit angry about the interview in the first place.

"Barely. I guarantee you the only reason he is, is so he has the best chance at taking Shepard down." Lycan said, standing from the chair to simply turn off the holoscreen, not wanting to see it even more.

"Why does he have it out for him so bad? Did the Commander do something to him or something?" Vega asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against the front of the desk.

"Shepard's never met the man." Kaidan said, stepping in behind the desk to turn off the terminal.

"Well... Something's up if you ask me." Vega said plainly with the space between his brows crinkled.

"What makes you say that Lieutenant?" Kaidan asked, heading back to the chair to sit next to Lycan once more.

Vega shrugged, "He's trying too hard. When I went to let him know the _Normandy_ had landed, he was looking at... I don't know... He was just looking at something he didn't want me to see."

"What makes you say that?" Lycan asked, tucking her knees up into her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"The second I walked in, he put the file away like I just caught looking at porn or something." Vega said, looking at the pair.

"It's probably just Shepard's file or the case files or something Vega. It would be increasingly difficult to pursue any kind of personal agenda and still maintain enough professionalism so no one suspects anything." Kaidan said, resting his ankle on top of his knee.

"Maybe, but I still have my suspicions Commander. It just... felt off." Vega said, shaking his head.

Kaidan sighed, "I know. This whole thing feels off. Shepard should've been arrested."

"I'm right there with you Commander. Shepard's done nothing but fight for us from day one and then that _pendejo_ decides he needs to be taken down for saving our asses again. Some way to say thank you." Vega grunted.

"I wish we had an answer, but we just don't right now," Kaidan started until another knock sounded at the door, "It's open!" he sighed.

The door hissed open as a graying haired man entered, wearing the ranks of a Commander with a business bag in his hand, "Commander Alenko?"

"Yes?" Kaidan stood from the chair.

"I'm Commander Higgins. I'm Commander Shepard's JAG lawyer." he said, extending his hand.

Kaidan shook his hand, "Hi. How're you?"

"I'll get scarce. I'll be down in the brig with the Commander." Vega said as he pushed off the desk and headed for the door.

"Tell him we'll be down in a little while." Kaidan said, looking passed the lawyer.

"I will Commander." Vega said as he stepped out.

With the Lieutenant gone, Kaidan turned and looked at Lycan and briefly smiled, "Ly... Could you wait outside?" he asked kindly.

Lycan nodded, "Of course." she said softly as she stood to gather her sweater and left the room as silently as possible, leaving the pair to whatever business they needed to attend to.

"I didn't mean to interrupt anything Commander." Commander Higgins said as he sat down and set his bag in the empty chair next to him.

"You didn't interrupt anything. Is there something I can do for you?" Kaidan asked, activating the terminal once more.

"I just need to ask a few questions. I'm starting to compile Commander Shepard's defense, and I need to ask regarding his character and any... more personal things you can tell me that would help discredit the charges Major Antella is bringing against him." Commander Higgins said as he opened and started to dig around in his bag.

Kaidan lightly sighed, "What do you wanna know?"

"Well, I guess we'll just start from the beginning. How long have you known Commander Shepard?" Higgins asked, pulling the datapad from his bag and slipping on a pair of reading glasses.

"Oh gosh uh... Since Sentinel training... About fifteen years ago." Kaidan answered, having to think since it had been so long.

Commander Higgins wrote something down on his datapad, "Have you stayed in regular contact with Commander Shepard over that time?"

Kaidan nodded, "We tried and we did for awhile, but not much talking went on when he went to N7 training. After that though, we did our best to stay in touch, but... duty got in the way a lot of the time."

Commander Higgins nodded, "Understandable. Uh... Can you tell me about your time on the _Normandy_ _SR-1_?" he asked.

Kaidan pursed his lips together and scratched the back of his head, "What's there to tell? We were all pretty on edge with the hunt for Saren."

Again, Commander Higgins wrote something down, "I'm sure anyone would be. Can you go into any details?"

Kaidan held his breath, "Nothing that's not ultra classified."

"Just stick with your observations of the Commander while you where on the _Normandy _then." Commander Higgins said.

"Alright uh... He wanted to find Saren. We all did. We were all... upset about what he did to Eden Prime and it was only compounded when we lost Jenkins." Kaidan said with a slow sigh.

"It was a tragic loss. How did the Commander take it?" Commander Higgins asked with more writings down on his datapad.

"Hard... Just like everyone else. He doesn't like losing people." Kaidan said.

"Is that a side affect of Akuze?"

"What'd you think?" Kaidan asked.

"Good point Commander. Did it seem to affect Commander Shepard more though because of his history?" Higgins asked with a mild furrowing of his brow.

"I don't know. He didn't talk about it much and if someone else did, he usually just glanced over it. We knew it wasn't because he didn't care, but because he didn't wanna remember." Kaidan said.

"Remember Akuze?"

Kaidan nodded, "No. He didn't wanna remember losing a man. He never does."

"Is distancing his emotions a coping mechanism?" Higgins asked.

"He doesn't actually distance himself, he just doesn't talk about it. He'll think about it all the time." Kaidan said as he sighed and cringed all in the same moment.

"Doesn't it make him come off as cold and uncaring?" Higgins said with actual concern in his tone.

"If you don't know him sure, but everyone on that ship knew him. We knew he needed to do it in order to get through the hardships." Kaidan said, continuously cultivating answers in his head that would help to paint Shepard in a positive light.

"So as long as someone knows Commander Shepard, they realize that he's not as cold and rough as he appears?" Higgins asked, not even looking at what his hands were typing out on the datapad.

"Pretty much. He has a very tight knit circle of people he trusts and he doesn't deviate from that." Kaidan said with certainty.

"Is this emotional wall he's built up a result of Mindoir?" Higgins asked as he glanced up at Kaidan.

"Probably. He doesn't talk about that much either and really, I can't blame him." Kaidan said with a weak smile.

"True true," Higgins drew in a breath as he continued to type, "Do you know anything of his actions in the Terminus Systems?"

"I know some, but that's only because he contacted me." Kaidan admitted.

"He did? This is good. What did he tell you?" Higgins asked eagerly.

"He said he was only working _with_ Cerberus to stop the Collectors. That's it. The entire time he spent with them, he sent his reports and files to the Alliance behind Cerberus's back. He did everything he could do to make sure his relationship with them was as weak as possible." Kaidan said, making it a point to make sure that the lawyer understood that Shepard was only working with, and not for.

"So you're saying that Commander Shepard's relationship was purely business related?"

Kaidan nodded, "Exactly and even that was tumultuous."

"How so?"

"Every time I spoke with him, he always said how much he hates that he had to work with them. It really bothered him... To the core." Kaidan said, leaning back in his chair.

"You also said that Commander Shepard had sent reports to the Alliance while he was... not allied... we'll use working with. He had sent reports while he was working with Cerberus?" Higgins asked, having never stopped typing on his datapad.

Again, Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. Admiral Hackett should have those."

"Great... This is good news. Because the Commander had sent those reports, it shows that the Commander was, and is, still in touch with reality and knew exactly what he was doing." Higgins said, pushing his glasses up on his nose as he looked down at his lap.

"Very much so." Kaidan agreed.

"Just a few more questions... Uh," he looked over the datapad for a moment, "Do you know any details of what happened in the Bahak system?" Higgins asked.

Kaidan shook his head, "No. I don't. I'm sorry, but I know Shepard wouldn't have done that without a damn good reason." he lied, balling a fist underneath the desk and out of the lawyer's view.

"Does the Commander not harbor any ill feelings towards the batarians?" Higgins asked as his brows furrowed a bit harder.

"That's not an easy one to answer." Kaidan sighed.

"Just answer truthfully." Higgins said, knowing that this must be hard for the man on the other side of the desk.

Kaidan pinched the bridge of his nose, "He's not a fan of them, but he doesn't wanna kill them. If anything, he only wants to see those responsible for the raid on Mindoir brought to justice, but... He wouldn't go out and destroy an entire system just kill batarians." he said, softening his expression to show the Commander that he truly believed and meant what he said.

"And you're sure of that?" Higgins asked, cringing slightly, as that wasn't a question he wanted to willingly ask.

"I'm positive. I know my best friend." Kaidan said flatly and firmly.

Commander Higgins nodded, "Alright... Thank you for your time Commander Alenko. I'll be in touch if I need more questions answered." he said, slipping his datapad back into his bag as he stood.

Kaidan stood as well, "You're welcome. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help." he extended his hand.

Commander Higgins shook Kaidan's hand, "I will. Thank you again."

With a nod, Commander Higgins turned and headed for the door, slipping through out into the hallway. Lycan entered the office once more before the door closed and went back to sitting in the same chair she had been, arms crossed and hands hidden inside her sweater.

"So it begins huh?" she said, curling back into herself.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah." he said plainly as he went to sit next to her again.

"What do we do now?" she asked, reaching over to place her hand on his thigh.

"We wait."

* * *

**Three Days Later**

** Vancouver, BC, Canada: Alliance HQ**

As far as Kaidan and Lycan knew, the trial preparations were continuing as planned for Shepard's lawyer, but it was also progressing for Major Antella. They had an uphill battle ahead of them.

Commander Higgins had contacted Kaidan a couple more times through the course of his investigation, needing a few more questions answered pertaining to Shepard's way of thinking and motives. He was all too happy to answer them for him.

They had gone to see Shepard in the brig, along with Ashley as well over the course of three days, only being able to spend twenty minutes or so with him before they were ushered out, either by Vega, simply to keep up appearances, or by a guard whom was actually in line with Major Caleb Antella.

On their visits, he seemed to be in good enough spirits considering, but he had always said how much he hated the silence when they weren't around, how it always seemed to be pressing in on his ears to the point of pain. Luckily though, Vega would smuggle in things for him to do that would break up the silence and for that, Shepard was grateful. It helped to keep his brain on Earth and keep him sane through the long, sleepless nights.

Now, as they waited to hear from Admiral Hackett, or Commander Higgins, Kaidan and Lycan sat in the temporary office, doing their own thing and working on whatever they could find to fill their time.

"Think the trial'll start soon?" Lycan asked, typing on the repaired datapad that hadn't left her side since.

Kaidan sighed and shrugged, "I don't know. Both sides are still building their case. Hackett did say it wouldn't be a standard trial though. It'll be a tribunal." he said, leaning back in his chair for a break from working on the seemingly never ending reports.

"Is that good or bad?" Lycan asked, reaching for a glass of water she had resting on a small side table.

"Depends on how you look at it. Instead of twelve people you have to convince who I have no idea what's going on, you have three who already do." Kaidan said in short as he put his terminal to sleep and stood to look out the window.

"But those three are the judge, jury and executioner." Lycan added, watching Kaidan's head nod.

"Yup." he exhaled and looked at her.

"Could he be put to death?" she asked, her tone reluctant to even mention the possibility.

"He could if all three agree to it and think the crime warrants a death sentence." Kaidan said, turning away from the gloomy weather outside to pour himself a glass of water.

"An entire system destroyed with three hundred and fifty thousand batarians in it." Lycan deadpanned.

Kaidan didn't respond and simply brought the glass to his lips to drink, but the moment the cool glass touched his lips, something felt wrong.

A strange, unexplainable feeling came over him. He didn't know how to explain it, but it was a constant at the base of his skull. The feeling felt as if he was feeling the residual effects of electricity from somewhere far away, but it was soft, almost gentle even. It crept, instead of shot all around him, encasing him entirely in the strange feeling that just flat out told him, something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Kaidan?" Lycan asked, setting aside her journal to stand and walk up to him.

After a moment, the glass slipped from his hands to crash to the floor in a wet, shard filled splash that peppered his boots and pants with bits of glass and droplets that hadn't made it down his throat.

"Kaidan?" Lycan asked a bit louder, placing her hand on his arm in hopes of drawing his attention.

"S-Something's wrong." he said, looking around the office as if someone had just entered, or there was something going on that warranted his attention.

"What?"

Kaidan shook his head, hoping to shake the feeling, but it didn't work, "I... I don't know, just... Something's wrong. Something's really wrong." he said, his voice airy and almost strained.

"Kaidan... I don't understand." Lycan said, getting more worried by the minute.

Just then, the feeling turned to pain, to a dull ache the tightened his chest to the point where he clenched it. It made his breath come short, coming in and out of his lungs before his body was even finished with it's last breath. His head began to whirl, to spin the room like he was trapped in a top and he was unable to keep himself from dropping to his hands and knees.

"Kaidan! What's wrong baby? Talk to me." Lycan pled, following him to the floor.

Just as he was about to grunt from the pain, it vanished, but the whirling in his head didn't and the feeling turned to a biotic buzzing he very much recognized. A buzz that hummed at the base of his skull.

Kaidan's eyes shot open as he sucked in deep, near painful breaths, "Shepard..."


	74. Chapter 74

Chapter 74: Ignorance Isn't Bliss

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: I love it when my muse works for once. Thank him for my quick turnaround on the chapters. :) Love you all!)_

Something was wrong with Shepard, and Kaidan was positive of that.

The strange feeling had grabbed ahold of Kaidan and refused to let go, screaming at him that something was wrong. He didn't know what was wrong, he just knew that something was. It was the same strange feeling he had gotten so many years ago, late in the night before his final exam for medical training. It was the same feeling that something was wrong, and it's what drove him to go into the spare bedroom, where he found Shepard, near death, from an accidental overdose of red sand.

It was the same this time around, as worried and panicked thoughts of Shepard traipsed through his head. He was terrified something was endangering his best friend's life. He was terrified that he would be too late, and that terror spurred his legs to carry him down the hallways.

"Kaidan! What's wrong!" Lycan called after him, keeping up with her own long strides as both darted and wove through the throngs of military and civilian personnel.

"No time to explain! Just come on!" Kaidan called back at her, managing to turn a ninety degree corner before he just flat out plowed into the wall.

Lycan didn't know what was going on, but if Kaidan was this worried, so was she.

Nothing else was said as they dashed down another hallway, hugging the wall to avoid a number of clustered people and completely ignoring the checkpoint on their way to the elevator.

"Hey! Stop!" one of the guards yelled after the pair, hitting a call button to raise the alert.

Neither acknowledged the guard as they entered the elevator and before Kaidan had even stopped running, he had hit the button to take him several floors down into the basement levels.

"Kaidan... What's wrong?" Lycan asked again, needing an answer.

Kaidan sucked in a long breath, "Something's wrong with Shepard. Don't ask me how, I just know there is." he said, placing his hands on his hips as he gulped down air to prepare himself for another run.

"How do you know?" Lycan asked anyways.

Kaidan shot her a short lived glare, "I don't know hun. I... I got this feeling that something was wrong and I've had it before. It's how I found Shepard before he died from an overdose." he said, anxiously tapping his foot.

"Shepard almost ODed?" Lycan gasped.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. It was a long time ago..." he started, only to burst out of the elevator when the doors dinged and opened.

As they ran down the corridor, blowing by another checkpoint that led to the elevator that would take them down to the brig level, Vega came running out of the car, elated to see them and in just as much of a hurry as they were.

"Commander! Something's wrong with Shepard!" Vega called out as he pressed himself against the wall to make room for Kaidan and Lycan to continue into the elevator, upon which he followed.

"What happened?" Kaidan asked, sucking in breaths to keep from getting winded as he pressed the button for the brig level.

"He just collapsed. I don't know what happened. He said he started to get a headache and I gave him something for it and he just fell to the floor." Vega explained, all three waiting very impatiently for the elevator to reach its destination.

Kaidan's brows furrowed, "Did he seem to zone out a bit when you were talking to him?" he asked, resting his hands on his hips as he continued to steady his breathing.

Vega nodded, "Yeah... He did. It was like he wasn't even listening."

"Shit..." Kaidan exhaled as the doors opened up into the brig.

The three of them shot out like bullets down the corridor, heading for the last cell on the left to find Shepard unconscious on the floor, on his stomach, in front of the containment field. His skin had paled a bit and he was glistening with sweat that had covered his face, but Kaidan's suspicions where simply confirmed when he saw the plug in the back of Shepard's head.

"Shit. Get the field down!" Kaidan ordered as he knelt down to the floor, "Shepard!... Gabriel!" he called out, hoping for an answer, upon which there was none.

"Fucking thing... Why the hell does this thing have three codes?" Vega snarled as he, as quickly as he could, entered the codes given to him by Major Antella.

"What? There's three?" Kaidan asked out of disbelief.

Vega nodded, "Yeah. Antella overkilled it on this one."

Another few tense moments later, the containment field dropped, spurring Kaidan to lunge out and grab ahold of Shepard. In the same breath, he reached for the plug and pulled it out, tossing it aside as he stood and went to the control panel on the outside of the cell. He opened his Omni-Tool and hacked into the dampening field system where he shut down the tech with a somewhat quiet alarm that announced that the containment had gone offline.

With the biotic containment measures offline, Kaidan went back to his downed friend and reached out for him, but when his hand got close, a massive, painful spark snapped out from Shepard to bite Kaidan's hand.

"Fuck!" Kaidan yelped as he pulled his hand away.

"What was that?" Vega asked, kneeling down to aid Shepard as well, but received the same spark, "Holy shit! What the hell?"

"How many times is he allowed to discharge a day?" Kaidan asked, rubbing the site where the spark had lashed at his hand.

"He isn't. Antella ordered under no circumstances are the countermeasures to be taken down because he didn't wanna give Shepard any opportunity to escape." Vega said, raking a hand back over his mohawk.

"Jesus Christ." Kaidan growled as he let his body become awash with biotics, which set off yet another alarm.

Vega stood and entered a number of codes into the control panel, silencing the alarms, but not the lights as Kaidan reached towards his friend once more, but this time, the arcs of strong static went wide to snap and whip at the floor.

He carefully rolled Shepard onto his back, seeing that his eyes had rolled into the back of his head and only the whites could be seen.

"Gabriel... Come on man... Say something... Anything." Kaidan said, prying open an eye in hopes of forcing a reaction from Shepard.

Nothing happened.

Kaidan smacked Shepard's cheek, "Gabriel! Wake the fuck up man! Come on..." he ordered, shaking Shepard's head back and forth.

This time, Kaidan did receive a reaction, but it was in the form of more sparks and a flashing of biotics as Shepard's body became engulfed in a blue, unsteady flame of dark energy.

At the sudden surprise of blue, Kaidan fell back against the opposite wall where Lycan came to his side out of her worry for him, as well as her worry for Shepard. She reached forward towards Shepard, but her hand was stopped when Kaidan grabbed her wrist.

"No... Don't touch him. He's charged." Kaidan said, reigning in his power as he got to his feet and backed away, out of the cell.

"What? What's charged?" Vega asked, placing a hand on the wall.

"He's statically charged. Since he hasn't gotten to discharge the static build up, it's just sat until it started to affect his implant." Kaidan said, finally starting to breath a bit heavily as he placed his hands on his hips.

Vega opened his mouth to reply, but looked towards the brig's entrance as a group of guards came running at them with weapons drawn.

"Don't move!" one of the guards ordered, skidding to a halt as he pointed his rifle at them.

"Call the medics! Shepard's charged!" Kaidan hollered with a harshly furrowed brow.

However, the guards didn't move.

"Now! Do you want him to die?" Kaidan screamed, his body flashing for a moment in more blue energy.

The guard in front lowered his rifle and stepped forward, peering inside the cell the three were standing in front of to confirm that the prisoner was indeed, on the floor and unconscious, needing medical attention.

"He's right. Call the medics." the guard ordered, "Who are you sir?" the guard asked as his men immediately followed his order.

"Commander Alenko." was all he said, hands still on his hips.

"Is this why you blew by the checkpoints sir?" the guard asked, pointing to the glowing Shepard.

Kaidan just glared, but relaxed immediately when another man entered the brig.

"Stand down Sergeant!" Admiral Hackett bellowed, actually scarring the guard to the point where he nearly dropped his rifle.

"Yes sir!" the Sergeant took off without hesitation.

"What happened Alenko?" Hackett asked as he came to the cell and peered inside, "Oh no..." he exhaled as his expression dropped.

"He hasn't gotten to discharge sir. We have a very small window to remove as much static as possible before the implant cooks." Kaidan said, stepping forward to kneel back down next to Shepard where another series of overly strong sparks smacked the floor.

"How long as it been?" Hackett asked.

"Not even five minutes sir." Vega reported quickly.

"I mean how long it's been since he's gotten to discharge." Hackett clarified.

"Three days Admiral." Vega answered quickly, since he was the only one who could.

Hackett sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Jesus Christ..." he exhaled again as the medical personnel arrived.

Kaidan, Hackett and all stepped back, giving room for the medical personnel to immediately get to work. All of them donned thick rubber gloves to insulate themselves as they started getting Shepard's vitals, which were erratic, and attached an IV to his arms when one of the medic's Omni-Tools informed them that not only was Shepard charged, he was malnourished.

"Why is the Commander malnourished Lieutenant?" Hackett asked as his brows grew angry.

"I don't know sir. He's fed three squares a day." Vega answered.

"Do they meet his caloric requirement?" one of the medics asked as the others hoisted Shepard onto a gurney.

Vega shrugged, "It's a normal meal as far as I know. Someone brings them down and I just give them to him." he quietly gulped.

"He's just the middleman Lieutenant. He didn't do this." Hackett came to his rescue.

"Admiral, Major Antella ordered that the biotic countermeasures never be removed. That's why Shepard's charged." Kaidan said as he watched, worried as the medics began to wheel Shepard away.

Before the medics could get Shepard out of the brig and on his way to the infirmary, Major Antella came charging through, angry, but he didn't even have time to ask what was happening before the medics blew by, taking the glowing Shepard with them.

"What's going on here!" Antella snapped as he hurriedly walked up to them all.

"You're ignorance is what's going on!" Kaidan spat, angrily sneering at the man.

"Excuse me? You can't talk to me that way!" Antella shot back.

"The hell he can't Major. Why the hell wasn't Shepard allowed to discharge for three days!" Hackett demanded.

"Pardon me? There is no way I am giving Shepard any chance to cause harm to law abiding citizens in an attempt to escape!" Antella said loudly, clasping his hands behind his back to keep from thrusting his finger into an Admiral's face.

"So you'd rather kill him to prevent that! Do you have any idea what happens to a biotic who doesn't discharge!" Kaidan demanded, thrusting a finger into a Major's face.

"Don't speak to me like that." Antella growled.

"What're you gonna do? Plug me and throw me in a cell where I'm only fed normal rations?" Kaidan was on fire... literally, as his blue energy started to radiate off his shoulders.

"How dare..." Antella started, only to be interrupted.

"Shut it Major! Answer Commander Alenko!" Hackett snapped.

"No! I do not know!"

"I'll tell you," Kaidan dropped his hand back to his side, "As the static electricity builds up, it starts to affect the implant until it actually fries it! Know what happens after that?"

"No." Antella said flatly.

"The brain gets fried! The body won't stop working, oh no, that keeps functioning, but he'll be brain dead! Just a lump in a bed with a goddamned heartbeat!" Kaidan yelled, just as angry as Hackett as the thick vein in his neck started to throb.

"I... I was unaware." Antella admitted, but his eyes told them all that he wouldn't have be broken up if that had happened.

"And it's because of that, that Shepard could've just been turned into a vegetable." Kaidan growled, having to take several deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Major... Convene the Tribunal... Immediately." Admiral Hackett ordered simply and blandly.

"Aye aye Admiral."

With held breath, Major Antella spun and left, leaving the group standing in front of the now empty cell. No one spoke for several minutes as they calmed themselves down, definitely angry that the situation had even transpired.

"What do you plan on doing at the Tribunal Admiral?" Kaidan asked, far calmer now that Major Antella was gone.

"We've gotta bring this to their attention and set perimeters for Shepard's confinement. We can't just let ignorance reign over this one." Hackett said, clasping his hands behind his back as he started for the exit.

Kaidan, Lycan and Vega all leapt to follow.

"What other containment can we use? Antella's gonna argue that if Shepard's biotics aren't contained at all times, that it poses opportunity for escape." Kaidan said, following Hackett into the elevator car.

"That's obviously the problem here. We need a different method, not only for Shepard's health sake, but for his sanity." Hackett said with a long sigh.

"The lack of sleep sure isn't helping." Kaidan said as he leaned back against the wall of the car.

"Not at all and I want him well rested and in good health for the trial. I don't want him looking like he might be guilty of the charges." Hackett said with certainty.

"Are you wanting to get him released into protective custody?" Lycan asked from her corner of the car, next to Kaidan.

"That's what I'm thinking, but we've gotta prove it to the Tribunal that it would be in Shepard's best interests." Hackett said as the car came to a halt and opened its doors.

"It's starting to sound like they don't wanna punish him to the fullest extent." Kaidan said, walking next to Hackett with Lycan trailing just behind him.

"That's what I'm thinking too. They know Shepard's responsible for stopping Saren and the Collectors and that's put some major points in our column." Hackett said, turning a corner to head back in the direction of the temporary office he had assigned to Kaidan.

"I bet the Major didn't like that." Vega scoffed, following along Hackett's other side.

"He doesn't like anything that goes good for Shepard." Hackett returned the scoff.

"That's apparent." Kaidan added, nearly too quietly in the echoing hallways that were still filled with people.

The group made their way into the second elevator car to leave the basement levels, each silently contemplating what had just happened and what was to come. They were worried about Shepard's well being, and wanted nothing more then to hear that he was alright, but they knew they had to wait and let the medical staff do their job, so each decided they would wait in the office for word.

"The Tribunal should be ready to convene in an hour or so, so lets hope we hear of Shepard's condition prior to that." Hackett said as he sat down in a chair in front of the desk where Kaidan sat behind it.

"It could take longer Admiral. Charged biotics are increasingly unpredictable." Kaidan said, being the only person in the room able to provide any sensible knowledge on the matter.

"How so?" Hackett asked plainly.

Kaidan slowly shook his head as he thought, "It really depends on the biotic Admiral. Some biotics get charged after only a few days, some take longer. It just depends on the node count."

"Do you know what Shepard's count is?"

Kaidan nodded, "A hundred and eighty-five thousand. It wouldn't take long for the static to reach critical levels."

"I assume that's high?" Hackett asked, taking the time to learn more about biotics himself.

"Yes sir. It's high. He's on par with me." Kaidan said, looking over to Vega and Lycan sitting in the chairs along the wall.

"What's your count Commander?" Vega asked curiously.

"Two hundred thousand." Kaidan answered plainly.

Vega whistled, "Damn... No matter how you look at it, that's a big number."

"It is, but it doesn't come without its dangers." Kaidan said.

"Meaning becoming charged." Hackett finished the thought for him.

"As well as biotic eruptions. The problem with Shepard, is that when Cerberus was rebuilding him, they double exposed him." Kaidan added as his brows drew down in thought.

Hackett's brows furrowed, "What?"

Kaidan sighed, "They doubled his count. Because of that, his biotics are an entirely new animal. We just don't know how they're gonna react... Especially with containment measures." he said, crossing his arms and resting his elbows on the desk.

"We'll need to bring this up to the Tribunal. Shepard needs to be under constant supervision. Not locked away in a cage." Hackett sighed.

"It's not the he needs to be under supervision, its that he can't be plugged for long periods of time. He needs to be able to discharge freely." Kaidan said, proving his point when he tapped his finger on the metal wall to produce a normal, but snapping static shock.

"And I'm sure the dampening fields and the removal of his amp only compounded his need." Hackett said, shaking his head.

"They did. Antella has no business containing any biotic when he has no knowledge of how we work." Kaidan said with a hint of disdain in his tone.

"And that, Commander Alenko, is why you'll be presenting the case to the Tribunal." Hackett said, only to earn a surprised look from the younger man sitting across from him.

"What!" Kaidan yelped, merely from shock.

"There's no one else we have that has the kind of knowledge you have regarding biotics, let alone Shepard's. The medics only know what's in his files. Commander Higgins is gonna need you to help push the case to the Tribunal judges." Hackett said with a growing smirk.

Kaidan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Great... Alright Admiral. I'll go get changed." he stood and left the office without another word.

The three that were left stayed quiet, not really knowing what else to say and to be honest, it was awkward. They didn't really know what else to say, not pertaining to the case, or Shepard, or anything of the like. It wasn't every day that a Lieutenant, a civilian, for all intensive purposes, and an Admiral who happened to be the commanding officer of the Fifth Fleet, just sat in an office.

"Will I be able to go to the Tribunal Admiral?" Lycan asked, a little nervously biting the inside of her lip.

Hackett held his breath for a moment, "I don't know Lycan. It's closed doors and since you were..." he stopped himself from continuing because of their present company, "I don't know." he said instead.

"Even though Kaidan's my sponsor?" she asked.

Hackett pursed his lips together, "Lieutenant? Could you give us a few minutes?" he asked, shifting his gaze to Vega.

"Of course sir. I'll be right outside." Vega said as he stood and left as well.

Lycan and Admiral Hackett stayed quiet until the doors closed where Lycan stood and poured two glasses of water from the water cooler, handing one to Admiral Hackett before retaking her seat in the chair.

"Thank you," he took a sip, "In all honesty, it wouldn't hurt to have you in there Lycan, but unless I sponsor you in, I don't think you'll be allowed under normal pretenses." Hackett said, taking another sip.

"I hope I am." Lycan said, just stating her wishes.

"Do you know anything about the trial?" Hackett asked.

Lycan shook her head, "No... Just what was hinted at in the third game..." that's when it struck her, "House arrest..." she breathed.

"Pardon?" Hackett asked, not sure if he had heard her right.

"We can try to get Shepard put on house arrest." she repeated with her eyes widening at the realization.

"Won't that differ from the timeline?" Hackett asked, setting his glass down on the desk.

"No... It was mentioned that Shepard was put on house arrest, but that's all that was said. The details aren't there." Lycan said, starting to smile.

"The details are up to us, so long as Shepard gets put on house arrest." Hackett filled in.

Lycan nodded, "Exactly." her grin spread.

"Then we have a little bit of work to do."

* * *

The Tribunal had convened as ordered, however it wasn't until three hours later then all had thought.

The Tribunal chambers were a fairly grand sight, as it was wide open and lined with holoscreens, displaying information from all across the Systems Alliance. The far back, crescent shaped wall was made entirely of framed glass, offering a wonderful, magnificent view of the Vancouver skyline and the all encompassing shroud of overcast that blanketed the city. In the middle of the room, a large, moderately arced desk was elevated from the floor to offer those sitting behind it an unobstructed view of everything in the room, which had been donned with the required furniture to make it a courtroom.

Sitting behind the prosecutor's table was Major Antella in his perfectly pressed uniform with Ambassador Udina sitting right behind him in the first row, waiting for the proceedings to start.

Behind the defendant's table, only Commander Higgins and Admiral Hackett sat, with one empty chair, as Shepard was still in the infirmary. However, word had been sent up that he was stable and discharging the built up static against a metal plate that had been placed at the foot of his bed. They had also said that his implant was alright, and that Kaidan, Vega and Lycan had gotten to him just in time.

So as they waited for the three Tribunal judges to enter and take their seats, Kaidan sat just behind the defendant's table in the first row, donning his dress blues uniform and trying to calm himself down from the knowledge that he would have to address the Tribunal on Shepard's behalf. When the judges had entered, his nerves were only compounded and now, he was simply waiting for his turn.

"Major Antella... Is this report correct in saying that Commander Shepard is in the Infirmary?" the left judge, an older blonde woman with the rank of Captain, said as she looked over a datapad.

Major Antella stood up, "Yes your honor. He is currently listed as stable and in recovery." he said, clasping his hands behind his back, which had become his signature posture.

"What's wrong with him?" the middle judge, a man roughly Admiral Hackett's age with just as much graying hair and just as much rank, said with a crinkled brow.

"I... am unable to answer that for you your honor." Antella admitted with the swallow of pride clearly visible at the front of his throat.

"Then who can?" the Captain on the left asked.

"Your honors... The defense has an individual who can answer your questions." Commander Higgins said, standing as well.

"Very well. Call them forward." the Admiral nodded.

"The defense calls forward Staff Commander Kaidan I. Alenko, Systems Alliance Navy and Commanding Officer of the _SSV-914 Grimm_." Commander Higgins called out, reading from a datapad himself with his readers perched lightly at the end of his nose.

With a shallow swallow, Kaidan stood and tugged his jacket down as he stepped out into the aisle and walked up to a lone podium directly in front of the Tribunal.

"Commander Alenko... Are you able to explain to us what happened to Commander Shepard?" the second Captain, the youngest of the three, a male, asked at the right of the bench.

"I am your honors." he said clearly.

"Please. Indulge us." the Admiral gave the go ahead.

"Commander Shepard is suffering from a biotic charge. It occurs when a biotic is unable to discharge the static that builds up in the nodules along the nervous system. If we aren't allowed to discharge, the static builds on top of itself until it begins to affect the implant itself, and that leads to the loss of consciousness and ultimately, brain death." Kaidan explained as shortly and easily as he could.

"I read in the report here that Commander Shepard is currently stable. Did he receive the require medical attention to avoid that outcome?" the Admiral in the center asked.

Kaidan nodded, "Yes your honor. Upon my arrival in the brig, I immediately removed the jack plug and lowered the dampening field. Not even sixty seconds later, Shepard's biotics began to spark."

"Spark meaning he began to discharge the excess static?" the female Captain asked, simply for clarification.

"Yes your honor." Kaidan simply said with a nod.

"What led to this situation Commander Alenko?" the male Captain asked, pushing his glasses up higher on his nose.

"It was the inability to discharge for at least three times a day your honors." Kaidan said, clasping his hands behind his back as well as he rolled his shoulders back to stand up straighter.

"Major Antella... Did you order that Commander Shepard's biotics be contained at all times?" the female Captain asked.

Major Antella stood once more, "Yes your honor. It was a belief that if the containment measures were not utilized, then Commander Shepard's possibility of escape was far greater then desired."

"Do you believe that Commander Shepard is a flight risk? He did turn himself in willingly and without a struggle." the female Captain said, her face entirely blank of expression.

"With Commander Shepard's affiliation with the terrorist group, Cerberus, the prosecution was not willing to take the gamble that his relationship with them was still intact. He has also shown that he does not regard authority when he stole the _Normandy SR-1_." Major Antella said coldly.

Kaidan's brows furrowed hard as he kept looking forward.

However, the Admiral saw the look.

"Commander Alenko... You do not agree with Major Antella?" he asked, resting an elbow on the Tribunal bench.

Kaidan drew in a long breath and held it for a moment, "I do not your honors." he said plainly and with an exhale.

"Do you believe Commander Shepard is a flight risk?" the Admiral asked.

"No, I do not your honor. It's as you said. He turned himself in willingly and without confrontation and steeling the _Normandy_ was purely in an attempt to stop Saren." Kaidan said, glancing down at the podium.

"Thank you Commander Alenko. You may take a seat." the Admiral said as he shuffled a few datapads around.

Kaidan nodded as he stepped back a step and about faced to head back to his seat behind the defendant's table.

The room remained silent as the Tribunal judges read through their various datapads and conversed quietly with each other for a few moments before the Admiral looked to the room.

"So... With this new development of Commander Shepard's situation and apparent health, how does the prosecution wish to proceed?" the Admiral asked, folding his arms on the table in front of him.

"The prosecution would like to maintain their current containment measures, accompanied with opportunity to discharge this apparent build up of static." Antella said, which didn't fly.

"Objection your honors," Commander Higgins stood up, "It's obvious that Shepard is susceptible to this build up and he is not receiving the required attention required for a biotic."

All three sets of brows furrowed.

"Explain." the male Captain said.

"Not only is Commander Shepard suffering from the biotic charging, I have been informed that he is not receiving the required caloric intake. He is showing signs of malnourishment." Commander Higgins said, looking over towards the prosecution's table to see Major Antella clench a tight fist.

"Is this true Major?" the Admiral asked.

"I have been informed of this as well your honor." Antella admitted, pursing his lips together hard.

The Tribunal judges looked at each other for a few moments.

"Very well. We will need to discuss this so please remain seated. We will return shortly." the Admiral said as the three stood.

"All rise!" the bailiff hollered out as the three left their seats behind the bench and headed for the door.

Once the doors sealed behind the judges, those in the room immediately began to talk quietly amongst themselves, including Major Antella and Ambassador Udina, who didn't look happy in the least bit.

"They look pissed." Kaidan said quietly, leaning forward to speak with Admiral Hackett and Commander Higgins.

"They're probably just trying to figure out a way to recover." Hackett said, just as quietly.

"They'll need a miracle. The Major knows he's screwed up so now all he can do is damage control." Higgins said in nearly a whisper.

"You think our chances of getting Shepard assigned to house arrest are good?" Kaidan asked.

Higgins nodded, "I do, but to what extent remains to be seen. We also have yet to come up with a residence for the house arrest because as I understand it, Shepard has no home or family here." he said, pouring a glass of water and taking a drink to wet his palette.

"There's plenty of hotels." Hackett said, also pouring himself a glass of water.

"I highly doubt they'll go for it, but it's worth a shot. It's really our only option at this point." Higgins said, taking another drink.

"Actually... I might have another idea." Kaidan said as he started to lightly smile.

Hackett's brows furrowed a bit, "What is it?"

"Give me a few minutes to see if it's even possible alright?" Kaidan asked as he leaned back against the bench.

"Take your time." Hackett went back to drinking his water.

As they sat quietly, and trying to catch hints of the quiet argument going on between Major Antella and Ambassador Udina, Kaidan brought up his Omni-Tool and started up a conversation. His fingers blew over the orange interface as fast as he could make them without littering the conversation with typos and gibberish. He knew the person on the other end could understand it, but that didn't mean he didn't at least want to take the time to make sure he didn't come off as an eight year who had just gotten their first Omni-Tool. He had done that already. When he was eight, and the person on the other end knew that.

Quicker then expected, the Tribunal judges stepped through the door, spurring the bailiff to call everyone to their feet as the judges walked down the aisle and took their seats behind the large bench where they gave all in the room the ok to sit.

"We have confirmed with medical personnel that Commander Shepard is, indeed, suffering from symptoms of malnutrition and has still not regained consciousness. At this time, we believe it is in Commander Shepard's best interest to find an alternative method of containment..." the Admiral said, but was silenced when Ambassador Udina voiced up.

"Objection your honors! Commander Shepard has proven on multiple occasions that he has a blatant disregard for authority and if we allow for him to be detained anywhere, but in the brig, his remaining resources and contacts will launch an operation to..." Antella spattered out, sounding more desperate the Kaidan, Hackett and Higgins believed he intended.

"Enough Major Antella! We have made our decision and that is final!" the Admiral stopped him from continue by raising a hand to silence him.

Major Antella sat down with a sneer.

"Now... As Commander Shepard as no listed residence, we are forced to accept the prosecution's recommendation..." again, the Admiral was interrupted.

"Actually, your honors," Kaidan stood, "There is a possibility the panel might want to consider." he tugged his jacket down.

The Admiral groaned and pinched the bridge of his large nose, "The interruptions are becoming troublesome, but I will hear you Commander Alenko."

Kaidan stepped out from the bench and walked up to the podium once more, "Your honors, there is a residence that has become available to Commander Shepard under house arrest."

"There has? There is no residence listed in the Commander's file." the Admiral said, looking down at a datapad in front of him.

"It's not a residence that Commander Shepard has officially listed..."

"We will not agree to house arrest with the Commander residing in a hotel." the Admiral said sharply.

"It's not a hotel your honors. As I'm sure you know, I hale from Vancouver and my parents still own and reside at my childhood home." Kaidan said, clasping his hands behind his back.

The judges stayed quiet for a moment as they worked their datapads.

"I see here that Samantha and Commander Gavin Alenko, retired, live roughly two hours outside of the city. Isn't that a bit far Commander Alenko?" the male Captain said, pushing his glasses up on his nose again.

Commander Higgins stood, "The defense does not believe so your honors, and the defense is also willing to insure that Commander Shepard is at Alliance headquarters in a timely manner." his hands were clasped in front of him.

"What about nutritional requirements and insuring that Commander Shepard does not go missing?" the female Captain asked.

"The defense is willing to have Commander Shepard fitted with a tracking anklet." Higgins said smoothly.

"Commander Shepard will also be under constant supervision since my parents still reside there. I will also be staying there if your honors permit this." Kaidan added.

"How do we know this isn't a ploy to get Shepard away from Alliance custody so you can help him escape?" Antella snapped, standing.

"Fit me with a tracker as well." Kaidan said simply and without hesitation.

"You are will to submit yourself to house arrest as well to provide insurance that this isn't that? A ploy?" the Admiral asked, his hard features softening a bit.

"I would your honors." again, Kaidan didn't hesitate.

At that, the Tribunal judges looked at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation amongst themselves before they typed a few things on their respective datapads. They did a lot of typing.

"A few more concerns we need to address... Your parents are aware of the requirements in caring for a biotic? Let alone two as powerful as you and Commander Shepard?" the male Captain asked.

"They did raise me after all." Kaidan said, trying not to smirk.

However, the judges did.

"Yes... Your file says your daily caloric intake is... astronomical, to say the least." the Admiral said with the smirk halfway across his lips.

"Well... At a two hundred thousand node count, I can pack it away." Kaidan admitted, actually slightly, mildly embarrassed, but it didn't last long.

"It would seem so. Are your parents also aware that their home has been offered as a prison of sorts for a charged terrorist?" the female Captain asked.

"They are your honors. During the short recess, I contacted them. They didn't hesitate." Kaidan said with a slow nod.

Again, the judges looked at each other and had yet another silent conversation, but from where Kaidan stood, closer then any other in the room, he saw both Captains and the Admiral ever so slightly, nod their heads.

"We find these terms of Commander Shepard's house arrest agreeable and will release Commander Shepard into your custody Commander Alenko. Both of you will be fitted with GPS tracking anklets and we will require check ins at least two times a day. Morning, and evening. We will also require that transport to, and from Alliance HQ be done with the Commander in physical restraints and in official vehicles only. Both of you are to remain on the property and under no circumstances are to deviant from that. If a medical emergency does arise, then you are under orders to contact the defense counsel immediately so that we can be informed without delay. Your parents's property lines will be established via satellite and constant surveillance will be issued for the fact that the distance is so great. Only authorized visitors will be allowed entry into the home, so before you leave, you and the defense will need to establish a list of authorized personnel. Are these terms agreeable by the defense?" the Admiral asked, looking to the table with Commander Higgins and Admiral Hackett sitting at it.

Commander Higgins stood, clasping his hands once more, "The defense agrees your honors."

The Admiral nodded, then turned his gaze to the prosecution's side, "Does the prosecution agree to these terms?"

Major Antella stood, "Yes your honors." he said, trying not to sneer, which was evident when his eye twitched.

The Admiral arced a brow, "Do you really?"

"Yes your honors. It was my own," he pursed his lips hard together and gulped, "_ignorance_ that led to Commander Shepard's current condition." it was obvious he didn't want to say that.

"Very well... We hereby release Commander Shepard into Commander Alenko's custody for house arrest at the designated residence. We are adjourned."

Their victory sealed by the Tribunal themselves, Kaidan, Hackett and Commander Higgins congratulated each other as they left the courtroom, quickly devising the list of people allowed to be on the property which included Ashley, Lycan and James Vega. They said their goodbyes to each other as each went their separate ways, Higgins to deliver the list to the Tribunal while Admiral Hackett went to secure transport for the group.

Kaidan had gone to the office to gather a few things and clothes for them to wear where he was also fitted with the GPS anklet which was only a simple silver band with a flashing red light on it that told him it was working.

Only an hour later, Kaidan and Lycan headed for the transport bay where they were faced with a large medical transport that had already been loaded with the unconscious, and trackable Shepard. They took their seats, sending Ashley a short message that told her where they would be and sat back to wait out the near two hour ride to the Alenko home.

* * *

The arrival at the residence of Sam and Gavin Alenko was meant with overcast and raging ocean, crashing white waves onto the sand only two hundred feet away from the large ranch style home. The large round driveway was wet from a fresh rain and the air was crisp with slight chill from another storm biting on the horizon and from the looks of it, it would be a good one.

Slowing to a hover, the medical transport lowered gently to the ground where the rear door opened to let the blast of cool ocean air rush inside, causing everyone to lightly shiver.

"Put a blanket over him. We need to keep him warm." one of the medics said to another that pulled a generic wool blanket from the corner to lay over Shepard.

Kaidan and Lycan slipped out of the transport before the medics began to unload the stretcher with Shepard strapped to it, all the while trying to restrain the overly happy Chester from getting in the way.

"Honey... Is everything ok?" Sam Alenko asked, giving her uniformed son a hug before doing the same to Lycan.

Kaidan knelt down to give Chester attention so he'd calm down, "It should be. I'm sorry to rope you into this on such short notice, but Shepard couldn't stay pretty much in Antella's care." he said, finishing with his dog to grab his bag from the transport once Shepard was unloaded.

"It's ok sweetheart," Sam said, looking to her husband, "Have them put Gabriel in the guest bedroom Gavin." she said, resting her hand on Kaidan's arm.

Gavin nodded as he led the medics into the house, leaving Kaidan, his mother, Lycan and Chester out in the cold.

"Will Ashley be coming at some point?" Sam asked, crossing her arms and tucking her hands into her sweater type shawl that draped over her shoulders.

"She should be. I just don't know when." Kaidan said, putting an arm around Lycan to help keep her warm, which put a smile on his mother's face.

"We'll have a full house then. Nate should be home in a little while. Let's get inside. There's another storm on its way." Sam said as she started towards her home.

Kaidan and Lycan followed Sam into the house and headed into the kitchen as the medics methodically and carefully transferred Shepard from the gurney, to the queen sized bed in the guest bedroom. Gavin had pulled back the blankets for them and, unable to ignore his parental instinct, pulled the blankets up to cover Shepard and keep his right arm free, as not to snag the IV that had been stuck into the crook of his elbow.

However, when he reached for Shepard's right shoulder to slip the IV tube out from behind it, a large static shock snapped his old fashioned watch on his wrist, causing him to yelped from the surprise.

"Dad! What's wrong!" Kaidan hollered down the hallway as he ran from the kitchen to the guest bedroom with Chester at his heels.

"I just got a hell of a shock son. How'd he become so charged?" Gavin asked, rubbing his wrist from the snap.

"Three days of not being able to discharge. Antella's got no clue how biotics work." Kaidan said, having removed his jacket to try and find some kind of peace.

"Honey... I'll go get the snap plate." Sam said quietly, lightly squeezing her son's arm before she walked out.

"Snap plate?" Lycan asked with a lightly furrowed brow.

"It's just a metal plate they used to put at the foot of my bed when I was kid. It's so I could discharge at night when I was still learning how to control it. It helped cut back on the migraines." Kaidan said, drawing in a long breath as he rested his hands on his hips.

"We know a bit more about biotics then that Major Antella." Gavin said with a hint of a growl as he went to the closet and pulled out a foldable stand that he unfolded and placed at the foot of the bed.

"That's good." Lycan smiled as she watched Gavin flip the blanket up, just enough to partially expose Shepard's bare foot.

Sam returned with a metal plate that was a single square foot and handed it to her husband, "It's hard to believe we'd ever need that again."

"I'm glad we kept it honey," Gavin said, placing the plate onto the stand where it was immediately utilized, "Come on... Lets let him rest." he said, closing the thick curtains to cover the large window and darken the room.

Sam nodded as she ushered her son and Lycan from the room, closely followed by Gavin whom quietly closed the door, but not fully so they could hear anything should something need their attention, but before his hand had even left the doorknob, Sam handed him a small baby monitor.

"Put this in there too Gavin." she said, drawing a confused, and shocked look from her eldest.

"You kept our baby monitor?" Kaidan asked, trying not to laugh... out loud.

"Don't judge. I told you I've missed raising babies lately." Sam said, blushing a bit as she handed Gavin the monitor that he placed inside the room on the bedside table.

"Mom..." Kaidan deadpanned, dropping his face into his hands, "You're killing me here. That's the baby monitor you used with both me and Nate. That's thirty-four years old mom." he said, taking the partner from his mother to point out the scribbled, faded 'KA' doodled on the bottom.

"I know sweetie. It was so cute you wrote your initials on it. I couldn't give it up." Sam said, pouting as she took it back.

Lycan chuckled.

"Mom... How much of our baby stuff did you keep?" Kaidan asked, crossing his arms and unable to stop from smiling.

Sam's shoulder's slumped.

"Mom..."

"I limited her to a box in the garage. She's done well with that." Gavin defended, sort of, of his wife.

"How much of it is filled with baby clothes?" Kaidan deadpanned.

"None, actually. She's got your baby blanket and your favorite stuffed animal in there along with Nate's nighty jumper and his favorite pacifier." Gavin said, loving looking over to his wife who was fiercely blushing.

Kaidan rolled his eyes as Lycan covered her mouth, laughing, "Mom... You're hopeless."

A loud knock sounded at the front door that spurred Gavin and Chester to leave the joking conversation and answered it, finding a terrified Ashley standing on the other side, in the cold and near tears.

"Ashley Williams?" Gavin asked, merely for clarification.

Ashley nodded, "Yes Mr. Alenko." she sucked on her bottom lip.

"He's in the guest bedroom, but try not to touch him right now alright?" Gavin said, stepping aside for her to enter.

Ashley hurried by as she headed straight for the room and disappeared inside, barely even saying hello to Kaidan and Lycan as she darted by in an blur.

"Well she's worried." Sam said, standing a little bit in shock against the wall, having made way for Ashley's charge to the bedroom.

"Very much so. We probably won't see her till dinner." Kaidan said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'll try and figure out what to make. Luckily, it's early enough I can still go to the store... Kaidan... Why do you have a GPS too?" Sam asked, seeing the flashing light when he scratched his calf that pulled up his pant leg just far enough to make the anklet visible.

"It's a stipulation of Shepard's house arrest, but don't worry... I'm not in any trouble mom." Kaidan said, putting his arms around Lycan's waist.

"Oh... Ok. I was worried for a moment." Sam smiled.

Kaidan held his breath, "Well, I'm gonna go get changed into something comfy. If I'm stuck here too, I'm gonna relax." he said as he headed for his old bedroom.

As Kaidan slipped inside his room, the distant whistle of a wailing tea kettle drew Sam's attention back to the kitchen with a muffled snapping coming from the baby monitor in her hand.

Lycan, also wanting to get into some comfortable pants, a tank and sweater, slipped into Kaidan's bedroom just as he removed his uniform shirt to be left shirtless and in a pair of plaid sleeping pants.

"I am going to require that you be like that every time I come in here." Lycan snickered as she pulled her own comfortable clothes from the bag they had packed in a hurry.

Kaidan huffed, "If that's the case, then I'll require the same of you." he sent her a crooked grin as he put on a plain black t-shirt.

Lycan giggled shyly, mainly to tease and flirt as she finished changing as well, donning a pair of knee length leggings, a long tank and a sweater. They shared a loving, yet motionless kiss for a few moments, holding each other as Kaidan swayed her back and forth, but their still persistent and worried thoughts of their friend across the hall stayed with them. Being close was merely a comfort to help them cope.

Letting her go, Kaidan slipped on a pair of slippers and went across the hall to crack open the door, hearing a loud electric snap against the metal plate at the foot of the bed.

"Hey Ashley... He doing ok?" he asked quietly as he opened the door a bit more to stick his head in.

"I think so. Thanks for letting me know about this LT." she said, sitting in a chair she had pulled up alongside the left side of the bed where Shepard lay.

"Of course. I'll come and get you when dinner's ready." he said, closing the door once more.

Satisfied that Shepard was in good hands, Kaidan and Lycan padded back through the house to the kitchen, finding his mother and father enjoying a hot, fresh cup of tea.

"How is he?" Sam asked as she reached into the cupboard and pulled two more mugs.

Kaidan inhaled, "He'll be fine. The static just needs to discharge. We're lucky that he insulated his implant." he said with a light smile as he sat on a stood at the large island.

"Very lucky. I assume the medics gave him a clean bill of relative health? Tea?" Same asked, pouring some hot water into one of the mugs, knowing Lycan would want some.

"Coffee if it's not too much trouble, and yeah, they did. He's gonna be ok. He's just gotta wake up now." Kaidan said, pulling out a stool for Lycan to sit, which she did without hesitation.

"What kind of tea do you want Lycan?" Sam asked as she opened her tea cupboard.

"Peppermint if you have it." Lycan smiled.

Sam pulled down a box filled with peppermint tea bags, "I can't believe Gabriel's been arrested. I remember the last time he was here. It was like seeing you after BAaT training all over again. He was so sad." she said, dropping a bag into the mug of steaming hot water and handed it to Lycan.

"Shepard's been here before?" Lycan asked, dunking the bag a few times.

"Mmhmm. It was a number of years ago. He came here to recover after he almost overdosed on that awful red sand. He would spend all day on the beach just sitting and watching the waves. A lot of the time, he'd be out there until dark." Sam said, holding her mug of tea close with both hands as she leaned back against the counter's edge.

"Wow... I didn't know. Was Kaidan here too?" Lycan asked, blowing on her tea some.

"He was. He was in charge of keeping an eye on him. I guess Kaidan's command at the time needed to do some sort of investigation regarding his medical training, so they thought it best to just keep him in the same area." Sam said, taking a sip.

"It was because I missed my final mom. They wanted to know why." Kaidan filled in for her.

"That's right," Sam looked at Kaidan with an endearing expression, "What is it with you and always pulling Gabriel's rear out of the fire?" she asked with a gentle, concerned smile.

Kaidan shrugged, "I think Fate thought he needed someone to look out for him. She was probably right." he lightly cringed as his father handed him a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

"Fate does have a way of providing souls with what they need most at times." Sam smiled.

Kaidan nodded as he looked to his left, catching Lycan's gaze that caused him to softly, subtly smile as he reached over and grasped her hand. _You guys have no idea._

"Yeah... She does."


	75. Chapter 75

Chapter 75: Moments of Peace

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: I am SO SORRY for the long update on this. Borderlands 2 came out and I've been playing that and then I ended up having to work so I greatly apologize. Hope this makes up for it! Oh! And thank you to Cool5174 for giving me the basic idea for this! Lord knows it was taking me forever to figure out what to do, and as always, my beta helped refine it. So thank you to both of you! *hugs and smooches*)_

For two days the rain had not let up its assault at the home on the beach, constantly pecking at windows and sand, never letting the sun come out to give the plants, or the people, any light whatsoever.

At night, the rain would tap against the windows, providing a constant chorus of sound that harmonized with the angry ocean not far away. The waves had built to large rolls of foaming water that slammed into the sand with such force, that the waves reached high up the beach to the line of salt bleached drift wood. The sound was loud, but serene and despite the stormy, cold conditions, some of the windows of the Alenko home were cracked open just enough to let the sound trickle in.

Despite the situation, despite the crimes one had been charged with, they had all found a moment of peace.

Sitting at the large kitchen island with a cup of hot tea and a magazine, Gavin Alenko enjoyed the soundless halls of a house still asleep. It was early in the morning, just before dawn, and it was a normal ritual he found that always started his day off with a calmed mind and peaceful thoughts. He enjoyed watching the sky lighten, even with the rain and storm outside, and it left him in a prime position to start breakfast when the rest of the house began to wake up.

Lost in blank thoughts and ocean sounds, reading through the magazine and sipping soul warming tea, Gavin completely missed that someone was watching him from the archway connecting the kitchen to the living room.

"I haven't seen you do this since the boys were little." Sam said quietly, smiling with lightly folded arms and leaning against the archway.

Gavin finished his sip of tea as he lightly cleared his throat, "Well... There's a sick boy in the other room." he said, looking at the baby monitor that sat on the countertop next to him.

"He's not a boy sweetheart." Sam said, still smiling as she went to the tea kettle to reheat the water for herself.

Gavin smiled, "You're right. I guess I'll always see any man Kaidan's age as a boy." he said, closing his magazine and sliding it away from him now that he had company.

"Curse of a being a father I guess." Sam said with a half shrug.

"I could say the same about you dear. You've never gotten used to the boys being grown." Gavin said, taking a sip of his tea again.

"And I probably never will," she sighed as she selected her tea from the cupboard, "You ever regret not having more children?" she asked, turning around to lean against the counter as she waited for the water to finish heating.

Gavin shook his heat, "No. Kaidan and Nate were enough... Especially when Kaidan's biotics started coming around." he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he rested his elbow on the counter.

"True." Sam said as the kettle started to whistle, quickly turning off the heat and pouring the water into her mug.

"However, we might be grandparents before we know it." Gavin said, earning a quick shot look from his wife.

"Pardon?" she asked, tucking a lock of her graying hair behind her ear.

"Kaidan and Lycan've been together for quite some time now hun. It wouldn't surprise me if he popped the question sometime soon." Gavin said as Sam took a seat across from him at the island.

"You really think so? Gosh... That would be lovely. She's a lovely girl." Sam said with wonder in her eyes at the thought of becoming a mother in law.

"He sure waited long enough to find someone that's for sure, but Lycan's a wonderful girl for him. She just completes him and it's been a long time since we've seen him that happy." Gavin said, resting his head in his hands as a yawning Chester came waddling into the kitchen and headed for his water bowl.

Sam nodded as she picked up the baby monitor and looked at it, "Yeah... Not since he and Chester over there finally started to heal." she said, setting the monitor down quietly.

Gavin nodded, "It seems like a lifetime ago."

"Just about dad." a low, groggy and raspy voice said as its owner stepped around the corner.

"Oh! Good morning Kaidan... um... When did you get up?" Sam asked, jumping to her feet to get some coffee brewing, and to hide her blush that her and her husband's conversation might have been overheard.

Kaidan yawned and ran a hand over his bedhead hair, "Just now. Chester was bugging the crap outta me." he said as he opened the sliding door to let the elderly pup out to go to the bathroom.

"Needed to go out huh?" Gavin asked, watching the old pup groan as he headed down the stairs of the deck to the beach; his usual commode.

"Yeah... He's getting older and it's starting to show." Kaidan said, pulling out a stood to sit next to his father.

Sam started the coffee pot, "Yeah. Charlie said he isn't traveling as well either." she said as she pulled a mug from the cupboard.

"Did you thank him for me for getting Chester back here after I left the Citadel?" Kaidan asked as he interlocked his fingers together on the counter.

"I did. Chester went straight to bed. He was so tired... Poor puppy." Sam said, waiting for the coffee pot to finish brewing her eldest's favorite morning beverage.

"I bet. I'll have to make it a point to thank him myself." Kaidan said, nodding.

"Is Lycan up?" Sam asked, opening the cupboard in case she needed yet another mug.

Kaidan shook his head, "No. She's still asleep."

"Kept her up late last night?" Gavin asked bluntly, earning a blush from both his son, and his wife.

"Gavin!" Sam chastised, but her voice was barely above a whisper.

Gavin shrugged, "What? He's thirty-four Sam. It's not like we have to have 'The Talk' with him." he said, lightly smirking at her.

"No... dad." Kaidan deadpanned, rubbing his cheeks to shoo the blush away.

"Wow... You two actually go to bed without a rumble tumble... You're gonna marry her." Gavin deadpanned as he sipped his tea, smiling.

"Gavin James!" Sam glared, still keeping her voice down since there were still a number of people sleeping in her home.

Kaidan just blushed and started to laugh since he really had no idea of how to respond to his father's jabbing. Sure, he was aware his parents were secretly harboring their desire to have grandkids, but he did have to give them credit for not constantly hounding him and Nate to hurry it along. Didn't mean he wanted to talk about it, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Anywho... Any news on the Shepard front?" Kaidan asked, eager to get the conversation moving away from his personal life.

Gavin shook his head, "Nothing more then a few moans and some muffled words." he said, still sipping his coffee.

Sam poured the fresh coffee into the mug and handed it to her son, "He should be waking up soon. He stopped discharging sometime in the night." she said, retaking her seat across from her husband.

"Good. I'll have to get an electro static bracelet for him. It's looking like he needs it." Kaidan said, bringing the mug to his nose to smell the crisp aroma of the fresh brew.

"It would probably help. I can pick one up next time I'm out for groceries... which will probably be today since I've got two biotics in my home. Between you and Gabriel, you're going to eat me out of house and home." Sam huffed a laugh as she brought the tea to her lips.

Kaidan's brows hopped, "Yeah well... We kinda have an excuse for eating like a horse." he took a sip of coffee.

"True enough. How did Lycan handle your eating habits?" Sam asked, smiling.

"She had a real good relationship with a crock pot." Kaidan said with a crooked grin.

"I bet you loved that." Sam said with a silent chuckle.

"Yeah." Kaidan nodded.

Falling silent as a distant roll of baritone thunder sounded off in the distance, the three enjoyed the tap, tap, tap, of rain against the windows. The light had begun to break through the night darkness, forcing the sky over the ocean to turn from absolute black into a world of gray, entirely void of color. The ocean waves were gray and white, the beach was simply a lighter shade of gray, but the far off flashes of lightning were blue.

An hour and a half ticked by for them with the occasional muffled sounds emitting from the baby monitor and the knock of an old pup wanting to come back inside. The muffles almost sounded as if Shepard was dreaming, perhaps a nightmare, but at times, it sounded like they could be something more serene if the contented sighs were anything to go by. Lord knows he could use some calm.

Hearing the pops of joints walking down the hallway, Kaidan looked at the archway with the expectation that Lycan was about to walk around the corner and sure enough, she did, wrapped in a warm shawl with arms crossed and slippers on her feet.

"Morning babe." Kaidan said quietly as he held his arm out for her.

Lycan smiled as she headed straight for the warmth he provided, "Morning." she said, her voice a bit raspy and cracky with sleep.

"Did you sleep well Lycan?" Sam asked, refilling the tea kettle with yet more water and setting it back on the stove to warm.

"Mmhmm. It was nice listening to the rain instead of the hum of a drive core." Lycan said, snuggled into Kaidan's side as he rubbed her back.

"It is a nice change," Gavin quickly agreed, "Well... Since people're getting up, I should probably start breakfast." he said, downing the last of his luke warm tea and standing from his stool.

"Mmm... Breakfast." Kaidan hummed, smiling as he planted a quick kiss to Lycan's lips before letting her go to sit next to him where his father had been.

"Kaidan's famous last words." Sam giggled.

As the family quietly chuckled, more sounds began to drift from the baby monitor, but this time, the words were, for the most part, clear, and coming from more then one voice.

_"Ash..." _the weak and tired voice of Shepard said.

They all started to pay attention.

_"What." _it was Ashley's voice, but it was mumbled, delirious even, like she didn't know what she was doing.

_"I... want... some." _Shepard was obviously sleep talking.

_"No." _and apparently, Ashley was too.

_"Please?"_

_ "No."_

_ "Please? I want... some."_

_ "Get it yourself."_

_ "But it's better... when you do it."_

Kaidan tightly cupped a hand over his mouth as he started to shake with laughter. So did his parents for that matter and Lycan had buried her face in the crook of her arms to muffle her laughing.

_"Of course it is... It's me." _

_ "So... Will you?" _

_ "No... I will not get you a popsicle." _

_ "But you hide... all the cherry ones and... I want your cherry." _a low smacking sound started to come from the monitor as Shepard smacked his lips together.

"Oh my dear god... I thought that was getting dirty for a second." Gavin chuckled, smiling and pulling a skillet from the pan rack over their heads.

Kaidan sucked in a long breath to help calm himself down, "Oh they'll love to know they talk to each other when they're asleep." he glanced at Lycan who was still trying to contain her laughter.

"That's too much." Lycan giggled as she took many even breaths in hopes of subsiding her laughter before it went back through the baby monitor to wake up the sleeping beauties on the other end.

Kaidan lightly rubbed her back, "I'll go check on him... See if he's starting to get his strength back." he said, still smiling wide with the residual laughter in his tone.

With a quiet sigh, Kaidan stood with a last sip of his coffee before he headed out of the kitchen and down the hall to the guest bedroom with the door still closed. Inside the darkened room, Ashley was fast asleep on the other side of the bed, laying on top of the covers under another blanket to limit her chances of getting zapped. She had thoroughly cocooned herself from neck to toes in the blanket, and lay on her left side, facing away from Shepard. It was very clear that she had no idea she had been talking only minutes before.

Shepard on the other hand, had his left arm thrown over his face as if to shield them from the light and he was attempting to open his eyes, but they didn't seem to be working properly, or he wasn't trying that hard.

"Shepard? You awake?" Kaidan asked in a whisper as he tiptoed over to his side of the bed.

"Gah... No. Go away." Shepard groaned, turning his head to the other side and never taking his arm away from his face.

Kaidan sighed as he slowly sat down on the bed next to Shepard, "So a sleeping man is talking to me then?" he whispered, holding back another roll of laughter.

Shepard sighed, "Fine..." he pulled his arm away from his face, but his eyes never opened.

"How're you feeling?" Kaidan asked, keeping his voice in a low, low whisper to keep from waking Ashley.

"Like shit, but what else is new." Shepard groaned quietly as he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in an attempt to wet it from the night.

"Well, that's understandable considering the charge you had." Kaidan said with a light shrug.

Shepard groaned again, "I haven't had one of those since I was eight." he said, his voice barely audible to Kaidan's ears.

"It's been a long time for me too. I've gotta get you an ESD bracelet to help maintain your static buildup." Kaidan said, squinting a bit to see as he checked the level of the IV bag.

"Great... How long've I been out?" Shepard asked with a groan, lolling his head back to his right side to get comfortable again.

"You've been out cold for two days." Kaidan said, slowly releasing a long sigh.

"That long huh?" Shepard asked, still with his groggy and whispering tone and with eyes closed.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. I guess your new biotics are kinda susceptible." he sighed again.

"Looks like it," Shepard mumbled as he adjusted a bit to get even more comfortable, wanting very much just to sink into the mattress, "Where's Ashley? Does she know what happened to me?" he asked, attempting to crack an eye open, but his vision was blurry so it didn't make much of a difference in the dark.

"She's right next to you, but she's asleep." Kaidan said.

"Oh... Wait... Where am I?" Shepard asked, opening one eye again, this time to find that his vision had cleared just enough to allow a vague look at his best friend.

"My parents place. Your lawyer, Admiral Hackett and I managed to get you placed on house arrest because of Antella's ignorance." Kaidan said, still whispering as quietly as he could.

"Really? I'm outta jail?" Shepard asked, opening his other eye.

"Unfortunately, it's out of one and into another. The Tribunal has guards posted around the entire property and you and me both're tagged with GPS trackers. We can't leave." Kaidan said, glancing over to Ashley to make sure she was still asleep despite them talking.

"Why're you tagged?" Shepard asked, propping his head up by putting his arm behind his head.

"Stipulation of placing you into my custody. They wanted to make sure I wasn't gonna try and get you out of here." Kaidan said with a quiet sigh.

"Oh... Good to see the Alliance's trust in their best and brightest is still there." Shepard with more sarcasm then needed.

"It was either submit to that, or you stayed in the brig and I figured you were done with that place." Kaidan said with a crooked grin.

"Yeah well... You were right," Shepard went to move his right arm, but felt the jab of something sticking out of it, "What the hell's in my arm?" he asked, lazily looking at it, or trying to at least.

"It's an IV. Here, I'll take it out." Kaidan said as he grasped Shepard's arm and pulled the needle from the crook of his elbow.

"Thanks." he groaned.

"You're welcome." Kaidan said simply as he stuck the needle into the tube to prevent it from stabbing anyone and rolled it up to hang on the IV rack.

"Wait... If I have an IV, I don't have a... Do I?" Shepard groaned again, realizing he might have something else, somewhere else.

"No. That got taken out before the infirmary released you." Kaidan said as he stood up again.

"Good. I hate those fucking things." Shepard groaned.

"That's good. I'd worry if you actually liked having a hose up your... hose." Kaidan's gut tightened with barely contained laughter.

"Blow me wiseass. Get out so I can go back to sleep." Shepard grumbled as he waved an arm at the door and rolled over onto his left side, facing Ashley.

Smiling and shaking his head, Kaidan slipped back out of the room and closed the door with barely a sound. The smell of breakfast being cooked had filled the house. Bacon, eggs melted with cheese, the hot cinnamon toast that was browning in the toaster and the aroma of more coffee that was all too alluring so with a light and crooked smile, he headed straight back to the kitchen.

"How is he?" Sam asked, cooking an entire skillet full of eggs with more to go in their shells in a large bowl next to her.

"Grumpy." Kaidan said as he grabbed his coffee mug and went to the pot to refill it.

"I bet. I'm just happy the doctors removed the catheter before transporting him here. Nobody deserves to have have something that big shoved up their..."

"Gavin! Will you stop being so crude honey?" Sam glared as she scrambled the first large batch of eggs.

"What? It's true."

"He does have a point mom. Shepard would be impossible if he had one." Kaidan said, shaking his head a bit at his father's bluntness.

"I've heard about his temper. I'd like to avoid having him rage around like a bull in..." Gavin's voice trailed off when Sam glared hard, "Anyways... Waffles or pancakes?" he asked, looking at Kaidan and Lycan enjoying sitting at the kitchen island.

"Ooo... Decisions... Um... Waffles." Kaidan said, sipping his coffee as he slipped an arm around Lycan's waist.

"Good, because that's what I was gonna make anyways." Gavin said with a smirk.

Falling back into silence, Kaidan and Lycan watched and listened as Sam and Gavin cooked a breakfast fit for the largest of armies. There was monstrous stacks of fresh buttermilk waffles, platefuls of crisp bacon and mountains of eggs, both scrabbled and over easy. There was milk, coffee, orange and apple juice to help wash everything down, and when the four sat down to enjoy the massive feast, the number grew.

"I smell bacon," Shepard said simply as he scuffed through the archway with Ashley close behind him, and into the pursed lips of amused glares, "What?"

"I'll make sure to pick up some popsicles later." Sam chuckled.

Shepard's brows furrowed as he looked at Ashley, "Uh... Ok?"

The rest of the table chuckled more.

"Don't worry about it dear... How're you feeling?" Sam asked, standing from her chair at the dining table to wrap Shepard up in a hug.

"Better... But hungry as hell." Shepard said, returning the hug.

"Come sit dears. There's plenty for everyone." Sam said, ushering the pair towards empty seats to sit them down.

Shepard sat down with a smile growing across his face, "Thank you. This looks great. What's the popsicle thing about?" he wasted no time in filling his plate with as much as it could hold.

"You two talk in your sleep." Kaidan said with bouncing shoulders from silent laughs.

"Huh? About what?" Ashley asked, blushing a bit as she thought something incredibly embarrassing had gotten revealed.

"Popsicles. Apparently you hide the cherry ones and Shepard wants your cherry." Kaidan managed to get out before his laughter consumed him and the rest of the table.

Shepard's ears turned bright pink, "Are you serious?"

"As a migraine Gabriel. You two talk in your sleep." Kaidan nodded, returning to eating.

Shepard and Ashley both looked at each other, their blushes radiating furiously all over their faces, but in all honesty, if they were to be caught talking in their sleep, at least it was with close friends, and about something as harmless as popsicles.

Relieved that they hadn't been caught in something far more scandalous, they joined in on the laughter.

"In any case, it's good to see you're up and around son. I bet you're happy that you aren't zapping everything in sight anymore." Gavin said after the laughter had died down after a few minutes.

Shepard nodded, "Dear god yes. That fucking sucked." he said, pouring an ungodly amount of syrup over his waffles.

"I can imagine. What happened down in the brig Shepard? You had to've felt the build up at some point." Kaidan said, stuffing a speared cut of syrup hugged waffle into his mouth.

"I felt the hairs on the back of my neck start to stand up, but at first, I didn't know what it was. I'm used to a ninety-two K count, not what I'm at now. It used to take me weeks to build up enough charge where it would be a problem, but now. Three days man is all it took." Shepard said as he started to dig in on his monstrous meal.

"Didn't you tell someone Skipper?" Ashley asked, taking a sip of orange juice as she started to cut a waffle up in pieces.

Shepard nodded, giving him a minute to finish chewing and swallow his bite, "I told Vega and he went to tell Antella, but the bastard just waved it off as an escape attempt."

"That's gross negligence Shepard." Kaidan said, picking up a piece of bacon.

"You're telling me, but he seriously thought I was just trying to escape. He thought anything I did was me trying to escape." Shepard scoffed, filling his mouth with eggs.

"What an asshole. What is his deal with you Skipper? What you do this guy?" Ashley asked with an obviously angry expression on her face.

Shepard downed his mouthful with a long drag of milk, real milk, "Damn this is good... I didn't do a damn thing. I've never met him until now." he stuffed his mouth again.

"Well, I've been around a lot of _blue falcons_ in my time Gabriel, and no matter how you dress it up, that Antella has something personal invested in this." Gavin said with a sip of coffee.

"But what could he possibly have against me?... Besides what he's charging me with." Shepard shrugged, still stuffing his mouth before his last bite's reached his stomach.

"Maybe it's jealously." Lycan said, carving off a piece of waffle for herself.

Shepard's face went dull, "Of what? My career, or my fiance?" he winked at Ashley, causer her to start to blush.

Sam and Gavin both sat up stick straight.

"Fiance?" Sam asked in shock.

Shepard cleared his throat and downed some more milk, "Kaidan didn't tell you guys?" he wiped his mouth dry with the back of his hand.

Sam shook her head and looked at Kaidan, "No... He didn't." her expression went dull as she glared at her son, making him cower a bit into his own shoulders.

"Me and Ashley... Everything I've done is worth it because she said yes." Shepard said, giving himself a minute to let his food settle before he over did it.

"Really? Well congratulations sweetheart. When's the big day?" Sam asked, unable to stop from beaming a wide grin that showed the small wrinkles at the corner of her eyes.

"We haven't set one yet. Haven't really had the time... What with being arrested and all." Shepard said with a half shrug and a crooked grin.

"Hmm..." Gavin hummed as he stood from the table and stepped out.

Everyone watched the Alenko patriarch excuse himself, but no one, not even Sam knew why. She did however, recognize the look of curiosity and some determination that plastered itself across his face. It always superseded an idea that he usually made sure came about.

"Hmm." Sam hummed herself before returning to her meal.

With another shrug, the rest of the table returned to eating their mountain of a meal, until Mr. Alenko returned from whatever he was doing. Whatever it was put a soft smile on his face that lasted the rest of the meal and concluded when the only two biotics finished their third helpings, polishing off a whole pigs worth of bacon and got rid of the last of the waffles.

With the clean up underway, Gavin sat back at the dining table and watched as his wife and the others cleaned and scrubbed the dishes to put them away. Though he loved his sons, with everything he had, at this moment, he couldn't help but watch Shepard and let his thoughts wonder along the same path.

He knew of Shepard and his history, his exploits, but any real details were only given by his eldest son. Every time Ashley handed him a pan to dry, he smiled affectionately at her and seemed to blush just a little bit, just for her each time their eyes met. The look on Shepard's face, the look of endearment, of love, was something a married man of thirty plus years couldn't miss.

"I don't suppose I could steal Gabriel away from a moment?" Gavin asked as he stood from his seat.

"I don't see why not. I think we've got things under control here." Sam said with a smile as she rinsed off a plate and handed it to Lycan to place it in the dishwasher.

Planting a sweet kiss to Ashley's cheek and drying off his hands, Shepard walked out of the kitchen next to Gavin and followed him into the den. Gavin opened a set of french doors that led out into a wide open sunroom, lined with massive glass windows that looked out in three directions. There was plush wicker furniture that sat against the solid wall and looked out, giving quite a number of places for people to just sit and enjoy the scenery, which at the moment still a world of gray.

"Is everything alright Mr. Alenko?" Shepard asked, mildly worried as he sat down in one of the plush chairs.

Gavin sat in the chair next to him, "Of course. I just wanted to talk to you. It's been quite awhile since Sam and I saw you last." he leaned back and relaxed.

Shepard sighed, "Yeah. It has. I'm glad you guys're doing so well."

"We are, and I'm glad to see you are too... For the most part. Getting engaged in the middle of this war? I guess you knew what you really wanted." Gavin said, resting an elbow on the armrest.

"I really want her. I've loved before, but... not like this." Shepard said with a lightly growing smile.

"She completes you?" Gavin offered.

"It's more then that. She just... knows who I am. Knows what I'm really about and accepts the things I've done. Loving her goes deeper then anything I've ever felt before." Shepard said, feeling his heart beat just a little bit harder the more he spoke about it.

Gavin nodded in agreement, "Sounds about right."

"Why do you ask?" Shepard asked politely.

Gavin shrugged, "Curiosity mainly, but... I know in war, that it's extremely hard to find happiness and you have to take it when you can get it, so... I'm offering you a chance to experience that happiness before it gets harder." he finally admitted.

Shepard's brows furrowed a bit, "How do you mean?"

"Well... You have to promise you won't tell Kaidan I said anything." Gavin said as his throat started to hop with a laugh.

"O... K... I won't." Shepard arced a brow.

Gavin leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, "When Kaidan was younger, he wanted me to preside over his wedding whenever that day came, so... to be ready for whenever that would be, I acquired the ability to wed people."

Shepard mildly reeled, "Are you serious?" he choked out quietly with a laugh teetering on the edge.

"Yes I am. I thought it was a sweet gesture since I have no daughters to give away. The least I could do is wed my sons whenever they were ready." Gavin said with a growing smile.

Shepard huffed a smile, "That might not be so far off." he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I think you're probably right, but my eldest very much needs to get off his ass and ask her." Gavin scoffed as he leaned back in his seat again.

Shepard lowly laughed, "Yeah no kidding. Two and a half years is long enough."

"That it is, but... I can understand his fear for not wanting to be hurt if that happiness was ever ripped away." Gavin said endearingly.

"He's talked about that with you huh?" Shepard asked plainly.

Gavin nodded, "He has. His greatest desire is to just be happy. That's all anyone wants really."

"Yeah... That's really all I want too, and marrying Ashley'll make me the happiest man on Earth." Shepard said, smiling as he slowly released a long sigh.

"It's up to you Gabriel, if you want." Gavin said as he pressed his hands into the armrests and pushed himself up to his feet.

Shepard quickly stood, "Mr. Alenko... I do. I want this. I wanna make her mine."

Gavin stopped and looked over his shoulder, "Then you might wanna let your bride now. Later this afternoon, the storm's supposed to clear up so if you wish, the beach is open to you."

Unable to stop his smile from growing, Shepard followed Gavin from the sunroom and went back to the kitchen where he found Ashley and the others seated at the dining table once more, just relaxing and enjoying the after breakfast atmosphere. They had even been joined by Kaidan's younger brother who was enjoying a plate of whatever leftovers Sam had managed to save before it was devoured by the biotic hoovers.

"Hey Ash... Got a minute?" Shepard softly interrupted from the archway.

Ashley nodded as she quietly excused herself and followed Shepard to the sunroom with growing curiosity when he grasped her hand and led her along like there was somewhere they had to be in a hurry.

"What's wrong Skipper?" Ashley asked with a soft smile.

Stopping suddenly, Shepard wheeled around and wrapped her up in his arms, "Ash... I know this is sudden, but here me out ok?"

Ashley leaned back a bit to look Shepard in the eyes, "I gotta know what's wrong first Skipper."

"Nothing's wrong Ash. It's just... Mr. Alenko's offered to marry us. I know it's sudden, and it's probably not what you were hoping for, but..." Shepard said, only to be failed by words themselves as his voice quit functioning.

"What? Here? Now?" Ashley gulped quietly as she lightly ran her hands up and down his back.

"Why not?" he haphazardly shrugged.

"Well... What about the trial? Won't that make things worse?" Ashley asked with a short lived, but light nibble to her bottom lip.

"We can hide it. You don't have to take my name..." Shepard started, only to be hushed when Ashley shook her head.

"I want your name Skipper. I wanna be Ashley Shepard." she said, briefly smiling as his eyes started to reflect just a little bit more light.

"As much as it makes me love you more hearing that, it'll be better to wait. I don't want Antella coming after you too." Shepard said, softly brushing his hand down over her hair.

Ashley sighed, "I know... Are you ok with this? I mean... What about Father Nikolai? Or my family?" she asked, leaning into his touch.

"We can plan a bigger ceremony later when this crap is done. It can be as big as you want with the best of everything." Shepard said, bowing his head slightly to lightly kiss her forehead.

"What if I don't want an expensive wedding?" Ashley asked with closed eyes and a soft smile.

Shepard smiled against her skin, "I knew I loved you."

Smiling just a bit wider, Ashley held onto Shepard as if he would disappear if she didn't. She pressed her ear to his chest to enjoy the beating of his cybernetic enhanced heart, pumping with the familiar beats of one, two... one, two. Her subconscious told her she should hear some sort of mechanical hum with every pump, but there was only the strong beats of something entirely organic, and it was hers.

Every beat only solidified her want, her need to be his, for him to call her his. Ever since she had realized how much she loved him, she's wanted to seal the deal. She's wanted to spend her life with him in the coziness of a home they could call theirs, and she's known all of this since she realized she was in love with her Commander.

With a soft sigh that tickled Shepard's neck, Ashley pulled away and looked up into Shepard's that still sparkled with extra light.

"You really wanna do this?" she asked, softly brushing her palm down his cheek.

Shepard nodded, "I do, if you do."

"I do."

Shepard smiled, "Good, but there's one more thing I wanna talk to you about."

Ashley's brows lightly furrowed as her head tilted, "About what?"

"About getting someone off his lazy ass."

* * *

As Gavin had predicted, the dark gray weather had parted, giving way to crisp blue sky and sharp sunlight, though the air was still chilled from the bad weather looming far off. The ocean waves had calmed a little bit, dulling the raging sound just enough so people could have a conversation and not have to speak over the intense crashing of water on sand, which was something everyone was thankful for.

In the small, intimate setting, there was no music playing, no throngs of guests from decades ago that the family had only met once, there was only those that mattered. There was only Shepard, Ashley, Kaidan, Lycan, Sam, Gavin and Nate. That was it. No one else. Only those that mattered most.

With Gavin at the head, Shepard and Ashley stood with their hands clasped together and with soft, delicate smiles across their lips, wearing borrowed clothes from Kaidan and Lycan that stood as best man, and maid of honor while Sam and Nate served as the small audience.

"Now... I know this isn't your usual ceremony, so... we might as well stick with being unconventional shall we?" Gavin asked, smiling as he glanced down at a datapad he had held behind his back.

"Might as well. What you have in mind?" Shepard asked, never taking his eyes off of Ashley.

"Well, the usual drivel most holy men spew at these things always seemed outdated to me, so why don't we change it up a bit hmm?" Gavin hummed with a hop of his brow.

"Works for me." Ashley smiled.

"Very well then," Gavin cleared his throat, "In all my years, I have learned a lot about what it means to love someone," he winked at Sam, "but never have I see two people so driven, so resilient as to survive the hardships that comes along with it as these two have. Throw separations and regulations, they've maintained their desire for one another as if it were to be their last, and from what I've seen, it will be. These two, flanked by friends as close as any sibling, will continue to survive those damned curveballs love enjoys throwing so damn much." his smile grew.

"That'll work." Shepard whispered so only Ashley could hear.

Ashley nodded and drew in a long breath to keep from tearing up.

"Now, I know that there isn't any rings to exchange at the moment, so lets cut straight to the chase," he tapped a finger on his datapad, "Gabriel Shepard... Do you take this lovely, ass kicking woman to be your wife? To stand by her side and fight alongside her until your dying breath?"

Shepard's eyes started to glisten underneath the bright sunlight, "For as long as my heart beats and my lungs draw breath... I do." his smile grew.

"And, my dear Ashley Williams... Do you take this resilient and valiant man to be your husband? To stand by his side and fight alongside him until your dying breath?" Gavin asked, looking passed the pair to see his own wife dabbing her eyes with a tissue she had pulled from her pocket.

"For as long as my heart still beats and my rifle still has rounds to fire... I do." she smiled big as her eyes began to sparkle just a bit more.

"I had no doubt... With nothing else needing to be said... Gabriel... You may kiss your bride."

Not even caring that his eyes were filled with far too much liquid for their own good, Shepard lightly placed his hands on the sides of Ashley's neck as he bowed his head to brush his lips against hers.

Though he had had the pleasure of kissing her many times before, this time, after the words he had said, this kiss was far more flavorful, far more meaningful then any he had had before. That simple kiss drowned out the roar of the ocean, the duel applause and the howl of the wind in his ears, drowned out by rapid heartbeats pounding in his chest. For a moment, a fleeting moment, time stopped all around him.

Drawing in a long breath, Shepard rested his forehead against his new bride's, smiling as he wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her close and looked into her knowing and deep brown eyes. Those eyes knew what he was thinking, knew what needed to be done next, and they both very much were looking forward to it.

Parting, both turned around and grabbed ahold of Lycan and Kaidan, pulling them forwards and brought them to stand where they had been just a moment before.

"Shepard... I... This isn't supposed to be about Ly and me. This is supposed to be your day." Kaidan said a bit lowly, as he stood a bit stiffly in the groom's spot out of nerves.

"It's not just about us today bud. You guys've been together long enough. Make it official." Shepard said just as lowly as he lightly patted his friend's back.

Lycan's cheeks burned hard with a blush, "But... We haven't even talked about it... yet at least." she said, fumbling with her hands and trying to hide in her own shoulders.

"They have... Haven't you boys." Ashley giggled into Lycan's ear.

"Uh... Yeah... We have." Kaidan said with radiating ears of flushed pink when Lycan's eyes popped open wide for a split second.

"You have the chance to now Kaidan. I know you want this." Shepard said, crossing his arms.

"I do... I really do." Kaidan admitted, glancing at his mother who was trying not to bust out in hysterics at what she was suddenly witness to.

"So why not take the chance while it's standing right in front of you?" Shepard asked with a slowly growing smile across his lips.

"I want to." Kaidan repeated, looking back over his shoulder at his best friend.

"So do it." Shepard said, smirking with a crooked grin.

Lycan shyly looked away from him, "I want to... too." she said softly with words that were nearly swallowed up by the ocean waves.

Kaidan's cheek burned hotter, "Yeah?" their eyes locked.

Ashley opened her mouth to add some more coaxing, but quickly closed it when Shepard shook his head to let the idea stew in Kaidan's and Lycan's head.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. I love you." she said, lightly, and nervously smiling at him.

Kaidan gulped, "Ly... I... I love you too." he sighed, "You won't feel like this is forced?" he reached out and grasped one of her fumbling hands.

Lycan bit her bottom lip, "No... I think it's special." she huffed a smile.

Kaidan nodded, "Me too."

Under the gaze of his friends and family, Kaidan was truly, honestly at a loss for words. He had no idea what to say, or do, well... he had a pretty good idea of what everyone else wanted him to do, but he seemed to be frozen solid. Not even his heart and breathing seemed to be behaving as they should. His heart hummed like the beats of a hummingbird's wings. His breathing was short and near the edge of a full on panic attack, but something was there that he couldn't quite make out.

Under the gaze of his friends and family, looking at the shy, uncertain eyes of a woman he had loved for over two years, Kaidan finally understood. He understood that what he really wanted, was to be a husband, a lover, a friend, to a woman whose done nothing but help, care and love him in return. When migraines hit, she was there for him, getting him whatever he needed, whenever he needed it. When he was hungry, which was more often then not, she had no problems getting him something to eat, large or small, and that caring nature had bled over to carrying for their friends, even from afar.

Under the gaze of his friends and family, Kaidan realized he was ready.

Drawing in a long breath that managed not to hop in his chest, Kaidan shuffled a leg back and slowly, nervously and in front of a gathering of gasps, lowered himself to a knee, still holding Lycan's hand and never taking his eyes away from hers.

"Ly... I know we haven't exactly had it easy, but one thing has been easy, and that's loving you. I can't see myself with anyone else, and I don't want to. You've been my rock, and my friend, and... my other half, and it's time to finally glue those halves together," he blew out a nervous breath, "Ly... Lycan... Will you change your name one last time? Will you take the Alenko name and be my wife? Right here, right now?" Kaidan finally choked out as he held his breath, not by his own choice.

Holding her own breath, Lycan couldn't stop her shaking self from starting to smile as she looked at the others who were also smiling, eagerly awaiting for her to answer.

"I was waiting for you to ask," she nodded, "I will change my name... so long as it's yours." Lycan said, smiling wide.

Closing his eyes to hide the build up of pure, uncontainable emotion, Kaidan stood and wrapped his arms around her, burying his entire face into her neck to breathe in as much of her scent as his lungs could hold. Nothing else existed; not the ocean, his friends and family, the reapers, nothing at all could destroy his joy he felt at that moment... except for maybe his father tapping a finger on his shoulder.

"Son... There's another storm rolling in." Gavin said quietly as he lightly patted his eldest son's shoulder.

Kaidan pulled away from Lycan and looked towards the ocean at the horizon at the dark liner of clouds, "You're right. I'm sorry." he said as he took a step back, but never once let go of Lycan's hands.

Sam sniffled as she dabbed her tissue to her nose, "One second sweetie. Here... Use this." she said as she slipped a simple golden band from her middle finger on her right hand.

"Mom? Are you sure?" Kaidan asked as he held out his hand for the golden ring that his mother placed into his palm.

"Absolutely honey. It's not like I'm giving you my actual wedding ring. It'll be a cold day in hell when you get your hands on that." Sam laughed, dabbing her nose once more with the crumbled tissue.

Kaidan smirked, "Thanks mom." he placed a light kiss to her cheek.

"Well now... Short and sweet?" Gavin asked with a knowing smile across his lips.

"Yeah." Kaidan exhaled with eyes locked to Lycan's.

Gavin cleared his throat, "Take two then," he flicked a finger over his datapad, "My words I said before about love still stand, but when it comes to my own son, my first born, There are a few more words I'd like to say."

Kaidan finally looked away from Lycan to look at his father, "Go ahead."

Gavin nodded, "Son... Luck has always been with you, but there was no luck when it came to you meeting this lovely woman in front of you. Fate had everything to do with it, and I honestly, truly believe she was meant for you... Born specifically for you. Having the privilege of presiding over you both is something..." his eyes started to glisten, "Is something that has made this aging man the happiest father in the world." he lightly sniffled.

Kaidan smiled at Lycan as he choked back his own emotion, seeing that she was having to do the same.

"Kaidan... Lycan embodies the very woman who completes you, who compliments your desires, your feelings, your beliefs. She is your soulmate Kaidan, and I am more proud then ever to call her my daughter in law." Gavin cleared his throat once more, "Kaidan Iokia... Do you take this woman, your soulmate, your true better half, to be your partner in life, your wife, until your last breath?"

Kaidan couldn't stop his hands from gripping hers harder as he watched her eyes, "No matter if it was past, present, or future. I will... I do... Forever and beyond."

"And do you, Lycan Alyssa, take my son, my eldest, to be your protector, your best friend and your husband for as long as there is love to give him?" Gavin asked, pulling his own tissue from his pocket to dab his eyes free of the extra moisture.

"For as long as time ticks by... I do." Lycan said with a crack in her voice and a tightening squeeze to his hands.

"Kaidan..." Gavin whispered with a point to the ring still in his hand.

Exhaling a long, shaky breath, Kaidan turned Lycan's left hand so it laid flat against his palm. He clutched the golden band between his thumb and middle finger as he slowly, softly slid its cool form down the length of her ring finger on her left hand.

"My son... I have the pride of a father, to pronounce you husband... and wife." Gavin said with tears crawling down his aged cheeks.

Unable to stop his eyes from filling, Kaidan leaned down to rest his forehead against hers, his eyes closed, for the briefest of moments before closing the small, meaningless distance to touch her lips with his.

Though he had touched her lips many times before, this time, it held knew meaning. All the times before, they had meant love, devotion, and need, but now, it meant more then just those. He was overflowed, crushed even with a sense that everything was finally right, that all the jagged pieces of his life had finally come together to form one, stunning and beautiful scene that took the breath away from all who laid eyes on it. He felt whole, felt complete... Felt human.

Sniffling lightly, Kaidan parted their lips to finally realize that his friends and family were applauding. For how long they had been, he had no clue, but he quickly swiped the back of his hand over his cheeks to dry them and smiled, still somewhat in a stupor.

"Congratulations to all of you. Now sign these and I'll submit them," Gavin smiled as he dried his eyes as well and handed both couples a datapad with the required paperwork on them, "And Ashley, you can change your last name whenever you wish." he added with a smile.

Sam however, had barely given Lycan time to sign her name on the certificate before wrapping her up in a tight, emotional bear hug, "I can't believe I finally have a daughter!" she sniffled as she backhanded Kaidan's bicep, "Took you long enough. Shepard did you a favor. I was about to become the nagging mother." she dabbed her eyes and finally let go of Lycan.

Kaidan blushed again as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry mom."

"It's not me you should be apologizing to. Poor Lycan had to sit and wait for you." Sam chuckled as she leaned over and rested her head on her new daughter in law's shoulder.

"I was fine Sam. I knew he'd come around at some point." Lycan chuckled as well as she slipped the gold band from her finger to give it back to Sam.

"Oh no... You keep it. It's yours now." Sam refused to take the ring.

"Are you sure?" Lycan asked, not really sure what else to say.

"Hey, at least you have a ring." Ashley joked with a playful glare towards her new husband.

Shepard winked as he wrapped his arms around her waist, "I'll get you one eventually... When I'm not under house arrest." he mildly cringed.

"When this whole nonsense with the trial is over, I'll expect one." Ashley snickered.

With the weather changing quickly, all headed back inside the warm house with smiles all around. The datapads were taken by Gavin to have their contents filed with the proper agencies and make the couples official, while everyone else settled in the kitchen to discuss how and what to do to celebrate. They discussed dinner, trying to determine if Sam had to go to the store, which was something she already knew since she was feeding two biotics.

So Sam headed out to find food for the two biotics that would suck it all down without a second thought.

As Kaidan, Lycan, Shepard and Ashley sat at the dining table, Nate and Gavin worked in the kitchen to prepare the haul of celebratory drinks to go around.

"So what's next for you guys? Loading a school bus full of little clones?" Nate asked, smirking as he help his father by gathering a number of bottles to be used for the mixed drinks.

Kaidan's ears turned pink, "No." he said flatly.

"Oh come on. You can't tell me you're not gonna pop out a couple fuck trophies..." Nate started, only to get smacked in the back of the head by his father.

"Nathan James! Don't be so gross!" Gavin barked harshly with a sharp glare.

"Sorry..." Nate cowered.

Kaidan hung his head, "No Nate. Not right away at least." he admitted, shyly glancing at Lycan.

"Bullshit. You're the hopeless romantic. I bet you're gonna have the nice house with the nice little white fence... two and half kids." Shepard chuckled along with Ashley.

"Hardly. I've always thought two was a good number. You always seemed like the one who;d have a small soccer team's worth." Kaidan poked back as he accepted his drink from his younger brother.

Shepard shrugged, "I don't know. Never thought I'd get this far."

"Sheesh... Both of you are gonna give me more gray hair then I already have. You just got married and now you're talking about kids. You're gonna be the death of me." Gavin chuckled.

Kaidan lowly chuckled himself, "If you survived me, you'll survive whatever else comes dad."

"Oh dear god... If you kids're anything like you were, you're doomed." Gavin's chuckling turned into full blown laughter.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

The day drew late, and Sam returned with her mountain of groceries to cook the gigantic feast for them to celebrate. There were bowls of salads and vegetables, plates loaded to the gills with steaks, chicken and pork, pounds of potatoes and enough drinks to wash it all down with. The two biotics, the very reason she had to get so much, were drooling.

Though the conversation had started out sour and ill, it turned back to what it should have been. Smiles covered everyone's faces, and laughter filled the air through and through. Chester was nonstop in begging for handouts, which got him banned to his corner with his bowls, and over the course of hours, all that had covered the table disappeared into the bellies that surrounded it. Even Chester's.

With the sky dark for the night, the kitchen cleaned and appetites sated, each departed for their separate rooms where their doors were closed, not to be opened until morning.

The last door to close, being that to Kaidan's room since he had to take Chester outside one last time before bed, Kaidan finally scuffed his way into his room after the long night of festivities to find Lycan already curled up in bed with the covers puffed up to her chin.

"You asleep babe?" he asked in just a whisper as he removed his shirt and pants to just be in his boxers.

"No. Just relaxing." she said as she turned to lay on her back, still completely covered by the thick covers.

Kaidan pulled back his side of the blankets and slipped in, finding out exactly why she had had the covers so high up. She wasn't wearing a damn thing.

"Oh... Well hello there." Kaidan all but purred as he gripped Lycan's naked hips and pulled her in nice and close.

"Hi," she cooed, turning to face him as her leg hiked up over his own hip, "You're wearing entirely too much Mr. Alenko." she purred as she started to lightly leave soft kisses at the base of his neck.

Kaidan hummed as his other arm snaked its way around her, holding her to him as he rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him, "Is that so Mrs. Alenko. What're you gonna do about it?"

Lycan nipped his collar bone, causing him to squeak, "Oh... I think you have a pretty good idea." she nipped again.

Kaidan grit his teeth together, "I have a hunch." it was getting harder, in more ways then one, to speak with coherent words.

Lycan slowly, teasingly slowly, kissed her way down Kaidan's stomach, "Why don't we find out if that hunch is right?" her tongue started to dance in circles around his navel.

Kaidan bit his lower lip as he gulped, "Y-Yeah... Lets find out." _I'm fucking doomed. _He thought as he looked down to see Lycan's fingers start to play with the waistband of his boxers.

"Lets."

He was doomed.

* * *

Alone in the dark of the guest bedroom, Shepard and Ashley lay in bed, wrapped in each others arms and with their naked legs entangled in a mess beneath the blankets. The warmth of their bodies was super hot as they lay, simply enjoying the feel of each others skin against their own, and the way Ashley's warm breath danced through Shepard's sprinkling of chest hair. Each time she exhaled, his throat lightly chuckled from the tickle it caused, and the only thing he could think to do, was to hold Ashley's naked form to him all that much closer.

"What's wrong?" Ashley asked, lifting her head from Shepard's chest to look into his shadow covered eyes.

Shepard shook his head as his fingers traced delicate circles around her shoulder, "Nothing. It just tickles every time you breath. I like it." he whispered, turning his head to look at her.

Ashley lightly rested her chin on his chest, "I'm glad," her soft smile faded, "You don't think this'll come back to haunt us do you?" she asked, starting to play with his chest hair.

Shepard placed his lips to her forehead, "I don't know. If anything, we helped the prosecution, but Antella'll be hard pressed to figure it out. We'll just have to be a bit careful for a little while." he said against her skin.

"Shouldn't be too hard. We've had to hide it before." Ashley said, trailing her leg up his equally naked front.

Shepard softly smiled at her, "I know, but we shouldn't have to keep this under wraps forever. You're my wife and I wanna show the galaxy how lucky I am." he said, pulling his head back to look back into her eyes.

"We'll be able to Skipper. We've just gotta be patient." Ashley said with an encouraging smile in return that helped to ease his worry.

Shepard nodded once, "Yeah," he brushed the knuckles of his other hand up her arm until he reached the side of her neck, "But until then... What do we do in the meantime?" his voice turned low and rumbling and lusty.

Ashley started to purr as she scooted ever closer to his strong form, "Do I really need to answer that?" her leg crawled higher up his front as she tugged on his shoulders, rolling them both until he covered her.

Shepard's body started to warm quickly as he felt the inside of her thighs against his bare hips, "No... I think you..." he hiccuped and jumped when her hand grabbed him, "think your good." he shuddered when her warm hand started to move.

"Good. Now get to work." she growled, forcing his lips to hers when she ripped his head down.

"Yes Ma'am."

* * *

In the master bedroom, the owners of the Alenko home lay peacefully, both propped up by a stacking of pillows, reading a book of their individual choosing. Their side lamps were on, the blankets resting across their waists and all was quiet in their room. They were just hoping it stayed that way.

"Should we... I don't know... go get a hotel for the night or something Gavin? I mean... We know what's going to happen in those rooms tonight." Sam asked softly as she set aside her book and removed her reading glasses.

"I think we'll be fine honey. It's," he looked at the clock, "2 am and we haven't heard anything yet. They went to bed a couple hours ago." Gavin said, not even looking at her.

"I hope you're right sweetie. I don't wanna be kept up all night listening to their... um... you know." Sam started to blush.

Now Gavin looked at her, "It'll be fine sweetie. It's not like Kaidan hasn't done anything in his room before." he looked back at his book, missing Sam's eyes widening.

"Pardon me?"

"Sam... His last visit with Lycan? After he helped Shepard save the Citadel? You can't possibly think they didn't... _practice_ do you?" Gavin looked at her again, dropping his book to his stomach.

"No... You're right. It's just... weird to think about I guess," she shook her head, "I'm not gonna think about it. Nevermind." Sam sighed and reached for her book again.

"I wouldn't mind some practice myself dear... Just letting you know." Gavin said, trying not to laugh when Sam's cheeks burned even pinker.

"Oh my..." she started to fan herself.

Gavin shrugged, "I'm old... not dead."

"Good point."

* * *

Alliance HQ was dark, her hallways only lit by the floor lights that swathed them every night... Save for one small desk lamp, in an office on the second floor, just down the hall from the Tribunal courtroom.

This wasn't an odd practice for Major Caleb Antella, sitting alone in his office with files strewn about him like the pieces of a puzzle. He usually used the quiet, uninterrupted time to gather his notes for the upcoming trial, but this night, as he sat with only his thoughts as company, he held an old photo, and a file from 2177.

It was a file he had looked at many times before in his long career, a file that had traveled the stars and had gone as many places as he had since he had joined the Alliance. It was a file he had never let anyone else see, nor touch, and it was always meant to be used when the time was right. Now was that time, as tomorrow, the trial would start.

Sitting alone, in the dark of a building where justice was to be upheld, Major Caleb Antella began to smile as he slipped the photo back into the file labeled Akuze.


	76. Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Spectre

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! Thank you Jesus for my beta on this one. Lord knows I needed him a shit ton to get this right. Hope you all enjoy!)_

This was it. The trial of Commander Shepard had arrived, and it had dragged on, and on for days with plenty of mixed feelings to go around.

Some of those feelings were elated that the Savior of the Citadel, the Liberator of Colonies, was finally going to be punished for his ill deeds, but others were vocal in their apprehension of it. They thought that his myriad of good deeds far outweighed the bad he had done, and therefore, should be exonerated, but unfortunately, a man who thought Commander Gabriel Shepard should be prosecuted, was driving everything forward.

Inside the large Alliance building, the courtroom was mostly empty, as it had been the entire trial thus far with only a few people in the audience. That meant, that Lycan, Admiral Hackett, whom had vowed to watch over her while she was out of Kaidan's company, and a splattering of others were seated to watch as the trial got underway. All they could do was sit back and watch as Major Antella called a number of witnesses that could only add vague and meaningless details about Commander Shepard, but none were particularly pivotal in the Major's desire to see Shepard crash and burn.

One after another, Major Antella called witness after witness, asking question after question that painted Shepard as nothing less then a loose cannon, someone the Alliance, and apparently Cerberus, could not control, and he was not shy when it came to dropping bits of his own opinion into the mix.

Since there wasn't much the Major could do to bypass the Spectre classified materials, or the Alliance's hard grip on anything reaper related, a majority of the Major's case revolved around Shepard's way of thinking, and that he was simply a crazed criminal and deserved no less then the harshest of punishments.

Now, things were finally getting interesting.

"Major Antella... You may proceed with your next witness." the male Captain said, looking over the top of his glasses that hung low on his nose.

Antella stood with his hands clasped in front of him, "The prosecution would like to call Father Nikolai Pretrofski to the stand." he said evenly as he looked back at the double doors to watch as one of them slowly opened from someone on the outside.

After only a short moment, the man Shepard had come to call a staple in his young life, stepped through the doors, his aged face soft and drawn down until he laid eyes upon the man who reflected the boy he had taken in. His lips softly pulled into a barely visible smile that Shepard returned in the same manner as his mentor walked by, heading for the raised seat that resided in front of, and to the right of the judge's bench.

"Take a seat Father." Antella nearly ordered, earning himself a glare from Shepard behind him.

The old priest sat, placing his hands on either side of the chair's arms to stable himself as he slowly lowered into the chair where he released his held breath in a soft, but old sounding groan.

"Father Nikolai... You have first hand insight into the Commander's childhood correct?" Antella asked, briefly looking at Father Nikolai as he paced with his hands now clasped behind him.

Father Nikolai nodded, "I do." his voice was low, but still carried the moderate Russian accent that Shepard very much remembered.

"Enlighten the court... If you could." Antella said with no emotion in his light English accent.

"I am not sure I understand what you are asking." Father Nikolai said with a mild furrowing of his brows.

"I'm meaning in regards to what he was like as a boy. I'd call his parents, but..." he didn't finish his sentence as he looked back at Shepard whose face had turned into a hard sneer that could make a reaper shake with fear.

Antella entirely missed Father Nikolai's.

"Gabriel... was a kind boy. He was respectful to those who have earned it, and... even keeled to those who have not. He cared for others and how they felt. He was an all around good boy." Father Nikolai said, keeping watch on Antella.

"What kind of people were his parents?" Antella asked in a deadpanned tone, not even caring that he was touching on a very sore, and very volatile subject.

Father Nikolai slowly released a breath, "Wade and Hannah Shepard were amazing parents. They loved their children with everything they had and wanted nothing but the best for them. They moved to Mindoir to instill their older views into their children. They raised them to be helpful and caring and it showed. Gabriel would often help his father around the colony, while his younger sister often helped their mother in the crop fields." he answered without having to think about his words.

"How was Commander Shepard as a teenager?" Antella shot a short look towards Father Nikolai.

"Your typical teen I suppose. He was always a smaller boy growing up, but when he turned thirteen, he grew quickly. By the time Gabriel was fifteen, he stood at his father's height and had enough muscle to give even me pause." Father Nikolai said.

"You are no small man Father. Were you ever frightened of Commander Shepard?" Antella asked bluntly and without a care of the man he was pissing off sitting behind him.

"Of course not. Gabriel was a gentle giant... and still is." Father Nikolai said, his brows pulling even harder together at the implications of the question.

"Then tell me how you were injured." Antella ordered of the Father once more.

"I... I fell down the stairs of the church and broke my hip." he answered, briefly looking at those seated at the defendant's table with fumbling hands in his lap.

"Was it because of Commander Shepard?" Antella deadpanned.

"Dear lord... No. This happened after he had enlisted in the Alliance. He had already gone to basic training." his voice changed for an instant into a snap as he quickly defended that it was not because of Shepard that he was plagued with a permanent limp.

Antella's eyes briefly narrowed, "Tell me what happened to that 'caring and loving boy' after the raid of Mindoir."

At that, Father Nikolai's expression turned down as he looked down at his hands, not having the courage to look anywhere else, "He was... distraught about what had happened. He had lost everything in the span of a single night. We all had."

"You had mentioned that Commander Shepard had a younger sister. How old was she?" Antella asked, not even moved by the subject he had drudged up.

"Two years his junior. She was fourteen." Father Nikolai said sadly and with a glisten in his old eyes.

"What happened to her?" Antella asked, not even paying attention to the throaty growl coming from the defendant's table.

"She died." Father Nikolai said with a quiet exhale.

"How?" Antella sounded cold, uncaring.

Father Nikolai continued to look at his lap, "She had been shot."

"By whom?" Antella asked.

"Objection! Relevance." Commander Higgins barked out from his seat.

"It goes to Commander Shepard's character." Antella snapped out without a breath.

"Overruled. Who killed Commander Shepard's younger sister Father?" the Admiral, the head judge, asked with a bit of compassion in his tone that helped ease the pain of the question.

"Gabriel did." Father Nikolai nearly mumbled with closed eyes and a hung head.

"You see your honors? Commander Shepard has killed before... _Murdered_ a member of his own family. Is it so far out of the realm of possibilities that he sought revenge for the death of his family?" Antella said out loud for the judges specifically.

Father Nikolai sighed hard, but still could not muster the strength to look up from his lap.

"Why did he do it? Why did he _murder_ his sister?" Antella asked sharply, and without compassion.

"I could not answer that for you Major. You will have to ask the only one who was there." Father Nikolai said, pursing his lips together hard to keep from succumbing to his emotions.

"I plan to," Antella said sharply, "What did the raid of Mindoir do to his personality?"

"He turned... hard. Colder. He withdrew into himself... As did many of the surviving children." Father Nikolai said, still with a bit of a mumble.

"After the raid, you were the one who took him in. Describe, for the court, how that turned out for you." Antella said, snapping another look in Shepard's direction which was met with a hard, cold glare.

Father Nikolai sighed, "He was... troubled. Nightmares were a nightly occurrence and often, I was awoken by his screams. There were some nights where I would walk into his room and find everything floating. There were even broken windows on occasion which had... cut him along his arms. He rarely came down for meals, barely went outside... Hearing him speak was even a rarity. He was merely... a shadow of the boy he used to be." he looked to Shepard with sad eyes, feeling horrid for having to describe the young boy to a room full of strangers, but Shepard, despite his position, sent him a reassuring smile.

"Continue." Antella said coldly.

Father Nikolai gulped, "Gabriel..." his voice caught in his throat.

"Gabriel what?" Antella encouraged, locking eyes with the old priest.

However, Father Nikolai remained silent.

Antella sucked in a sharp breath, "Your honors... Permission to treat has hostile?"

"If you deem it necessary." the Admiral said flatly.

Antella nodded, "Is it true, Father, that Commander Shepard joined a gang after the events of Mindoir?"

Father Nikolai gulped again, "Yes. They were comprised of children who had lost their families in the raid. Gabriel... they called him Lucifer."

"Lucifer? As in reference to the Devil himself?"

Father Nikolai nodded, "Yes. Lucifer is a fallen angel, and since Gabriel is named after an archangel... They deemed it... appropriate." his eyes became glassy.

Antella spun and looked at Shepard, "So Commander Shepard has history with... renegade organizations. What kinds of crimes was Commander Shepard arrested for while with this gang?" he asked, softly smiling at Shepard that only grated on the man's nerves.

"He was not arrested." Father Nikolai said, finally having the courage to look up from his lap.

Antella's brows furrowed hard as he spun back around and glared at the priest, "What? How is it that Commander Shepard has never been arrested?"

"I... insured he was not." Father Nikolai admitted with another small gulp.

"Pardon me? Care to explain?" Antella asked, crossing his arms.

Father Nikolai drew in a long breath, "When I took him in, I vowed he would not see anymore hardship, or heartbreak. He had been through enough, and his only crime that would have warranted his arrest, I deemed... a mere accident because he was so angry at the galaxy for what had happened to his family."

"What crime was it." Antella demanded to know.

"Objection your honors... Any crimes Commander Shepard may have committed while under the charge of Father Nikolai are moot since Commander Shepard was a minor at the time of their occurrence. His record is sealed." Commander Higgins interrupted sharply, standing from his chair at the defense table.

Antella quietly growled.

"Sustained. Major, try to refrain from asking quarries regarding any possible criminal activity that the Commander may have committed when he was a minor." the Admiral said with a sharp nod at Major Antella.

"Very well sir," Antella sighed, "Tell me Father... Did you stay in much contact with Commander Shepard after he had left for basic training?" he uncrossed his arms and clasped his hands in front of him.

"No. The next time I had heard from him was when he came to visit after that whole... Battle of the Citadel business." Father Nikolai said.

"I see," Antella thought for a moment, "Thank you for your time Father. Witness is yours Commander Higgins." he said as he returned to his table and sat.

Lightly clearing his throat, Commander Higgins stood, pushing his glasses up higher on his nose before stepping out from behind the table and stepped up to the witness stand.

"Father Nikolai... I understand that the events of Mindoir were hard on everyone, but can you explain what happened after the Alliance drove off the raiders?" he asked in a calm tone.

"Those who were able bodied helped to... clean up. We gathered our dead... Gave them proper burials... We said our goodbyes." Father Nikolai said, looking back at his lap as his hands started to shake.

"That's when you found the sixteen year old Gabriel Shepard correct? During the recovery process?"

"Yes."

"What was he doing?" Commander Higgins asked lowly.

"He was holding the lifeless body of his sister... He was just... rocking back and forth with her in his arms. His eyes were red and raw, and I could see the streaks of where his tears had been in the soot that covered his cheeks. When I knelt down to take her, he held her tighter to him and refused to let her go." Father Nikolai said with another crack in his voice.

"Not really the actions of a cold blooded killer are they." Commander Higgins said with empathy in his tone as he leaned on the small partition in front of the witness stand.

Father Nikolai shook his head as he looked up from his lap to look at Shepard, "No. They were the actions of a boy who was forced to make a decision no brother should have to make."

Commander Higgins nodded, "I agree." he looked at the Tribunal judges and nodded, "Thank you Father, for your time." he smiled softly as he returned to the defendant's table and sat.

Father Nikolai lowly sniffed as he stood, taking a moment to steady himself before he stepped down and started towards the doors, but when he reached the prosecution, he stopped and looked hard at Major Antella.

"Let he with no sin cast the first stone... _Major._" he said in just above a whisper.

"Oh, he's committed plenty of sin... _Father._" Antella looked him dead in the eyes.

"I was not talking about Gabriel."

With everything he wanted to say, said, Father Nikolai stepped out, which meant that Major Antella, could call his next witness, who was someone that Shepard considered his closest friend. It was someone that had always been there for him, not matter the circumstances, and it was someone who had literally saved his life, more then once.

Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko.

The doors swung open once more as Kaidan, wearing an identical uniform to Shepard's, with the only exception being that he now wore a simple silver ring around his left finger, stepped up to the witness stand and sat down with a stone expression across his features.

It was obvious he was not thrilled to being called by the prosecution, but it was even more obvious when Major Antella stood to begin what was sure to be a rotten line of questioning when he mildly grimaced.

"Staff Commander Alenko... I read in your file that were recently married. Congratulations. May I ask their name?" Antella asked dully.

"I'd prefer not." Kaidan said, matching Antella's dullness.

"Hmm... Very well," Antella cleared his throat, "How long have you known Commander Shepard?" he asked, cutting right to the chase and forgetting the pleasantries which he didn't really care about anyways.

"Later part of... thirteen years or so." Kaidan said flatly.

"How old were you when you first met the Commander?" Antella asked.

Kaidan's brows furrowed for a moment, "Uh... Twenty-one."

"And Commander Shepard was?"

"Eighteen."

"Where did you meet him?" Antella stepped back out from behind his table to begin the irritating pacing.

"Sentinel training." Kaidan said, again, keeping his voice even, flat and as basic as possible.

"How did you meet him?" Antella asked, briefly looking at his witness.

"Sparing match."

Antella's eyes narrowed, "Care to elaborate?" he had gotten tired of the short answers

Kaidan's expression faltered for the slightest of seconds, "We were sparing not long after Shepard was advanced up into my class at training. After my first impression of him..."

"What was your first impression of him?" Antella interrupted.

Kaidan sighed hard, "That he was... a troublemaker." he looked over towards Shepard with an apologetic smile on his face..

"Why did you think that?" Antella smirked.

"He... dumped his tray of food on Admiral Hackett's head." Kaidan said, sighing once more as he looked down at his lap for a moment and back up at the Major.

Antella looked into the small audience for Admiral Hackett, "Did he now... I read in his file that he had received his punishment. What was it?"

"Admiral Hackett poured his large glass of ice water down his pants, pulled his underwear up to the back of his neck, smashed potatoes into his face and then gave the entire mess hall permission to laugh at Shepard's expense." Kaidan said with another apologetic smile that Shepard returned, telling him that it was ok.

Antella frowned and looked at Shepard with a dagger like expression, "And the disciplinary board was ok with that."

"Surprisingly... Yes they were." Kaidan said, pleased that he had annoyed Antella.

"Doesn't that seem too light a punishment for, in a sense, attacking a _far_ superior officer?" Antella asked.

"It wasn't my place to say, and it still isn't." Kaidan said, drawing in a long breath as he interlocked his fingers.

Antella's eyes twitched, "What happened at the sparing match?" he snapped, quickly looking back to Kaidan.

"He went... a bit overboard with his insults and I..." he drew in a breath,"I lost control and erupted. I put myself, Shepard and five others in the infirmary."

"This is where the command deemed it necessary to stick you two in the same room correct?" Antella asked flatly.

Kaidan nodded, "Yes." he rested his left elbow on the chair's armrest and rested his chin on his knuckles.

"Where threats were passed back and forth between you correct?"

"Yes.

"What kinds of threats?" Antella asked, stopping his pacing to cross his arms and study his witness.

Kaidan shrugged, "Your standard threats I guess. 'I'm gonna kill you' and 'I will destroy you'." he air quoted.

"Was Commander Shepard serious about these threats?" Antella asked, starting to pace again.

Kaidan arced a brow, "I'm gonna say no... For obvious reasons."

"Enlighten the court for those it is not that obvious to."

"I'm sitting here." Kaidan said evenly and trying not to laugh.

Quiet and contained chuckles drifted through the room, but unfortunately, were short lived.

Antella glared, "What changed that began your friendship with Commander Shepard?"

"I saved his life." Kaidan said with a slow exhale.

"Yes. It was during the practical that was to end your Sentinel training. This is where Commander Shepard's hardsuit was compromised and had begun to decompress." Antella said, stopping his pacing and clasping his hands behind his back.

Kaidan nodded, "Yes. I may not've liked him at the time, but I couldn't just sit back and let him die." he said with a short glance towards his friend at the table.

"What did you do?" Antella asked.

Kaidan released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, "I went to go got him. I was in the best position to do so, so I disobeyed a direct order from the instructors and went to find him before the decompression was complete."

"So you, yourself, are no stranger to going renegade..."

"Objection! Staff Commander Alenko is not the one on trial here." Commander Higgins interrupted as he shot up to his feet.

"Sustained." the Admiral said with a never changing expression.

Antella quietly grumbled, "Very well... What happened after the practical?"

"Shepard was in the hospital for a little bit to recover, but once he did, he went to N7 training." Kaidan said, looking at Shepard again for a moment before looking at Major Antella.

"That is where you lost touch."

Kaidan nodded, "Yes. I didn't hear from him again until after he graduated. He told me what he could of his first assignment."

"Akuze?" Antella asked a bit too quickly.

Kaidan's eyes narrowed for a moment, "No... It was a ground mission. Akuze wasn't until afterwards." he said, watching Antella seemingly begin to fidget a bit.

"Directly afterwards?"

"Yes... It was his next assignment. He was an ensign and assigned as the Marine Detail Commander for the unit." Kaidan said, noticing that Antella's right leg had started to twitch.

"After that, you did not hear from Commander Shepard again until after the... _incident._" Antella said, visibly tightening his grip on his own hands.

"No. After I heard what'd happened, I invited him to come stay with me for a bit to help take his mind off things." Kaidan said, beginning to bite the inside of his bottom lip.

Antella nodded as he went for a datapad on his table, "Yes. It was in San Francisco where Commander Shepard experienced his fourth brush with death. He overdosed on red sand did he not?" he asked, tapping a finger over his datapad.

Kaidan licked his dry lips, but nodded, "Yes."

"How did you find him?" Antella asked, never even bothering to look up from the datapad.

"I went to check on him and found him on the floor with the needle in his arm." Kaidan said, looking off to the side, at the floor and in no way going to admit that it was because if an ill feeling he had had.

"And in your own disregard for your medical final that was to occur _that_ morning, you opted to administer emergency care until _licensed_ officials arrived." Antella said as he looked up from the datapad that was becoming clear, contained a good chunk of his notes.

Kaidan's eyes narrowed a bit, "Yes. I wasn't gonna let my friend die."

"So you've said before Commander Alenko. I see here that you were in the top segment of your class in field medic training, but is it possible that when you cut into Commander Shepard's head to prevent his implant from overheating, you could have altered his personality?" Antella asked, crossing his arms.

Kaidan's brows furrowed, "No... Absolutely not."

"You were not a _licensed_ medic at the time Commander, so how do you know?" Antella asked bluntly.

"I stayed with him while he recovered. He's the exact same person." Kaidan said, taking in a deep breath to keep himself calm.

"Or is he simply portraying that he's the same person?"

"Objection!"

"Withdrawn," Antella smirked, "Your witness." he looked at Commander Higgins as he went back to his table.

Again, Commander Higgins stood from his table, as he had done with every witness so far, "Commander Alenko... By the sounds of things, you've spent a large portion of your adult life being Commander Shepard's guardian angel as it were." he said, pushing his glasses back up his nose as he stepped out from behind the table.

Kaidan nodded, "Yes I have."

"And also by the sounds of things, you haven't minded being that to him correct?"

"No. I haven't. He's my best friend and there's no way I'd just sit back and watch him fall." Kaidan said in a tone that was far calmer.

"I bet all those times you've seen the Commander injured and vulnerable was pretty heartbreaking." Commander Higgins said, softly clasping his hands behind his back.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. It was hard sometimes, but I really didn't mind being there for him."

"My next few questions are going to be hard, but answer as best you can alright?" Higgins asked calmly.

Kaidan nodded.

"When Commander Shepard was declared KIA... How did that make you feel?" he asked with soft eyes looking over the top of his glasses.

"It was hard. I'd lost my best friend so... I was one of many that grieved." Kaidan said, glancing down at his lap.

"I understand. It must've been hard hearing all those rumors flying around."

"It was. I know Shepard better then most and... hearing people talk about him like that... It was really hard to keep my mouth shut." Kaidan said with a slow exhale of stale breath.

"I bet. Do you consider Commander Shepard a brother in a sense?" Commander Higgins asked.

Kaidan nodded, "Yes I do. It's like I said, he's my best friend and has been for most of the thirteen years I've known him."

"Do you think Commander Shepard feels indebted to you for all the times you've saved his life?" Commander Higgins asked, but that's as far as he got.

"Objection! Commander Alenko has no way of knowing how Commander Shepard feels, unless the stipulation that biotics really can read minds is true." Antella snapped with furrowed brows.

"Withdrawn. Going off of one of the Major's inquiries... Do you think Commander Shepard faked his own death?" Commander Higgins asked as evenly as possible so not to sound rude.

"Objection!"

"Commander Alenko is more then qualified to offer his opinion on a man he's known for thirteen years." Commander Higgins said quickly as he glanced up at the Tribunal.

"Overruled. Commander Alenko has the best insight into how Commander Shepard acts and thinks to present date. I would consider him an expert." the Admiral said, slowly nodding his head.

Antella groaned.

Kaidan shook his head, "No. Not in the least bit."

"Can you explain for us?"

"After I helped get him back to the staging bunker, he told me directly how terrifying it was. When someone is exposed to the vacuum, it's not pretty. The extreme cold, the solar winds, the feeling of having every ounce of air sucked from your lungs like an Elcor is sitting on your chest. It's the scariest thing any Marine would have to experience. Shepard was no different. It absolutely terrified him." Kaidan said, recalling the memory of a tearful and delirious young Shepard.

"It sounds terrifying. If he was so scared of being killed in such a manner, then it's a safe bet that he wouldn't want that to be his end correct?" Commander Higgins asked.

"Correct." Kaidan said with no hint of doubt in his voice.

Commander Higgins sucked in a long breath, "If I may, I'd like to touch on the time Commander Shepard had spent in Cerberus's company. Did you have much contact with him during that time?"

"Not much, but I had some." Kaidan said.

"Did he seem different to you at all?"

"He was angry about it. He hates Cerberus and he did everything he could to keep his relationship with them as weak as possible." Kaidan said, glancing over at Major Antella when he caught the slight sound of a scoff.

"How so?"

"He sent the Alliance every mission report he could get out." Kaidan said.

"To you directly?"

"No. To Admiral Hackett." Kaidan said without hesitation.

"Very well. You may step down." Commander Higgins said as he went back to his seat.

Antella shot up, "Redirect your honors."

All three judges nodded.

"Commander Alenko... Are you romantically involved with Commander Shepard?"

"Objection!" Commander Higgins bark with an uncharacteristic sneer plastered across his face before he even reached the table.

"Sustained. You don't have to answer that Commander Alenko." the Admiral said with an unamused glare at Antella.

Kaidan nodded and remained silent.

"Nothing further." Antella said dully as he sat back down.

"Thank you for your time Commander. You may step down." the Admiral said quietly.

"Thank you sir."

Kaidan stood with a long drawn out sigh and stepped down from the witness stand, sending Shepard a soft smile and a nod before heading back down the aisle towards the doors. He knew he would continue to have to wait outside, sitting in silence and tension while the trial continued, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. As much as he didn't like it sitting on the side lines, he had to trust that Commander Higgins had things under control.

"Next witness Major." the Admiral said in a deadpanned tone.

"Next, I would like to call Ms. Khalisah Bint Sinan Al-Jilani."

With an audible groan, Shepard looked over his shoulder as the doors swung open and the infamous reporter, and the bane of his existence, walked through with far too much satisfaction across her face. She strolled all too happily up to the witness stand and sat down, still smiling smugly as she happily greeted Major Antella with the slight bowing of her head.

"Do you know Commander Shepard Ms. Al-Jilani?" Antella asked evenly and with a tone that told everyone he was going to be far kinder to this witness.

"Not on a personal level no, but yes... I've... encountered him before." she said coldly as she shot Shepard a cold stare.

"You've interviewed him on a number of occasions. How have they gone?" Antella asked with a tone that was far different then the one he had used on the others.

"Generic and political. He refused to allow the people of humanity to know what he's been up to." she said, sitting up too straight.

"You're referring to?"

"On his hunt for Saren. He wouldn't divulge anything that could have helped the people of the Citadel prepare for a pending attack." she said with a snap in her voice.

"Objection... There was nothing Commander Shepard could have said in regards to his mission because he was, and is, a Council Spectre and everything is classified. The Council releases its own press releases to the press in these situations." Higgins said evenly and without much worry in his tone.

"Withdrawn," his throat rumbled, "Did you interview him when he was confirmed to work for Cerberus?" Antella asked as a smirk started to play at the corner of his lips once more.

"I tried, but... the Commander assaulted me. He punched me." she said, putting on a hurt expression for the judges.

Sending a nod towards the line of people lining the perimeter of the courtroom, the various holoscreens wicked into existence, a photo of the reporter with a swollen left eye accompanied with several shades of black and blue, and a cut along her cheekbone.

"This is the result of his senseless attack on Ms. Al-Jilani. It took you quite some time to recover did it not?" Antella asked, his small eyes bouncing back and forth between the Tribunal and his witness.

"Yes. I wasn't able to work for quite some time because of him." she said with a huff.

"Understandable considering that you are seen by a mass of people in your line of work. What else did he do, or say to you after he assaulted you?" Antella asked plainly.

"He swore at me and called me incredibly hurtful things." she said, keeping eye contact with Major Antella.

Antella huffed, "Did he... assault you in any other way besides that?" he asked, lightly furrowing his brows with a look of... hope in his eyes. Why hope?

Hearing that, Shepard's brows drew together hard as he started to get a miserable gut feeling that screamed at him, telling him that Antella was going, or trying to go, down a very bad road.

"No. Just that." she said softly.

Antella grunted, "That is all." he sat quickly.

"Ms. Al-Jilani... You aren't exactly a well liked reporter are you?" Commander Higgins asked bluntly, earning himself a glare from the woman.

"I'm not in the business of coddling the news. My viewers want to know the truth and its my job to get it for them." she said, not at all as nice as she had been with Major Antella.

"But is it your job to provoke your interviewees to the point of violence?" Commander Higgins asked with a raising of his brows.

"I don't provoke." she said, sounding as if she honestly believed that.

"You don't?" he looked up at the Tribunal, "I'm actually quite impressed with how much restraint the Commander showed when he struck you."

"I wouldn't say that. He split my lip and fractured my jaw." she said harshly.

"But your jaw remains."

"Obviously."

"I would like to show the unaired footage of what happened that day when Ms. Al-Jilani was assaulted."

Sending a nod towards the line of people, the holoscreens turned from the photo of the nasty bruise and swelling, to rolling footage with Shepard and the reporter in the frame. They were on the Citadel.

_"Commander Shepard. You sacrificed thousands of human lives to save the Council. They had done nothing to deserve such mercy, yet you sent thousands to their deaths. Is this going to become a trend?" _

On the screen, Shepard's brows turned down hard into an angry glare, _"I may not've liked 'em, but they were the reason I had permission to go after and stop Saren." _he had said with a sharp bite in his voice.

_"Which you failed to do until after thousands more were killed. Why did you take so long to stop the attack on the Citadel? Where you in league with Saren like you are with Cerb..." _was as far as she got.

Racking his arm back far, Shepard's armored fist shot forward with enough speed, that it was hard to follow for a moment until it smashed in the reporters face. She instantly dropped out of the frame to leave only Shepard, and his lips had peeled back to bare clenched teeth.

_"Fuck you! I'm out here, risking my life to save as many people as I can, and I have people like you trying to paint me as a bad guy! Suck dick bitch!" _he had yelled at her before he overloaded the hover-cam bot to send the screen into blackness.

"Like I said... Considerable restraint." Commander Higgins said with a mild cringe.

"Are you saying I deserved it?" she asked.

However, Commander Higgins ignored her question.

"Ms. Al-Jilani... That wasn't the first time you had been assaulted by people you were interviewing was it," the screens changed once more to show a number of surveillance footage vids being displayed on the holoscreens, "Here, you were kicked in the shin by a volus when you had asked him if the volus always made it a habit of scamming honest people out of their hard earned credits. There, you were brutally punched by a krogan when you asked if the krogan people were smart enough to solve their own Genophage problem. You've made quite the career out of being a punching bag Ms. Al-Jilani." he said, clasping his hands behind his back.

"I was trying to give my viewers the truth." she said blandly.

"Yes. The truth is Ms. Al-Jilani, is that you twist whatever small fact you can get your hands on into whatever you want to believe." Commander Higgins said coldly.

"That man assaulted me!" the reporter snapped, thrusting her finger forward to point it at Shepard, who made no reaction.

"Yes he did. I'm not denying that fact, but it certainly was not unwarranted like you had led the court to believe. You were well aware of the Commander's personality and knew very well that he did not like being verbally attacked in such a manner. In fact, it is not out of the realm of possibilities that you purposefully provoked the attack in an attempt to paint Commander Shepard in a negative light." he fired back with a stone face.

"I did no such thing!" she barked.

"Just like you did no such thing to be so 'needlessly attack'?... Right," he smirked, "You're a strong supporter of a humans first doctrine correct?" Higgins asked, starting to pace in front of her.

"Yes I am." she said smoothly.

"So... That implies that you view non-humans as second class citizens, along with your network correct?"

"I wouldn't say that." she said with a mild reel.

"Then how would you phrase it?" Higgins asked, stopping his pacing to cross his arms.

"I would say that I agree with a strong human presence. Nothing more." she said.

"So, how would you view it if a human was in a relationship with a non-human?" Higgins asked, popping a brow.

"I would be appalled that a human would even consider a relationship with an alien." she snapped with a strongly furrowed brow.

Higgins's brows arced even more, "Is that right? Please direct your attention to the holoscreens." he pointed as the screens shifted to another video, "Can you kindly explain this to us then?"

Al-Jilani froze.

The Admiral huffed, "You may step down Ms. Al-Jilani." he said flatly as he rapped a few fingers over the interface of a datapad.

Angrily glaring at Shepard the entire time, Ms. Khalisah Bint Sinan Al-Jilani stood and left without so much as any pleasantries or manners of any kind. She stared at Shepard the entire time until she had passed by the tables and headed down the central aisle to vanish through the doors, still in a huff.

Sighing heavily, Major Antella stood to call his next witness, but the smug and crooked grin across his face made Shepard worry a bit, and that worry, had started to manifest itself in the form of an idling left leg beneath the table.

"I would like to call Operations Chief Ashley Williams to the stand." Antella said with a tone that Shepard would be all to happy to smack out of his voice.

Hearing her name, his wife's name, Shepard internally grumbled, knowing he couldn't stop Antella from doing so unless he confessed to being her husband and he feared, that that would put her career in jeopardy. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

Looking back over his shoulder, he watched with soft eyes as Ashley entered and walked down the aisle in her nicest uniform, pressed to perfection, with stiff form and a blank expression across her face. She never met his gaze, but that was ok with him because he knew she was hiding the fact that she had quite the dirty little secret. _Good girl. _He thought as his wife took a seat in the witness stand.

"Chief Williams... You are the granddaughter of the infamous General Williams correct?"

"Objection your honors... That has no relevance to the prosecution's case." Commander Higgins interrupted without a moment between when the Major stopped, and he started.

"Sustained." the Admiral said flatly.

Antella huffed quietly, "Chief Williams, you were assigned to the _Normandy_ _SR-1_ correct?"

Ashley nodded, "Yes I was."

"After you were... rescued by Commander Shepard and his team from Eden Prime correct?"

"Yes."

"Eden Prime was also the place where Commander Shepard interacted with an ancient piece of alien technology your honors. This was also the place Saren and his geth had attacked, and attempted to destroy with large bombs." Antella said, addressing the Tribunal.

"That we stopped." Ashley added.

"Please refrain from speaking unless spoken to Chief Williams." Antella said coldly, as if he was a slave master talking down to his slave.

"Major Antella... She was simply adding a proven fact that is on record. There is no need to be hostile." the Admiral said evenly, sighing quietly as he took a sip of his water.

Shepard's throat rumbled from his temper.

"Yes sir... I apologize," he wasn't serious, "Chief Williams, can you describe your first impressions of Commander Shepard when you first met him?" he asked, clasping his hands behind his back.

Ashley inhaled, "I didn't really know what to think at first. I was so relieved that someone had come to stop the geth that he could've been a unicorn and I wouldn't've cared." she said, exhaling her held breath.

"That didn't answer my question Chief Williams." Antella sent her a sharp look.

She sighed, "He seemed... like the type to get things done. He was... itching to stop what was happening to Eden Prime." Ashley said, hiding her mild gulp of nerves by lightly rubbing her neck.

"Did that mentality continue even after he interfaced with the alien technology?" Antella asked, looking over his shoulder at Shepard, who glared hard with clenched fists hidden underneath the table.

"Yes it did. He was furious about what Saren had done, and he was upset that he had lost such a young Marine in the process." Ashley said, her controlled expression shifting into sadness mixed with worry and nerves.

"Ah ha... So Commander Shepard wanted revenge for the death of Corporal Richard Jenkins!" Antella grinned.

"I didn't say that... I said he was upset about Jenkins. Not that he wanted revenge." Ashley quickly countered.

Antella's brows furrowed a bit, "Did Commander Shepard want Saren to pay for the death of Corporal Jenkins?" he asked harshly.

Ashley's throat cracked as her voice caught, "I... I..." she stuttered.

"Answer the question Chief Williams... Did Commander Shepard want Saren to pay?"

Ashley exhaled and hung her head, "Yes. He did."

"Revenge driven. Commander Shepard's motives were not to stop a rogue turian, but to seek revenge for the death of one person. Doesn't that sound familiar." Antella said, starting to pace back and forth in front of Ashley to obscure her view of Shepard.

"He wanted justice for Saren attacking a human colony. If Shepard was turian, he'd want justice. If he was asari, he'd want justice. Anyone would want justice if one of their colonies was attacked." Ashley said, following Antella's pacing since there wasn't anything else she could do.

"But he isn't a turian, or an asari. He's a human whose desires were to seek 'justice' for those he thought wronged. To me, that spells revenge." Antella said with a growing smirk.

Ashley remained silent.

"The tragedy of the Bahak system was simply the attack of Eden Prime on a larger scale. Where Commander Shepard killed Saren to seek revenge for the death of Corporal Jenkins, he destroyed three hundred and fifty thousand batarian lives for the death of his family on Mindoir. Commander Shepard is simply revenge driven and would kill any who stood in his way." Antella said, stopping in front of Ashley to stare at her.

"No. He isn't revenge driven. I've seen the man he really is and all he wants to see is peace. He's tired of all the blood spread across the galaxy." Ashley said as her brows moved to pinch themselves together.

"Is he? Would a man tired of bloodshed assault a defenseless reporter? Would a man tired of bloodshed fake his own death to defect to an organization who sheds the most? Would a man tired of bloodshed murder over a quarter of a million lives? That's a hell of a body count for a man who's tired of bloodshed." Antella said.

"Objection... Argumentative." Commander Higgins said, sending a short glare in the Major's direction.

"Sustained. Is there a question coming shortly Major?" the Admiral asked sharply.

"Yes sir. Chief Williams... You are no fan of Cerberus correct?"

"No. Not at all sir." Ashley said without hesitation.

"Then how is it you're still on his side, in a sense, knowing he is an agent for Cerberus?" he asked, returning to his table to skim over a few datapads.

"Because he isn't an agent for Cerberus. He only, _only_ worked with them to stop the abductions of human colonies. The Council wasn't doing anything. The Alliance wasn't doing anything. He did something sir." Ashley said, finding that she was beginning to get angry.

"Is that so Chief Williams. Just to inform you, the Alliance was running intelligence gathering operations to discover who was behind the abductions. You can't expect the Alliance to jump head long into the deep end without looking around first." Antella said, still thumbing through his datapads.

"Intelligence gathering doesn't stop thousands of humans from being abducted. Shepard's the one who risked his life to stop them while you sat behind your desk." Ashley spat.

"Chief Williams... There's no need to be hostile. We understand your apprehension to testify, but we require as much as you can tell us. Consider you being here as a favor to us instead of Major Antella." the Admiral interjected rather calmly.

"Yes sir. I apologize." Ashley said with a curt nod.

"Continue Major." the Admiral said.

Antella smirked and took a moment to gather some more of his thoughts before continuing.

"Chief Williams... You confirmed in a past report from when you were on Horizon, that Commander Shepard was, indeed, working _for_ Cerberus. You yourself said this, so why so determined to defend him? Is it because he saved your life on Eden Prime, Virmire and a third time on Horizon?" Antella asked, looking up from his datapads at her.

"No. He was working _with_, not for, and it was to stop the Collectors from abducting more human colonies." Ashley said, having regained her stiff demeanor.

"Then if that was the case, why didn't you fabricate your findings to paint Commander Shepard in a positive light?" Antella asked.

Ashley held her breath, "Because that would've been wrong sir."

"Like it was wrong to follow Commander Shepard when he stole the _Normandy_ _SR-1_?"

"We had a job to do sir." she said.

"I've heard that before. It seems... _Chief._.. that you only perform tasks that benefit you. Aiding Commander Shepard in the Battle of the Citadel earned you an advancement and respect. However, when it came to your Horizon report, you submitted a document that _hurt_ Commander Shepard's reputation. Where exactly does your loyalty lie Chief Williams?"

Shepard was fuming. He was so angry that his fingernails were digging into his palms to the point of pain. His brows were furrowed so harshly, that they narrowed his eyes down into sharp slits that nearly burned with anger, and if you looked close enough, you would see the shimmer of blue from biotics aching to flare into action.

"This is not going good Shepard. The Major's painting you as a revenge crazed psychopath." Commander Higgins said ultra quietly into Shepard's ear.

"So get it stricken." Shepard said, swallowing down is urge to jump to Ashley's defense.

"I can't. There's nothing I can do." Commander Higgins said, pushing his glasses back up with his middle finger.

Shepard started to smirk, "Yes you can. You have a trump card."

"Not the last time I checked I didn't." Higgins glanced over towards Antella.

"Spousal privilege." Shepard's smirk grew.

"That only works if..." he quickly looked at Shepard who only confirmed his sudden realization with a slow, shallow nod.

Standing, Commander Higgins drew the attention of the court.

"Your honors... The defense moves to have Chief Williams's testimony stricken from the record." Commander Higgins said calmly, and with a soft smile of his own.

"What!" Antella snapped.

"Pardon me Commander? On what grounds?" the Admiral asked with a curious expression on his older face.

"Spousal privilege sir. Chief Williams's is Commander Shepard's wife."

"What!" Antella barked loudly.

Ashley's eyes went wide as she gulped hard.

"Excuse me? Is this true Commander Shepard?" the male Captain asked, looking over the top of his glasses.

Shepard stood, "Yes your honor."

"Chief Williams?" the male Captain asked.

"Yes your honor."

Antella's fist clenched hard.

"Why did you not share this information with the court?" the Admiral asked with a bit of an angry sneer across his features.

"It just happened sir." Shepard said simply.

"So you're admitting to breaking regulations! To breaking the rules the Alliance has in place to insure order!" Antella snapped angrily.

"Not so your honors. As Commander Shepard is a Spectre of the Council, Alliance doctrine does not apply. No regulations have been broken." Commander Higgins said evenly and looking down at the table to hide his grin.

Antella growled.

"Normally, we would have to discuss the provocation of breaking regulations, but since Chief Williams is Commander Shepard's wife, her testimony is hereby stricken from the record. Chief Williams... You are excused with the court's apologies." the Admiral said with a slight bowing of his head.

Grinning, Ashley stood and stepped down from the stand, but instead of leaving the courtroom like all the others had, she slipped into the audience and took a seat next to Lycan, since she no longer had to testify.

"Call your next witness Major." the Admiral said a bit dully and was sounding as if he had had enough.

"The prosecution calls Commander Gabriel _Shepard._" Antella said with a laced growl in his voice as he said Shepard's name.

With a quiet gulp, Shepard stood as he tried to adjust the cuffs around his wrist that had begun to chaff at his skin. He stepped around the table, being led along by a guard to the witness stand where the guard forced him to sit before shackling Shepard's ankles to the stand so he couldn't make any escape attempts.

"Commander Gabriel Shepard..." Antella grumbled, but it came out as more of a growl.

"Major Caleb Antella." Shepard said with the same tone.

"Lets not waste time Commander. Father Nikolai..."

"It's Father Pretrofski to you." Shepard interrupted coldly.

"Commander... Watch yourself." the Admiral said with a stone look in his eyes.

"Yes sir. My apologies." Shepard said with a glance to his chained hands.

"Father _Nikolai,_ had said you were the one who murdered your sister. Did you not love her?" Antella asked, purely to antagonize Shepard in hopes of getting a violent outburst out of him.

Shepard's brows furrowed hard, "I loved her like a brother should. I was her protector, her friend, her confidant and her mentor." he said hard through lightly clenched teeth.

"So why kill her? Why did you shoot your little sister?" Antella asked, matching Shepard's furrowed stare.

"Because she begged me to." Shepard said with a hard swallow.

"Now why would she do that?" Antella asked with no care that Shepard was starting to hum with anger.

Shepard clenched his fists hard, "Have you ever seen how a batarian raid takes their slaves?"

"Just answer the question..."

"Answer mine! Have you ever seen what happens?" Shepard barked.

"Calm down Commander. Major Antella, just go along with it." the Admiral said, if at all just to keep the peace.

Antella drew in a long breath, "Alright... No... I have not."

Shepard eyes glassed over, "They hold you down... Sit on you so you can't move, or breath while they cut into your skull. They stuff wire leads into your brain with their fingers so they can control you and as a result, you suffer brain damage. I found Michaela wondering around in the fires and smoke, stumbling over bodies and charred remains. Her head was split open with blood running all down her neck. She used the last wits about her to beg that I kill her before the control took affect." he said with a crack in his voice as a tear leapt from his shimmering blue eyes.

Even Antella's smirk faded, "Then what?"

"She cried for me to pull the trigger. She grabbed my arm and pointed the pistol into her chest and screamed at me to do it. I cried that I couldn't, begged her not to make me do it, but she pled harder. We fell to our knees in the bloody dirt and she wrapped her hands around my neck. She told me she loved me as she tried to strangle me. She couldn't stop herself, couldn't fight the control anymore and then..." his voice cracked hard, "she told me she forgave me... and I pulled the trigger." Shepard's throat caught hard as tear after tear fell from his eyes as he stared into Antella's, biting the inside of his lips to keep them from quivering.

Antella opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He was actually in stunned silence.

"I didn't wanna kill her, just like I didn't wanna kill three hundred thousand batarians. I tried to warn them, but Dr. Kenson cut off communications just as I got ahold of them. I tried to warn them, but... I was left with no choice." Shepard continued on, using his shoulder to wipe away the moisture of tears.

"You could have tried harder." Antella managed to get out, but that only poked the sleeping dragon.

"You son of a bitch! I did _everything_ in my power to get those people out of there! If I had had another option, I would've taken it in a heartbeat! Fate's done nothing but throw me impossible choices from the start and I'm done with this shit! I'm tired of watching my back for people like you and I'm tired of being tired! I did what I had to do because I had _no_ _choice_! You think it's easy living everyday with this guilt? With this heartache that I left that many bodies in my wake? Try again! You thought calling me up here was gonna help you destroy me? Guess again! If it's all the same to you, I'd like to go back to my seat now." Shepard said angrily, not even caring anymore that his eyes had poured even more tears to streak his cheeks.

Antella was at a loss for words, which was new considering that the entire trial thus far, he had been on top of his game. He had thought he would have been able to trap Shepard in his own words, but the way he had showed that much emotion, colored his descriptions with that kind of power, it all seemed moot. There was nothing he could do, except sit down.

"Um... The prosecution rests." he said with the barest hint of a stutter in his tone.

"Very well. Any questions for the witness Commander Higgins?" the Admiral asked, only to receive a shaking of the head, "You're excused Commander Shepard. Thank you." he was kind, knowing it was for the best.

Sucking in a long, shaky breath, he stood as the large guard unlocked his bindings and led him back to the table where he sat back down to be re-shackled to the table. He was given a tissue to blow his nose, and a glass of water, which he was thankful for as his defense attorney got to work and was given the floor.

"Commander Higgins. You may call your first witness." the Admiral said with a long sigh.

Commander Higgins stood, "The defense would like to call the asari councilor... Councilor Tevos."

Sitting up stick straight, all three Tribunal judges eyes went wide as the graceful asari stepped through the doors, followed by a myriad of guards that took up postings around the courtroom. The doors were locked, the shielding that fortified the windows came down, and it all happened as she reached the witness stand and sat.

"Thank you very much Councilor for agreeing to come today." Commander Higgins said with a slight bowing of his head.

"You are welcome Commander." she said in the same smooth tone of voice she always had.

"I only have a few questions Councilor, then you may head back to the Citadel." Higgins said as he picked up his datapad of notes.

"Of course."

"Councilor... You were there when Commander Shepard was given Spectre status correct?" Commander Higgins asked with much respect and kindness in his voice.

Tevos nodded, "I was. It was my idea to appoint Commander Shepard as the first human Spectre."

"Upon which he has..." Higgins looked down at his datapad, "Stopped Saren and his geth army from destroying the Citadel, saved yours, as well as your fellow Councilors lives, and stopped the abductions of human colonies in the Terminus systems. All in the name of the Council. Am I right?" he looked up to her.

Again, Tevos nodded, "He has. It would appear that our decision to appoint him as a Spectre was accurate."

"Even though he had a brief, yet flimsy relationship with Cerberus?"

"Yes. He ended his business with Cerberus promptly upon completing his mission." she said, undeterred by the glares coming from the other side of the aisle.

"One more question Councilor... Is Commander Shepard still a Council Spectre?" Commander Higgins asked, lowering the datapad to his lap.

"I, as well as the others, have elected to keep Commander Shepard as a Council Spectre. So, to answer your question Commander... Yes. Commander Shepard is still a Spectre." she said with a slow nod.

Commander Higgins smiled, "The defense rests."

"What!" Antella yelped with a sharp look towards them as Commander Higgins took a seat.

"Do you have any questions for Councilor Tevos?" the Admiral asked.

Antella stood, "No sir. The prosecution does not." he gulped.

"Very well. Councilor Tevos. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to be here, and we thank you. You may depart Councilor." the Admiral said kindly.

With another nod, Councilor Tevos stood and headed out, taking her entourage of guards and security with her. The window shields raised, the small army left with her, leaving behind only a shocked room and a cluster of dropped jaws to go along with it.

"Alright... Closing arguments?" _Thank God. _The Admiral thought as he took a sip of water.

Antella stood, "Your honors... Commander Shepard is nothing short of a loose cannon, a killer, a lier and a cheater. He has abused his position to jeopardize the careers of those who consider him a friend. He has stolen a prototype warship, defected to a rogue organization and has destroyed the lives of three hundred and fifty thousand batarians. He has yammered on about the existence of a race of machines determined to destroy us on countless occasions, and has blamed these 'reapers' as the reason behind destroying the Bahak system. He is a criminal, a thug, and a menace and we, as a race trying to be accepted into the ranks of galactic society, does not need the dead weight. Your honors, Commander Shepard has more then earned a place in a cell for the rest of his natural life, and I implore you to make the right decision. Give justice for the thousands of lives he has destroyed." he said, angrily glaring over at the defense's table.

"Thank you Major. Commander Higgins?" the Admiral was nearly deadpanned.

"Your honors, my closing argument is shorter. Commander Shepard is a Spectre, and was acting accordance to his Spectre doctrine. I know it sounds as if this is our only defense, but think of it this way. Commander Shepard has preserved our way of life twice over now, and has done so with a complete disregard for is own life. Even though the details of Bahak are classified above our pay grades, three hundred and fifty thousand lives seems small when compared to the trillions he's saved not once, but twice. Thank you." Commander Higgins said, actually locking eyes with the Tribunal judges which was something Antella had not done.

Drawing in a long breath, and taking another sip of his water, the Admiral began to gather his datapads together in preparation for leaving.

"Thank you gentlemen. We will need time to deliberate on this. Commander Shepard, for the duration of our deliberations, I request you submit yourself to the brig, so that when we do reach our decision, we may be able to deliver our verdict in a timely manner." he said, looking at Shepard.

Shepard stood, hands cuffed in front of him, "Yes sir."

"Very well. I will make sure that you are given the proper times to discharge. Court is in recess." the Admiral said as he stood.

With all standing in the room, the Tribunal judges gather their things and walked out, leaving Shepard's friends to watch as a number of guards escorted him from the room to take him to the brig where he would wait out the time.

The entire trial had been a roller coaster of accusations and tense moments for everyone. Having to watch the Major do his best to smear Shepard's name was torture when none could voice up in Shepard's defense. It made their chests ache to just sit back and listen to the drivel, but what else could they do. They had to trust in Commander Higgins, and Shepard's fate, was now in the hands of three people who had heard the best, and worst about the man they considered a friend.

All Ashley, Lycan, Kaidan, Vega and the rest of Shepard's growing inner circle could do now, was wait and pray.

* * *

For days, the tension was unbearable, having to wait and wait and wait to hear if the Tribunal had reached their verdict. The temporary office had become their haven in a sense, as it was a place where they could wait in peace, and go see Shepard whenever they could... which was often.

The Tribunal had kept their word and Shepard was given adequate time to discharge static, having gotten to spend time, alone mostly, in the gym under heavy guard, but those times had helped him to pass the time. It helped the time go by faster, but after days of tense waiting, and trying to forget about the passing of time, all found themselves back in the courtroom.

This time, there weren't simply a small number taking up seats, the courtroom was packed with everyone who considered Shepard a friend. Dr. Chakwas, Joker, Ashley, Lycan, Kaidan, the crew of the _Grimm_, and a number of people Shepard had helped along the way had come in support. There were even a couple of people who simply came to show their support.

Of course, Major Antella had his support too. Ambassador Udina.

Standing as the Tribunal judges entered, every set of eyes watched them, nerves raging all around the courtroom with Shepard's being the most prominent. His skin was a bit pale, his brow glistened with a thin layer of sweat. His fingers fidgeted in his lap, pinned together by cuffs and his leg never once stopped bouncing with pent up energy and a stomach chalk full of butterflies.

"Please be seated." the Admiral said as he situated himself at the bench.

Everyone sat without an uttered word.

The Admiral sighed, "Commander Shepard... Please stand."

Shepard gulped as he, as well as Commander Higgins, stood.

"I've presided over my fair share of trials in my day, but I've never had one this hard. You have enemies Commander, I won't deny that, but it's obvious that you have far more friends. There are crimes here we needed to consider, none of which were easy, but... we have reached our decision." the Admiral said, addressing the whole courtroom.

Every muscle in Shepard's body went instantly stiff.

"Commander Shepard... We find, that the crimes you are being charged with, are invalid, based on the simple fact that you were operating under Spectre doctrine. You had never denied that you worked for the Council, and ended your relationship with Cerberus just as fast as it had began. You had even sent the Alliance crucial intel that can be used against Cerberus. Your charge of Treason is dismissed."

The courtroom flooded with a chorus of sighs of relief, cheers and smiled, but they weren't allowed to last long as the Admiral smashed a wooden gavel into his desk, quickly getting their attention.

"Order!..." the courtroom went silent in an instant, "However Commander... With the destruction of the Bahak system and three hundred and fifty thousand batarian lives, we had a bit of a harder time," the Admiral sighed, "The batarian government have a strong desire for justice, but I can not give them the kind of justice they are insisting I give them. I may not be popular with this decision, but Commander Shepard, in light of your past acts, mainly saving the Citadel, and stopping the abduction of human colonies in the Terminus Systems, all in the name of the Alliance, I hereby sentence you... to an honorable discharge from the Alliance."

Sighing hard, Shepard hung his head as Commander Higgins clapped him on the back while a guard removed his cuffs and returned his amp. Seeing Shepard's relief, the courtroom erupted once more into cheers and tears, but again, they did not last long as someone incredibly angry screamed with a pointed finger.

"You have made a decision that will doom us all! That man is a killer! A murderer, and he is responsible for fifty lives slaughtered at Akuze!" Major Antella screamed with a reddening face from his fury.

"Major... Calm yourself down. We have made our decision and Akuze was not a factor." the Admiral glared.

"I will not! That stain on the face of humanity raped and killed my sister!"

Shepard's eyes went wide, "Whoa whoa whoa! I did no such thing! I've never met you until now!" he very quickly defended, deciding it best to keep his amp plug in place so it didn't look like he was preparing to attack anyone.

"You lie! You violated her! You defiled her! You thrust yourself on her and then left her to die by the hands of thresher maws!" Antella screamed as a thick vein throbbed in his neck.

"I never raped anyone! I wouldn't! I couldn't!" Shepard snapped back, tightly clenching his fists together.

"I know you did! She told me you raped her and got her pregnant!"

That's when it hit him. The weight was crushing, sucking the air from his lungs like the vacuum of space all over again. The air was suddenly cold, the simple task of breathing became a chore, and his mind froze solid. He knew who Antella's sister was. He knew her very well.

"Maria! Maria Corona was your sister?" Shepard gasped, his blue eyes wide with shock.

"Yes! You prayed on her like a hungry varren does a fresh kill! She told me you raped her while you were out on a patrol and that was the night before the entire unit was attacked!" Antella's voice cracked from screaming so hard.

"That slut was your sister? She was the fucking town bicycle! Everyone with a swinging dick had a go at her! Me included! She got me to believe I loved her and never even batted an eye when she went to the other barracks and fucked every guy in there! Your sister was nothing but a whore!" Shepard yelled back.

"Don't you dare talk about her like that! We'll never have the chance to find out the truth because she's dead! You're a rapist and a murderer and you just got away with it!" Antella was too far gone to calm down now.

"I am neither! Your sister lied to me! She spat in my face when she told me she was pregnant! Wanna know what she said to me? That she hoped she wasn't about to be the reason a fuck up like me procreated! You know what? She did me a fucking favor by dying on Akuze because I found a woman who actually loves me! Your sister didn't give a flying frogs fat ass about me, or anyone in the unit and she was only there to get someone to knock her up so she could go the fuck home! She slipped half the unit reversal pills to get their little swimmers back and got knocked up!" Shepard no longer cared that his language was in front of a mass of people.

"That child could have been yours!" Antella was several shades of red by now.

"No it couldn't have! I had just gone to the doctor's to get checked out because of something she gave me and included in that was to check to make sure I was still shooting blanks! I was! Your dirty little whore of a sister gave me an STD and thank god it was curable!" Shepard didn't care anymore about his language.

"Order in my courtroom!" the Admiral boomed, slamming his gavel as hard as he could to create a tremendous wooden blast that caught everyone's attention.

"Your honors! He should be put to death!" Antella continued to scream.

"I have made my decision Major and that's final!"

"I've worked my entire career to put that slime away for good and you've destroyed everything I've worked for!" Antella was fully consumed by rage.

"Are you admitting that your motives for prosecuting Gabriel Shepard are personal in nature?" the Admiral asked angrily.

"He deserves to be punished with the utmost severity!"

"Enough! Get the Major out of here! I'll deal with him and his superiors later!" the Admiral snapped.

"No! You can't do this! He needs to be punished!" Antella screamed, fighting the large guard as he tightly grabbed his arms and led him out of the courtroom.

Once the doors were closed, the Admiral drew in a long breath to calm himself before he looked to Shepard, whom he could see had reclaimed himself as well.

"Agent Shepard, I apologize for that, but if you could enlighten me on the subject, that would be greatly appreciated. I need to know what he's talking about if I am to bring this to his superior's attention." the Admiral asked.

"His sister, apparently, was my ex-girlfriend back on Akuze. She was a sergeant at the time while I was an ensign. We broke the regs, yes, I admit that, but I found out she was... having relations with everyone else and I ended it. That's it. I swear it. I never forced myself on her." Shepard said, clenching his fists to keep from grabbing ahold of Ashley to simply hold her.

"Alright... Thank you. You're free to go Agent Shepard." the Admiral sucked in a long breath and gave Shepard a short bowing of his head.

With nothing else forcing him to stay professional, Shepard whipped around and hopped over the partition separating the defense table from the audience and wrapped Ashley up in his arms, feeling the arms and hands of those he considered family soon joining in. His emotions ran amuck through him as tears poured from his eyes, mixed with relief and happiness that it was all over. He was free, though restricted, but free to live his life. There were no more rules and regulations he needed to follow, no more worrying about where the Alliance wanted to send him next, there was simply the joy of getting the time to sit back, relax and let his wife earn the income.

He started to laugh.

"Are you ok Gabe?" Kaidan asked, a bit worried Shepard might've finally lost it.

"I'm just fine man. I'm fucking fine. I can't believe this." Shepard smiled, wiping his tears from his face, but still kept a hand on his wife.

"Are you ok with being discharged?" Ashley asked, placing a soft kiss to his cheek.

Shepard nodded, "I'm fine with it. I'm more then fine with it." He wrapped his arms around Ashley again.

"We're happy too Shepard," Lycan smiled, "Can you believe it? Antella's entire reason for this was because he thought you raped and killed his sister." she shook her head as she leaned against Kaidan, whose arm was wrapped around her shoulders.

"It all makes sense now though. We knew he was gunning awfully hard for you. Now we know why." Kaidan said, grasping Lycan's hand to admire the simply band around her ring which made him smile.

"Man... I could..." Shepard pursed his lips together, "I thought I was done with her, but... At least it's over. I wanna go relax now." he said, resting a forehead against Ashley's.

"How about we head back to my parents place?" Kaidan suggested with a soft smile.

"Hell yeah. Can we stop somewhere so I can buy a ring first though?" Shepard asked.

"Sure... but our first stop is to get these GPS trackers off." Kaidan grinned, pointing to his ankle.

"Oh fuck yeah. Lead on."

* * *

The evening was cool, but dry, and the ocean had calmed to a gentle hush that rolled along the beach sand instead of crashed into it. The night sky was clear, the first time in nearly a week, and the stars twinkled overhead like distance lights, guiding loved ones home. The moon hung low on the horizon, as big around as someone holding a basketball up to the black curtain, and dull and muffled sound of soft music fluttered down to the sand like brought to the quartet on a silver platter.

The night was perfect.

Sitting on two blankets, the Shepards and Alenkos simply laid, watching the stars twinkle and on occasion, getting to see a shooting star streak across the black like it was fired from a gun.

They had stopped, as requested and Shepard had bought Ashley a simply platinum with an inset diamond that twinkled as much as any star in the moonlight. He was torn between watching the sky and staring at the ring that she so willingly, and loving wore on her left hand. She had even, already, changed her name.

"It looks good on you Ash." Shepard said, lifting her hand to his lips to place a soft kiss to the ring.

"Yours looks good too Skipper." she said coyly as she softly ran a finger over his golden band.

"You two ain't got nothing on Ly's." Kaidan chuckled.

He too, had bought his new wife a ring to replace the one given by his mother. It was a two piece silver set with eighteen diamonds total, with a main diamond that rose above the rest. It was as large as a small piece of gravel, with two smaller diamonds on either side and flanked by three more on either side of that. The wedding band had a compliment of another nine, but all nine were of the same size and acted as pawns to the king and queen on a chess board.

"I couldn't believe you bought her that thing man. That was crazy expensive." Shepard chuckled as he softly, gently combed his fingers through Ashley's hair that she had let down.

"It was worth every credit Gabe. The galaxy will know Lycan Alenko is mine." Kaidan said as he bowed his head to place a kiss to her shoulder, as she was leaning back against his chest, between his legs.

"Fair enough Kaidan." Shepard nodded, still with a smile.

"I think mine's perfect. It'll fit under a hardsuit." Ashley said, admiring hers by holding it out in front of her to twinkle against the moonlight.

"Then it's perfect Ashley." Lycan smiled.

"I couldn't believe you tried telling Kaidan _not_ to buy that one." Ashley giggled, gently reaching across the small gap between them to playfully smack Lycan's shawled arm.

"It was fifteen thousand credits! Hell yeah I'm gonna refuse... the first time." Lycan giggled, so did everyone else for that matter.

"You knocked that one outta the park Kaidan," Shepard slowly shook his head, but his smile faded, "It's too bad this has to end guys." he said, resting his chin on top of Ashley's hair.

At that, every smile faded.

"Are we gonna be ready Skipper? For the reapers?" Ashley asked, leaning back a bit further against Shepard's chest.

"We're doing everything we can. I just hope it's enough." Kaidan said, placing his lips against Lycan's hair.

"It won't be. You don't prepare for an invasion like that." Shepard said, looking up at the endless black sky.

"You can if you're us." Lycan said, tugging her shawl around her a bit more to stay off a chill.

Smiles returned, if at all for a brief moment.

"I love your optimism honey." Kaidan said against her hair.

"It's either that, or be depressed the entire time, and I choose not to be. I married the man of my dreams, one of my best friends is free and clear and we're... Look at this... It's beautiful." Lycan said, motioned towards the glistening ocean as it reflected the sky above.

"That it is." Kaidan agreed.

"I like that view." Shepard smiled with a deeply drawn in breath.

Falling silent, the Shepards and Alenkos simply stared above them, knowing what loomed in the shadows, but they no longer cared. For a moment, all that mattered was that they were happy, that they had been given a chance to smile despite the circumstances. They knew smiles would become as rare as the morning sunrise, more rare then a child playing on a bright summer's day. They knew color and life of fields of gold would wilt into gray shadows, forgotten in the chaos of war, but there is one thing they knew. One thing that was certain, and it was one thing that they could count on.

They knew the sunflowers would bloom again, and they would make sure of it.


	77. Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Beginning of the End

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: We're in for a wild ride.)_

**6 months later**

Life had changed.

It had changed in a way that only the coming of Spring could provide. The sky had painted itself a powder blue, the grass had changed from black to green and the trees had dressed themselves in blooms of pink flowers that shed their petals to pepper the streets with silken polkadots. The air was crisp, ripe with the scent of the sun and a gentle warming breeze had adopted the city as its home.

Vancouver had returned to the land of color, but that was not all that had changed.

Over the past six months, things had drastically changed for Agent Gabriel Shepard. No longer in the Alliance, he had secured work as a civilian at Alliance HQ as an IT lead tech, working on developing new and improved security measures for the Alliance. He found he enjoyed the work, as it was a far cry from the chaos that had become his life for so long. From nine to five, he would plug away on a terminal in the peace of his office, sometimes listening to music in the background, others times, simply enjoying the sounds of the breeze outside, but ultimately, it was the serene peace that going home that he looked forward to.

At the end of each day, he would gather his things and head outside to find a car already waiting for him, having been flagged down by his wife as both headed to their newly rented apartment and at the end of each week, they would travel the two hours out of town to the home on the beach. There, along with Kaidan, Lycan and his family, they would relax and just watch as the world passed them by, knowing that they had done everything they could to prepare for what was coming. There was only so much you could do, when others didn't believe in what you were saying.

Overlooking the city from a window, Shepard watched as a boy, no older then seven or eight, ran with a toy ship in hand. He laughed and jumped as he moved the ship through the air as if it was moving under its own power and he spun and rolled on the green carpet of grass, all while never letting go of the ship he coveted so much. He hugged the toy, studied its lines and angles and admired it as if one day, he would be on one just like it, but one that could take him to the sky.

"Watching the park again?" came a soft and sweet voice from his office door.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Ashley leaning against the doorframe in her brand new officers uniform. It was rather form fitting and Alliance blue, hugging her in all her curved places and she had actually let her down, quite literally, as it now hung to her shoulders and had even swept her part to the side, bringing her bangs to partially cover one eye.

Shepard smiled wide at her, "Yeah. That little boy's playing in the park again." he said, motioning her over to see for herself.

Ashley lightly smiled as she walked to his side, "He's always playing in the park." she said, lightly placing her hands on his forearm.

"I know... It's fun to watch him though. He looks so happy... Running around down there without a care in the world." Shepard said, pulling his arm from her gentle grasp to wrap it around her waist instead.

"Can't say I blame him... I wouldn't care about a thing either if my days were spent in the park." Ashley smiled as she leaned into him.

"Yeah... Are Kaidan and Lycan getting ready to head to his folks place?" Shepard asked, turning his head to place a soft and lingering kiss to her temple.

"Not yet. Kaidan got held up with some paperwork for the _Grimm _I think." Ashley said, smiling as she lightly patted his chest.

"Figures," he patted her rump, "Come on. We'll go get the car and wait for them." Shepard said as he took his arm back and turned towards his desk to gather his things.

After a few moments of silence, the door to the office opened, giving way to James Vega, one of Shepard's new sparing partners and friends he had given pass into his inner circle.

"Commander..." Vega said with a not so amused look on his face.

"I'm not a commander anymore James." Shepard said, lightly smiling as he set a datapad down on his desk that he planned to leave there.

"You'll always be a commander to me. I think you've earned it." Vega said, snapping a sharp salute Shepard's way.

Shepard couldn't help but smile as he returned the salute, "Alright James. I'll give you that one." he huffed a smile.

Vega dropped the salute, "Thanks Commander." he sighed.

"So what's up?" Shepard asked as he pack up a few more items into his backpack in preparation for leaving.

"It's the committee... They wanna see you Commander." Vega said, all pleasantries gone from his voice.

Shepard's smile instantly vanished. He knew what that meant.

"Skipper... Should I?" Ashley asked, her smile having left just as quickly as her husband's had.

Shepard nodded, "Yes... Get to the _Normandy_ and get her ready to fly ASAP." he said lowly so only she could hear.

"What about the _Grimm_?" she asked, matching his low tone.

"Same. Send out the _message."_ Shepard said as Ashley nodded and hurriedly left the room without even giving Vega a second look.

"Everything ok Commander?" Vega asked, having stepped aside to give Ashley the room to exit in her hurry.

"Wish I could say they were. Lets go." Shepard said as he swung his backpack over his shoulder and followed the Lieutenant out of the office.

They emerged out into a hallway that was no more busy then usual. People were preparing to go home for the weekend, some already on their way to the door, others finishing up a few last minute things before calling it a day, but for the most part, things were normal and no one was the wiser to what was hanging over their heads.

However, there was one exception to what was normal, and that was that one person sort of stood out from the crowd. At least to Shepard that is.

"Anderson? What're you doing here?" Shepard asked with a little bit of shock at seeing his old friend.

"I'll explain on the way." Anderson said as he started down the hallway, against the flow of traffic.

"Explain what?" Shepard asked plainly as he walked along side Anderson.

"Why I'm here without an armed guard. I'm not the human councilor anymore." Anderson said with a half shrug.

"What? Why the hell not?" Shepard gasped, stepping his gate out a bit to keep up with Anderson's pace.

Anderson stopped his quick walk, almost stopping too quickly for Shepard to act fast enough where he wouldn't overshoot, and instantly lowered his voice to a harsh whisper.

"Hackett approached me a few weeks ago and asked if I would." Anderson said lowly and making sure that no one else could listen in.

"What? And you agreed? We need you on the Council Anderson." Shepard said with a sting in his voice.

"I can't do anything politically with what's coming Shepard. I can do a hell of a lot more on the ground." Anderson said easily and without having to think about his words.

Shepard's lungs held onto his breath for a moment before allowing him to sigh, "You're right. This war's gonna be fought by weapons and soldiers, not by politicians and bureaucrats."

"Exactly. I've been helping Hackett with the war prep since I've stepped down." Anderson said.

"What's been done so far?" Shepard asked, still in a harsh whisper.

"We've been gathering resources and equipment. Bolstering tech, armor, weapons... The whole bit. Hackett's got the best of the best from all over the galaxy." Anderson said in even a lower whisper as he looked around out of his paranoia that someone could be listening to them.

"Is it BI?" Shepard asked, a bit more quietly and with a bit of enthusiasm.

Anderson shook his head, "No. The only thing from BI we've gotten are those Omni-Blade profiles they promised the Alliance awhile ago. Why?" his brows furrowed.

"Just curious," he shrugged, "You said best of the best so..." Shepard said, this time in a normal voice.

"Oh trust me... The stuff we've got our hands on is certainly the best of the best, but I can't go into a whole lot of detail... Not here." Anderson said, releasing a long and slow sigh as he started to walk.

Shepard nodded, "What's the committee want?" he asked, starting to follow Anderson back down the hallway.

"What do you think?" Anderson glared.

Shepard eyes widened as he gulped, "What've they got so far?" his heart dropped from his chest.

"We've lost communications with a number of outposts and there's something on long range, but... no one can figure out what it is. It's showing on sensors as a... mass blackout of everything. It's a void." Anderson said as he climbed a flight of stairs.

"A void? How far out?" Shepard asked with a stone expression.

"Hard to say, but at the moment, it's just on the far side of Jupiter. We really don't have much time here Shepard." Anderson said as the foyer to the committee room came into view.

The foyer was shaped like a half moon with the entire curved wall covered in holoscreens that displayed a treasure trove of various data. People were strewn about, caught up in conversations about the same thing as they walked by and stepped through the doors into a room just as busy as the hallway was.

"Admiral Anderson... Agent Shepard. Thank you for arriving so quickly." an aged woman said from her seat at a large desk with her fellow committee members on either side of her.

"We don't have time to waste." Anderson said flatly.

"We need some insight into what this thing is Admiral." the woman said with a slow nod.

"Insight? You brought me in here so I could confirm what you already know. You know what's coming." Shepard said a bit sharply as his brows began to furrow.

"So they exist? The Reapers are real?" a man asked, sitting next to the older woman.

Shepard threw his arms up, "What the hell do you think I've been telling you people for the passed... oh... three years? I wasn't just making all this up for my benefit." he lips curved down into a frown.

"But you think this is them?" the woman asked.

Shepard rolled his eyes, "I don't think, I know," he thrust his finger at a nearby holoscreen that displayed the empty void on its approach, "That hole in space is a Reaper armada big enough to wipe everything out across the galaxy."

"What do we do?" the aged woman asked.

"First off... we run." Shepard said with the upmost seriousness in his voice.

"But how?" another aged man asked a bit airily.

Shepard's brows furrowed even hard, "How do you think? We start evacuating as many people as we can in the time we've got left. We aren't looking at days here... We're looking at minutes. Before that sun sets tonight, everything you see outside is gonna be burning, or burnt." he said with plenty of harshness in his tone.

"Evacuating that many people on that short a notice is a massive endeavor Agent Shepard." the aged woman said.

"And the extinction of half a dozen races across the galaxy isn't? Get off your asses and get moving! You have till that void," he pointed at the holoscreen again, "gets here and that's not gonna be too much longer! Don't you get it?" Shepard said, only now admitting to himself that he was getting angry.

"We can't just halt everything and evacuate Agent. They're procedures to..." the man tried to argue, but was cut off.

"Fuck procedures! Procedures aren't gonna help you when they get here. I'll break it down for you. Leading that massive army of ships the size of Sovereign, is another one of those things called Harbinger. He's tried twice now to begin the attack and twice he's failed. Know what that did? Pissed him off. Now, he's making a beeline towards us with nothing but murder on his CPU. Wanna know what's gonna happen when he gets here?" Shepard asked as he stiffly crossed his arms.

All the committee members did was look at one other.

Shepard threw his hands up, "Oh for God's sake! He's gonna level the city, turn all of you into husks and proceed to destroy everything made out of flesh and blood! We need to stop yacking and get moving!"

"We should form our fleets up in orbit..."

"Fuck me! You're not listening to a fucking thing I'm saying! We can only run right now! There is no other choice! We don't have the resources at hand to fight this war yet!" Shepard growled at the committee.

The aged woman sighed, "You seem fairly adamant about this Agent Shepard."

"No shit." Shepard snapped.

"Look... With all do respect, we don't have the time to waste any longer to argue about this. We need to act now." Anderson interjected, hoping his blessing would get things moving.

"Ma'am... We've lost contact with Luna base." a woman said from the side of the room, at her station.

"You're out of time. The hands of God are about to rain down on our heads and millions of people are about to die because you won't get your heads out of your asses!" Shepard barked angrily as he rested his hands on his hips.

Before any of the committee members could answer, a tremendous howl rained down from all around them, causing them all to cover their ears, even Shepard, who had heard it before.

The noise was devastatingly familiar, the base of it, the hollow screeching of something massive that made your very soul shiver in fear. Shepard knew that sound, knew it well. He had heard it quake in his head like two tectonic plates smashing together and there was only one thing he knew of that could make that sound.

"The reapers... They're here." Shepard exhaled as his eyes widened to their limit.

Shepard's gaze was unable to look away from the large arcing window behind the committee as the sky began to cloud with a reddish haze, sparking with jagged fingers of red lightning that chilled to the bone with fear.

Acting on its own accord, Shepard's body took a step back, away from the window just as a buzzing red beam came shooting down from the sky. The noise was as harsh as the hollow scream from a moment ago, but it was quickly overshadowed by the earth shattering blast of a massive explosion.

As screaming began to fill the committee room, Shepard froze, out of pure fright, as another powerful beam came blasting down from the clouds, flanked by two massive reapers in their descent and destroyed the large window, shattering it into a million, flesh cutting pieces.

"Shepard! Run!" Anderson's voice barked as the explosion picked up the large committee desk and threw it as if it were made of paper.

Finally snapping out of his stunned daze, Shepard dove just as the desk flew over him, but he wasn't fast enough to miss one of the support bars that had broken free from the initial blast.

With a painful thwack and a hot slash, the broken piece of metal gained purchase on Shepard's shoulder blade, sending a searing line straight down his entire arm as his shoulder dislocated itself from its socket. He instantly felt the screaming pain as hot liquid slicked down his back, but it didn't last long when the cooling touch of medi-gel slimmed it's way around his shoulder.

"Shit Shepard," Anderson exhaled as he provided Shepard with medical attention to his injured shoulder, "It got you good."

Shepard tightly gripped the floor with his functioning arm and squeezed his eyes shut to distract himself from the pain, "Fuck... It didn't just carve me open either." he said, sucking on both his lips to keep from grunting in pain.

"You dislocated too?" Anderson asked as he finished applying the medi-gel that sealed Shepard's wound.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah," he swallowed down another hiss, "I'll have to set it." he did not like that idea.

Rolling to his good shoulder, Shepard sat up with Anderson's help and got to his feet, cradling his loose arm the entire time to hold it still.

Steady on his feet, he looked around the destroyed room, at the ashen fires, the smeared blood amongst the broken glass and the bodies of those he was just talking to. He looked out at the remains of the window as the city erupted into flames, trampled beneath the massive legs of a half dozen Reapers, all firing identical red power beams that destroyed everything they touched. The distant screams of sheer terror could be heard over the hollow howls as people desperately ran for their lives, only to be struck down by the reaper forces that overwhelmed them.

"Shepard... We've gotta go." Anderson said, carefully placing his hand on Shepard's good shoulder to snap him out of it.

"Yeah... One sec. Let me set this." Shepard said, this time, looking around the room for something to stick his hand into.

Oddly enough, Shepard found such an object in the form of a bent bar hanging from the very desk that nearly took his arm off. He carefully guided his limp hand into the loop the bar created and made sure his wrist locked against it, holding his arm in place as he braced himself against the hulk of the desk.

Readying himself, he took in several, uneasy breathes to, but no matter how much he was ready for what was coming, it didn't stop him from regretting what he did next.

Jerking himself back, Shepard forced his arm to stretch out, snapping his shoulder back into place with a loud and painful pop that only ignited the searing line once more to ricochet up and down its length as if it was a bouncing ball stuck in a box.

"Son of a bitch! Fuck!" Shepard howled as he freed his arm and flexed his now working fingers.

"You ok?" Anderson asked as he pulled a couple of weapons from the dead guards that had been hit, full on, by the desk.

"Yeah... Am now. I have two working arms... Well, more like one and a half." Shepard said, rubbing his shoulder a bit before accepting the pistol from Anderson.

"You're gonna need everything you've got if we're gonna get out of here Shepard. The reapers are tearing the city apart." Anderson said as he started for the door that he had to force open.

"Relax Anderson. Even with a halfway working arm, I can still do some damage." Shepard said as he flared high, ripping the door from its mounts to throw it back against the opposite wall with a loud metallic crash.

"Right... Look Shepard, we need to get the _Normandy_ up and gone." Anderson said as he quickly headed down the mangled hallway, ducking around fires and more fallen comrades.

"Ashley's already on it." Shepard said, holding his pistol at the ready and pressed himself against the wall to shimmy by a large chunk of ceiling that had come down.

"What about the _Grimm_?"

"Same deal. Kaidan and Lycan should already be on the ship and Ashley should already have the _Normandy_ powered up. All they're doing now is waiting for me to comm in." Shepard said as he followed Anderson towards another partially opened, but badly damaged door.

"Then lets get moving Shepard. We've got ground to cover."

* * *

Their rendezvous set with the _Normandy_, the crew of the _Grimm_ prepared for the fight of their life.

When they had gotten word from Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, the _Grimm's_ crew had scrambled the jets as it were. The twin pilots had brought the _Grimm_ up to full power in a matter of minutes while the others ran to the armory to done their armor and weapons. That was, in fact, where they were now as one more barged into the space, intent to do the same thing.

"Sarah! Help me get this thing on." Lycan demanded as she rushed in with the hardsuit given to her by Jonathon Hudson in her arms.

"What? Is the Commander ok with that?" Callaghan asked, attaching her sniper rifle to her left shoulder blade.

"He doesn't get much of a choice on this one." Lycan said with a smirk as she deposited the hardsuit onto the workbench.

"I... I'm gonna have to ask him..." Callaghan said with a stutter, just as the person she intended to ask stepped in.

"Everyone clear." Kaidan said coldly as he crossed his arms and stood in front of the door with just enough space for the three to leave without so much as a question.

Watching Callaghan, Hanson and Ellison all vacate like they were escaping a coming fire, Lycan looked at Kaidan whose face was pulled down hard into an angry glare. His dark brows were knitted together, his eyes were narrow, the bridge of his nose had crinkled and his normally full and attractive lips had gone thin.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kaidan demanded, his voice low and extra airy with his anger.

"I'm getting ready." Lycan said flatly as she turned to start preparing to get into the hardsuit.

With a huff, Kaidan stepped up behind her and slammed his hand down on the suit hard, stopping her from continuing.

"You aren't." he said in a near and low growl.

"I am."

"No you're not. You aren't ready for this fight Ly." Kaidan said through clenched teeth, seething that she was even considering trying to help in this fight.

Lycan spun around to face him, but couldn't go anywhere because she was pinned against the workbench between his arms, "Kaidan..."

"Don't Kaidan me Ly... You aren't ready for this. The second you get in a fight, you'll be overrun and do you have any... ANY idea what that would do to me?" Kaidan asked sharply with hot breath spilling across her face.

"I won't be out there alone Kaidan. You won't let anything happen..." she was interrupted yet again.

"No..." so was he.

"Will you fucking let me finish a sentence Kaidan? For Christ's sake." Lycan snapped as her expression perverted to nearly matched his.

"I can't watch over you and everything else that's happening on a battlefield Ly. You aren't ready for direct combat and you'll have to kill me right where I stand for me to let you do this." Kaidan snarled at her, bringing his face ultra close to hers.

Lycan leaned back a bit against the edge of the workbench, "You know I won't." she said lowly, inhaling a deep breath that was filled with his familiar scent, tinged with the musk of ozone.

"Then you aren't doing this." Kaidan said just as lowly.

"I can't stay on the ship forever Kaidan and I won't! Not with the reapers tearing everything apart!" Lycan growled at him, trying to push passed Kaidan, but to no avail.

"You will! What about you aren't ready do you not understand baby? This war could kill you!" Kaidan snapped, tightening his grip on the edge of the workbench as his whole body began to subtly glow from anger.

"It could kill you too! It could kill all of us!" Lycan fired back, again trying to get free from between his taught arms, but again, failed.

"But I'm not gonna put my wife," he thrust his finger in his own chest, "into harms. I love and married you! I'm not doing it!" Kaidan yelled, putting his hand back onto the workbench to keep her trapped.

"I'm not just gonna sit back on this Kaidan! I won't! Not while my _husband_ is out on the front lines! Don't stand there and ask me to do the same thing!" Lycan fired back.

"You don't have a choice." Kaidan said coldly.

"I do have a choice! That's the whole fucking point Kaidan! We both agreed we weren't just gonna let what we saw happen! We said we were gonna change it, so this is how! With me right there helping!" she said, pushing her finger into his chest and holding his angered gaze with no hint that she was going to submit.

"No."

"Yes."

Pursing his lips together hard, Kaidan swiftly grabbed Lycan's sides and hoisted her up, lifting her to sit on the workbench with little choice in the matter. He pinned her against the bulkhead with his own body, continuing to keep her ability to move limited by slamming his palms onto the bulkhead beside her, bring his face in extra close to hers so she could see his anger in his eyes.

"I... said... no." Kaidan whispered, drawing deep breaths to help calm himself.

Drawing in the same breaths, Lycan found that she was out of words, left to sit, trapped between the man she loved and a cold hard wall to stare into his caramel eyes that had taken on a bluish shimmer.

Deep in those eyes, she could see his fear, coupled with anger that something bad could very likely happen. She could see the overwhelming love that laced through it all, how he would be completely shattered should a hair on her head be harmed in conflict. She knew that if were that to happen, his world would spiral into darkness, left to live as half a man with half a soul, and that was something she would do absolutely everything in her power to prevent. However, she had to help, if it all to prevent something bad happening to him.

"I have to." Lycan said, just as lowly and holding his furious gaze.

Pursing his lips together even harder, Kaidan grabbed her wrists and hoisted her off the workbench to let her feet hit the deck for a miniscule moment before he turned her and pulled her back into his chest. He lifted her up and carried her out of the armory, kicking and demanding he let her go, all the way to their quarters where he opened the door and plopped her down on their bed.

"You're staying in here." Kaidan said harshly as he headed back to the door to leave.

"Kaidan! Don't do this! Let me help! Please!" Lycan called, hurriedly climbing off the bed to go after him.

Reaching the door, Kaidan spun around to face her, blocking her from reaching the door. He harshly planted his hands on either side of the door's frame, blocking her from leaving and leaned down to bring him face to face, eye to eye, with his wife.

"Don't push me Ly. I said no and that's final." he said in a harsh whisper, whose breath covered her face.

"Let me prove it to you that I can help. Please Kaidan." Lycan said, swallowing down the urge to beg as she lightly placed her hand on the side of his neck, which he did not refuse.

Kaidan drew in a long breath, "Fine," he placed a quick kiss to her forehead as he stood up and opened his omni-tool, "If you hack your way out of this room, then I'll _think _about it."

The door securely locked in front of him with its interface as red as a stoplight, Kaidan spun around and pressed back against the door where he slid down to the deck with hands laced in his hair. He simply sat there, drawing in deep breaths to calm himself down, but he couldn't help but think about what he had just done.

He had locked his wife in their room.

The very thought churned his stomach, caused him to question whether it had been the right thing to do. He hated himself for doing it, for shutting her away like he was punishing a child, but he had to do it, had to keep her safe. His regret only grew when the muffled sounds of Lycan's fists banging on the door rumbled against his back, only adding to his doubt.

His immediate regret however, soon vanished as the iconic sounds of the reapers met his ears. They strengthened his decision, helped him to realize that perhaps, he was right, that he had made the right choice, if at all to keep her safe. If that's the only thing that came of his decision, he had made the right one.

"And this is why there's regs Commander." Callaghan said quietly, now fully dressed in her hardsuit and armed to the hilt.

Kaidan's hands dropped from his hair as his head thunked back against the door, "Except there aren't any regs for us to worry about Callaghan. Ly's not Alliance." he said, letting his head thunk back against the locked door.

Callaghan huffed the barest of smiles, "I'm still trying to figure out why the command assigned her boyfriend as her bodyguard." she said, not to be hostile, but more looking for a little insight from said boyfriend, turned husband.

Kaidan sighed and stared at the opposite bulkhead, "They didn't have much of an option. Assigning anyone else would mean they'd have to fill them in and they didn't wanna do that." he said, running a hand down his face before pushing himself up to his feet.

"For security reasons I assume." she said as she followed Kaidan into the armory where he started gathering his new hardsuit and weapons to put them on.

Callaghan turned around and faced the far bulkhead while Kaidan stepped behind a stack of crates that had been placed there to serve as a changing area.

"Yup," was all Kaidan said, "Any word from the _Normandy_ yet?" he asked as he began the process of inching his way into the thick mesh.

"Yes Commander. We're on route to the rendezvous now. We're only waiting to hear from Shepard for pick up." Callaghan said, tinkering with her gauntlets a bit, simply for something to do.

"How's it look out there..." Kaidan started, only to get a hint.

With a thunderous and rattling toss, Kaidan and Callaghan are thrown to the floor with harsh clatters as the ship bucked wildly, reacting from something on the outside, but what, they had no idea.

"Jake! What the hell was that?" Kaidan demanded, slamming a hand down onto the comms terminal on the bulkhead as he zipped up the mesh.

_"Lost a dreadnaught Commander! The explosion wiped out three other ships in the vicinity! That was the shockwave!" _Jake's voice reported while the voice of his brother reported the movements of the reapers in the background.

"Don't get us blown up Jake!" Kaidan ordered as he returned to putting on his armor.

_"Wasn't in my plan Commander!" _

"Never is."

Hurrying up, Kaidan dressed out in record time and grabbed an assault rifle from the racks before following Callaghan to the bridge, finally seeing for himself, the devastation outside.

The city of Vancouver was ablaze, its only constant being that of the smoke painting the blue sky charcoal black. The once towering and glistening skyscrapers were no longer the pristine image of a prosperous city, but were now only ruins, destroyed images of themselves that had toppled to the streets below to be trampled by reapers. The red beams of the machines that were larger then the tallest buildings tore through what remained without the simplest of hesitations and explosion after explosion fouled the air as people died by the thousands.

"My god..." Kaidan exhaled, unable to even blink as the twin pilots banked the ship around one of the smaller reaper destroyers, yet it was still massive in its own right.

"He was right all along... Shepard was right." Callaghan said with a deep gulp that moved her throat.

"Yes he was Lieutenant." Kaidan said emotionlessly with a quick glance towards her.

"Commander... What about Lycan?" Callaghan asked, returning the glance to her CO.

"Jake... Bring up the intercom for the captain's quarters." Kaidan said with a mild furrowing of his brows.

Tapping a finger against a holoscreen without even giving it the time of day to look at it, Jake activated the comms to be greeted by a wave of rather colorful words.

_"Mother fucker! Open up already!"_

"Ly? You ok?" Kaidan asked, halfway expecting some sort of obscenity from her, and that's exactly what he got.

_"I'm fucking peachy. Having great fun finger fucking this goddamned door!" _her voice was sharp and snappy.

Kaidan cringed, "So then that's a yes about you still being mad at me?" he asked, glancing at Callaghan again.

_"What do you think?" _

"Do you hate me?" Kaidan asked plainly.

_"No... Don't hate you. Still love you... Biblically pissed yes, but I don't hate you."_

"I love you." he said.

_"Blow me... But I love you too." _she grumbled.

Huffing a small smile, Kaidan shut down the comms and got back to the matters at hand.

As the _Grimm_ flew, Kaidan's eyes furiously scanned the panoramic view for the unmistakable profile of the _Normandy. _Their plan had been made months earlier, deciding that when the time came, the _Grimm_ would follow the _Normandy_ in an attempt to provide as much aid as possible. They didn't know how yet, but all they knew for sure was that everyone on both ships was going to be on the front lines for the war that was now on their doorstep. Even if they had to stay on the ship. Their only task now, was to find the _Normandy._

One task at a time.

* * *

Shepard's shoulder was awash with ache and no amount of medi-gel, which he was using religiously to keep from leaving a trail of blood throughout what was left of Alliance HQ, was going to stop it. He needed what was on the _Normandy_, and hopefully, his valiant chariot would arrive soon.

Pinned down by a gunship that had been swarmed by flocks of oculus and finished off by a massive flying and screaming creature that had once had the privilege of being called an organic life form, Shepard and Anderson found cover behind various bits of scrap and debris. They would lean out to fire at the waves of reaper forces raining down like meteors from the capitol ships as if they were specifically meant for them, firing rounds and biotics alike to add their own flare to the debris pile.

As if having to constantly defend themselves against the never ending waves of what Shepard was calling cannibals for their pension for eating their fallen, they were having to constantly keep an eye out for Harbinger, and the _Normandy, _and they were nearly out of ammunition.

"Where's the _Normandy_? We need that pick up!" Anderson yelled over the barking of his assault rifle that he had plundered from the wreckage of the gun ship.

"She'll be here! Having to dodge a bunch of reapers is a bit tricker then it sounds!" Shepard hollered back at him from his spot a few feet up, behind some debris for cover.

"Sooner rather then later would be good Shepard!" Anderson said, controlling his firing so to limit wasted rounds.

Sooner happened to be right then when the scream of the _Normandy_ swept overhead, closely followed by the deep growl of the _Grimm._ Both ships whisked overhead at speed, chasing off another flying beast while the _Grimm_ fired her weapons at what remained of the cannibals before both banked around like two whales, a mother and young, to come to a hover nearby.

"Bingo! Lets move!" Shepard barked with a grin as he bolted for the _Normandy_, whose cargo bay door was opening to provide a ramp.

Both men jumped over debris and wove around more as they charged for the ship, not caring anymore that more reaper forces were making their way to them. They knew they couldn't stay, but there was something Shepard didn't know, and that's that Anderson had no intensions of leaving.

As Shepard jumped onto the _Normandy_, Ashley and Vega fired at the closing cannibals, pushing them back and giving room for Anderson to get aboard, but when he didn't make the move Shepard was expecting, Shepard's heart began to beat faster.

"Anderson! Come on!" Shepard urged, tossing aside his rifle to hold his hand out for him.

"Not this time Shepard. I need to be here, coordinating the resistance." Anderson said as he lowered his rifle to his side.

"What?" Shepard yelped, but stopped, knowing it had to happen, "Anderson... Be safe out there. The reapers don't have mercy." he said, swallowing down his protests.

"I will. You need to get to the Citadel and talk to the Council. We need help here and they sure as hell support you. Do what you do best Shepard. Build a fleet capable of stopping these things." Anderson said, glancing around for more enemies that might be trying to sneak up on him.

"I'll try." Shepard said, a bit too quietly.

As Shepard turned to head inside the ship, he stopped at the calling of his name.

"Oh! And Shepard? Consider yourself reinstated." Anderson said as he snapped an object towards him.

Raising his hand, Shepard caught the object with ease, seeing that they were his dog tags, stamped with the logo of the Alliance.

"Anderson..." Shepard exhaled.

"Go Shepard! We're running out of time."

Nodding, the _Normandy_ began to lift into the air, giving Shepard a much further view of the devastation. Alliance ships were scrambling, simply trying to get their feet underneath them, but before that could happen, they were blasted from the sky in flashes of white light and ear drum splitting explosions. Evacuation shuttles were as numerous as the debris on the ground, at least a dozen being in Shepard's view at any given moment, but even they were not exempt from the destruction by the reapers.

As he scanned the burning landscape, the small familiar figure of the boy in the park came into view as he ran for an awaiting shuttle, following others in their attempts to flee the chaos. He smiled as hope filled him, seeing the boy climb aboard the shuttle, but before he could watch anymore, Ashley grabbed his head and pulled him to her, blocking his view.

"No Gabe... Don't look. Look at me. Ok? Look at me." Ashley pled quickly, holding his head to force him to look into her eyes as she spun them, putting his back to the outside.

"Ok... Ok..." he exhaled and nodded his head, eyes frozen open as he waited.

What they were waiting for, having been told of its inevitability, was an explosion not far away. They knew what would happen, feared what you happen, but Ashley would be damned if her husband would be forced to see it. They knew the boy was going to die.

Boom.

Hearing the hollow scream of a victorious reaper, Shepard's eyes closed as tight as he could make them as wet drops streaked down his cheeks and his arms wrapped around his wife and foundation.

His heart couldn't take it, knowing what that explosion meant, as it ached and cramped inside his chest. No amount of telling himself that it was Fate's fault made it hurt less, made the pain of knowing there was nothing he could do go away. He wanted to save the boy, to rip him out of the ventilation shaft by his ear, but as he had reached for the youngster, Anderson had drawn his attention and the boy was gone in an instant.

"I... tried." Shepard said in a low, but near whimpering voice as he finally opened his eyes to look into hers

Ashley brought his head to her shoulder, "I know you did Gabe... I know you did." she lightly caressed the nape of his neck as she held him.

"No one believed me that they were real... I tried to tell them, but they laughed at me and look what happened... That boy died." Shepard said into the side of her neck.

Ashley placed her hands on the side of his neck and pulled his head off her shoulder so she could look into his red tinted eyes, "Then make them see what they've done. Don't let that boy die in vain." she lightly brushed her thumbs over the corners of his lips.

Shepard nodded his head, fully intending on making the Council see, but there wasn't time for that, not yet, when the comms overhead filled the hanger bay.

_"Shepard... Hackett's on the line." _Joker said, his voice low and sullen.

Shepard squared his shoulders, "I'll be right there," he looked at Ashley, "Take me to the new comm room."

With a curt nod, Ashley placed a soft kiss to Shepard's lips before turning and heading to the elevator at the back of the hanger bay with Shepard in tow.

Arriving in the CIC, which was busy with the minimal amount of crew, Shepard and Ashley headed through the door that used to lead to the tech lab. It had been turned into a checkpoint, complete with personnel and a scanning beam to lead into the biggest change the _Normandy_ had undergone. The briefing room and armory had been turned into a war room with a large holographic mission control at its core that Shepard was determined to get nicknamed 'The Round Table'. The room itself was kept relatively dark with only soft red swaths lighting their way down into the sunken pit, before emerging on the other side where the new communications alcove resided. It was kept colder to help keep all the workstations and sub work stations cool, but even then, the room was warm, if at all from the holographic fireplace in the center.

Stepping around 'The Round Table' to the other side, Shepard stepped into a good sized alcove with three hologram projection pedestals, one of which was lit with the form of Admiral Hackett.

"Admiral." Shepard said as he stopped in front of the projection and crossed his arms.

_"Shepard... You got off Earth ok." _he said with a bit more concern then Shepard was used to hearing.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah... Anderson stayed behind." he slightly hung his head.

_"I had a feeling he would. He'd been talking about it for awhile. Did the Grimm follow?" _Admiral Hackett clasped his hands behind his back.

"Yes sir. She's flying alongside." Shepard said with a brief glance to Ashley.

_"Good. Look... I need you guys to head to Mars. We've gotten word that there might be something there we can use against the reapers." _Hackett said, filling his chest with as much air as he could draw in through his nose.

"What kind of thing? A Weapon? A kill code? Please tell me it's a kill code. A kill code would make me happy." Shepard said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

_"That would be too easy Shepard, but Dr. T'Soni's there right now trying to narrow it down." _Hackett said, exhaling.

"Liara? We're on our way Admiral. Good luck out there." Shepard said, uncrossing his arms to place his hands on his hips.

_"I'll pass it along to Anderson. I'll say the same for you too Gabriel. Do what you do best." _Hackett said in a low tone that told Shepard that he was just as worried as everyone else was.

"I'll try... sir." Shepard started to bite the inside of his bottom lip.

_"That's all I can ask for. Hackett out." _

Shimmering out of existence, Shepard and Ashley were left by themselves in the hum, feeling the smooth, yet comforting pulses of the drive core rumble through their feet.

Despite having known that this was going to happen, that their home planet was to be set ablaze with zero prejudice, nothing could help ease the nausea in their stomachs and the ache in their heart. They had done everything they could, had gotten their respective families out of harms way, but even that was little solace, for if they couldn't stop the reapers, all their hard work wouldn't have mattered anyways.

They don't want that.

* * *

It was too quiet aboard the _Grimm_ as she silently cruised alongside the larger _Normandy_, but Kaidan's thoughts certainly were not.

He hadn't dared to open the door to the captain's quarters since they had broken away from Earth, simply because he didn't want to risk getting kicked where it would matter, or have something thrown at him. He knew Lycan was still upset, but locking her away had to be done, but now, unlocking the door to face her had to be done.

Drawing in a long breath, where he held it in his lungs, Kaidan unlocked the door and opened it to find Lycan laying on the bed, curled around the a pillow she had buried her face in and facing the far bulkhead, away from him. He studied her shoulders for any signs if she was crying or not, but they were still as could be, no hopping, no jerking, which meant there were no tears.

He quietly stepped forward into the room and closed the door behind him, still not drawing her attention as he stepped closer, close enough to reach his hand out and lightly placed it on her still shoulder.

"Ly? Honey?" Kaidan asked lowly, the sound of his voice breaking the silence almost ear splitting.

She sighed, but didn't look at him.

Lightly licking his lips, Kaidan slowly sat down on the bed next to her, ducking his head a bit to try and see her face, but at that, she buried her face in the pillow even more.

"Sweetie... I'm sorry... that I locked you in here." he said quietly, moving his hand from her shoulder to her back where he began to rub light circles.

Lycan just sighed.

Kaidan looked around the room for a moment, "Honey..." he sighed, "Babe... Please understand why I did it." he said with a near pleading tone.

With another sigh, Lycan lifted her head from the pillow and looked at him with a completely straight face. The look scared him a bit, as he couldn't tell if she was still angry, or had calmed down enough where she wouldn't be looking for blood. Kaidan steeled himself for a lashing.

"Kaidan... I want to help... More then just being your 'eyes in the sky' as it were." Lycan said in a calm voice, hugging the pillow tighter to her chest.

Kaidan let his shoulders relax just a little bit, "Baby... Having you looking over us like that is more of a help then you realize. You know this stuff better then anyone. Sure, I have the general idea, but you have all the details." he continued rubbing circles on her back.

"But you watched it right there with me when I played through. You know just as much as I do when it comes to this." Lycan said, her eyes forfeiting the stone glare to soften as her sadness shone through.

Kaidan slowly shook his head, "But with you up here, you can play through again and find things we've missed."

"If we're trying to change it, then what's the point?" Lycan asked, leaning a bit into Kaidan's shoulder for some comfort.

"We need to track things true until the last minute honey. We can only change a few things. If we change too much, then we could lose this. We've gotta play it smart baby." Kaidan said as he pulled her into him and placed a soft kiss to her hair.

Lycan sighed, "How smart can we actually play it if we don't even have a firm understanding of how this whole timeline thing works?" she huffed a short lived smile.

"You're right, it'll be hard, but sweetie... If something were to happen to you, that dog tag won't get sent back and none of this would've ever happened. I never would've gotten to marry you and... I can't let that happen. Call me greedy, but I want you to be here. I want you to've fallen through that wormhole into my lap. I want it all to happen... The good and the bad." Kaidan said, pushing her away from him just a bit so he could look into her eyes, which were still soft. _Good... I think I'm making my way out of the doghouse._

Slightly closing her eyes, Lycan couldn't really come up with a rebuttal to Kaidan's logic. He had a point, that there was still one major thing she needed to do, but there was one problem with it. She didn't know when, or where a wormhole was going to happen, or whether she would even have access to it, but she did know, that at some point, there would be a chance to send something back, or at least she hoped.

Releasing another long, slow sigh, Lycan softly smiled at him and rested her hand on his thigh.

"I know you do. I do too. I just... I just wanna feel like I'm more apart of this then I am." she said, leaning her head over to rest her temple against Kaidan's shoulder.

Lightly furrowing his brows, Kaidan grasped the sides of her neck, just along her jawline and lifted her head, forcing her to look at him, "Babe... You are more apart of this then you realize. All of this happens because of you. This future... us... It's all because of you." he said, his throat moving with a short swallow that made Lycan softly bite her bottom lip.

"I think we both had a little something to do with us." Lycan said, huffing a crooked smile.

"But you wouldn't be here... with me. Ly... I love you... More then I can express in words alone. I had to lock you in here because you just aren't ready, nor do I think you ever will be." Kaidan said, gently brushing his thumbs along her jaw.

Lycan bit her lip a bit harder, "Then why did I want you to train me?" she slowly released her lungful of air.

Kaidan half shrugged, "Because I think it had more to do with you wanting to get back in shape after those two years then learning how to fight." he said, holding his breath as if to prepare for a punch to the face, which he didn't get.

"I do like how I look now." Lycan admitted, scooting a bit closer to him.

"So do I," he huffed a laugh, "So how long did you try to hack the door?" he asked, taking a gander since it seemed that she had calmed down significantly.

Lycan shrugged, "A while after I stopped pounding on the door. I couldn't get it." she sounded defeated.

"That's because I used a color code module. There's no schematic for those so they're really hard to hack. Plus, I knew you didn't know how to hack it." he started to nibble on his own lip as he wrapped his arm around Lycan's waist.

Lycan's brows furrowed a bit, "That's cheating." she started to silently laugh.

Kaidan smiled, "No... It's using the resources at hand," his smile faded, "Ly... Can you see now, that if you couldn't hack your way out of our quarters, then you aren't ready?" he asked, ducking his head a bit to look into her eyes that had gone off to stare into the distance.

_Fuck... Time to swallow my pride. _Lycan sighed as she lifted her head to look back at her husband.

"Yes... I can see now. I'm sorry I put up such a fight hun. I just... I really wanted to help more. I just don't want anything to happen to you." she said, placing her hand on his cheek to let it drift down his skin, feeling the light stubble.

"I have the best with me sweetie and they are incredibly skilled. I can't say not to worry about me, but having Callaghan and Hanson and Ellison with me, I'm pretty much covered." he said, brushing his knuckles back over her cheek, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear.

Lycan nodded, "Ok... Just... be careful ok?"

Kaidan smiled as he leaned a bit closer to her, "I promise I will." he pressed their lips together for a motionless kiss.

Smiling against his lips, Lycan wrapped her arms around his trunk and lightly squeezed, enjoying the feeling of him against her and how his muscles twitched beneath his skin at her touch. She couldn't lie and tell herself that he didn't care, because it was quite obvious that he did a great deal. It was obvious that he loved and cared for her and wanted nothing but the best for her, and she surely couldn't fault him for that desire.

"I'm sorry Kaidan. I love you." Lycan said, breaking the kiss and smiling.

"I love you too babe," he sighed and his smile faded once more, "We're headed to Mars so... Do you wanna help me get the med kit ready for Ashley?" he asked, having to swallow down the cringe at the thought.

Lycan nodded, her smile fading as well, "Yeah... Yeah lets do that." her voice started to shake.

"Ok... What're we gonna do to try and stop her from getting hurt?" Kaidan asked as he stood from the bed.

"Try and kill Eva before then is all I can think of." Lycan said, standing and going to the closet to put on a sweater.

Kaidan nodded, "Then we'll need to prepare. I'll work on the med kit just in case, but I want you to go back to the game and get familiar with the path she's gonna run." he said, stepping up behind her and placing his hands on her hips.

Lycan leaned back into his chest, "Ok... What about Sarah and the others?"

"I'll fill them in and get them ready. Hopefully... and with some luck, we can head Fate off at the pass." Kaidan said, bowing his head to rest his chin on her shoulder.

Lycan nodded as she leaned her head over to rest her temple against his, "I hope so."


	78. Chapter 78

Chapter 78: Murphy Wins

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: Gotta admit... Title credit goes to S058. Thanks dear! ^.^)_

Kaidan was on the verge of throwing up.

With his hands gripping the edge of the counter in the bathroom of his quarters, Kaidan stood with his eyes closed, simply trying to concentrate on breathing and hoping that he wouldn't let loose the contents of his stomach.

He had donned his new armor, being a sharp blue with white accent pin-striping and had armed himself with his preferred weapons in preparation for the debacle that was to be Mars. He was nervous, scared even that they wouldn't be able to do a thing about Dr. Eva, but he had to try. _They_ had to try.

"Kaidan?" came a soft voice from the bathroom door.

Sucking in a long breath, Kaidan looked over to see Lycan standing in the doorway with a worried look on her sweet face. Her eyes were large and glassy, her fingers picked at her fingernails and she seemed just as nervous and scared as he was.

He swallowed, "Hey... You ok?" he asked, more worried about her then he.

Lycan shrugged, "I guess. Are you ready?" she asked, nervously swallowing herself before licking her dry lips.

"As I can be. I've got as much as I can carry on my belt just in case, but... I won't lie. I'm nervous." Kaidan admitted, slowly nodding his head and standing up straight, steadily breathing as his stomach rolled once more.

"I know you are babe. Have you got any idea where to go to head Eva off?" Lycan asked, walking up to him to place her hands on his armored chest.

Kaidan placed his hands on his wife's hips, "A fairly good idea. We'll figure out how to get to the shuttle landings in time."

Lycan nodded, "Ok. Just... Just do everything you can ok?" she placed her hands over his.

"We will," he sweetly kissed her forehead, "Are you sure we shouldn't tell Shepard? He could really help us."

"Yeah I'm sure. He can't be the one to change things. We have to do it. He just has to handle whatever changes." she said, stepping free of Kaidan's grasp to begin looking through their medicine cabinet.

"Alright. Sneak up on Fate. I get it." he said, placing his hands on his hips.

Watching Lycan look for whatever she was looking for, a chime at the door grabbed his attention. He left the bathroom and headed to answer it, not really surprised when he found that it was Callaghan on the other side, dressed in her armor and armed with her new sniper rifle.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Commander, but we're on approach. We're tailing just behind the _Normandy_." she said smoothly and officially.

Kaidan nodded, "Alright. Is Ellison ready to go?" he asked, glancing back towards the bathroom when a clattering noise sounded from the doorway. _What the hell is she looking for?_

Callaghan huffed a weak smile, "Yes sir. He is. He's just finishing up with his load out."

"Good..." he was interrupted by the internal comms.

_"Commander... We need you up here." _one of the twins reported.

"On my way."

Stepping passed Callaghan, who had stepped aside, Kaidan headed for the bridge with the Lieutenant not far behind. Before he had even reached the bridge, he could see the twins working a magnitude of holoscreens as the vast, rust colored martian landscape filled the viewports. It was hazed over with a thick shading of red dust, blowing in the intense winds that plowed broadside into both ships. Each devastating gust made the rides a bit turbulent, but far off in the distance, and closing fast, they could see the faint silhouette of the complex that housed the prothean ruins within.

"What's wrong?" Kaidan asked as he sat in the central raised captain's seat in the middle of the bridge.

"Not really wrong per say Commander, but we're picking up readings on the ground." Jake reported with hands that never stopped working his console.

"What've you got?" Kaidan asked, looking over his shoulder at the approach of booted feet, finding it to be Lycan will a small medicine cup of pink liquid.

Kaidan took the small medicine cup and downed its contents, opening his throat to limit the liquid from touching his tongue, but it did anyways. It was a chalky, wintergreen tasting antacid. At least it would calm his stomach down and for that, he was grateful.

"We're picking up Cerberus troops on the ground Commander. The _Normandy's_ reporting the same thing." Jerry answered in the same way his brother had.

_Right on time, _"Figures... Callaghan, go inform Hanson to dress out. While we're on the ground, he's in charge of keeping Lycan outta their hands." Kaidan said, handing the medicine cup back to Lycan.

"Roger that." she said and headed off immediately with nothing else said.

"We're still going in Commander? Isn't that a bit of a risk?" Jake asked, this time actually glancing over his shoulder to look at Kaidan and Lycan.

"Have to." Kaidan simply said, looking up at Lycan who had placed her hand on his shoulder.

_"Grimm... This is Normandy. We're releasing the shuttle. Shepard wants you guys to circle the corpse and keep eyes and ears out for any incoming reaper forces." _it was clear that it was Joker on the other end of the comm.

"Understood _Normandy. _Heads up on that monster storm coming in. It's nasty by our scans." Jake added as he and his brother smoothly banked the ship a bit to get into position.

_"We have it on sensors. Don't go breaking your hips now." _Joker snickered.

"Hey... Don't count this old girl out just yet. She's been keeping up with you so far." Jerry fired back without hesitation.

_"That's because I'm letting you." _

Both pilots chuckled as they slowed the ship, bringing her into a near hover as they began to smoothly circle the prothean complex below. All they could see was the thick and churning storm on the horizon, but they could also clearly see that it was closing in faster then expected as its thick clouds rolled over the land.

Having to squint a bit, Kaidan saw the small profile of the shuttle fly free of the _Normandy, _banking down towards the ground on its approach to the complex. It was almost too small to appear to be handling the weather, but it made quick work of the trip from the _Normandy_ to the shuttle landings and touched down with what looked to be little trouble.

_Time to go, _"Hanson getting ready?" he asked, shooting a glance towards Callaghan.

Callaghan nodded, "Yes sir. How do you plan on getting ground side if we aren't landing? We don't have a shuttle like the _Normandy_ does." she asked, stepping aside to give Kaidan room to start down the main corridor of the ship.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing Lieutenant." Kaidan admitted with a small and crooked smirk as he started down the stairs into the cargo hold.

"Oh, uh... Well, I know how I'd do it, but I'm not sure if it would sit well with everyone else." she said, giving Ellison a curt nod as they walked up to where he stood with their helmets resting on top of a crate.

Kaidan picked up his helmet, "And that would be?"

"We jump." she said like it was normal to jump from perfectly good spacecraft.

"Jump!" Lycan yelped, instantly covering her mouth with her hand.

Callaghan smiled, "Yes jump. Space jump, well, it's not really a space jump since we're not far up, but still. Every spacefaring marine learns how to do it."

Lycan's mouth was agape with shock, not at all liking the idea of allow gravity to do all the work, but when she looked at Kaidan, expecting to see him mirror her shock, that was not what was on his face.

"You're not actually considering jumping are you?" she asked, gulping to try and not get seriously angry with him.

Kaidan nervously looked at her and rubbed the back of his neck, "Well... Yeah. It would work. I haven't space jumped in ages though."

"It's like riding a bike Commander. Once you're in free fall, you'll remember what comes next." Callaghan said, tightening her lips to keep from smirking at Lycan's second yelp.

Lycan smacked Callaghan's arm, "Sarah! That's not what I wanna hear!"

This time, Callaghan chuckled, "It'll be fine Lycan. It's an everyday thing." she said in reassurance.

Lycan blew out a long breath, "I can't watch this. Kaidan, sweetie, I love you, but don't make me a widow, or I'll kill you. Got it?" she pointed her finger at him.

Kaidan smiled and chuckled, "I won't. I promise."

Stepping up to him and giving him a quick peck to his lips, Lycan left the cargo hold, leaving the three to finish their preparations. They double checked their weapons, their armor and secured their helmets on their heads before they headed for a large storage locker that housed a multitude of equipment ranging from damage control tools and supplies to emergency rations, but what they were after, hidden behind it all, were the jump packs. High altitude parachutes.

"So this is what I'm thinking. We'll give Shepard and his team some time to get inside the facility. Once he's a little ways in, we'll head out." Kaidan said to his team, through the comms in each of their helmets.

"Where are you looking to land Commander?" Ellison asked as he finished with the strap that ran across his chest.

"On the outside of the facility near the shuttle landings... If that storm doesn't get in our way that is. If it does, we'll make our way through until we get there." Kaidan said, securing the last strap of his jump pack.

"Shouldn't be too hard Commander." Callaghan said with joy in her voice.

"That's what you say." Kaidan rolled his eyes as he started for the cargo bay door, having actually considered jumping from a perfectly good spaceship.

* * *

Shepard was worried that about Cerberus being in the facility and this time, they weren't looking to help him out. Not after having told their illustrious leader to stuff it up his tailpipe.

Having made and shot their way into the cafeteria, they found it was dark, lifeless and that included the dead laying about as if they had died where they stood. The only light was that of the dull rust color coming in from the windows close to the ceiling, but it allowed so little in, that flashlights were still needed. They knew little of what to expect in that room, but one thing they had learned the easy way instead of the hard way, was that the room had absolutely zero air in it to breath.

"Shepard... The room has been depressurized." Liara said in a quiet tone as she knelt down to close the eyes of a dead scientist, having simply dropped where he stood.

"Think Cerberus is behind it?" Ashley asked as she scanned the room, looking for anything that could possibly be laying in wait to shoot at them.

"That'd be my guess. Keep your eyes peeled Ash." Shepard said, paying close attention to the darkness as well.

With a simple nod, all trained their lights along the walls and down the stairs, lighting their path with each step they took. Between the three of them, they slowly and cautiously walked deeper into the deadened cafeteria, on high alert for any Cerberus troops that could be laying in wait, but there was one problem with being that alert. You couldn't tell if your mind was playing tricks on you.

Out of nowhere, three distinctive shadows streaked through the band of light along the opposite wall from the windows, causing all three to jump with a start and look around, furiously trying to find the source of the shadows, but all they saw was more stillness and darkness.

"What was that?" Ashley asked in a near whisper as she continued to look around with wide alert eyes.

Shepard shook his head, "I don't know. Joker?" he called into his comms in his helmet, only to receive no response, "Joker? Come in Joker." he tried again with the same results.

"That storm must be interfering with communications Shepard. It would appear we are cut off from the _Normandy._" Liara said, also keeping her voice low.

"Looks like it. Come on... I don't wanna stick around in case it wasn't a hallucination." Shepard said as he started down the central staircase.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Shepard's foot kicked a fallen tray of food he had missed in the dark. It's clattering obliterated the soul crushing silence with thundering power, causing the three of them to jump once more, but that startle was short lived as muffled voices started hushing from somewhere nearby.

"Shit... Get down!" Shepard ordered in a harsh whisper as he dropped to a crouch and crawled in behind a serving counter.

Again, the silence was broken as the back wall turned out to be containment shutters, covering up the thick glass windows the separated the cafeteria from the adjoining room. On the other side was a small squad of Cerberus troops, armed and very much standing post in case Shepard and his team had gotten that far. Unlucky for them, is that he had.

"Standard op Skipper? Lay 'em out with some spray?" Ashley asked in an ultra low whisper, knowing her voice filtered into her husband's ear from his helmet comms.

Shepard nodded, "That's what I'm thinking, but I wanna try something first." he started to smirk behind his helmet and Ashley knew it.

"I don't like the way that sounds Skipper." Ashley deadpanned, getting a bad feeling that he was about to do something completely Shepard.

"Just trust me." he equally deadpanned as he placed his pistol onto his hips.

With a flashing blue glow that shimmered across every smooth surface like water from an aquarium, Shepard stood up, arms outstretched and fully wrapped in blue smoke. His face turned violent with furrowed brows and narrowed eyes as the Cerberus troops didn't hesitate to open fire, slamming every round into the mass effect field in a congregated spot. Each round hit with pretty little pings at what would be the center of Shepard's chest but the field he had created wasn't going to let them pass.

After a minute of continuous weapons fire, the Cerberus troops finally stopped firing and judging by the low murmurs between them, they were a bit taken aback by Shepard's biotic display. They weren't entirely sure what to do if their weapons fire wasn't working.

"Thanks for double exposing me." Shepard grinned evilly as his biotic glow intensified, brightening the entire room with blue light.

With his growl growing into a strong grunt, Shepard's biotic field grew before he shot his arms forward, launching the field onto a collision course with the Cerberus troops. They simply stood in shock and awe as the wall of dark energy rushed at them, seemingly only gathering speed upon which there was little they could do.

Before Shepard even took in his next breath, the field trained through the Cerberus troops with the same force that a Kodiak shuttle falls from the sky. Hard. They were thrown back into the far walls, heads first, audibly breaking their necks with loud, painful sounding snaps before letting them flop to the floor in armored and limp heaps.

"Wow Skipper. That was uh... impressive." Ashley said as she stood and followed Shepard towards the now shattered set of windows.

"It's the second good thing that came outta Cerberus." Shepard scoffed as he went for the door that took them into a messy security outpost.

"The second good thing?" Ashley asked with an arced brow, beginning to search the room while Shepard went to see what Liara was doing at the main security terminal which she had made a beeline for.

Shepard grinned, "The first was getting a second chance at life." he winked at Ashley, causing her to shy into her own shoulders a bit.

"Shepard... I've got access to the security feeds." Liara gently interrupted, never taking her eyes off the terminal as she skimmed through the listings of security recordings.

"Good. Download the vids for Admiral Hackett. He'll wanna see that Dr. Eva was a Cerberus plant." Shepard said as he crossed his arms and glanced at Ashley as she walked up to see for herself.

"Pardon? How do... Oh right. Lycan must have told you." Liara said as she worked the terminal to prepare downloading the security feeds.

Ashley nodded, "Yeah she did. Her and Kaidan filled us in on a few things before we got here."

"Why not everything?" Liara asked as she began the download to her omni-tool.

"So whatever changes doesn't affect the entire timeline. They're letting the ripples die down before they toss in another stone as it were." Shepard said, uncrossing his arms.

"Ah. That makes sense. Did she happen to mention where we can find Dr. Eva?" Liara asked.

Shepard nodded, "Yup. We'll find her in the core room where the actual prothean ruins are." he said, resting the heel of his hand on his pistol.

Liara nodded, "Alright. I will take a few more moments to find the best route for us to take." she said, finishing with the downloads before setting off to study the facility's layout.

"That'll be good Liara. We'll search the room for anything that could come in handy." Shepard said as he turned and headed for a security equipment locker.

Ashley soon followed as he opened the doors into a trove of abandoned equipment, ranging from a few weapon mods to a kept med kit with medi-gel packs inside that he packed into his belt. There was some emergency rations, some standard and unimpressive weapons, but other then, there wasn't much.

"So Skipper..." Ashley said quietly as she took the mods from her husband's hands to look through them herself.

Shepard glanced over at her, seeing the slightest hint of contemplation on her face, "Everything ok?" he asked, picking up a few more mods to examine them.

Ashley nodded, "Fine actually, but I wanted to ask... about that little biotic display earlier." she said, still rifling through the mods to see if anything would come in handy.

Shepard's brows furrowed, "What about it?" he started to worry, "Did I do something wrong?" he asked as his lips started to turn down into a soft frown.

"Oh heaven's no Gabriel... You didn't do anything wrong, but I'm... curious... I guess about what'll happen when we have kids." Ashley said with her brows pulling together slightly.

Shepard sighed lightly, "Oh... Uh..." he rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't really know. I've never given it any thought before." he said, ignoring the nervous flip in his stomach.

Ashley took in a breath, "You kinda have to now." she started to speak quietly.

Shepard's heart started to slam, "W-What do you mean?"

Setting the mods down, Ashley looked straight into his eyes, "I don't mean anything, but we are married. I'm sure kids'll come into the picture at some point. I'm just curious is all. Am I gonna have a bunch of little biotic babies throwing things at me, or charging away when it's bath time?" she smiled to make him feel better.

Shepard started breathing again, "Oh... Well, I don't know Ash. I honestly have no idea if this shit transfers to offspring or not. I know it does in the asari, but... I really don't know. Human biotics don't occur naturally." he said as he stuffed a couple mods into an empty pouch on his belt.

"Do you think it's possible?" Ashley asked plainly.

Shepard shrugged, "Again, I don't know babe. I'm not good with any of that medical stuff. What I do know, is that we'll handle whatever comes our way. If it happens that our kids end up biotics, we'll get through it together. They'll at least have someone there to teach them." he smiled as he softly placed his hand against her armored neck.

Ashley smiled, "That's sweet Skipper. I guess we'll just have to see what happens." she placed her hand over his.

"Yeah. We will," he started to lightly laugh, "I can see it now... A herd of little Shepards all flaring high and eating enough food to put us in the poor house." Shepard said, taking his hand back as his chuckling grew in his throat.

"Oh dear god." Ashley rolled her eyes as she went back to riffling through the mods.

"It would be a sight that's for sure, but having a family with you Ash would be an honor and a privilege. If our kids're biotics... It would just be something more special about them."

Ashley started to blush a bit, "Gabriel... You're making me blush." she smiled.

"But you're so cute when you blush." he grinned.

Ashley shook her head, "You're hopeless Skipper," she sighed, "Seeing anything good in here besides a few mods?" she asked, moving the conversation away to keep her from blushing more.

"Not much. A few medi-gel packs, some ok mods, but nothing to squee over." Shepard said, tossing what he didn't want back into the locker.

Ashley sighed heavily, "Bummer... You'd think a security office would keep better stuff then this. This is... This is low level entry stuff."

"Yeah... Gotta work with what we got I guess. A little bit more damage should help get through these Cerberus goons a little faster though." he shrugged as he took his weapon to a nearby bench and started to tinker with it.

"Probably, but knowing you, you'd just resort to your biotics and mow them down like tall weeds." Ashley said with a snicker.

Shepard gave her a shit eating grin, "Of course. It's more fun that way." he popped out his old mod and snapped in the new one.

"Figures you'd say something like that." Ashley chuckled lowly.

Finally finished with the quick modding of his weapon, Shepard gave Ashley some room to mod hers as well, which she did much faster then he since she was more adept with all things that go boom. It honestly was something he enjoyed, watching her work with a gun, as she was as comfortable around them as she was with a puppy, or him. It was just something she did and she did it well.

"Ready to rock this joint some more?" Shepard asked, glancing over his shoulder at Liara who was finishing with the security terminal.

Ashley lifted her assault rifle and snapped in a fresh thermal clip, "Ready as you are Skipper."

Shepard huffed a smile, "I have no doubt. I shouldn't have even bothered asking."

* * *

The blowing red dust was limiting Kaidan's and his teams' visibility drastically, making evening seeing the general shape of the facility hard to distinguish against the storm torn landscape.

Having landed just before the storm had reached the complex, Kaidan had led Callaghan and Ellison to the far side of the facility, effectively blocking the blowing winds from giving them a harder time then they were in the mood for.

"This storm is impossible Commander." Ellison groaned through the helmet comms as he looked at his omni-tool, having loaded it with the facility's layout from the Alliance database before they had departed the ship.

"That's Mars for you." Callaghan said, smirking behind her helmet.

"What's their location Ellison?" Kaidan asked right off the bat, eager to get on with their set plan.

Ellison worked his omni-tool, "They're just on the other side of the security station and moving towards the core." he reported, watching the small popup holoscreen that showed an equally small red dot that indicated Shepard's location.

"Understood. Lets get moving, we've gotta get to the shuttle landings. How far did the wind blow us off course?" Kaidan asked, starting forward along the wall.

"Not far luckily. We've only gotta cover... half a click. Why are we heading to the shuttle landings anyways?" he asked, closing his omni-tool and lowering his arm.

"Just in case any key Cerberus personnel try to bug out. We'll hopefully be there in time to stop them." Kaidan answered as he glanced at his omni-tool, also loaded with the layout, to find the quickest route to their destination.

"Makes sense." Callaghan agreed.

_"-round team, -his is the Grimm. I've -ot a neurotic -ife up_ _here asking if -ou guys -anded in one piece." _it was one of the twins, but the building static was starting to make things difficult.

Kaidan chuckled, happy that he at least got the gist of things, "Yes. We landed in one piece. We're starting to make our way to the shuttle landings."

_ "-oger that -ommander. You -ave earned a smile and I'm presuming no -ore time spent in the -oghouse." _

With the comms clicking off, Kaidan lead his squad, pressed against the wall, to the edge of the maintenance catwalk to a ladder that took them down several levels to a locked door leading into a darkened maintenance shaft. Kaidan clicked on his flashlight and crawled in on all fours. More like having to climb in on all fours since the passageway was only big enough for that.

"Well this is cozy." Ellison huffed, opting to stare at the floor instead of straight ahead for... obvious reasons.

"I'm not minding." Callaghan said, opting to look forward for... obvious reasons.

"Keep looking Lieutenant." Ellison chuckled with a little wag of his backside.

Callaghan rolled her eyes, "To be honest, I'd rather be in your spot."

Kaidan groaned as his head hung, "Good lord. You're definitely not subtle Callaghan." he returned to looking ahead at the long and dark cubbyhole they had squeezed into.

"Not news Commander. Plus... I've gotta have something to admire. Lord knows I can't touch." Callaghan continued to chuckled.

With a groan, and grateful that his helmet was on to hid his blush, Kaidan stopped, but hadn't said anything to his squad which resulted in Ellison bumping the top of his head into his backside.

"Oy! Commander!" Ellison protested as he backed up, putting his backside onto the front of Callaghan's helmet.

"Hey! I'm not into that kinda stuff!" she equally protested.

"Knock it off!" Kaidan snapped, not in the mood to deal with the bickering.

"Sorry Commander." they both said.

"Where are we Ellison? I can either go left, right, or straight." Kaidan said, somewhat over his shoulder as best he could in the confined space.

"Uh... One sec Commander." Ellison said as he sat on his heels, hunched over, and opened his omni-tool, "We need to head left to the next junction." he reported and shut down his omni-tool.

Turning left, all three managed to crawl to the next junction without getting too hung up on any of the protruding metal struts that lined the passageway. It was still dark and if it wasn't for Kaidan's flashlight, they would have been cast into unforgivable blackness that would swallow them whole and they didn't have time to bumble around aimlessly in an ultra small hole.

"Turn right." Ellison said as he glanced at his omni-tool for a quick moment.

With a nod that maybe the others saw, Kaidan turned right, straight into a sealed hatch which indicated it was locked with a red interface. He too sat on his heels as he brought up his omni-tool and started working the interface, not having a hard time getting the hatch unlocked to find that it led into another long, dark and just as cramped passageway.

"Are we getting close Ellison?" Kaidan asked as she started crawling again, having to swing his hips far to the right to avoid getting his pistol snagged on a strut.

"Looks like it sir. We'll finish crawling down this shaft and there should be another hatch that'll lead into the waiting area just on the inside of the airlock from the shuttle landings." Ellison said, having looked ahead of time, just in case.

"Good. I just hope we get there in time." Kaidan said lowly, but that didn't matter when helmet comms were involved.

"In time for what?" Callaghan asked from the back of the line.

Kaidan's eyes flashed wider for a moment, _Shit, _"To stop anyone from getting away. I said that earlier." he lied and gulped.

"Oh." was all she said, continuing to crawl a bit further back in case she needed to stop short again.

No more words were said as Kaidan continued to crawl, periodically asking where Shepard and his team were to make sure they weren't behind. Luckily, they weren't and it gave him confidence knowing that their plan might actually work, that they might have a chance at stopping Dr. Eva before the unthinkable happened. It also gave him hope that they could possibly head Fate off at the pass and make this war their own.

Having finally crawled the ridiculous distance on hands and knees, Kaidan, Ellison and Callaghan reached the hatch that dropped them down into the deserted waiting area. Kaidan grumbled as he climbed from the passageway onto an integrated ladder on the wall that took him safely down to the floor.

"Clear." Kaidan said, having given the room a quick scan to make sure there was nothing to worry about.

The room itself was really nothing special, having several rows of plain chairs for people to sit and wait, with a few plain potted plants and only a few pictures to lively the place up a bit. There was a check-in desk with a splattering of datapads and terminals, some actual hard copy papers strewn about the floor, but what really caught Kaidan's attention, was the blood sprayed along the pillars and floor with a number of bodies slumped in their chairs.

"Did Cerberus kill those men?" Callaghan asked, taking the final step down from the ladder.

Kaidan nodded, "That's what I'm thinking. I don't think they wanted anyone left alive that could give them any trouble." he said, stepping up to the closest dead body to close the poor man's cloudy eyes.

"Well I'm sure they certainly think they accomplished that goal." Callaghan said, going to close the eyes of the other dead, shot where they sat.

"Commander, Shepard's in the core." Ellison reported, already by the airlock to hack it open.

Kaidan sighed as his stomach started to roll with nerves, "Alright. Lets go."

Their wait was sort with Ellison hacking the door, as he was their resident engineer and he was blazingly good with anything tech. The door was open in less then a minute and once the three of them were inside, Ellison did the exact same thing with the exit door as soon as the pressurization cycle would allow except this time, he did it faster.

Back out in the martian air and dust, Kaidan picked up their pace as he started for the shuttle landings. He knew their time was short and the countdown clock had begun the moment Ellison reported that Shepard was in the core. His pace turned into a jog as he battled against the blowing winds and dust to reach his goal, pulling his pistol from his hip and readied it in mid stride. He slide over a support beam and made the hard curve around more support girders, but skidded to a halt when the shattering sound of a crash sounded over their heads.

"Commander!" Callaghan shouted, pointing to the event in the sky.

Looking up, Kaidan saw as a blue shuttle emblazoned with the Alliance logo spiraled out of control, nacelles aflame while the other shuttle, obviously of Cerberus colors, fell like a brick from the sky... straight for them.

"Shit! Move!" Kaidan ordered harshly as he leapt down from the wall that separated the shuttle landings from the rest of the facility, to roll along one of the landing pads.

He was closely followed by the other two just as the Cerberus shuttle touched down hard with a deafening crash, erupting flames all around them with plenty of chunks flying in every direction. They quickly covered their heads and flattened themselves as best as they could against the wall should the shuttle roll towards them, but a little bit of luck goes a long way. The shuttle stayed on its belly and burned.

However, that luck quickly vanished when Kaidan looked up to see that the shuttle had landed in a position to separate them from Shepard and his team.

"Oh no..." Kaidan exhaled quietly as he clambered to his feet and rushed for the mangled gull wing door.

In his rush to get the door open, his heart started to thunder as loud as the crash in his chest, knowing he only had seconds to get to the other side before it was too late. He couldn't think about it, didn't want to, as it would consume everything about him and he needed to think of how to get the door open.

That's when it suddenly hit him.

With a furious flare of biotic power, Kaidan ripped the door from its mounts, throwing it aside and not caring that it went over the side of the landing pad. He was immediately slapped in the face with the fires inside the downed shuttle, but he was left with an open field to run through them, closely followed by Ellison and Callaghan to where Shepard, Ashley, Liara and Vega stood by the Alliance shuttle.

"Wasn't expecting you to come outta that crash." Shepard said, smirking behind his helmet as Kaidan and crew hurried to their sides.

"Wanted to get here in case things went sour. What the hell happened?" Kaidan asked, playing dumb that he didn't already know.

"James crashed the shuttle. Tried stopping him, but uh... I think it's obvious that that didn't work." Shepard said, looking over at the muscled marine who just shrugged.

"It worked Commander. Dr. Eva was getting away." James said with another shrug.

"It's a double edged sword James. She had that Crucible data and by the look of things, it may not've survived the crash." Shepard said, having to take a deep breath to keep from chastising the man right then and there in front of everyone.

"We should start looking through the wreckage Shepard. Perhaps some luck is on our side and the data can be salvaged." Liara chimed in as she placed her pistol onto her hip.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. Lets get those fires out..."

Everyone's attention was drawn to the destroyed Cerberus shuttle as a deep metal groaning sounded from behind the fires. It set everyone back on high alert as they watched hard, Kaidan being the first to pull his weapon since he knew what was about to step out of those fires. The action spurred the others to ready themselves as well and as a blackened figure stepped from the fires, the rest of them realized that Dr. Eva wasn't a human at all, she was a walking Cerberus AI.

"Get down!" Ashley barked as she stepped forward.

"Ashley don't!" Kaidan yelled, dropping his pistol to go after her, but he didn't get very far.

He was too late.

All Shepard found he could do was watch in horror as the scene unfolded before him. His best friend was thrown back with a single powerful swing from the AI, sending him sliding back along the ground to his feet. The moment the AI had dealt with Kaidan, it turned its attention to his wife and that action alone made Shepard's world slow down.

Slamming an open hand hard into the front of Ashley's helmet, the AI with absolutely zero trouble, hoisted her into the air, letting her dangle there as if she was a fish pulled from a pond. She tried to break the mechanical grip, but no amount of her strength was going to set her free.

With a high flash of dark energy that made even Liara reel, Shepard went to rip the AI mechanical limb from mechanical limb, but he was too late. They all were. He got to watch his world come crashing down.

Turning around to face the shuttle, still holding Ashley off her feet and helpless, the AI slammed the back of her head into the side of the ruined shuttle. Over and over again, Ashley's head was bashed and each drained the fight from her until she went entirely limp where she was tossed aside like an emptied sack.

Watching, frozen solid where he stood, Shepard's world no longer existed. To him, it had been smashed in when he was forced to watch his wife be slammed into the shuttle as if she was a fly beneath a fly swatter. His heart no longer beat, his lungs no longer held breath and he could no longer feel. All his senses had been deadened. He might as well have been an AI.

"No..." Shepard choked, stunned still has Kaidan and the rest opened fire on the AI.

It didn't take long for the AI to drop, having taken several rounds from multiple weapons to its face, but none cared about that. They only cared for the one laying near the shuttle, on the ground, without a single movement to indicate if she was alive.

Breaking free of his icy existence, Shepard ran forward, sliding on his knees to Ashley's side where he reached for her, taking care not to jostle her in any way, shape, or form.

"Ashley? Baby say something... Please?" Shepard begged, filled with emotion as he took extra care to slip his arms beneath her.

He received no answer.

"Ashley? Please say something... Anything?" Shepard pleaded with her as his eyes glassed over heavily with his terror and dread.

His heart filling with despair, Shepard's eyes started to heavily water, spilling large and wet drops to plummet down his helmet covered cheeks. He wanted to touch her skin, to check for a pulse, but he couldn't, not in the martian atmosphere, but in a moment of clarity, a brief almost microscopic moment, he realized that there was hope not far away.

"Kaidan! Kaidan get over here!" Shepard called out, never shifting to lay his wife back down flat.

Little did Shepard know, Kaidan was already there.

"I'm already here Gabe. Lay her down." Kaidan said lowly, moving slowly to not startle the already on edge Shepard as he knelt.

"No! Tell me she's alive Kaidan. Please... I beg you... Tell me she's alive." Shepard cried as he stared through the visor of her helmet, hoping, praying for her eyes to open.

"We've gotta get her to a hospital Shepard. I can stabilize her, but she needs more then what I can provide." Kaidan said, forcing himself to stay calm, hoping it would help Shepard to do the same.

Shepard nodded, "You're right. We'll... We'll all head back to the _Normandy._" he said with a crack in his voice.

"What about that _thing_ Commander?" James asked, pointing to the downed form of the Cerberus AI.

"Um... Uh... B-Bring it with us." Shepard choked out, having an increasingly more difficult time concentrating on anything else besides the woman in his arms.

With help from Kaidan, Shepard stood, cradling Ashley's form to him tightly while Kaidan held her head as still as possible. She was surprisingly light, frail even in his arms. She looked as if she was simply asleep, but as he carried her onto the shuttle that, miraculously still worked, barely, he was terrified that she wouldn't wake up.

As the shuttle limped its way to the _Normandy _that was on approach to meet them halfway, Shepard continued to hold her close as Kaidan removed their helmets before looking to do the same to Ashley's, just incredibly more careful.

"Be careful." Shepard said quietly, still with tears streaming down his face.

"Of course. Just hold her as still as you can Gabe." Kaidan said as he moved as slowly as possible.

All Shepard could do was nod.

Unsealing the helmet, Kaidan lifted it with so much care, that Shepard wondered if he was moving the helmet at all, but his wonder was soon confirmed when he saw her loose hair begin to fall from the seal. Centimeter but centimeter, inch by inch, her face was slowly revealed, causing them both to gasp at the sight.

Ashley's skin had become a flurry of color, mainly black, blue and red that had set in in a matter of minutes. Both her eyes had begun to turn black and swell, only adding to the already framed bruise that had extended down from her hairline. Her lips had turned purple with blood and her nose had unleashed a wash of blood that streaked down her cheeks.

Sniffling hard at the sight, Shepard ever so softly swept away the blood, taking care not to apply too much pressure, "She looks... she looks..." his words caught hard in his throat.

"She's alive right now Gabe, but we _need_ to get her to the med bay." Kaidan said softly, handing Shepard some gauze to help him gently clean her skin.

With nothing else to say, everyone simply sat in silence as the shuttle docked more smoothly then any of them had expected. The second the shuttle door opened, Shepard was on the move to the elevator with Kaidan and lot in tow, some heading to the bridge while others waited in the mess, but for Kaidan, his crew and Shepard, their destination was the med bay and nothing was going to stop them from getting there.

"Set her down, but gently. Don't cause anymore trauma to her head." Kaidan said as he rushed to a supply cabinet.

"Come help me." Shepard ordered of Ellison as both carefully set Ashley down on the first bed they came to.

"Dear god..." Ellison breathed as he began to help Shepard remove the ceramic plates of her armor.

"She'll be ok. S-She's tough... She'll make it." Shepard said, mainly to convince himself as he simply let the tears flow as he worked.

"She will be Commander. I'm sure of it." Ellison said, earning himself an agreeable nod from Shepard.

As Shepard and Ellison finished removing the ceramic plating so the only thing she wore was the thick mesh, Shepard took a step back, resting his hands on his hips with a blank mind and nothing but worry in his chest. He was terrified of losing her, terrified of having to live his life alone and without his kindred spirit. He couldn't live a life of solitude, wouldn't live it, and he would given everything to make sure she would be ok. No matter the cost.

"Ellison... Go contact Huerta Memorial on the Citadel and tell them to get their neurological department ready for a critically injured human female with brain swelling, skull fracture and bleeding of the cerebral sheath." Kaidan said quickly as he dug through more cupboards, looking for gloves, a neck brace and other supplies he might need to help stabilize Ashley.

"Aye sir." Ellison said and hurried off.

"What? How do... Kaidan, how you know all that? You haven't even..." Shepard asked as his brows drew down hard, his voice trailed off the moment his brain clicked, "You knew."

"I don't have time for this Gabe. You can kill me later, but right now, I've gotta make sure Ashley gets to a hospital." Kaidan said as he rushed to Ashley's side and brought up his omni-tool to begin his work.

"You knew!" Shepard snapped angrily as he clenched his fists tightly.

Kaidan sighed and sucked on both lips, "Callaghan... Could you give us a minute?" he asked, finally looking up at Shepard who was stiffening with rising anger.

With just a nod, Callaghan finished checking Ashley's pupils before heading out, only leaving Shepard, angrily glaring at his best friend.

"You knew... You cock sucking son of a bitch!" Shepard snapped, pointing a finger at Kaidan.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah, I knew. It's why I was at the facility. I tried to stop it." he admitted, knowing he had to fess up.

"Why didn't you try harder? Why did you let my _wife_ get hurt?" Shepard demanded to know with tears streaming down his face even harder.

"I didn't let it happen Gabe!" he took in a deep breath to calm himself, "I tried to stop it from happening, but..." Kaidan's voice trailed off as he started working on stabilizing Ashley again.

"But what?" Shepard asked with a growl.

Kaidan didn't answer as he just worked.

"But what!" Shepard snapped, causing Kaidan to flinch.

"I wasn't fast enough." Kaidan said lowly.

Shepard's anger grew, "Why didn't you tell me this was gonna happen? Why!"

Again, Kaidan stopped his work and rested his hands on the edge of the bed, "Because I couldn't. If we would've told you, then it would've been too much. You need to drive the timeline along its intended path while me and Ly work behind the scenes. I thought that if I stopped Ashley from getting hurt, it would help cause just enough of a ripple to alter a few things down the line."

"And look what happened. _My_ _wife_ is laying in that bed and I don't know if she's gonna wake up." Shepard hissed through clenched teeth, gulping down his sobs that were growing in intensity.

"She'll wake up Shepard. She'll pull through." Kaidan said, knowing he had to tell the man more to get him to calm down.

"You're sure? You're sure she'll be ok?" Shepard asked, beginning to lose control of his emotions even more.

Kaidan nodded, "Yes." he simply said in order to give hope to the trembling man not far away.

Shepard gulped, "T-Then why c-can't I stop t-thinking I'm about to lose her?" he choked through the tears as he fell to his knees and cried.

Shutting down his omni-tool, Kaidan went to his best friend and knelt down in front of him, "I don't know Gabe, but... I tried. Lord knows I tried. Fate just won this one." he said as he dared to comfort his friend by drawing him into a supportive hug.

With silent sobs, Shepard just let it happen, "W-Why did she h-have to get hurt?" he sobbed, lay limp in Kaidan's arms.

"It was just meant to happen I guess. I'm so sorry Gabe... I really am." Kaidan said, having to close his eyes to keep from tearing up himself.

Shepard sniffled and sat up on his own as the doors to the med bay opened, allowing Liara to step through.

"We have set course for the Citadel Commander. How is she?" she asked, walking up to Ashley's bedside.

Kaidan stood and headed back to join her, "Not good. Her brain's running out of room and the skull fracture is pretty bad. There's... significant internal bleeding and I'm scared to try and bring it under control because I don't wanna make anything worse." he opened his omni-tool and started scanning once more, looking for any more injuries that he didn't know about and could possibly do something about.

However, when Kaidan's omni-tool finished scanning, all that his eyes were drawn to was the small screen displaying its results. It couldn't be, it had to be something else, because if it was what his omni-tool was showing him, then more was changing then any of them thought.

"Oh no..." he exhaled, looking into Liara' worried azure eyes that matched his, "This... This is gonna change things... A lot." he said in a whisper as he glanced down at Ashley with a gulp.

"What's wrong?" Liara asked plainly and matching his whisper.

All Kaidan did was turn his omni-tool so she could see and the moment her eyes set on the same information, they went wide as she silently gasped.

"By the Goddess... Shepard needs to... He needs to know." Liara said quietly, glancing her over should at Shepard who had gone to sit at the empty desk with his head in his hands.

"We can't... Not yet at least. It'll just... make him worry more and he needs to get back into the right mindset." Kaidan said, lightly grasping her arm to keep her from stepping away to tell him.

"But will he not be this worried the entire time we travel to the Citadel?" Liara asked with sincerity in her soft tone.

Kaidan sighed, "Probably, but... We've done all we can for her. We can't do anything else until we get her to the hospital. What we can do now, is smack Shepard out of it." he said, releasing her arm.

"I suppose you are right Kaidan. He needs to concentrate on how we are to convince the Council that Earth needs help." Liara said, glancing down at Ashley with her own worry coloring her eyes.

"He does," Kaidan shut down his omni-tool, "Don't tell anyone about this Liara. I don't want it getting back to him somehow... Not right away that is." he said, resting his hands on the side of the bunk once more.

Liara nodded, "Alright. I won't. I just hope this is the right decision Kaidan." she said, crossing her arms.

"I hope so too," he gulped, "Shepard?" he said louder this time, getting the attention of his friend at the desk.

"Everything ok?" Shepard asked quickly as he stood and headed over to them.

"As well as they can be. We've done all we can here Shepard, but... Well... She needs medical attention. You know that." Kaidan said, finally standing up straight to place his hands on his hips.

Shepard gulped and held his breath as he looked down at his wife, "Come on baby girl... hang in there," he said lowly to her, trying not to visibly shake, "You still think she'll make it?" he needed the reassurance.

Kaidan licked his lips and sighed, "I really think she will Gabe. I wish I had more for you though, but... I'm not a surgeon. I've done what I can." he said, looking down at his friend as he bit the inside of his bottom lip.

Shepard drew in a shaky breath as he ever so softly grasped Ashley's hand, trying not to cry at just how cold it was, "I know... I know. What... What do we do now?"

"Right now, we need to concentrate on how we're gonna get the Council to help us. Earth needs help and bad." Kaidan said, grateful that the conversation had shifted so he could lock away his secret, at least till later.

Shepard nodded, "I know... Sitting in here sulking isn't gonna help her. I just... I just have to trust she'll pull through. It's all I can do." he sniffled, but he was thankful his eyes had dried.

"Do you want someone to keep an eye on her while we travel?" Liara asked sweetly, softly placing her hand on his shoulder.

"I'd like that." Shepard nodded again.

"I'll have Callaghan do it. You should get changed and take some time to collect your thoughts." Kaidan said, not making any effort to move from his spot.

"Yeah. I probably should." Shepard said lowly.

_"Commander... Admiral Hackett's calling in. He's waiting for you in the QEC room." _Joker's voice interrupted into the dreadfully quiet space.

Shepard gulped, "Ok... I'm on my way."

As Shepard left the med bay, Kaidan and Liara remained, both looking at Ashley's quiet and bruised face.

"I hope this is the right thing to do Kaidan. I hope this decision does not lead to any injury to you for keeping this from him." Liara said as she retrieved a blanket from another bunk to gently lay it over Ashley.

"I'll accept whatever Shepard wants to dish out on this one Liara. I certainly would've earned it." Kaidan said, rubbing the back of his neck with both hands as he stared at the ceiling.

"Perhaps, but let us hope that it does not lead to that. What will you do when he does find out?" Liara asked, gently brushing aside a messed lump of Ashley's hair away from her face.

Kaidan huffed, "Run away with my tail between my legs," he smirked, "I don't really know to be honest Liara. I don't really know if I'm even gonna tell Ly or not." he pulled up a chair and sat with a heavy thud and slouched.

"Why would you not? She is your wife after all and this does not really involve her." Liara said as she found herself a chair as well.

"It does involve her unfortunately. All of this involves her. including... _this."_ Kaidan said as he looked back and motioned at Ashley.

"I'm sure Lycan will understand Kaidan. Do you fear that she might not?" Liara asked, crossing her legs.

Kaidan shrugged, "I don't know. She's worried about this entire thing and in all honesty, I am too. Especially now." he said, pinched the bridge of his nose as his eyes started to ache a bit.

"Why now?"

"I tried to stop it from happening and I failed with flying colors Liara. It just makes me realize that we may not be as smart as we think we are." Kaidan said, pressing his fingers into his eyes a bit to rub the ache out.

"How smart can anyone be when dealing with matters such as this?" she asked softly and with little expectation of getting an actual answer back.

Kaidan huffed, "Yeah... That's a good point. All we really can do is roll with the punches with this. With all of it." he looked at her.

"Perhaps that is best, friend."

With that, Liara stood and headed out of the med bay, leaving Kaidan in the quiet to just sit and think about how, even after he had tried to out maneuver her, Fate still got the upper hand. He worried that they were simply blind and bumbling idiots, stumbling their way through a maze of invisible walls. They couldn't predict the changes that they would cause, couldn't prepare for anything that might get tossed their way, but when you are the first to do something, to know the future, then there was no guide book. You forged your own path.

With a heavy sigh blown from tired lips, Kaidan stood and stepped out of the med bay, finding Callaghan seated at one of the tables. He quietly instructed her to keep an eye on Ashley before he sat himself, simply wanting to sit quietly and think with something to drink. It wasn't a five star restaurant, but it would have to do as he found a biotic energy drink in the fridge and found a nice, somewhat excluded spot at a table.

"Commander... Should I contact the _Grimm_ and let 'em know what's going on?" Ellison quietly interrupted Kaidan's quiet contemplation.

Kaidan took in a deep breath and blew it out, "Yeah. Tell 'em we're headed to the Citadel."

"What about Lycan sir?" Ellison asked.

Kaidan sighed, "I'll call her. She'll understand." he said with a shallow gulp in his throat.

Ellison just nodded as he headed off to carry out his task, leaving Kaidan to nervously sit and try to come up with the right words. He figured there was little he could do to prepare, so he simply brought up his omni-tool, and called his wife.

_"Kaidan? Is... Oh no." _Lycan's face instantly drew down into sadness.

Kaidan pursed his lips together, "She's uh... She's stabile, but... that's it." he felt his sinuses tighten and his eyes glass over.

_"What happened?" _she asked, her glassy eyes easily seen by her husband.

"The cards just didn't fall where we wanted them to babe." Kaidan said, swiping his fingers down his eyes to try and dry them.

_"God... I guess that's why the Normandy headed off in a hurry huh." _she said, her need to want to hug him evident in her tense shoulders.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. I'll see you on the Citadel sweetie. You know where we're headed." he said, having to swipe his eyes again from building moisture.

Lycan nodded, _"Ok honey. There's something else though isn't there." _she said, seeing it written all over his face.

"Yeah, but... I can't talk about it here. Just do me one thing Ly. Ok?" Kaidan asked, holding his breath for a moment.

_"Anything... You know that." _she said a bit too quietly.

"Tell me it'll be ok?" Kaidan asked, more like pled to hear the words he wanted to whether they were true, or not.

_"I'll be ok baby. No matter what, it'll be ok." _Lycan said, giving him a soft smile in hopes of lifting his obviously down spirits.

A tear broke free from Kaidan's eyes, "I hope so babe... I really hope so."

Giving her that soft smile she wanted, Kaidan told her how much he loved her before cutting the link, casting himself back into silence. He rested his head in both hands as he was left to just sit, deciding it best not to think anymore in fear of sparking a migraine, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't stop himself.

However, there was only one thought that ran through his head, and that was that the ripples they were causing went further then any of them could possibly imagine.


	79. Chapter 79

Chapter 79: Nightingale

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect!)_

The _Normandy_ was too quiet in Shepard's ears, too confining to give him solace in his misery that had squeezed his world into something that fit in the med bay.

Having finished talking with Admiral Hackett ages ago, Shepard had cleaned up and dressed in a pair of black pants and a zip up before he had returned to the med bay to sit by his wife's bedside. He had forgotten about time in its entirety as he sat with his head in his hands, letting it pass him by without even a second look. He wanted no food, no water, no sleep, and the only thing he could say with honesty that he did want, was to sit there and hope that Ashley would wake up.

Nearly completely consumed by his own head, Shepard entirely missed that someone had walked in.

"Gabe?" Kaidan asked as he walked to his friend's side.

Drawing in a deep and slow breath, Shepard glanced over without lifting his head from his palms.

"Hey." he said at the edge of his breath as it left his lungs.

"How's she doing?" Kaidan asked as he pulled up a chair and sat down, going slow as if the sudden movement would startle Shepard as if he was a skittish varren.

Shepard shrugged, "Ok I guess." he nearly mumbled.

"Her condition hasn't changed Commander. Vitals're still weak, but they're still there." Callaghan answered from her seat at the desk where Dr. Chakwas used to sit.

Kaidan nodded, "How're you doing?" he asked, interlocking his fingers together as he rested his elbows on his knees.

Again, Shepard shrugged, "Ok I guess." he repeated, not really knowing what else to say.

Kaidan drew in a long quiet breath, "Are you hungry?" he was starting to feel as if he was talking with a machine.

Shepard shook his head.

"Thirsty?"

Another shake of his head.

Kaidan sighed, "Shepard..." he tried, but he was truly at a loss for words.

"I'm alright Kaidan... I just want her to be ok too." Shepard said in a soft voice, still never removing his head from his hands.

"I want that too Gabe," he swallowed, "I uh... I came down to let you know we're on approach to the Citadel. Huerta personnel are already on the docks waiting for us." Kaidan said quietly as he sat up straight.

Shepard nodded, "Thank you." he said in a quiet tone.

"For what?" Kaidan asked softly.

"For trying to stop this from happening." Shepard said, finally looking over at him for longer then the blink of an eye.

Kaidan lightly placed his hand on Shepard's shoulder, "Of course... Gabe... I have to tell you something..."

_"Commander... We're docked. You should get Ash ready to go." _came Joker's voice from overhead.

Kaidan pursed his lips together, "Let the medical personnel onboard Joker." he said as he stood up and took his hand away from Shepard's shoulder.

_"Alright. They're coming down." _

"Come on Shepard. We need to get her ready." Kaidan said, returning to the low tone as he stepped up to the other side of Ashley's bed.

With a nod, Shepard stood up and moved their chairs away from Ashley's bed as the medical personnel came rushing in. The medics threw aside the blanket that had been placed over her to keep her warm before they quickly, but still carefully, moved her to the gurney and left just as quickly as they had arrived.

As the medical team rushed Ashley from the ship, Shepard and the others tried to keep up, but as they stepped out onto the dock, Shepard realized that she could get to the hospital quicker without him tagging along.

Holding his breath, Shepard stopped his pursuit.

"I'll be there soon baby." Shepard to her as they wheeled her away in a hurry.

"She'll get the best care on the Citadel Mr. Shepard." one of the medics called back as they tore off to get their patient to an awaiting emergency transport.

Watching her be loaded into the transport, Shepard had to work extra hard to get his lungs to function properly. His chest hurt with worry and it seemed that every beat his heart made was a painful contraction that slowly bled the life from him, leaving him a fraction of the man he was supposed to be. A fraction of the man he was expected to be.

Resting his hands on his hips as he concentrated on calming himself down, Shepard closed his eyes and hung his head, leaving him to listen to the people around him.

"Shepard?" Liara asked as she lightly rested a caring hand on Shepard's slumped shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"We must go to the Council to find help for Earth. We do not have time to be idle." Liara said, keeping her voice calm and steady, knowing where Shepard's head was.

Shepard shook his head as he looked up at her, "I can't... Not right now. I-I need to know Ash'll be ok first. I can't go in there and take those people head on when everything I am is being carted off to the hospital." his eyes started to sting.

Liara lightly sighed, "Shepard... I know you are worried about her. We all are, but the Council cannot wait. Earth needs help." she said, taking her hand away from him when his shoulders tensed.

"No... I'm going to the hospital first." Shepard said, taking in and holding a deep breath to somewhat center himself.

Again, Liara sighed, but then nodded, "Alright. I will go on ahead and do what I can to prepare." she ever so softly smiled.

With a nod and another heavy sigh, Shepard watched Liara head off, leaving only he, Kaidan and the two members of his crew, standing alone on the docks where they had stopped.

"Gabe... I know this isn't want you wanna hear, but if we go to the hospital now, you won't find anything out right away and probably not for a long time." Kaidan said quietly as he released a breath.

Shepard pinched the bridge of his nose, "I know, but... I just can't bring myself to concentrate on anything else. I need to be at the hospital Kaidan. Please understand." he looked at his closest friend.

Kaidan sighed, "I do," he looked at Callaghan and Ellison, "You guys coming along, or you wanna stay on the ship?"

"We'll stay on the ship Commander and wait for the _Grimm._" Callaghan said with Ellison nodding his agreement.

"Alright. Let me know when they get here." Kaidan said before devoting all his attention back to Shepard.

Both of his crew just nodded as they turned and headed back to the ship, leaving Kaidan and Shepard with only one thing left to do. Head to the hospital.

They went for the nearest transportation terminal and called a cab that quickly came, whisking them off into the air for the trip from the _Normandy's_ berth, to Huerta Memorial on the Presidium. It was a tense trip, wrought with uncomfortable silences and unsaid words of reassurance, but Kaidan couldn't help but think about what he wasn't telling his best friend.

Why he had thought that keeping a secret such as his was a good idea was beyond him. Kaidan knew the moment Shepard found out what he had done would result in a multitude of injuries done from a single swing and when it came to Shepard, he didn't care who saw. However, the injuries were the least of his fears, as the thing he feared most was the damage it was going to do to their friendship and he knew, along with everything else that was stored in his brain, that his little secret was going to leave a scar on their trust.

The landing of the cab just down the way from the hospital was enough to shake Kaidan from his thoughts as both he and Shepard climbed free of the cab and headed off.

The moment the doors to the hospital opened, the impact of the Reaper War hit both men full in the face. The waiting room was filled with people, both injured and none injured and the front desk was as busy as could be with people asking about loved ones. The whole room stunk of disinfectant, laced with sick undertones and the odors of loss.

"There... There's the ICU." Shepard said as he made to make a beeline for the doors in the back.

Kaidan grabbed his arm, "Shepard wait... I really need to tell you something first." he said, earning his friend's attention.

"Kaidan... I need to get in there..." Shepard started only to be interrupted.

"Gabriel... You're already here." came a vastly familiar voice from not far away.

Shepard looked passed Kaidan to see Dr. Chakwas coming to them, weaving and dodging her way through the thick sea of people and with a worried look in her eyes.

"Doc... W-What're you doing here?" Shepard asked with a quiet gasp as he took his arm back to give the woman a hug.

"Kaidan called to tell me what happened. I came over as soon as I heard." she said, wrapping him up in a tight hug.

Kaidan ran a hand down his face, "You haven't heard anything by chance have you?" he asked, giving her a hug as well as soon as she was done with Shepard.

"No I'm sorry. We won't hear anything for some time, but I do know they already have her in trauma. She's already receiving the care she needs." Dr. Chakwas said kissing the cheeks of both the men she considered her children.

"Have you heard?... About Earth?" Shepard asked as he allowed Dr. Chakwas to lead them to a spot where they could sit and wait.

"I have. Every humans' heard. It's all over the extranet and its got people running scared." she said as she arrived at a row of chairs that were surprisingly empty and sat.

Shepard sat down next to her, "Anderson stayed behind." he said with a near invisible gulp in his throat.

"I had a feeling he might. He and Hackett have been doing a lot of planning behind the scenes for quite a number of months. He had mentioned he was laying the foundation for the resistance." Dr. Chakwas said, grasping Shepard's hand to give it a light, but comforting squeeze, feeling his wedding ring between her own fingers.

Shepard squeezed her hand back, "I just hope he'll be ok... I hope all that planning helps to save a few more lives... We've suffered enough." he said with a crack in his voice as he looked at the barely organized chaos of the waiting room.

"I know, but... we have something the reapers don't. We have foresight." she looked at Kaidan and softly smiled.

"I hope it's enough." Shepard mumbled.

Kaidan rested his hand on Shepard's shoulder, determined that this time, he was going to get his secret out. He had to tell him, needed to, as his heart wouldn't stop nagging him unless he told him. He just hoped he was ready for the fallout.

"Gabe... Listen to me for a second ok?" Kaidan asked with his own cracking voice.

Shepard looked up to see that Kaidan's eyes had become, what he considered, scared, "What?"

"Gabe," he swallowed, "I have to tell you something, but please understand that I only did it because you have enough to worry about ok?" Kaidan started, nearly succumbing to the violent roll in his stomach.

Shepard's brows furrowed a bit, "Tell me what? What's wrong?" his own stomach started to tighten.

Kaidan licked his lips as he forced himself to breath, "A-Ash..." he looked down at his lap, "Ash is..."

"Ash is what?" Shepard urged, feeling the tears beginning to come back.

Kaidan squeezed his eyes shut, "Gabe... Ashley's pregnant."

Looking up to at least see what his injury was about to be, he saw what he could only describe as pure, unadulterated shock. Shepard's eyes had widened as he gasped, his skin had paled and for all intensive purposes, had even stopped breathing.

"W-W-What?" Shepard finally squeezed out from his throat that had completely closed up on him.

Kaidan gulped, "Ashley's pregnant Gabe. She's only about... I don't know... a month along I'd say. I don't even think she knows yet." his eyes stung hard with awaiting tears.

Shepard's eyes however, had completely started shedding theirs, "S-She... S-She can't be... H-How can she be pregnant?" he asked, nearly falling apart right there with the awful thoughts that were suddenly running amuck in his mind.

This couldn't be happening, he refused to believe that Fate would be so cruel as to give him something he wanted most with the woman he loved, only to take it away when true happiness was nearly within his grasp. How could anyone, anything be so cruel, so unloving as to give hope like they were dangling food in front of a starving varren. The sheer thought of it, that somehow Ashley had become pregnant by him, or... he couldn't think of the alternative, but the fact remained. How could it have happened if he was shooting blanks.

Forcefully grabbing Kaidan's arms, Shepard quickly shook him, demanding answers.

"How! H-How is she pregnant?" Shepard demanded, having a difficult time getting air into his lungs as more tears poured from his face.

"Gabe... You died." Kaidan said, giving up holding back his emotion and just letting his eyes spill over.

"What does that have to do with it?" Shepard asked, visibly starting to shake.

"You're body was destroyed... I don't think Cerberus... gave you the BC injection when they brought you back. I think they brought back as a fully functional male." Kaidan said, using the heel of his hand to wipe away at least some of the moisture from his eyes.

Shepard shook his head, still in a bit of disbelief, "B-But..." his lips started to quiver, "B-But I... She's really pregnant?" it was mainly his lips that said the words and not his voice.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah."

Suddenly, Shepard's face turned angry as he deeply inhaled, "Why didn't you tell me sooner? Why didn't you tell me back on the ship?"

"I didn't want you to worry more. You already have all this to worry about and..." his word caught in his throat, "you didn't need this too. She's so early in her pregnancy that... I don't know." Kaidan said, swiping away more tears.

Shepard sucked in another deep breath, but as much as he tried to keep being angry with his best friend, he simply didn't have it in him. He only had a horrifying mix of despair and joy and the two were like oil and water. They didn't mix.

With a hard churn of his stomach, Shepard doubled over and threw up onto the floor, but even that was miniscule since he hadn't eaten in quite some time. The only thing to be forced from his body was a fowl tasting mix of saliva and bile that landed on the floor in a small puddle.

"Oh dear... I'll get something to clean up with. Stay here with him." Dr. Chakwas said quietly as she turned Shepard over to Kaidan.

Kaidan nodded as he placed his hands on Shepard's back and shoulder, just keeping him from doubling over onto the floor as another retch rumbled through him.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner Gabe. I really am." Kaidan said quietly.

After one more retch, Shepard sat up on his own and dried his mouth with the back of his hand, but the next thing he did, was not simply sit and breath through a few more rolls of his stomach, he did what Kaidan was expecting.

With a short jab, Shepard's fist made full contact with Kaidan's nose with a snap, sending his entire head into a whirlwind of pressurized pain. His sinuses instantly filled with the scent and taste of blood as he felt the hot liquid spur from his nostrils to seep between his fingers, as he had instantly cupped both hands over his nose and mouth in an attempt to contain it.

"You're a bastard." Shepard said as he leaned back and let his head loll back to stare at the ceiling.

Kaidan nodded and took his hands away from his face to see how much blood had come out, "I probably deserved that." he said, licking the blood from his lips.

"You think?" Shepard scoffed as he dried his eyes.

Kaidan wiped away some blood from his face with the back of his hand and lightly sniffled, "I really am sorry I didn't tell you sooner Gabe. I should have, but..." he licked more blood from his lips.

"I know you are," he sniffled, "but thanks for telling me." Shepard said as he looked over at Dr. Chakwas who didn't even bother asking what happened to Kaidan as she immediately handed him a rage to clean himself up with.

"Are you going to be alright Gabriel? I know this is a lot to take in." Dr. Chakwas asked sweetly as she cleaned up the mess from the floor really quickly before sitting back down next to Shepard.

Shepard nodded, "I will be. I don't think its really sunk in yet." he said, blowing his nose into the rag to relieve his sinuses of the sickly scent.

"It won't take long Gabriel." was all Dr. Chakwas said.

Not really knowing what else to say, Shepard simply sat in quiet contemplation, drawing in deep breaths to clear his nose of the stink of bile. He glanced over at Kaidan as he cleaned to blood from his face, but he'd be lying to himself if he said that the jab was only the tip of the iceberg. It wasn't. It was as much as he was going to do to his best friend because as much as he wanted to murder the living daylights out of him, he couldn't. It was better hearing it from his best friend, then a nameless doctor whose already worked three days straight.

With pursed lips and an extremely soft smile, Shepard reached over and lightly squeezed Kaidan's forearm.

"Sorry I decked you." Shepard said with a light and huffed smile.

"It's ok. I was expecting worse to be honest," he finished cleaning his face.

"Did I break it?" Shepard asked, taking his hand back.

Kaidan shook his head as he ever so slightly pressed on his nose, causing him to wince from its tenderness, "Doesn't feel like it, but I don't have a mirror. Is it crooked?"

Shepard shook his head, "No."

"Then I should be good." Kaidan said as he glanced at the entry doors upon their opening to see his wife stepping through, escorted by Hanson.

Waving them over, Lycan and Hanson rushed over where Lycan wasted no time in leaping into Kaidan's arms.

"You guys got here fast." Kaidan said as he softly kissed Lycan's worried lips, ignoring the pain in his nose.

"We pushed kinda hard to be honest. Have you guys heard anything?" Lycan asked, pulling away from Kaidan to give Shepard a hug in comfort.

"I found out something." Shepard said, returning the hug.

"What? Tell me." Lycan said sitting in Kaidan's seat that he had offered to her.

"Ashley's pregnant." Shepard said.

Lycan loudly gasped, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Kaidan just told me." Shepard said, leaning back into his chair.

Lycan looked at Kaidan, "Oh my god." she exhaled.

Shepard looked at her, "You didn't know about this?"

"No... I didn't. This is... This is very different from the games." Lycan said in a hushed voice, leaning in a bit to make it easier for Shepard to hear.

Shepard scoffed, "Figures."

Again, silence descended upon them as they watched the chaos of the waiting room. Hanson was the only one of the group to keep and eye out for anything suspicious, as everyone else simply sat in each others arms for comfort.

Lycan had stood to let Kaidan sit back down in the chair before she curled up in his lap, resting her head on his shoulder as he held her close. They simply stared off into oblivion, listening to each other breath, sometimes opting to people watch for something to do. If that grew tedious, they would look at Dr. Chakwas softly brushing her hand over the side of Shepard's face, having fallen asleep on her and using her lap as a pillow.

This was all any of them could do as they waited, nearly jumping every time the doors to the ICU opened with their anxiety. They had been grateful that Shepard had fallen asleep, as he desperately needed it, but eventually, and after hours, the ICU doors opened with someone looking for them.

"Mr. Shepard?" quietly interrupted an asari, clutching a datapad to her chest.

Kaidan poked Shepard awake, "Gabe... Gabe wake up."

Shepard opened his eyes and looked around for a groggy moment, but the moment he saw the asari doctor waiting for a response, he shot up.

"Yes? I'm Shepard." he said as he stood, soon followed by everyone else.

"You're Ashley Shepard's husband?" she asked.

Shepard nodded.

"Well Mr. Shepard," she sighed, "We have her stabilized and we've repaired the internal bleeding to her cerebral sheath and we were able to repair the skull fracture with a bone weave application, but the swelling is still an issue. It isn't getting any worse, but it isn't getting any better either and we are unable to treat with the best we have available because she is with child." she said, acknowledging everyone by looking at each for a moment as she spoke.

Shepard started breathing again, "Is she gonna be ok?" he asked, feeling his heart slam in his chest.

"We aren't sure yet Mr. Shepard, but..." the asari's voice trailed off.

"But what?" Shepard gulped.

The asari doctor sighed, "Mr. Shepard... As it stands right now, your wife has a fifty/fifty chance at pulling through without any treatments, but... we can increase those chances to eighty percent if..." her voice trailed off.

Shepard waited for her to continue.

"Well Mr. Shepard... You should... You should consider terminating her pregnancy." she tensed up.

Shepard's heart fell through the floor.

"W-What?" Shepard asked as his lip began to quiver and his eyes started to tear up again.

"I'm sorry sir. I'm so terribly sorry, but we cannot treat her with anything that goes through her bloodstream because of the fetus. If we terminate, we could." she said lowly and with her own sadness morphing her features.

All feeling drained from Shepard's existence. Everything crashed through the floor to follow his heart on its trip to Hell. He no longer felt human, no longer worthy of the title of husband, or lover. All he felt was cold dread crushing down on his soul like a boot to a helpless insect, swallowing him up in a universe crushing black hole of eternity.

"Y-You can't ask me to do that." Shepard almost silently choked out from his closed throat.

"I am so sorry Mr. Shepard. It is a devastating choice to have to make. I will leave you be. Should you decide, the front desk will know how to get ahold of me." she said quietly as turned and started to walk away.

"Ma'am... May I speak with you?" Dr. Chakwas spoke up before the asari doctor got too far away.

"Of course." she simply nodded.

Dr. Chakwas stepped away from the group, leaving Kaidan, Lycan and Hanson to hold Shepard up on his feet before his legs gave out, but no amount of help was going to keep him on his feet.

With legs that just wouldn't work, Shepard was slowly lowered to the floor where he went limp, only being kept up off the floor by Lycan. His eyes had broken open like a dam splitting under the weight of water, pouring a near singular stream of tears down his cheeks. His eyes were bloodshed, his throat was sealed and no amount of air he drew into his lungs made him feel as if he was breathing.

This is where he wept like a broken man.

"I... I-I c-can't make that choice... I can't." Shepard managed through his sobs that were muffled into Lycan's shirt.

Kaidan rested his hand on Shepard's back, but when he went to open his mouth, words had completely failed him.

Lycan softly began to rock from side to side, tears plummeting down her cheeks with Shepard cradled to her like a scared child. She simply held him, just as lost for words as Kaidan was. She had absolutely no clue of how to comfort the man she held, no idea of what to say to make it better, but she wanted to say something so bad that she could feel it. All she wanted was to help him feel better, but how to get there was as obscured as trying to navigate through fog.

"Shh..." she cooed to him, lightly brushing her hand down the back of his head.

Shepard grabbed a fistful of her shirt, "Why is this happening? Why?" he asked to anyone who would listen.

"I don't know Gabe... I wish I did." Kaidan said in a low voice as he silently told Hanson to go get some water and some tissues.

"I-Is this punishment for what we're doing?" Shepard asked, almost sounding as if he really was a child.

"I don't know." Lycan said, continuing to slowly rock with him in her arms.

Drawing in a long and hard breath, Shepard sat up on his own and tried to dry his eyes with his hands, "I must look ridiculous right now." he sniffled hard.

Kaidan shook his head, "Not at all. I'd be the same way in your shoes." he said, plopping down on the floor in front of him.

Shepard ran his tongue over his lips to clean them of tears, "I... I don't know want to do," he looked at his friends, "I don't... I don't think I can kill my baby." he slowly shook his head.

Lycan and Kaidan stayed quiet as Hanson returned and handed Shepard the water and tissues.

"I don't think I can do this guys. I can't keep fighting for a galaxy that just wants to see me suffer." Shepard said, using the tissue to clean his face.

Kaidan held his breath for a moment, "Gabe... You have to keep going. We all do, but we can't win this without you." he said, picking at his own fingernails.

"Yes you can. You don't need me." Shepard said, taking a swig from the water to wash down the drainage from his sinuses.

"Yes we do Shepard. This is your story. It can't go on without you." Lycan said lowly, placing her hand on his forearm.

"My story isn't one you tell your kids." Shepard said, staring at his lap.

"I would." Lycan said flatly.

Shepard looked at her, "You would?"

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. It brings out the best in people and it shows that... no matter what happens... you can always find the good." she said, gently giving his arm a squeeze.

"Commander... Whether you realize it or not, you motivate people. You've driven people to do great things and look at what you've done so far. You may've had a rough start, but... sir, we've only gotten this far because of you." Hanson said, somewhat shying into his shoulders that he had actually spoken the man.

"It's the blind leading the blind, but... thank you. What's your name?" Shepard asked, looking at the newcomer.

"Brad Hanson sir."

"Brad... Don't make the same mistakes I made." Shepard said quietly.

"I would if it means I could be half as great as you someday... sir." Hanson said, somehow in a steady tone that told Shepard he meant it.

Hearing that, Shepard's lips cracked the barest of smiles, unable to stop them because it wasn't every day someone that young told you they would be stupid, if at all to try, just try and hold a candle to the things you've done. It was heartwarming, yet humbling to hear and it helped him to understand that all his hard work, was not going unnoticed.

"Thanks... I mean it." Shepard said in a hushed voice.

"Of course sir. I'll uh... I'll just be over there... If you need me." Hanson seemed to stutter as he stood and stepped away, out of ear shot.

"Good kid. Smart." Shepard said, looking back to his lap to stare at his hand.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah he is."

As the three sat quietly on the floor, the only thing that drew their attention were the approaching foot steps belonging to Dr. Chakwas, and only Dr. Chakwas.

"Gabriel... You can see her now if you wish." Dr. Chakwas said as she held her hand out for him.

Shepard grabbed it and stood, "I do. Take me to her."

"Can we come too?" Lycan asked as she too, stood along with Kaidan.

"I think it would be best." Dr. Chakwas said as she started to lead them through the crowd.

Following Dr. Chakwas through the ICU doors, the scent of disinfectant and antiseptic grew in strength. The room was far quieter then the waiting room, far more crushing knowing that there were people dying in there. It was enough to make Shepard's stomach roll, but he didn't throw up. Instead, he gulped as Dr. Chakwas led him into the second room on the right.

In the quiet room with only the sound of a soft and rhythmic beep, Ashley lay in a bed with an oxygen tube up her nose and IVs in her arms. Her hair had been tied to the side, away from the small patch that had been shaven away to allow the medical staff to repair what they could. The mesh of her armor had been removed to be replaced with a hospital's gown, or what passed for one, and a warm blanket had been tucked up to her chest, leaving her arms exposed so not to crowd the tubes.

Letting go of Dr. Chakwas's hand, Shepard stepped up to her bedside and softly grasped his wife's hand, holding his breath to keep from breaking down yet again. He admired her bruised face, how swollen it had become, but to him, she was still as beautiful as the day he had first met her. He felt a chair bump into the back of his legs, spurring him to sit as he ever so gently placed his other hand on her stomach.

"Hey sweetie..." he lightly gulped, "You keep fighting baby... Both of you. We need you... I need you. I want you both to be here with me because... I don't think I can go on without you guys," he leaned forward and softly kissed her belly, "Ash... You fight for this baby ok? You fight with everything you have to keep it. I don't have what it takes to... say good bye. I can't... Baby... If you think it needs to be done... then you do it, but I won't. If it has to be done, then I'm ok with it, but please baby... Please don't make me choose. I love you Ash... and I love this baby, but all I ask... is that in the end... you come back to me. I can't live my life without you Ash. So come back. You survive this and if you do with our baby then... then the reapers better watch it because they just pissed off the wrong woman," he huffed a smile, "I love you Ashley Shepard... I love you both." Shepard said to her, lightly resting his forehead on her stomach.

Kaidan held Lycan to him as she silently wept, "Are you sure Gabe?"

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. I won't... end my baby. This galaxy's taken enough from me. I won't give it my baby too." he looked at them with more tears.

Dr. Chakwas rested her hand on his shoulder, "You are aware of the risks right Gabriel?"

Shepard nodded again, "Yeah. She's tough though... She'll do what she needs to do." he said, truly believing in what he was saying.

Dr. Chakwas nodded, "Alright. Take as much time as you need." she said lowly with a light squeeze to his shoulder before turning to leave.

However, she only made it as far as the door.

"Karin?" Shepard called for her, using her first name.

Dr. Chakwas sweetly smiled, "Yes dear?"

"Ashley needs you here... I need you here with her." Shepard said simply as he dried his eyes yet again with his shoulder and bicep.

Her smile faded, "I'm glad you've said that Gabriel because I've taken over as her doctor."

"Good. The _Normandy_ won't be home without you, but I need the peace of mind of you here with my wife." Shepard said with a light sniffle as he locked gazes with her.

Dr. Chakwas lightly swallowed, "I'll do everything in my power Gabriel."

Shepard nodded, "Ok... Just... If it has to be done, then do it._" _he knew the kind doctor knew what he meant.

"Pray it doesn't come to that," Dr. Chakwas's soft smile returned, "However, since I'm staying here as Ashley's primary, I'll recommend that Dr. Michel go with you on the _Normandy._ She's a good doctor and I think well suited to be able to handle you." she said with a slow release of her breath.

"That sounds good. Thank you." Shepard said, still holding his wife's hand and resting his other on her belly.

"No need to thank me Gabriel." she said before leaving the room.

For some time, they simply sat and watched Ashley breath, her chest slowly rising and falling and it gave Shepard comfort that she was doing it on her own. He would stare at the small line that represented her heartbeat, mesmerized with each hop and twitch that timed her heart like a metronome.

It was here that Shepard's mind raced with just how much needed to be done. The sheer volume of preparations was staggering and it all seemed out of reach. Building a fleet vast and powerful enough to take on the reapers was about as easy as convincing humans and batarians to get along. It seemed so far fetched and the longer it took to accomplish, was the longer the reapers got to ravage Earth with a vengeance.

As much as he didn't like it, it was time to get to work.

* * *

Typical. The Council had been typical. Even knowing ahead of time that they wouldn't provide Earth with the aid she desperately needed, he still couldn't believe they had denied one of their own Council members what he sought.

Heavily slouching in an arm chair in _Councilor_ Udina's office, Shepard sat and grumbled with his face resting in his hand. For being the first human Spectre, the Council had made it a habit of paying as much attention to him as an itch on their ass. In fact, he was positive they paid more attention to that.

However, as much as he wanted to be done with them all together, they had a point. Their planets were just as much in jeopardy as Earth was, and they were busy trying to defend themselves against the greatest threat any of them had ever known. In short, they were scared just as much as he was.

With a heavy sigh that drew Shepard's attention, he looked up to see Udina stand from his desk and head to the lounge, where he sat, to the bar stocked with several types of liquors.

"Pour me one of those too Udina." Shepard said with a smirk as Udina arced a brow at him.

"Helping yourself to my stores are you?" Udina said as he dropped two ice cubes into his tumbler.

Shepard's smirk turn into a glare, "Do I need to retell how my day's gone?" he deadpanned.

Udina hummed, "I suppose you have a point," he pulled a tumbler down and plopped two ice cubes in, "How is she?" he asked.

Shepard sucked in a breath, "Ok I guess. No change is better then a turn for the worse." he said.

"And the child?" Udina asked plainly as he poured his chosen whiskey into both glasses.

"Still there." Shepard said.

Udina walked over and handed Shepard the glass, "I know we've had our differences Shepard, but my prayers go out to you. I sincerely hope she pulls through... both of them." he sat down on the sofa.

"Wasn't expecting sympathy from you, but... thank you." Shepard said, taking a sip of the liquor.

"I'm not completely heartless Shepard. Nearly everyone has lost someone to this war... Me included." Udina said, taking his own sip.

"Who'd you lose?" Shepard asked.

"Many friends Shepard. Close friends. Many of them were apart of Alliance Parliament. I needed a second VI just to keep track of all their anniversaries and birthdays. Now though," he took a sip, "they are all gone. I'm the most powerful human in our history and it stands for nothing if I can't even get the support of my peers." he took another sip.

"Welcome to my world." Shepard scoffed as he downed the rest of his drink in a single swallow.

"Perhaps," he sighed, "How bad was it?" Udina asked.

"What? Earth?"

Udina nodded.

"Bad doesn't even begin to describe it Udina." Shepard said with a completely straight face.

"I can only imagine Shepard." Udina turned his attention to his drink.

Shepard merely shot Udina a short glare as the doors to the office opened with a short hiss that drew both mens' attention in time to see that their visitor was nothing to shake a stick at.

"Councilor Sparatus? I wasn't expecting you until later." Udina said as he stood from the couch to greet his fellow councilor.

"Yes... I... I wanted to speak with Shepard actually. I hope I'm not intruding." Sparatus said as he walked down the steps and clasped his hands behind his back.

Shepard's brows pulled together, "Do I even wanna know?"

Sparatus sighed, "I can understand your apprehension Shepard, but... it would seem that my... disbelief in you was ill placed." he said as he shook Udina's hand.

"Ill placed? That's putting it lightly. I'm pretty sure you wanted me committed." Shepard said blatantly as he stood and figured he'd at least give the turian a handshake as well.

"I did... At first, but my initial opinions of your were... changed when you saved my life." Sparatus said, slowly releasing his sigh.

Shepard's eyes briefly widened, "Wow... I wasn't expecting that."

"I'm sure not," he cleared his throat, "Shepard... I've come to ask a favor of you." Sparatus said, returning his hands to being clasped behind his back.

Shepard's brows furrowed again, "So now that you believe that I haven't been blowing smoke up your ass all this time, now you want my help?" he crossed his arms stiffly.

"I understand that I give you no reason to want to help, but if you choose to aid me, then I will give you the turian support you need." Sparatus said with a soft clank of his mandibles.

That shifted Shepard's stance, "A favor for a favor." he said evenly.

Sparatus nodded, "Yes."

"What is it you need?" Shepard asked, still keeping his arms crossed but letting them relax a bit.

"Palaven has been attacked and Primarch Fedorian has called for a war summit. He's stuck on our moon, Menae." Sparatus said, beginning to slowly pace in front of Udina's desk.

"Let me guess... You want me to go there and pick him up." Shepard said, drawing in a long breath that he held in his lungs.

Sparatus nodded, "Yes. Bring him here and I will voice my... approval of turian forces to help Earth." he said simply.

Shepard released his breath, "Tempting. Very tempting."

"Shepard... This could prove pivotal. It would show an amazing build of trust between the turians and humans." Udina butted in.

"This isn't a political war Udina. I wouldn't care if the rachni were willing to help us out, so long as they were willing to help fight this war." Shepard snapped, shooting the human councilor a sharp glare.

"I am more then aware of that Shepard." Udina defended.

"Are you? You aren't the only whose lost something in this, and I'm on the verge of losing the most important things in my life, so don't stand there and tell me the politics." Shepard said as his voice began to fill with anger and acid.

"He's right Udina. This war threatens everything. It's not about politics anymore. Logistics, yes, but not politics." Sparatus said surprisingly.

"Those are admirable ideals, but unfortunately, politics have everything to do with this war. It's going to take a lot of it to unit our forces." Udina said, moving to stand behind his desk.

"I will admit Udina, that there is some bad blood amongst us, but we must consider our futures if we are going to have a chance at getting there." Sparatus said with a snap of his mandibles to the side of his face.

Udina sighed, "True enough I suppose." he sat down.

"Shepard... I understand your situation and my heart goes out to you. If you choose to do this, then I will insure your mate will receive the best care." Sparatus said, shifting his attention back to Shepard.

Shepard lightly reeled, "News travels fast apparently." he huffed.

"We are the Council after all Shepard. We need to know what is going on with our Spectre's lives." Sparatus said with his own light huff.

Shepard's brow arched, "Except where Saren was concerned."

Sparatus sighed, "Yes. We were... blind with that particular situation. However, my offer still stands Shepard. Help me, and I will help your mate and your youngling."

"Turian medicine can't help her Councilor." Shepard said lowly.

"You're right, it can't, but there are other methods. Human physiology is different, but I'm confident that a treatment can be found and used that won't put your youngling at risk." Sparatus said with a low sigh.

Shepard's heart sparked with an ache, "With our history, you'd do that?"

Sparatus nodded, "I would, but it's like I said earlier. We must... bury the hatchet as your people put it."

Shepard huffed a smile, "Alright... You help my family... I help you."

"It's a deal Shepard. Head to Menae and look for General Corinthus. He'll help you further." Sparatus said as he extended his hand for a shake.

Shepard grabbed the hand, "I will. I'll keep you informed."

With a final good bye to Udina and Sparatus, Shepard left the office, stepping out onto the embassy common room that was flooded with politicians of all races and people anxious about the news playing on the holoscreens scattered along the walls.

He headed for the elevator to find a transport back to the hospital, but on his way, he was approached by one of the people he very much didn't want to be near. Especially after his trial.

"Commander Shepard!" came the irritating voice of the only woman he had ever punch.

He didn't want to face her, so he kept walking towards the elevator.

"Commander Shepard! Commander Shepard!" she called after him again, most certainly chasing after him.

Sure enough, his hunch that she had been chasing him had been spot on, as the moment he reached out to call the elevator, the person chasing him grabbed his wrist to snag his attention.

Ripping his wrist free, Shepard wheeled around to see Khalisah Bint Sinan Al-Jilani standing far too close with her hover bot shining its irritating light into his face.

"What in all that is holy do you want!" Shepard snapped angrily, balling his fists at his sides.

"Commander Shepard, you abandoned Earth in her time of need. How do you explain that to the people dying back home?" she spit out with an angry glare at him.

Shepard's throat rumbled, "You don't know when to quit do you." he huffed out an angry breath that, if it could, would have been a blow of fire.

"The people deserve to know why the very person they had put so much faith in to save them, has abandoned them like a coward!" she spewed out at him that nearly got her another punch to the face.

Shepard's fists tightened to the point of breaking skin, "I didn't abandon anyone, and if you seriously don't wanna get punched in the face again, you'll walk away." he said through a tight and squared jaw.

"I won't walk away. Not when there are millions of people dying on our own planet." she said flatly.

"If you'd open your damn eyes, you'd see that its more then just Earth being attacked, but you're too human centric to fucking care." Shepard growled, but that's all he was able to get out.

With a swift and painful swipe of her hand, Khalisah's open palm raked across Shepard's cheek, leaving behind a screaming sting and a hand shaped reddening mark. However, her slap had also left a cut, produced by a ring she had turned around backwards before she had slapped him. The small cut bleed just enough to color it red, highlighting the wound against his skin for all to see, including one of his crew.

As Shepard lightly massaged his cheek and checked to see how much he was bleeding, Lieutenant James Vega, having just arrived on the elevator, grabbed a tight hold of the reporter and held her arms behind her back.

"Let go of me you over muscled moron!" Khalisah barked as she tried struggling to get free of Vega's grip.

"You want her arrested Commander?" Vega asked, holding her securely with only a fraction of his available strength.

Shepard continued to massage his jaw, but simply stared for a moment as he checked his palm for blood, upon which there was only a little.

"Naw... Let her go." Shepard said, wiping the small amount of blood on his pant leg.

"Are you sure?" Vega asked, just to make sure.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. Let her go."

Vega released the reporter, "Aye aye Commander."

"You're... You're letting me go?" Khalisah asked, softly rubbing her wrists from where Vega was holding them firm.

"Yeah... If we turn against each other now, we've already lost." Shepard said, resting his hands on his hips.

Khalisah's angry sneer disappeared, "You really believe that?"

Shepard lightly sighed, "I have to. Just... Don't sugar coat what's going on. Tell the people the truth... The real truth... About everything." he said, extending a hand towards her.

As a full minute passed and the reporter still hadn't accepted his hand, he started to second guess his actions, contemplating on whether or not to take his hand away, but to his surprise, she took it.

"I'll make sure they know. May I... ask something of you?" Khalisah asked, releasing Shepard's hand.

"Go ahead."

"Will you stop the reapers?" she asked, looking down at her feet.

Hesitating for a moment, Shepard took in a deep breath before raising his arm to lightly rest his hand on the reporter's shoulder in some sort of, small comfort.

"I'll try." was all he said before he took his hand back.

With a soft nod, Khalisah Bint Sinan Al-Jilani turned a bit stiffly and walked away, leaving Shepard and Vega standing in front of the forgotten elevator's doors that had closed in its neglect to conduct its business.

"I would've had her arrested." Vega scoffed as he called the elevator for the both of them again.

"There's been enough mistrust. We don't need anymore." Shepard said flatly as he crossed his arms.

"Yeah." Vega just shrugged as he too crossed his much thicker arms.

After a moment, the elevator returned and opened its doors to let then enter where Vega pressed the icon for the Presidium Commons while Shepard leaned a shoulder against the car's side, still with his arms crossed.

"Your timing was good by the way." Shepard said with a short glance towards Vega on the other side of the car.

Vega shrugged, "I was just coming to let you know that Dr. Michel is settled onto the _Normandy._"

Shepard nodded, "Good. I'm sure that didn't take long. Are Kaidan and Lycan still at the hospital?" he asked as he drew in a long breath that filled out his chest.

Vega shook his head, "No Commander. They headed to the Presidium Commons to get some chow."

"Who's at the hospital with Ash?" Shepard asked, releasing his breath.

"Just Dr. Chakwas Commander." Vega said simply.

"Ok. Get a guard set up to watch over them alright?" Shepard asked as the elevator slowed and opened its doors.

"Consider it done Commander." Vega said.

"Thanks. After that, head back to the ship. We're gonna be heading out soon." Shepard said as he stepped out.

The Presidium Commons, in Shepard's opinion, were a bit too fancy for his tastes. There were rich walking and talking, acting as if there weren't even a war just outside their door. There were bankers, dignitaries, shops, advertisements that doubled as wallpaper and it was all gleaming and bright and cheery. Precisely what Shepard wasn't.

Stuffing his hands into the pockets of his N7 zip up, Shepard walked close to the wall with his head somewhat ducked in an attempt to hide from onlookers. No one seemed to care about the man as he turned and walked down the stairs, scanning the crowd and noticing an asari, a dark haired man and a small woman sitting close to him, seated at a table near the glass railing that overlooked the water at Apollo's Cafe.

"Hey guys." Shepard said quietly as he pulled a chair from another table, that people were sitting at, and drug it over.

"Hey. Liara told us about the Council. I'm not surprised." Kaidan said quietly as he reached for his glass of water on the table.

"Normally, I'd be mad, but... Everyone's got a lot to deal with. I just don't have it in me to be mad anymore," he huffed, "I really don't care anymore." he crossed his arms on the tabletop and thunked his forehead down.

"I'm sure you still care Shepard. You have never stopped caring." Liara said softly.

Shepard huffed again as he raised his head, "I do," he sighed, "It's just I'm still worried about Ash and the baby and... everything."

"You have every right to be Gabe." Kaidan offered a friendly smile for his friend.

"You talk with Councilor Sparatus yet?" Lycan asked quietly as she leaned against the edge of the table.

Shepard nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah. That was interesting." he grumbled.

"I bet. What's next? Menae?" Kaidan asked.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. He wants me to... nevermind. You know already." he huffed a smile.

Kaidan and Lycan both smiled.

"Well, Primarch Fedorian'll be dead by the time you get there. There's nothing you can do about it unfortunately." Lycan said in almost a whisper.

"That's gonna make my job harder." Shepard growled with a sigh.

"A little, but you'll end up picking up a General Adrien Victus. He's the next in line to be Primarch." Lycan said, quietly enough so only those at their table could hear.

"He won't die on me?" Shepard asked as he gripped the base of his neck with both hands.

Lycan shook her head, "No... well, shouldn't anyways."

Shepard's eyes rolled, "That's comforting."

"It'll be more of a comfort when you meet up with Garrus." Kaidan said, resting an elbow on the table to rest his hand in his palm.

Shepard's lips ghosted a smile, "That's good to know actually. I take it he'll help me find this Victus guy?"

"Yeah. He'll take you to him and then come with you." Lycan said evenly.

"Good." Shepard sighed hard.

Kaidan's brows lightly furrowed as he eyeballed Shepard, thunking his head back down on the table like his neck wasn't adequate enough to hold his head up. The thwack drew the attention of a few people at another table with a few whispers among them, but their staring didn't last long as they went back to eating their meals. They were simply giving the noise a curtesy glance.

"Everything ok Shepard?" Kaidan asked, still maintaining the quiet tone between them.

Shepard looked up, "I guess. How the hell are we gonna pull this off Kaidan? I mean... we need people, weapons, armor, supplies... We need to somehow keep morale up so people don't just wanna give up. It's an endless list and I have no idea how to do it all before everything gets destroyed."

"We can help you out Gabe. You have something available to you that the game version of you didn't." Kaidan said, sitting up straight and immediately quieting as their waiter brought over their sandwiches.

"Yeah... I wish I didn't have the reapers like the game me did." Shepard scoffed as he eyeballed Kaidan's plate of food like a begging dog.

Kaidan picked up half his sandwich and slid the other towards Shepard, "Well, that wasn't quite what I was getting at, but you have me and Ly and the _Grimm._ We could work behind you and find support." he took a bite.

"That's incredibly tempting Kaidan. What would you guys do?" Shepard asked as he dove in head first into the half of sandwich.

"There's a ton of work we could do here to make sure morale stays up. We could do all the tedious stuff here so you can concentrate on the major stuff." Lycan said lowly as she popped a chip, or what the asari referred to as a chip, into her mouth.

Shepard swallowed his mouthful, "That would be a huge help actually. The less I need to worry about the little things is the more time I can spend on getting the essentials... Doubt there's much you can do about Ash though." he took another bite.

"No... We're left waiting. I'm sorry." Kaidan said, washing down his mouthful with a swig of his water.

Shepard nodded, "It's ok," he sighed, "This whole things taken everything I've had to get this far and you guys've been my rock through all of it. I just need to ask you be there for a little bit more." he set his sandwich down on the plate.

"You don't have to ask that Gabe. We'll be here whenever you need us." Kaidan said with a bare smile.

"I know," he drew in a long breath and released it just as quickly, "I better get going guys. We've got black to cover to get to Menae." Shepard said, having just about entirely forgotten about his half a sandwich.

Kaidan stood, "Alright Gabe. Call us if you need anything. Otherwise, I'll send you reports about Ash from time to time ok?"

Shepard stood up as well, "Thanks. Let me know if anything changes alright?"

"Of course. Oh, and take Allers with you. She can help keep morale up" Kaidan said with a short nod.

"Who's Allers?" Shepard asked.

"A reporter, but one that's on your side." Kaidan said as the corner of his mouth twitched into a smile.

Shepard sighed, "Where do I find her?"

"Just head back to the Normandy and look for the hoverbot. Can't miss her." Lycan said, matching Kaidan's small smile.

"Ok... We'll see." Shepard huffed a short lived smile.

With one last bite of the half of sandwich, Shepard headed off with Liara in tow, leaving Kaidan and Lycan alone at the table with their meals. They stayed quiet for a number of minutes as they ate, sending each other the occasion glance, but once they had whittled down their meal to at least half to sate their hunger a bit, their minds started to wander on more then just food.

"You think we can do this Ly? Take care of everything behind the scenes?" Kaidan asked as he popped the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth.

Lycan nodded, giving herself another moment to finish her bite, "I do... Though, I'm not sure how we're gonna be able to change anything from the back burner." she took her last bite.

"Even the back burner can cause a fire Ly. We'll figure something out. We always do." Kaidan said with a soft smile as he lightly placed his hand on her back.

"Yeah," she took in a long breath, "We don't have anymore time Kaidan. We better get started." Lycan said in a sigh as she decided she was done with her meal.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. Just where to start is the big question." he said, finishing off his water with one last gulp.

"No... The big question is if we're gonna be able to win." Lycan said, resting her head against Kaidan's shoulder.

Kaidan huffed a brief smile, "You don't know already?" he joked, lightly kissing her hair.

Lycan lifted her head and looked hard into Kaidan's eyes. "No."


	80. Chapter 80

Chapter 80: Choices

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: I'm sorry for the long wait on this chapter guys. I hit a block, work, school and just about everything else so I apologize for how long this took. Please forgive me and I hope you enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving all!)_

Fire was supposed to be warm, embracing. It was supposed to accept all who sought her comfort into her bosom to find solace and peace, but instead, fire only brought death and despair as it burned charred scars across the face of Palaven.

Shepard stood in the gray dust of Palaven's moon with a fixed gaze that never once tore away from the incomprehensible spread of orange blazed across the darkened surface. The baritone footfalls of Reapers thundered across the ground in rumbling waves that rattled through his feet and traveled up his legs, causing his stomach to roll with the thought that every time the unmistakeable red beam of light flicked out of existence, it always took a life with it. Many of them.

As always, Lycan and Kaidan had been right about Primarch Fedorian, as he had died along with nearly the entire turian hierarchy when the Reapers had attacked. The Reapers had hit all the major populated areas, wiping out thousands, even millions of lives and many were only left to watch.

So with nothing to do while he waited for General Corinthus to find where General Victus was, Shepard simply stood, frozen from thought and sight at what laid out in front of him.

"Shepard? Are you doing alright?" Liara asked softly as she walked up to him with each footfall causing tuffs of gray dust and a soft crunch to announce her approach.

Shepard inhaled a shaky breath, "Would you be if you were me?" he asked, thankful that her inquiry had torn his gaze away from the hails of orange and black.

Liara lightly sighed, "I understand..."

"Do you? Do you really understand what it's like to have your wife's and child's lives on the line?" Shepard interrupted with a bit of a snap in his tone that surprised even him.

"You're right... I don't truly understand, but... I am your friend and I know how worried you are for them." Liara said, swallowing down her reel so Shepard didn't see it.

Shepard slowly shook his head, "I'm more then worried Liara. It's getting harder and harder to focus on this war and I don't think I can give this my all if anything happens to them." he admitted as he released a long, drawn out, but quiet sigh.

This time, when Shepard heard more footfalls approaching, he gave them a courtesy glance, simply to see who they belonged to. James Vega.

"You've already proven to be a bigger man then me Commander. If my woman, carrying my child was in the hospital, I'd let everything go to hell." Vega said as he crossed his arms with a heavy groan from his armor.

"Trust me... I'm this close to just saying fuck it and going back to the Citadel." Shepard said as he pinched his fingers together until there was only the smallest of spaces between them.

"But we need you... At least your friends need you." came a familiar, double tinged voice from behind them.

Turning towards the voice, Shepard couldn't stop himself from smiling as Garrus walked up to them with rifle in hand. His scaring had mildly faded to match the natural tone of his hide, but the long stretched look still persisted, making that side of his face look as if it belonged to an elder.

"Scars look like shit." Shepard deadpanned as he extended a hand in greeting.

Garrus grabbed Shepard's hand, "Always do, but the females seem to like them. I won't complain if it gets me attention." he laughed as he turned his attention to giving Liara a hug and a hand shake to Vega.

Shepard smiled with a crooked grin, "Yeah well, my scars got me the attention of the only female I could ever want."

"So true. Speaking of which, where's Ashley? Thought she'd be here with you," Garrus asked, watching as all three sets of faces drew down into sad expressions, "What's wrong?"

"Ashley got hurt Garrus. She's in the hospital on the Citadel and the life of Shepard's child is in question." Liara answered, knowing Shepard was going to have difficulty explaining it to Garrus.

Garrus's icy eyes saddened as he looked at Shepard, "What? What happened? Better yet, Ashley's with child?" he asked, reaching a hand to rest it on Shepard's armored shoulder.

"Yeah. She's a month pregnant... For now anyways." Shepard rested his hands on his hips as his head hung.

"I don't wanna ask about the for now part do I." Garrus said in a low voice.

"I wouldn't." Vega said.

Garrus nodded, "Sounds like a plan to me." he removed his hand from Shepard's shoulder.

Shepard exhaled, "Have you heard anything about General Victus yet?" he asked, turning his eyes back to the swaths of orange in front of them.

"That's why I came over. General Corinthus says Victus isn't far, but he's pinned down by some Reaper forces. We'll have to hop it there." Garrus said, clutching his rifle a bit tighter.

Shepard silently laughed as his head dropped again, "Hoof it Garrus. The term is hoof it."

"Oh... Whoops." Garrus said with a light shrug.

Shepard's light smile disappeared, "How far is Victus from here?" he asked, eager to get on with things.

"Not far. Just over that far ridge." Garrus said, pointing a long talon towards the spoken ridge on the other side of the heavily manned barricade.

"You mean the one that's in the same direction as that big ass fucking Reaper?" Shepard asked as a brow arced up his forehead.

"I'm afraid so Shepard." Garrus said with a grumble.

Shepard curled one side of his lip up in a lopsided grimace, "Wonderful..." he started, only to be interrupted.

_"Commander! Commander! Come in!" _it was Joker's voice, and he sounded worried.

"What's wrong Joker?" Shepard asked before anyone else could even think about responding.

_"I'm not sure, but EDI and the Normandy're freaking out. EDI can't stay online and I've got a dozen systems across the board that aren't responding." _Joker reported quickly with the sound of his frustration laced in each word.

"Shit... Why didn't Lycan and Kaidan say anything about this?" Shepard asked as his brows furrowed hard across his forehead.

_"I don't know Commander, but it's bad. Something's wrong." _Joker said.

"It's gotta be a change then. Hold on as best you can Joker. I'm gonna check." Shepard said as he opened his omni-tool.

However, when Shepard tried to arrive at his desired program, all he got was a multitude of error messages and lots of flashing red lights. He was getting vastly tired of the color red always telling him no.

"Fuck me... Garrus, you have anything that can get back to the Citadel?" Shepard asked, frustrated enough with his omni-tool to just give up and let it flash out of existence.

"We might. Come on. General Corinthus should have something."

Following Garrus, Shepard, along with the rest, quickly walked for the station where General Corinthus stood with a couple of his men standing guard as he looked over a strategic holo map.

"General, Shepard needs to get a communications out to the Citadel. Are we still able?" Garrus asked as he walked up the ramp into the station.

General Corinthus, a scared, yet poised turian, shook his head, "I'm afraid not Garrus. We've restricted communications to local use only. We're hoping the Reapers won't pay as much attention to our comms if we keep them withing the system. We can't risk losing communications indefinitely... Not after their last attempt at shutting us down."

"Fuck... Liara, get back to the _Normandy_ and check it out. Let me know what you come up with." Shepard ordered with a short glance over his shoulder towards her.

"Understood." was all she said as she spun and hurried off in a run.

"Is everything alright Commander?" General Corinthus asked as he rested his hands on the edge of his holo map.

Shepard sighed, "Take a look around General. What about all this is alright?" he looked hard at the taller Turian.

Corinthus's mandibles clattered together, "You make a good point Commander."

"Is there anything you need before we set off?" Shepard asked, resting his hands on his armored hips as he slowly released a breath and gnawed on the inside of his lip.

"No Commander. You've helped us thin the herd... We should be able to keep a handle on things here, but I won't lie and say we couldn't use help." General Corinthus said.

"Everyone needs help General. The Turians aren't the only ones who're getting their collective asses handed to them." Shepard said through lightly clenched teeth.

The General's throat rumbled, "You're right Commander," he huffed, "You should probably set off. You are likely to encounter Reapers forces on your way."

Shepard huffed through his nose, "No shit." he grumbled as he headed down the ramp from the station and pulled his pistol in the same motion.

Having to step out his stride simply to keep up with Shepard, Vega hurried alongside, studying the frustrated sneer across Shepard's features. His blue eyes were narrow, occasionally flashing with hints of red if his anger really spiked, which was often the more he was told no and that was quickly becoming Shepard's peek source of irritation.

"Commander?" Vega tried, only to be dead stopped in his tracks when Shepard thrust his arm into his chest.

"Don't... I don't wanna hear it. I don't wanna hear anything besides a yes fucking sir." Shepard snapped, glaring hard into Vega's dark eyes with that flash of red across his irises.

"I wasn't gonna say anything Commander. Especially the word no." Vega said, standing up stick straight which showed Garrus that Vega was taller then Shepard.

Shepard dropped his arm, "'Bout fucking time! How do people expect me to spearhead this fucking fight if I'm tied up with red tape? 'Destroy the Reapers Shepard, but you can't use a big gun, you have to use this butter knife to do it. Make us proud my boy'." Shepard mocked, making his voice deeper as to portray someone older then he.

Vega and Garrus tried not to laugh.

"Trust me, I don't get it either Shepard, but we've gotta do what we can." Garrus said, hoping to simply reassure his friend.

"Which is what? Tap dance for the politicians until they get it? Sorry... Didn't take those lessons when I was a kid." Shepard rolled his eyes and shook his head as he placed his pistol back on his hip to climb the ladder to the top of the barricade.

"I'll save time and not ask what tap dancing is." Garrus deadpanned as he too, climbed the ladder.

As they reached the top of the barricade, the ground shook violently from the massive impacts of red meteors, nearly knocking Vega off the ladder until his armored shoulder was grabbed by a taloned hand, preventing him from falling back.

As Garrus helped Vega to the top of the barricade, Shepard watched as the red, earth shattering meteors morphed into hordes of husks and the turian equivalents; the marauders, and they were far smarter then the human husks.

"Fuck me running," he grumbled inwardly. "Garrus, man the gun. Vega, you and me, down there." Shepard snapped without even a look at the large marine.

Grabbing onto the edge of the barricade railing, Shepard didn't even hesitate as he hopped over and dropped down, rolling along the ground to absorb the fall and stopped in a crouch, but what made both Garrus and Vega stare in awe, were the twin omni-blades that formed around both forearms, ready for battle.

Spreading his tense arms, his fist clenched tightly, Shepard rushed for a group of charge husks, swiping his duel omni-blades across his chest in time to behead two. He ground to a halt in his rush and wheeled around in the same motion, swiping his right arm around to catch the chest of another husk as his left hand pulled his pistol and quickly shot, blowing a hole through the face of his fourth husk before Shepard had even took in his second breath.

"What the fuck are you waiting for Garrus? A silver fucking invitation? Fire the damn gun!" Shepard barked angrily through his ear piece as he spun around with a strong kick to the chest of another husk before he thrust an omni-blade into its neck.

"Sorry!" Garrus shouted out as his turret cannon blazed to life, just as ordered.

Filling the air with deep rat-a-tat-tat of the firing weapon, Garrus lit up the grounds with as many rounds as the turret would allow. One husk, two husks fell at a time from his shots while Shepard and Vega cut and blasted away what Garrus missed.

After a few more drops of husks, Shepard, Garrus and Vega were able to rid the field of the Reaper forces. Split open and shot husks littered the ground, coloring the gray dust with an iridescent blue that lightly glowed which was a stark difference then the hail of orange that covered the surface of Palaven, just over their heads.

However, as Shepard admired his handy work that was scattered around him, one more ground shacking impact rocked him from his feet. His omni-blades winked back into existence as he frantically searched around for more husks, but all he saw emerging from the hovering red fire was a beast that was far, far bigger then he was. Hell, it made Vega look like a three year old boy.

With a heart rumbling roar that Shepard could feel throughout his entire body, he found himself staring hard at a beast twice the size of the largest Krogans. Its arms where massively thick, thicker then the trunks of trees, but it stood on short, powerful legs. However, all of its bulk was only limited to its body, as its head was that of what he had seen on the marauders. It was the head of a Turian, attached to the mutated body of a Krogan. A match made in Hell.

"What in spirits' name is that!" Garrus hollered from his turret mount.

"Dead." Shepard growled as he readied his stance.

With another roar, the massive beast pounded its chest and started to charge for Shepard, each hard planting of its clawed fists sounding as if it was beating a drum.

"Shepard! Watch out!" Vega called as he aimed his rifle at the beast with his finger ready to pull the trigger.

Without even the courtesy of responding to his Lieutenant, Shepard ran forward towards the brute with his arms wrapped in orange omni-blades and teeth bared like a rabid varren. His care for his own safety was so low, that one would be lucky to find it with a shovel and a few crates of high explosives.

With a powerful swing of its clawed arm, the brute attempted to connect with the small human, but missed entirely when Shepard went into a skid. He slid on his hip, squeezing into the small, constantly shifting space between the brute's arms where both omni-blades found purchase deep in the brute's abdomen.

The moment Shepard's omni-blades sheathed themselves into the brute's flesh as far as they could go, the beast roared and flailed with pain, slamming its claws into the ground and narrowly missing Shepard in the process, peppering him with clumps of ground with each swing.

This time however, there was no need for an order from Shepard as the sounds of turret and rifle fire drowned out the screams of pain. Large holes, whether entry, or exit, were blown through the brute's massive bulk, spraying Shepard and the ground with the same iridescent blue paint that the previous husks had. Shepard had to close his eyes and look away from the sight overhead, if at all to keep from swallowing copious amounts of it, or having it spray into his eyes, which he preferred didn't happen.

Moments passed until the beast simply gave up and feel forward, having lost too much glowing blood and too much energy, but Shepard wasn't able to move fast enough as the beast came down on top of him.

"Shepard!" Garrus yelled as he sprang from the turret's seat and rushed down the ladder to the battlefield where Shepard was pinned.

"Commander!" Vega soon followed, but he was far closer and reached Shepard well before Garrus.

"MPMEPNINBBOINROITSEOFGSF!" came Shepard's furious muffles as his legs, the only parts of him that were visible, scratched and clawed and flailed in an attempt to get him free from the weight of the dead brute pinning him down.

"Hold on Commander. We'll get you out." Vega said as he slapped his rifle onto his back and started pushing on the brute's body to roll it off.

However, even Vega's brute strength wasn't enough move the sheer mass of the beast.

"GHGPSPJEIOBISORBGOIBF!" Shepard muffled again, still kicking and flailing like he was fighting off a horde of bees.

"Garrus! Hurry up!" Vega called over his shoulder, still trying to push the body off of Shepard but only managing to sink his hands into the mutated flesh of the monster.

Rushing to Vega's side, Garrus tossed his rifle aside without a care, letting it skitter along the ground for a few feet before planting his talons hard right next to Vega's.

Between the two of them, their combined strength was enough to roll the beast over to free Shepard from being trapped underneath where he sucked in a massive breath and rolled onto his side. He coughed hard, forcing his lungs to inflate from nearly being flattened and they most certainly would have been if it wasn't for his armor that kept the beast's full weight from bearing down on him.

"You alright Commander?" Vega asked as he knelt down next to the coughing Shepard.

Shepard coughed a few more times before rolling back over onto his back, "Fuck those dude's weigh a million fucking pounds." he huffed out as he just laid there limp for a few more moments.

"I have no doubt. Are you hurt?" Garrus asked as he extended a hand to help Shepard up.

Shepard used Garrus to get to his feet, "Yeah... I think so. Little flatter, but I'll live."

However, the moment Shepard was stable on his own feet, the back of his head was thwacked by the very same hand that had helped him up.

"What in the spirits were you thinking? That maneuver could have killed you!" Garrus said with a stern tone and a clatter of his mandibles against the hide of his face.

"What? It worked didn't it?" Shepard shrugged as if he didn't just put his own life on the line.

"You're fucking loco Commander. No offense, but damn." Vega said as he shook his head in a bit of disbelief at what Shepard had done.

"None taken," an eyebrow popped, but it didn't stay long, "Look, don't criticize me on my combat style Garrus. If I remember right, you thought it was a good idea to take a rocket to your damn face." Shepard said, each word he spoke get angrier and angrier.

"I didn't do that on purpose Shepard. That's the big difference. Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Garrus fired back as he swooped down and picked up his tossed rifle.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Shepard growled through a curled lip of disgust.

"Dammit Shepard! Do you want to leave Ashley alone to raise your youngling by herself? Is that what you want?" Garrus snapped as he jabbed a talon into Shepard's armored chest.

At that, Shepard's brows furrowed hard, "Fuck you Garrus! You know damn well that that's the last thing I want! I want nothing more then to be there to raise our baby together!" he yelled, thrusting his own finger into Garrus's chest.

"Then start acting like it Shepard! I know what would happen if Ashley lost you again and if you died, permanently this time, then she would have to live everyday looking into the eyes of the youngling you share. Is that what you want for her?" Garrus growled, taking his finger from Shepard's chest as he glared hard into Shepard's angry, red flashing, but still blue eyes.

That's what he needed to hear. Shepard needed to be told the harsh and unyielding truth and there was truly only a small number of people that could tell it to him and live to tell the tale.

The harsh truth was that he had pulled a stupid move and it took Garrus's chastising to make him see it. Everything he had said couldn't have been more spot on, as everything that defined Shepard's existence was laying in a hospital bed. He knew that unnecessarily risking his life was not the brightest of ideas and the one person scattered amongst the stars that Shepard feared more then the Reapers, was the very person carrying his child.

She'd kill him in more ways then one if he got stupid now.

With a heavy sigh, Shepard hung his head and rested his hands on his hips, "Goddammit," he sighed again, "Don't tell Ashley I did that alright?" Shepard asked as he took his hands off his hips to rub his neck.

"Oh I will... Maybe then she'll be able to beat some sense into you. Next time, use your biotics or a gun. That's what they're there for." Garrus grumbled as he clapped a hand onto Shepard's shoulder.

"Oh come on Garrus. Do you hate me that much?" Shepard asked with a sad, almost five year old boy look on his face.

"I couldn't hate you Shepard, but sometimes I think Alenko was right." Garrus huffed as he started walked towards a break in the gray rock to form a small ravine.

"About what?" Vega asked, wanting to get back into the conversation.

Garrus huffed a laugh, "That Shepard is certifiably insane."

"I thought you and Commander Alenko were real good friends?" Vega asked as he pulled his rifle in preparation for any more husks, or brutes, that decided to come their way.

"We are, but that doesn't mean he doesn't think I'm bat shit crazy." Shepard said as he jumped up to the top of a small ledge of rock that had formed in the uneven ground.

"You are loco. I've never seen something so loco." Vega said with a light scoff as he slowly shook his head.

Shepard's expression went dull, "Are you gonna be calling me that from now on or something? You've called me that twice now." he said with a short lived glance back at Vega.

"Might as well. It fits." Vega said with a lopsided grin.

Shepard's throat rumbled with a chuckle, "Whatever floats your boat Vega." he shook his head.

"Will do... Loco."

As the three made their way down the winding ravine and up another short ridge, the distinctive sound of screaming Turian fighters came barreling over their heads. A pair of fighters ran from a pursuing harvester, a flying creature screeching with a metallic howl as it fired its ludicrously large guns hanging on either side of its body. It barreled two, massive balls of energy into one of the Turian fighters with a tremendous explosion, filling the sky with a flash of light that nearly blanked out their view of Palaven.

"Get down!" Shepard yelped as he did just that, landing flat on his stomach as the fatally wounded fighter crashed hard into the gray dirt.

The moment the fighter hit the dust, fire and heated air rushed outwards, making doubly sure that Vega and Garrus were firmly planted on their backs as the shockwave blazed over them all.

"Holy fuck!" Shepard roared as he stood up and swiped his hand over his armor to flick away the clinging dust that had accompanied the shockwave.

"By the spirits..." Garrus gasped as he stared at the burning wreckage of the fighter.

"We've gotta help them." Vega exhaled as he picked up his rifle from the ground nearest him.

The glimmer of the fires flickered and swayed in the reflection of Shepard's eyes, mesmerizing his attention with a Krogan's grip. The orange, even sustained in life by the extinguishing of another, was beautiful and the flecks of blue and white flame mixed in only added to the rainbow. How such beauty could thrived amidst the flurry of destruction was beyond them all.

As Vega tried to step passed Shepard, Shepard stuck his arm out, stopping Vega from continuing in his needless plight to save those that couldn't be saved.

"No one survived that." Shepard said calmly and with a stoney expression that, if it wasn't for the creamy complexion of his skin, would have made him appear as a statue.

"But you survived being spaced Commander. Why couldn't someone survive that?" Vega protested, looking into Shepard's eyes with sincerity.

"I only 'survived'," he air quoted, "because someone was willing to spend four _billion_ credits on me." Shepard said without the slightest distortion of his features.

Vega's eyes widened, "Four _billion_? That's a hell of a medical bill."

"It wasn't a medical bill." Garrus said in a low voice, deep enough to let the double timbre of his voice to really show through.

Vega's brows furrowed, "Uh... I don't wanna know do I."

"We don't have time to tell you even if you did." Shepard rolled his eyes and started planting his feet in the dust once again.

With one last glance to the burning wreckage, perhaps out of respect, or because the heat was strong enough to be felt through armor, they walked by and continued along the ravine without a look back over their shoulders. There was no need to.

As they walked, the ravine came to an end over a fantastic view of Menae's landscape with sharp gray ridges of rock and long and flat valleys and plateaus that were also just as gray. Every one of them thought it would be an amazing painting, even if its only color was gray.

"We're close to where General Victus should be Shepard. He should be just down there." Garrus said, pointing a talon down the descending series of ledges.

"Lets hope with a pulse." Shepard said as he took the first short drop down to the first ledge.

With just a shrug, Vega and Garrus followed Shepard down the ledges, having to kneel down at the edge of each one before taking the short plunge to the next. Every time they dropped, a tiny fall of dust followed, making a soft rustling with every rocky fleck that hit the ground below it.

Four ledges later, and three pairs of slightly tired knees from absorbing the falls, Shepard, Vega and Garrus arrived at the bottom where they were immediately greeted by a pair of Turian soldiers flanking another.

"General Victus... Are you alright?" Garrus asked, being the only one amongst them who immediately recognized the center Turian.

"I am... Though, I wish I could say the same for some of my men." Victus said while he glanced down at his feet.

"How many've you lost?" Shepard asked as he folded his arms.

"More then I'd like sadly. These Reapers are... more then we thought." Victus admitted with an almost ashamed tone.

"They're more then anyone thought General. There was no way we were gonna be able to fully prepare for them. Even if people believed me the first time I opened my mouth." Shepard said as his lips pressed together.

"Perhaps." Victus said with a curt nod.

"It's time we got you out of her General." Garrus said, gripping his rifle a bit tighter.

Victus nodded, "Yes. What about my men?"

"How many of them can't walk?" Shepard asked bluntly.

"Most of us can Commander. There's only a few that are injured. The rest are dead." one of the flanking Turian's said.

Shepard sighed, "Can the injured walk?" he tried not to grumble.

"Yes." Victus said plainly with a brief glance at the Turian who had spoken up.

"Then get 'em ready General. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that time is short." Shepard said gruffly.

"Believe me Commander. I can see it."

* * *

Sitting in the dark of a lab with only the desk lamp as light, Dr. Chakwas stared at a datapad laden with notes. She had been staring at them for so long that every word had blurred together into one long and white smudge, making them illegible, but that didn't matter, as she knew what they said anyways.

Night after night since she had taken over as Ashley's doctor, she had stayed up until the projected dawn of the Presidium started to break, trying to find the answer to her questions. She needed to find a way to treat Ashley without harming her and Shepard's child, but that particular solution was making it vastly difficult to find.

"Dr. Chakwas?" came a soft feminine voice from the doorway that startled the doctor from her staring stupor.

"Good gracious me... Oh, hello Sabiana. I didn't even hear the door open." Dr. Chakwas said, placing a hand over her heart from being startled.

The rather young Asari stepped fully inside the darkened lab, fidgeting with her fingernails as she timidly approached the kind hearted doctor.

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you, but I've come with a report regarding the human female? Ashley Shepard?" Sabiana said quietly as she walked towards Dr. Chakwas.

"Oh good. Anything new?" Dr. Chakwas asked simply as she glanced at the darker blue Asari.

"Only small amounts ma'am. Mrs. Shepard's brain swelling is going down, but it's far too slow for us not to worry about the possibly of brain damage. If we wait any longer ma'am, Mrs. Shepard's condition will begin to deteriorate quickly." Sabiana said with a saddened glint in her dark purple eyes.

Dr. Chakwas sighed, "I'm aware Sabiana," she slipped off her readers and rubbed her eyes, "I just can't seem to find an adequate way to treat her without putting her baby at risk. We might have to just take the chance." she sighed again as she stood up, needing to stretch from the long hours of sitting.

"I would hate for us to treat her normally and risk the loss ma'am." Sabiana said as she clasped her hands in front of her.

"I know. I agree with you. There has got to be a way we can treat her." Dr. Chakwas said as she walked to the large window behind her to look at something different for a change.

"Ma'am... Perhaps I can make a suggestion?" Sabiana asked with a light nibble to her bottom lip.

"Of course you can. At this point, I could use all the suggestions you have to offer." Dr. Chakwas said as she lightly folded her arms.

"Ma'am... I think it's time we consider that... Mr and Mrs. Shepard are going to lose their child." Sabiana said with a nervous tremble in her quiet voice.

"No! I will not betray my friend like that. I'll find a way to treat her." Dr. Chakwas snapped with a sharp look at the nervous nurse.

"But ma'am..."

"I will not! That's final." Dr. Chakwas pursed her lips together.

Sabiana drew in a long breath and held it, "Very well ma'am. I will leave you be then."

As Dr. Chakwas stared out of the window and the quiet Presidium, she simply listened as the quiet footsteps went for the door and left, leaving her once again in the quiet dark.

Drawing in a breath, she looked to her left at the one way window into the adjoined room where Ashley lay unconscious and bruised in her bed. She hadn't moved in days and had showed no signs of considerable improvement. She wanted nothing more then to surprise Shepard by telling him his wife had woken up while he was gone, but at the pace things were going, her news would be vastly different.

Turning back to her desk, Dr. Chakwas sat back down and powered up her terminal to phone a friend. All she hoped was that that someone would be available on the other end to take her call.

After a minute or two, the black screen winked into a dark cabin with a very tired looking Kaidan on the other end, rubbing his eyes and very much looking as if he had just woken up, specifically to answer the call.

"I am so sorry Kaidan. Did I wake you?" she asked sweetly and with a soft cringe laced in her older features.

_"Yeah... You did, but it's alright. Is everything ok?" _Kaidan asked, keeping his voice on the low side so not to wake Lycan, still sleep in the bed in the background.

"As well as can be expected I supposed. Ashley's still... in the woods we'll say." Dr. Chakwas said as she released her breath in a long sigh and slipped her readers back onto her face.

That seemed to wake him up a bit, _"Is everything alright? Has something changed?" _

Dr. Chakwas shook her head, "Not really, which is the problem. I've worked every night to try and find a way to treat her, but... I haven't found anything yet. I'm afraid we're ever closer to having to... I'm sure you know." she said with a light pinch to the bridge of her nose.

Kaidan nodded and sighed, _"I'll admit... I was hoping for better news."_

"I know Kaidan. I need your help." she fully admitted.

_"I uh," _he rubbed the back of his neck, _"I wasn't expecting to hear that from you." _Kaidan said as he looked down, presumably at the table his terminal sat on that was out of the screen.

"I'm sure, but I do need your help. The only way I can think of to treat Ashley is to develop a sort of... topical solution to bring her swelling down. Any blood born treatments will put the fetus in harms way." Dr. Chakwas said, resting an elbow on the desk.

_"I know... I know. Look... I'll be down in about a half hour." _Kaidan said with another rub to a tired eye.

Dr. Chakwas's brows lightly furrowed, "Where are you?"

_"We're on the Grimm. Why?" _he said, raking a hand back over his mussed hair.

"Oh... I thought you were out and about." Dr. Chakwas said with a light sigh.

Kaidan shook his head, _"No... We've been taking care of things on the Citadel. Talking with people, getting spirits up... We're scheduled to head out in a few days though. We gotta swing by a few __places to find some lost artifacts." _he spoke as if he was speaking through his sleep.

"Oh... It sounds like you have a lot ahead of you." she said as she picked up a cracker from the pack on her desk that had served as her meal.

_"We've all got a lot ahead of us," _he sighed, _"Give me a half hour. We'll be down and we'll see what we can come up with." _Kaidan said with another long sigh.

"I hate to ask that of you Kaidan. You've already got so much that requires your attention." Dr. Chakwas said with a sad look.

_"I can't expect you to take care everything on your own. We need to help each here. We don't have the luxury of being able to do things by ourselves." _Kaidan said as he glanced back at the still sleeping Lycan.

"It would seem that you've taken several of our talks to heart Kaidan, but I must insist... All I need is a few suggestions. You mustn't worry about coming down." Dr. Chakwas said with a soft, but tired smile.

_"Are you sure?" _

Dr. Chakwas nodded, "I'm sure. Just help me brainstorm Kaidan."

_"Alright... What've you got so far? Anything?" _Kaidan asked simply.

"The only thing I've gathered so far is what we can't do. Anything administered via blood will put the fetus at risk." she said as she picked up her datapad.

_"So you need something that can be given directly to the brain. That's not gonna be easy." _Kaidan said, slowly shaking his head.

"You can see my problem then." she said as she popped her cracker into her mouth.

Kaidan nodded, _"Yeah... Um... Have you talked to the Salarians there? Have any of them got any ideas?" _

"I have talked with them and they agreed to help, but traffic here... It's gotten worse Kaidan. People are arriving in droves from the Reaper War. A lot are... well, not everyone we can save. I'll leave it at that." Dr. Chakwas said, almost sounding ashamed with herself.

_"I get it. You guys're getting overwhelmed," _he rubbed his hair again, _"Um... Unfortunately, there isn't much I can do to help. I just don't have the medical knowledge." _Kaidan said, slowly shaking his head.

Dr. Chakwas's eyes softened, "I'll admit it Kaidan... I'm not sure what to do here."

Hearing a soft rustling from behind him, Dr. Chakwas watched Kaidan turn around to see Lycan rubbing her eyes as she sit up, holding the thick blanket up to her chest despite wearing a t-shirt.

"Hello dear. I'm sorry we woke you." Dr. Chakwas said with a soft and tired smile.

_"It's ok," _she slipped from the bed and wrapped herself up in a throw before walking up next to Kaidan, _"Have you tried talking with Mordin?" _Lycan asked tiredly as she leaned against Kaidan's side where is arm wrapped around her.

"That would be difficult Lycan. As I understand it, he went back to Sur'Kesh before Shepard's trial began." Dr. Chakwas said as she took a sip of water that had warmed to room temperature.

_"He did, but he's probably your best bet. If anyone can come up with a way to treat Ashley, he can." _Lycan said to be immediately followed by a yawn.

"You're right. Perhaps I jumped the gun in thinking it was time to," she lightly gulped, "terminate." Dr. Chakwas said with a slowly released sigh.

_"You're just thinking in Shepard's best interests. It's better to lose one and maintain the possibly of trying again, then to lose both and never get the chance again." _Kaidan said as he tightened his grip around Lycan's waist.

"You're entirely right. I'll do what I can to get ahold of Mordin. Let's just hope it's quick and we can get a treatment ready without anymore lost time." Dr. Chakwas said as her lips pulled into a light, but tired smile.

_"Good luck."_

With a short nod and blown kiss to two of the people she held closest to her heart, Dr. Chakwas ended the call, but she was far from done with the terminal. Her hands fluidly danced over the terminal's command interface, searching and scanning as much information as she could find on how to simply contact someone on Sur'Kesh.

_Ugh... This is going to be harder then I thought. _She thought as she followed link after link, idea after idea, simply on how to get ahold of Mordin, but each time, there was no way to locate him.

Funny how some things fall into place.

Before Dr. Chakwas could follow another, most likely hopeless lead, the terminal's screen went black and flashed the words 'Incoming Call' in soft green letters.

"Huerta Memorial... This is Dr. Chakwas." she answered, still quietly and following it up with a sip of water to wet her throat from her exhaustion.

_"Yes yes. Dr. Chakwas. Glad you're available," _he took in a deep breath, _"Hope I didn't wake." _

Low and behold, the very person she was trying to get ahold of was on the other side of the call, happily grinning back at her.

"Mordin? Good lord... What a coincidence. I was just trying to get ahold of you." Dr. Chakwas said in surprise, truly not expecting to be called by the very person she was looking to talk to.

_"Am aware. Received message from Shadow Broker some time ago. __Was told to contact you after completion of topical treatment for cranial swelling... Finished with it." _Mordin said in his usual, fast paced manner.

"Are you serious?" Dr. Chakwas asked, slowly shaking her head in disbelief.

_"Always serious. Shadow Broker requested treatment be sent to you. Unsure why." _Mordin said, still with a soft smile across his wide, thin lips.

"It's Shepard's wife... Ashley." Dr. Chakwas said as she slowly released her sad sigh.

_"Wife? Was unaware Shepard was bonded." _Mordin's smile faded.

"He is. He's also in line to be a father." Dr. Chakwas said, trying not to smile at Mordin's reeling reaction.

_"A hatchling? Understand now. Urgency to treat without threat to young important. What is condition of Shepard's mate?" _

"She's unconscious right now and has been for a number of days. Her brain swelling is going down on its own, but it's far too slowly for us to ignore treating her. Her risk of brain damage is high if I can't treat her." Dr. Chakwas said, slowly shaking her head.

_"Understand. Sending treatment notes and synthesizing procedure. Happy to help." _Mordin said with his returning smile.

"The Shadow Broker's involvement is surprising in this. I sure wasn't expecting their help." Dr. Chakwas said, still just simply trying to wrap her head around the situation.

_"Appears Shadow Broker is on our side against Reapers. Fortunate for us." _Mordin said as he popped another pleased smile.

"Yes I agree. Thank you Mordin. Thank you really." she said with a thankful smile.

_"Of course. Glad to help Shepard. Must get back to work. Lots to do. Lots to do." _

"Of course. Good bye Mordin."

With another snappy smile, Mordin ended the call, only to be near instantly followed by a ping, telling her that she had received the desperately needed file he had sent.

The moment she opened the file, all she could do was smile as her heart was filled with hope. Everything she needed to help Shepard and his growing family was staring right back at her, prepared and ready to create so it could be given to Ashley by early mid morning.

That flicker of hope, that small spark, grew into a budding fire.

* * *

They were both tired. Tired from running around the Citadel. Tired from planning their trip to various planets to pick up various artifacts. They were tired, exhausted, dead on their feet.

Tonight, Kaidan and Lycan were just hoping to sleep all the way through it, but that didn't happen.

Drawing in a long, tired yawn, Kaidan rubbed his face with both hands to rub away a small portion of the lingering tiredness. Feeling Lycan's hands tenderly massage his shoulders, he smiled a littler wider then he already was as her hands helped to rub away the lethargic haze from his muscles.

"So much for a full night's sleep." Kaidan said with a voice that crackled and groaned and rasped more then it should have.

"We kinda expected that going into this honey." Lycan said sweetly as she moved her hands up the back of his neck to thread her fingers into his hair.

Kaidan's eyes closed, "Yeah... That doesn't mean a full night wouldn't've been appreciated though." he said, letting his head fall back to rest against Lycan's partially exposed stomach from her short tank.

"I know. I'm tired too," she bent down and kissed his forehead, "You think Mordin's called Dr. Chakwas yet?" she asked as she took her hands away from his hair to lightly pat his shoulders.

Kaidan huffed a low rumble of a laugh, "He probably has. Knowing Mordin like we do, he's probably done with the treatment already." his smile started to grow as he turned to snake his arm around Lycan's waist.

"Probably," Lycan lowly chuckled, "I'm glad Liara's been helping us. Letting us use the Shadow Broker name and network is really gonna help us work behind the scenes." she said, stepping around her husband to sit down in his lap.

"It is. It's already gonna help Shepard and Ashley. If it doesn't help us do anything else... At least it helped them." Kaidan said, locking his fingers together around her and resting his head on her shoulder.

"Better one, then none," she smiled, "But, I think we've got a lot more little victories ahead of us. Liara's already sent us a bunch of stuff on Udina. We've just gotta play it right. We can't get ahead of ourselves on this." Lycan said, gently caressing the nape of Kaidan's neck.

Kaidan nodded, "I agree. When it comes to Udina, we've gotta wait till the right time. Until then though... We've got a lot of running around to do."

"Maybe we should head out sooner so we have a chance at being here when Shepard comes back." Lycan suggested, looking down to stare into Kaidan's tired, yet still very caramel eyes.

Again, Kaidan nodded, "That's probably a good idea. He should be back here when... After Menae?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Should, but I'm not sure since Ashley's had to wait to get treatment. She might not be awake by the time he comes back. We'll just have to wait and see what he does. He might go straight to the summit after picking up Primarch Victus." Lycan said, resting her cheek against the top of his head.

"That's right... The war summit," he lightly sighed, "Do you think Wreav'll meet up with Shepard and be the Krogan ambassador?" Kaidan asked as he found himself beginning to slowly rock from side to side with her still in his lap.

"I don't know," she sighed, "That's one of the things that's kinda up in the air. From what we saw in game, it'll be some nameless Krogan we've never met before since Wrex isn't here, but with Grexa as Wreav's advisor, it might be her." Lycan said, lightly sighing to rustle Kaidan's hair with her breath.

"Think Wreav and Grexa kept up their end?" Kaidan asked plainly.

"I'd like to think so, but again, it's something we'll have to wait and see about." Lycan said, placing a light kiss to his hair.

Kaidan nodded, "Alright," he drew in a long breath, "We'll stop by to see Ashley tomorrow morning and we'll spend today finishing up what needs to be done here. Then, after we see Ashley, we'll leave." he said, stopping his rocking to lightly pat her hip, cuing her that he was preparing to stand.

Lycan slipped off his lap, "That sounds good. We can get her a gift too... Maybe even slip it to Shepard to give to her." she lightly chuckled.

"That's not a half bad idea actually. I take it you're talking about that Tennyson book?" Kaidan asked as he stood and headed back to their cooled bed.

"Yeah. We could wrap it and give it to Dr. Chakwas to give to Shepard when he comes by. I think Ashley'd like that." Lycan said as she slipped into bed next to Kaidan who wrapped her up in his arms the second the covers were over them.

Kaidan smiled against the skin of Lycan's shoulder, "Galaxy in the balance and you take the time to wrap a present for a sick friend. We could all be so lucky to have you in our lives." he lightly kissed her warm skin.

"Not everyone can. Just those I hold dear and lets face it... You're the only man for me." she said in a low voice as she snuggled back into her husband.

Kaidan lowly chuckled into Lycan's skin as he tightened his arms around his wife, "I'm glad to hear that because I can get very possessive." he playfully growled as he nibbled softly at her flesh.

Lycan crinkled her nose and giggled, "I know."

With their calls made, the couple quickly fell back asleep, embraced in each other's arms for at least a couple more hours where, even asleep, they contemplated the cards they had laid down.

Unbeknownst to Dr. Chakwas, and a wonderful acting job done by Kaidan playing dumb, the Alenkos had played a beautiful hand of cards. After they had left the hospital, after Shepard had gone to speak with the Council, they had sent Liara a message, asking the 'Shadow Broker's' involvement in finding a suitable treatment for Ashley. They had requested that the 'Shadow Broker' contact Mordin Solus for his help, and sure enough, they soon received a message from Liara saying that she had done what was needed.

Their plan had come together with a shining picture of hope and it helped to ease a miniscule bit of tension with what their overall plan was. To give Fate the finger and make their own ending.

_Well played Alenkos... Well played. _Fate thought with teeth bared. The fight was on.


	81. Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Bridges

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: Sorry for the late update guys. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love you all!)_

The reflection in the mirror didn't reflect the man who was looking into it. It looked like him, but it didn't feel like him. It showed the same features, the same blue eyes, the same skin, the same formal suit, but Shepard didn't believe it was him.

Alone in his cabin, Shepard dressed for the war summit, having just found it was going to held on _his_ ship, in his black suit that Kasumi had given him. He had wished that he was told about that tiny little detail beforehand and it seemed that people were simply expecting him to just roll with the punches with no questions asked. Unfortunately, they were right. He had to. At least with the punches.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, Shepard straightened the cuffs of the black suit jacket and tugged it down, smoothing it out over his frame before he rubbed his cheeks to only cringe at the five o'clock shadow. _Oh well._ He thought with a shrug just as his door received a knock.

"Come in." Shepard said with one last admire in the mirror before he closed his closet to rid it from his sight.

The door opened with its standard monotoned hiss to let Shepard's guest enter into the dimmed light with the barest of footfalls.

"They're here, Shepard." Liara said as she stopped at the top of the stairs and clasped her hands behind her back, as she often did.

Shepard sighed, "Who's the krogan ambassador?" he asked as he walked up the stairs and stepped into his bathroom without even a glance at her.

"Actually... It's Wrex's daughter. I believe her name is Grexa." Liara said with the softest hint of a smile creeping across her dark blue lips.

Shepard instantly poked his head out of his bathroom door with a razor in hand, "Really?"

Liara nodded, "Yes. She's accompanied by a body guard of Urdnot Wreav's appointing, but she is the krogan ambassador. Her and Primarch Victus are waiting for you in the conference room." she said, glancing at Shepard's desk at his picture of he, Ashley, Kaidan and Lycan, having been taken by Lycan herself with arms outstretched in front of her.

Shepard spritzed himself once with his cologne and stepped out, deciding to let the five o'clock shadow go, "Alright. Lead on. Might as well not keep them waiting any longer."

With a short nod, Liara turned and stepped through the door with Shepard beside her as both stepped into the elevator that had never left the Loft, bound for the CIC.

The moment they stepped out of the elevator, they were met with whispers hidden behind open hands meant for close ears. The whole crew knew about the war summit and simply seeing their commander dressed in his finest was enough to make it all real. As if seeing the Reapers first hand hadn't been enough for them.

The pair headed through the checkpoint and stepped through the opposite door and the moment the two part door parted, Shepard saw his guests and the hologram of the salarian councilor, Councilor Valern.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting." Shepard said blandly as he nodded once to Liara, giving her a silent order to leave, which she did without hesitation.

"Nothing we can't handle, Commander." Primarch Victus said with a bowing of his head.

"Commander Shepard... It is an honor to finally meet you." the Krogan ambassador said with an extension of her hand towards him.

The second Shepard's eyes set onto Grexa's, he immediately saw Wrex's crimson red eyes looking back at him and it was enough to make his breath catch in his already narrow throat. He remembered those eyes as if it was yesterday he was looking into them, and they were the eyes of someone he could never forget and he knew, neither would Kaidan and Lycan.

"Urdnot Grexa... The honor's mine. Your father was a great krogan... and a friend." Shepard said as he shook her far larger hand.

"I know. I received your letter." Grexa said, taking her hand back to clasp both behind her.

"I'm glad to hear that. That letter was the hardest letter I've ever had to write." Shepard said, sucking in a long breath to help settle his nervous stomach.

Grexa nodded as she took a step back, "I can imagine writing such a letter is never easy."

_"Commander Shepard. Thank you for agreeing to host this war summit." _the hologram of Councilor Valern said from his corner of the room.

"I didn't really have much a choice." Shepard said with an eye roll as he rested his hands on the standing only table top in front of him.

_"Perhaps not, but with the threat of the Reapers, we couldn't __risk having the summit at, or near the Citadel." _Councilor Valern said simply and matter-of-factly.

"A neutral location was our only option, Commander." Primarch Victus said with hands clasped in front of him.

"The Reapers may've played a part in that decision, but we all know it was because you wanted to discuss how to get the krogan into this fight." Shepard said with no emotion in his tone as he scanned the room at his two and a half guests.

_"Because of our history, I will admit that that was part of our __decision for the Normandy to host the war summit." _Councilor Valern admitted wholeheartedly as he threaded his fingers together in front of him.

Shepard shook his head, "Finally some honesty... Look, we've got the worst uphill battle here and it's on more levels then I can list on one hand. We've gotta put aside the interracial infighting and turn all our attention to stopping the Reapers." he said with his eyes bouncing between all three.

"I agree, Commander..." Primarch Victus started, but got interrupted.

"I won't lie to you, Commander, in saying that the krogan can just drop everything and pick up arms, but there are more of us who are looking for turian blood, then Reaper." Grexa said with a bit of a snarl in her lower, but feminine voice.

"And there in lies our true hurdle." Primarch Victus said lowly, this time without the interruption.

"The Genophage is the sole source of our problem, Primarch. My uncle has dedicated what he can to you, but to sustain krogan forces, we need a cure." Grexa said expertly.

_"Wait a moment... Did I hear you correctly? You already have krogan forces ready to be dispatched to Palaven?" _Councilor Valern asked with a curl in his thin lips.

Grexa nodded, "We do. My uncle has approximately two hundred krants ready, but that will not help for long. We need a cure." she said, balling a fist on the table's top.

_"A cure is out of the question." _Councilor Valern said sternly.

"With all do respect, Councilor, a cure is our only option." Grexa said with a growing snarl in her voice.

_"It is not..."_

"Councilor, it is and you know it. My people brought this plague to the krogan with due cause, but times have changed. We all have a common enemy and without krogan support, Palaven will fall." Primarch Victus interrupted with a prattle of his mandibles to the side of his face.

"Palaven can't fall, Councilor. The turian force is one of the strongest in the galaxy and we need them. If we lose them, we're royally fucked." Shepard said as his brows began to pull together, having lost all patience for being proper.

_"We sterilized the krogan for a reason, Commander." _Councilor Valern said, this time with an angry snap in his tone.

"The salarians' sterilized them over a thousand years ago, Councilor. A thousand!" Shepard snapped.

_"We had cause."_

"Cause? Is that your only excuse, Councilor? What cause did you have when the krogan began to evolve beyond the Genophage? What cause gave you the right to do it to them twice!" Shepard started to yell.

_"Please, Commander... You must understand that at the time of the Krogan Rebellions, we had to neutralize the threat. The krogan are an immense fighting force and needed to be contained." _Councilor Valern said smoothly, a bit too smoothly for Shepard's tastes.

"We aren't varren you can keep on a chain until you see fit to set us free, Councilor." Grexa chimed in as she crossed her arms, clearly annoyed.

"We could argue the semantics about the Genophage until we are... What's the human term?" Victus looked at Shepard.

"Blue in the face." Shepard deadpanned.

"Yes. We could argue this until we are all blue in the face, Councilor, but the fact remains. The Reapers will destroy us all if the krogan are not in this war at full force." Primarch Victus argued with a short lived glance at Grexa.

_"We can not risk another Krogan Rebellions." _

"Fuck the Krogan Rebellions! Those were more then a millennium ago and it involves absolutely no one on this boat! Not a soul!" Shepard barked with a brief curl in his upper lip.

_"I am aware Commander." _Councilor Valern said with a sigh.

"Then prove it to us, Councilor. All I am able to commit is two hundred krants and you know, _you_ _know_ that that's not enough. We need to be able to replenish our numbers. Two hundred krants is only a stop gap force. We are a resilient people, but we aren't that resilient." Grexa said with a short scratch to her thick head plate.

_"I am more then aware of the resilience of krogan. I must ask however, Urdnot Grexa... How is it you and your uncle were able to commit forces already?" _Councilor Valern asked plainly.

Grexa sucked in a breath, "We are fulfilling a promise we made with a friend."

That's when Shepard's chest tightened, "Wait... What did you just say?" he managed to get through his throat.

"Perhaps that is a conversation for private, Commander." Grexa said quietly with a slight bow of her head.

Shepard held his breath a moment as he nodded and continued on, "So what do we do about getting a cure for the Genophage? Where do we start?"

"I've received information about fertile females in salarian hands on Sur'Kesh." Grexa said, this time louder so all could hear.

_"Preposterous." _

"It's not when it's true." Victus grumbled.

"Me and my uncle have been receiving intel from someone on the inside showing that the salarians have them. We want them." Grexa said flatly and quite seriously.

_"I'm afraid..."_

"Stuff it, Councilor. Let the people who know war, fight the war. How do you know they're on the inside, Grexa?" Shepard asked, finally standing up straight to cross his arms over his chest.

"See for yourself."

From a simple command issued by Grexa on the conference table, a projection of a short video clip digitized into existence at the table's center, showing a busy lab with several containment cells with krogan inside. The clip was obviously from the point of view of the person filming, as it bounced with every step and looked around as if they were observing through that person's very eyes.

"That answers that question." Victus said, also crossing his arms.

_"I cannot in good conscious allow a cure to be found. We do not know if the krogan will seize the opportunity to rise up against us. We could make this war harder for ourselves." _Councilor Valern said, accenting his words by pounding a lightly closed fist into his palm.

"Harder for who? Us or the Reapers? You know jack shit about fighting a war, Councilor, and I'll do whatever it takes to make sure we win it. If that means telling you to fuck off, then I will." Shepard snapped with a stern glare.

"The Commander is right, Councilor. I can only give you my word, but as a show of good faith, those two hundred will head immediately to Palaven. Lets us try to find a cure so those two hundred don't simply end up as cannon fodder." Grexa said, very definitely sounding like an experienced ambassador.

Councilor Valern huffed, _"I cannot agree to this, but... Commander Shepard has a tendency to put the welfare of Council citizens ahead of politics, so... Good day." _he said in a very even, very straight forward tone of voice that tipped everyone off that perhaps, he was simply saying it for the cameras, sort to speak.

Shepard arced a brow as Councilor Valern cut the link from his end, leaving only him, the Primarch and Grexa in the conference room to continue their discussions.

"Does that happen a lot, Commander?" Primarch Victus asked as he looked over at Shepard, who was quietly laughing to himself.

Shepard shook his head, "Actually, this is the first time. It's usually a giant fucking wall of 'no's' and 'wild imaginings and reckless speculation's'." he continued his light laughing.

"Ah. I will assume then that you are to do precisely what he doesn't want you to do?" Primarch Victus asked as he unfolded his arms and placed his hands on the table.

Shepard nodded, "You bet your ass I am. Grexa, you know where on Sur'Kesh this facility is?" he asked, pointing at the still frozen video of the facility that held the fertile Krogan females.

"I don't have a confirmed location yet, but I can pull a few strings on my end and find out." Grexa said with a curt nod.

"I can assist you with whatever you need." Primarch Victus said as he stood up straight and clasped his hands behind his back.

"Roger that. Primarch, can I have a few minutes to speak with Grexa alone?" Shepard asked as he finally uncrossed his arms to rest his palms on the table.

All Primarch Victus did was nod once before he simply walked out and headed through the door that lead into the war room.

"I'm assuming you wish to ask which friends I made a promise to?" Grexa asked as soon as the door the Primarch had walked through, closed.

Shepard nodded, "I do." he simply said.

"I believe you are acquainted with a Commander Alenko and his mate, Lycan?" Grexa asked with a long, stretched smile spreading across her large krogan mouth.

"Yeah... I know them. They're very close friends of mine." Shepard said as he crossed his arms again.

"I figured as much. That Lycan is incredibly persuasive. Her and Commander Alenko helped my uncle to see things as my father did. Because of them, the krogan people seem to have found a sense of camaraderie." Grexa said as her smile softened a bit.

"That's good. So what was this promise?" Shepard asked with a shallow swallow that moved his throat.

"To have men ready to fight for when the war came. The war's come." Grexa said as her smile completely faded.

Not knowing what to say, Shepard resulted to just looking around the conference room with his arms crossed. His mind whirled with thoughts and questions, but he never got a chance to ask them.

"Your friends have been laying a foundation, Commander. Not just for you, but for all of us." Grexa continued with a slowly released breath of air.

"I know. They've been a real asset." Shepard said, ignoring the pang in his stomach from referring to his friends as such.

"They're more of an asset... Especially to you." Grexa said.

Shepard huffed as his lips began to display the soft remnants of a smile, "I know," he sighed, "I've got some things I've gotta check up on, so the second you find out where that facility is, let me know ok?" he asked.

"Oh course."

With a single spin on his heels, Shepard walked out of the glass conference room with the same kind of determined steps he had when he had arrived. He passed right by Liara and the communication's officer on his way to the elevator, riding it to his cabin where he tore off his black jacket and tossed it without a care onto his bed.

Kicking off his loafers, Shepard went back up the steps and into his bathroom to splash a few handfuls of cold water into his face, but even that didn't help to clear his head.

As he stepped out, the soft holoframe on his desk winked to life, catching the attention of his tired eyes. He looked over to see the four of them, all with smiles and enjoying the little time they had to be happy. He picked it up, unable to stop looking at the four sets of twinkling and genuinely happy eyes as he went back to his bed and sat, still staring.

So much he had seen in such a short amount of time. So much death had been shoved into his mind and heart, that he wasn't sure what it meant to be alive anymore, but there was one thing that kept his heart from completely freezing where it sat in his chest.

And they were looking right back at him.

* * *

_The air was still, motionless in the same way stones lay through time. It was filled with falling ash that felt like forgotten leaves from the trees that surrounded him. The ground barely moved with the __ultra slow steps he took and the only sound that vibrated in his ears was that of his own breathing._

_ He looked around the shadowy forest, not sure what he was seeing as fading silhouettes ran about like children in a field. Ash fell from the gray, seemingly nonexistent sky like snow in the winter, clinging to everything to make the world around him dull and lifeless, as if the entire forest had been burned._

_ "Hello!" Shepard called out._

_ The sudden sound echoed and drifted outwards, bouncing off the shadowy trees like he was trapped in a canyon and went on forever until the distant echoes of laughter caught his ears._

_ "Hello? Is anyone there!" Shepard called out again, only to be met with more distant laughter of children._

_ Slightly squinting, Shepard began to walk, but each movement was slow, deliberate. He walked around trees, stepped over roots, following what he hoped was the laughter, but a flicker of white from the corner of his eye forced him to look towards a larger tree not far away._

_ "Hello?" he said, looking through the trees and ash for the white that had flicked through his vision._

_ "Skiiiiiipperrrrrr..." came a distant and sweet call that reverberated in his ears like the beats of a bass drum._

_ Hearing his nickname, _her_ pet name for him, Shepard furiously looked around, searching, praying to see her. He ran through the shadow forest, leaping over the fallen and weaving through branches that clawed for him as if he had a destination in mind, but only endless shadow stretched out before him._

_ "Ashley!" Shepard called again with more distant laughter of children serving as his answer._

_ "Skiiiiiipperrrrrr..." came the same sweet voice once more, but this time, it wasn't a simple whisper trapped in the wind._

_ Stepping out from behind a massive shadowy tree, a figure, dressed in flowing and flawless white, emerged with long dark hair and perfect skin of light tan. Her dark eyes stared at him with mirth, running her soft hand over the trunk of the tree as she softly stepped around it, into his view._

_ "Ashley? What're..." his voice left him as he watched her looking back at him over her delicate shoulder._

_ Sweetly smiling at him, she lowly chuckled, matching the children's laughter all around him as she beckoned for him to come with her finger._

_ "Ash... Wait." Shepard said as he started for her, only to watch as she ran, almost in slow motion, away from him, dancing and prancing through the trees._

_ "Skiiiiiipperrrrrr..." she called again, luring him through the trees like it was a game. _

_ He ran after her, but with each step he took, she pulled away, always looking back over her shoulder at him to tease, to entice. He ran, again weaving through the shadow giants and leaping over their roots, but not every step was true. _

_ The toe of his boot wedged itself beneath a solid root, taking him straight to the ground with a heavy thud. He grit his teeth together as he planted his hands in the dark dirt and lifted himself up, yanking his boot free from the root and looked around, only to see the army of black shadows that served as trees._

_ Ashley was gone._

_ "Ashley!" Shepard yelled as he got to his feet and looked around for the figure of white._

_ His only answer was more children's laughter as small, hazy black figures scurried passed him, all in the same direction. _

_ Drawing in a long breath, Shepard started after the running black figures of children, ducking around more trees and ash in the same way the shadow children were. They seemed to be leading him somewhere, but where, he didn't know until a solitary bench came into view._

_ Shepard stopped his pursuit to look at the ill placed bench with its single figure seated upon it, clad in a white flowing dress with long dark hair. She was looking away from him with something in her arms, gently swaying from side to side and her gentle humming filled the air, echoing just as Ashley's voice and the children's voice had._

_ "Ash?" Shepard exhaled quietly as he approached her, his hand subtly extended._

_ Again, his answer was a round of children's laughter, but it was far more distant, as if the children were running away. _

_ As Shepard walked around the bench to see Ashley's calm and beautiful face, he saw the small bundle in her arms, cradled with the upmost care against her. _

_ A child, a baby of no more then a few months old lay perfectly still and asleep in Ashley's arms, safe under it's mother's loving gaze. He looked on in bewildered disbelief as she smiled down at the small baby, happy and content to just sit there watching her child, their child sleep, but something wasn't right. Something was wrong. He didn't know why he thought so, but he just knew something was amiss._

_ As Shepard knelt down to get a closer look at his baby, the child's eyes flew open, revealing not a pair of dark orbs, or electric blue marbles, but those of a mutated husk. The eyes of a Human that had been consumed by Reaper._

_ Frightened, Shepard fell back onto his butt and looked up at Ashley, expecting the same look of horror across her face, but all he saw was the same look of love and content, the same look that said she wasn't horrified by their child's Reaper eyes, but that too, didn't last._

_ As Ashley looked over to him, her face dropped and phased away, shifting into that of a husk with the same sick gray skin laced with synthetic material. She screamed the sound of a Reaper, thundering and quaking the ground beneath him with every second that passed and then, she lunged for him._

Terrified, Shepard sat bolt upright in his bed, dripping in cold sweat and with a gun in his hand. He didn't know why understand why he held his pistol extended as if he was prepared to fire, but as his vision cleared, taking away the lingering images of his wife turned husk, he saw that someone was standing on the business end of his weapon.

"EDI?" he breathed, taking a few seconds to calm himself down as he lowered his gun to sit beside him on the bed.

"I did not mean to startle you Commander. I simply wished to observe what human's refer to as dreaming." EDI said smoothing, clasping her new hands behind her back as she stood beside his bed.

"Warn me next time." Shepard groaned as he set his pistol on his nightstand and scrubbed a hand down his face.

"Again, I did not intend to frighten, but by my observations, your... dream was not a desirable one." EDI said with her persistent and omnipresent informative tone.

"Not even close." Shepard scoffed as he tossed aside his blankets and swung his legs off to just sit.

"Your vitals are significantly elevated. Are dreams capable of producing such physical reactions?" EDI asked with genuine curiosity.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah... They're called nightmares." he said, still not looking at her new form.

EDI stayed silent for a brief moment, "Your symptoms would indicate that your nightmare qualifies as what you refer to as a night terror. Is that the same thing?" she asked.

"No... Night terrors are worse. Sometimes even when you wake up, your mind doesn't realize you're awake." Shepard said as he stood and purposefully stepped passed her without even setting an eye on her.

"Shepard... May I inquire why you have not looked at me since first acquiring this platform?" EDI asked as she turned to watch him stop short of the stairs.

Shepard never turned around, "Would you wanna look at the form that put your wife in the hospital?" he returned as he went into the bathroom.

EDI, hands still clasp behind her, walked up into Shepard's office, "I'm afraid I do not understand."

"EDI... That body almost killed my wife. I watched it pick her up and smash her against the side of a burning shuttle like she was a bag of cats. I trust _you_ EDI... I don't trust that body." Shepard said from the bathroom as he stared at himself in the mirror, watching the water drip from his chin.

"Were my calculations that this platform would be useful incorrect?" EDI asked.

Shepard released his held breath as he grabbed a towel to dry his face, "No... They weren't."

"Then animosity is simply placed on what this platform had done prior to my acquisition?" EDI asked without the slightest hiccup in her tone.

Shepard stepped into the doorframe and leaned against it, actually looking at her this time, "Yeah," he sighed, "Look EDI... It'll take me some time, but I'll get over it. I trust you and you know that."

EDI nodded, "I am aware. Know that my acquisition of this platform was not to alienate the crew, or you."

"I already know that EDI. I'm sorry I pointed a gun at you." Shepard said as he folded his arms across his t-shirt clad chest.

"It's... alright. If I am not being too intrusive, may I ask what your dream was about?" EDI asked with more curiosity.

Shepard sucked in a long breath as he stepped passed her and down the stairs, "About what could happen if we lose with war." he didn't want to go into details.

"I require more detail Commander."

Shepard went back to sit on his bed and looked up as EDI walked back to her spot beside his bed, "If the Reapers win EDI, we're all husked."

"Are you worried that you might fail?" EDI asked.

Shepard nodded, "I'm always worried I'll fail. No ones ever faced something like this before. How're we supposed to win if it takes everything we have just to take down _one_ Reaper? We've got hundreds, maybe even thousands to destroy." he said as he sighed again and rubbed his face.

"The overwhelming odds are becoming... overwhelming." EDI actually stuttered, which surprised Shepard a bit.

"You could say that," he sighed, "How's the crew taking the new body?" Shepard asked, wanting to change the subject.

"I have not been met with any hostility and they seem to be... accepting of this platform." EDI said with her pleasure evident in her words.

"Good. I'm glad to hear it."

Before Shepard could say anything else, a chime at his door drew both their attention, but also drew a growl from Shepard's throat.

"Come in." Shepard grumbled, just wanting to get back to sleep.

Not surprising to anyone, Liara entered the cabin holding a datapad, but she seemed a bit surprised to see EDI emotionlessly looking back at her.

"Oh... I didn't mean to interrupt anything." Liara said, debating whether or not to turn and leave.

"You didn't." Shepard said calmly and with a blow of air out from between his lips.

"I will return to my station, Commander." EDI said with the slightest bowing of her head before she turned and left.

Without watching EDI leave, Shepard headed back to his and sat down while Liara stood and watched, waiting for the doors to close before she stepped down the stairs and went to fill EDI's vacant spot next to his bed and handed him her datapad.

"What's going..." Shepard started, only to have his words ripped from his throat as he read the words displayed.

"I assumed it couldn't wait, so I came up to personally deliver that to you." Liara said as she threaded her fingers together in front of her.

Shepard cupped a hand over his mouth, "This is real? I'm not dreaming this?" he asked, trying to blink away the tears that had instantly welled in his eyes.

Liara shook her head, "It's real Commander. That I promise you."

Actually starting to smile, Shepard swiped his hand over both eyes to dry them, "Get us to the Citadel."

* * *

As much as Kaidan and Lycan wanted to stay and hand Shepard Ashley's gift themselves, they couldn't afford to wait any longer. They had to leave the wrapped gift with Dr. Chakwas, but at least with her, they knew it would find it's way into Shepard's hands.

Having left the Citadel, the _Grimm _silently cruised through the black expanse of space, having many destinations in mind, but for right now, the Apien Crest cluster was their target, upon which they weren't far, for a turian relic called the Banner of the First Regiment. With the turians at the forefront, they needed all the morale they could get.

The atmosphere inside the _Grimm_ however, was quiet and more then a bit tense as Callaghan, Hanson and Ellison prepared to hit dirt upon their arrival at Digeris. In fact, they were to be the recovery team for all the artifacts.

"If we're just errand boys, why am I so damn nervous?" Ellison asked as Lia'Vael strapped on his backplate with a series of clicks.

"Because we're about to handling alien relics?" Hanson offered as he finished tightening his own armor plates to secure them to the thick mesh underlay.

Ellison shrugged, but it only earned him a smack to his shoulder from Lia.

"These relics are treasured pieces to those races. You should be honored they are even entrusting their care to you." Lia'Vael said as she moved to the second shoulder strap to tighten it.

"I don't think it's that, Lia." Ellison said, releasing a nervous breath.

"It's probably nerves in general, Ellison. A war of this scale's enough to rattle anyone." Callaghan said with her own nerves showing through in the form of her idle bouncing.

"You think it's rattling Commander Shepard?" Hanson asked, picking up his beloved rocket launcher from the storage rack next to him.

Callaghan shrugged, "Without a doubt."

Hanson huffed, "I don't know how he does it... I mean, if my wife was in the hospital, everything else could rot for I'd care." he said as he inspected his rocket launcher with an attentive eye.

"It takes a special kind of man to be able to put something like that on the back burner." Ellison said with a soft glance at Lia who handed him his weapons.

"To be honest, I don't think Commander Alenko could do it." Callaghan said in a lower voice.

"Really?" Hanson asked with a boyish curiosity.

"Yeah... He's enamored with Lycan. You could just tell it tore him up to just lock her in their room when we left Earth. It really bothered him." Callaghan said, still in her low voice to keep the conversation from fleeing the armory.

"I'd have to agree with you LT. I don't think the Commander's got the mindset to segregate..." Ellison started in the same low voice, but he gulped hard when the door opened.

"You're right... I don't." Kaidan said evenly as he leaned against the open door's frame.

Everyone inside the armory froze.

Kaidan cracked a small, crooked smile, "Don't panic. I'm not mad that you guys think that."

Callaghan lightly swallowed, "We didn't mean any disrespect sir."

Kaidan waved it off, "Don't worry about it. I can't be mad when it's true. That's always been something Gabriel Shepard's had over me. He's learned how to... segregate himself." he slowly released a breath.

"So you'd let the galaxy crumble if Lycan was in the hospital?" Hanson asked innocently.

Kaidan nodded, "Before I took my next breath."

"That's some serious honesty, Commander. Most would defend themselves." Callaghan said with her nerves subsiding a bit.

"There's no point in trying to defend myself with this one. I know I don't have what Shepard has, but I do what I have to. One thing I do have though, is the ability to self sacrifice." Kaidan said as his crooked smile faded away.

"What do you mean, Commander?" Hanson asked with his rocket launcher snapping onto his back.

Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck, "I almost let myself get blown up to make sure Lycan and the _Normandy_ had a chance to get away. The only reason I'm standing here, is because a friend took my place." he looked up at his crew.

"What happened?" Lia'Vael asked quietly, halfway hiding behind Ellison.

"In short, a friend died for me so I could live and be happy with the woman I love. I know it seems like we're just doing a bunch of errands, but my friend was a krogan, and you can bet I'll do whatever it takes to make sure every race fighting is willingly standing by our side." Kaidan said in a firm voice, but without being angry at his crew.

"And if that means we go find something they lost, then so be it." Callaghan finished for him.

Kaidan lightly smiled, "Exactly. We need everyone _wanting_ to fight."

"That makes sense, Commander." Hanson said with his own pleased smile across his lips.

"I appreciate that, Hanson... I appreciate all of you doing this and believe me when I say that this is an incredible help to Shepard." Kaidan said to help bolster his crew's morale.

"Good. Lord knows he could use all the help he can get." Callaghan said as she picked up her sniper rifle and snapped it onto her back.

"We all can," he sighed, "Well, we're about to enter atmo. We've got readings of a possible location for the banner, so I want you guys to keep alert and look around. You've gotten the images of the banner right?" Kaidan asked, back in commander mode.

"Yes, we've got it, Commander." Callaghan said with a curt nod.

"Good. Judging by what those turians told me, there's a good chance you'll find the banner without too much looking around." Kaidan said, finally lifting his shoulder from the doorframe.

"We'll hope so sir. How many other places we have to go after this?" Ellison asked, crossing his arms.

"A few, so we're kinda on the clock on this one. If you guys happen to find anything else that could help, please, don't hesitate to grab it, or tag it." Kaidan said, taking a step back in preparation to leave the armory.

"Will do Commander." Callaghan said, again with a curt nod.

Returning the nod, Kaidan turned and left, walking right passed his quarters on his route to the bridge where the Johnson twins were hard at work bringing the ship into land.

"How long till touchdown?" Kaidan asked, opting to stand with his arms crossed in front of his captain's chair instead of sitting in it.

"Touchdown is sixty seconds Commander." Jake answered without a break in his concentration.

Kaidan stood and watched out of the viewports as the ship burned its way through the atmosphere, gently rattling through her older hull until the vast green landscape that was smeared with a just as vast black scar.

"Wow." both the twins exhaled in unison as they stared at the black mark that stretched out in front of them.

"Say hello to one of the bloodiest battlegrounds in turian history." Kaidan said lowly as he started to bite his thumb nail, still with his arms crossed.

"What happened here?" Jerry asked as he and his brother slowed the ship in her decent to the black smear.

"Didn't you guys pay attention in history class?" Kaidan asked, popping an eyebrow.

"No." they both said plainly, again at the same time.

Kaidan sighed heavily, "This's a turian colony planet, but it was attacked hard during the Krogan Rebellions. This is where the Banner of the First Regiment was lost." he simply explained, not wanting to go off into a full blown history lesson.

"Why do the turians want an old war banner anyways?" Jake asked, only to get his answer in the form of a female's voice.

"Think of as the king's battle standard. Whenever the king's army saw his standard flying high over their heads as they marched to battle, their spirits were uplifted. It kept morale high." Lycan said, having stepped onto the bridge so quietly, that Kaidan would have missed it if it wasn't for her placing her hand on his bicep to silently say hello.

"Aren't you just the little historian." Jerry smirked alongside his brother.

"Not really. Just finished reading some history about this place hoping to narrow down our search field." Lycan said as she crossed her arms to mirror Kaidan's posture.

"Ah. Any luck?" Jerry asked as he brought the ship in just low enough to skim across the tops of the alien trees.

"Depends on your definition of luck I guess. The banner's somewhere in that." Lycan said with a limp point to all of the black battle scar the spanned out before them.

"Wonderful," Kaidan groaned as he finally sat down, "Callaghan, we're gonna drop you in, but the banner's somewhere in the scorch." he commed to his lieutenant.

_"Roger that, Commander. Waiting for the green light." _Callaghan's voice filtered into the bridge through the comms.

"As soon as we come into a hover, you are green." Kaidan said in a near monotone.

Sitting in relative silence, Kaidan and Lycan watched the twins slow the ship even more as it reached the edge of the trees, coming over the black remnants of battle and came into a low hover. The deep bass of the cargo bay door unlatching and opening shimmied through the interior, cuing Kaidan into that there was only moments to go before his crew hit dirt.

_"Commander, we've hit dirt. We'll report in when we've located the target." _Callaghan's voice said not even a minute later.

"Report on the hour, every hour." Kaidan relayed before he clicked off the comms.

"Want us to touchdown in a field, Commander?" Jake asked as he commanded the cargo bay door to close, which it did with a heavy clunk.

"Is there anything below us?" Kaidan asked simply.

"Just black earth, Commander. No indication that we'd be landing on the banner." Jerry reported off his screens.

"Put us down here then. Just keep the engines warm..." Kaidan started.

"Actually, Commander, I need to do some maintenance on some internal systems." Lia'Vael interrupted as she joined the four of them on the bridge.

Kaidan looked over his shoulder, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes Commander, they are, but I need to check up on the thermal release valves. These engines have a tendency to hiccup when they discharge heat from the Eezo core and I want to make sure they're in working order." Lia'Vael briefly explained as she interlaced her fingers together to mildly fidget with them.

"How long you need?" Kaidan asked.

"About twenty to thirty minutes. I need to get in between the outboard portions of the engines to check the valves." Lia'Vael said with her smile evident in her tone.

"Alright. Jake, Jerry..."

"Powering down." Jake and Jerry said, again in unison.

_Jesus... It's like I have a stereo in here, _"Half hour alright Lia?" Kaidan asked, releasing a long, drawn out breath.

"Yes Commander." Lia said plainly.

"Roger that. Let me know when you're done." Kaidan said with a softly growing smile stretch across his lips.

As Lia'Vael headed back down the long unibody neck of the ship, Kaidan, Lycan and the twins were left to watch three small and distant dots search through long forgotten black remnants of battles past while the dull hum of engines powering down sounded behind them. However, they couldn't see exactly what they were searching through and as much as they would love to see what had lasted over a thousand years, hiding in the dirt, there was no way they would get the chance.

"Think they'll find anything interesting out there?" Jake asked as he relaxed back into his seat and laced his fingers together in his lap.

Kaidan shrugged, "I don't know. This battlefield's over a thousand years old and anything that might have lasted that long is gonna be beyond fragile." he said as he glanced up at Lycan with a soft smile.

"I was kinda more referring to if they'll run into any Reaper forces." Jake said as he kicked his feet up on his consoles.

"Ah... Well, we haven't detected anything on sensors so it's possible they won't. Plus, if they did, Hanson would just blow them all up anyways." Kaidan huffed a quiet laugh.

"I'm still trying to figure that out. How does a twenty something year old get to be a heavy weapons expert? I mean, the kid's barely outta puberty and he's toting around a rocket launcher." Jerry snickered, which was quickly joined by his twin.

"All the more reason to have him out there. He can make an electrocution grenade out of a weapon mod for crying out loud." Lycan lightly laughed as she rested a hand on Kaidan's shoulder.

"Yeah, and if those don't work, we can just shine those damn rocks the Commander put on your finger at them." Jake chuckled and gave his brother a high five.

"Yes... Because that rock can produce Reaper destroying lasers." Kaidan deadpanned, but smirked with hidden pride that he had bought his wife such a stunning testament to how much he loved her.

"Knowing you two? It wouldn't surprise me if it did." Jerry added his own jab since he and his brother were already laughing.

Kaidan slowly shook his head as he glanced back up at his wife, "Yes... Because I make it a habit of buying laser diamond rings for my wife."

"Wouldn't be surprised. I'm just saying." Jake just shrugged and grinned.

"This day and age? Neither would I." Lycan chuckled.

Kaidan's throat even rumbled with the thought of an ultra thin red laser screaming out of Lycan's ring, "If only it were that easy." he sighed.

The laughter drained from the room like water swirling down a drain.

"Doesn't seem real does it. All this we're doing." Jerry said with all humor gone from his voice.

"Three years ago, I would've agreed with you Jerry, but now, after seeing everything we've seen, I'll believe just about anything at this point." Kaidan said as he raised his hand and rested it over Lycan's on his shoulder.

"We're inclined to agree." the twins said simply.


	82. Chapter 82

Chapter 82: Home is where the Heart is.

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: Oh... My... God... I am so sorry for the long ass update. The holidays have a way of messing up my update schedule so I am sincerely sorry for the long wait. Please forgive me.)_

Through all the pain, all the throbbing and ache in her head, words clung in her ears as if they had grown there through centuries of nourishment and care. They hung in her ears like vines from the highest canopies, kept her attention like beautiful colors splattered across a wall, keeping her just on the edge of unconsciousness. They seemed to be her safe harbor from the storm of ache and pain, but even feeling the way she did, the words in Ashley's ears were soothing and calm.

"_I cannot rest from travel: I will drink_

_ Life to the lees: all times I have enjoyed_

_ Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those_

_ That loved me, and alone..."_

Those words. She knew those words, knew them inside and out, and the voice speaking them was one that was just as familiar. It was deep, soothing and every word spoken helped to ease the pain in her head.

Drawing in a long, deep breath that hurt in her chest, Ashley's eyes lazily cracked open, allowing blurry rays of harsh hospital lighting to sting her pupils. The intrusion of light forced her eyelids closed, but that simple movement, as tiny as it was, made the soothing words stop.

"Hey..." the soft voice said in a gentle and caring whisper.

"S-Skipper?" Ashley managed to choke out as she risked opening her eyes again, but this time, without as much sting.

"Hey sweetie." the voice said simply.

"H-Hi..." Ashley exhaled with each blink of her eyes helping to clear her neglected vision.

Smiling hard at seeing her dark eyes again, Shepard set the book down and scooted closer to her bedside where he lovingly brushed aside a piece of forgotten and unwashed hair from her face. He looked into her tired and blurry eyes, happier then he had been in a long time to see their dark color, even if they were drugged up and not looking at anything in particular.

"How're you feeling today?" Shepard asked quietly as he began to ultra softly pet her hair, taking care not to agitate the small tube that was taped to the side of her head, in a small, shaved patch where its needle was hidden, injecting the treatment.

"I... hurt." Ashley said at the edge of her breath, managing to look at her husband through the bottom of her eyelashes.

Shepard huffed a short lived smile, "I bet."

"W-Was... that... Tennyson... you... were... reading?" Ashley asked with a soft crackle in her voice.

"Yeah... I guess Kaidan and Lycan got it for me to give to you," Shepard lightly shrugged, "As a get well present." his light smile persisted.

Ashley's lips tried to pull into a lazy smile, "I've... w-wanted... a... Tennyson... b-book." her vision slowly cleared just a little more.

Shepard huffed a slightly bigger smile, "I have a feeling they already knew that." he said lowly as he took his hand away from her hair to wrap her hand up in both of his.

Ashley lazily nodded, "P-Probably." she exhaled.

"You gave me a scare back there Ash." Shepard said as he watched her eyes shift around the room in no real pattern.

Ashley ever so softly nodded, "I'm... sorry... S-Skipper." the corners of her mouth just as softly twitched upwards.

Shepard swallowed, "I was so scared I was gonna lose you both." he whispered as he softly placed a hand on her stomach.

Ashley exhaled, "So... I... am... pregnant?"

"You already knew?" Shepard asked with a furrowing in his brow.

"I... was... going... to the... doctors... that... afternoon," she drew in a long breath, "I was... late." Ashley said, feeling just a bit more coherent with each word she managed to say.

"You counted?" Shepard asked, loving the warmth from her stomach against his palm.

"I'd... been... feeling... sick. I thought... I could be... but wasn't... sure." Ashley said as her feather light grip in his hands tightened just a bit.

Shepard lightly swallowed, "How do you feel about it?" his stomach rolled.

"About the... baby?" Ashley asked as she forgot about her surroundings to just focus on Shepard.

Shepard nodded.

"I'm... scared. I... don't know... if... bringing... a baby... into this... world... is a good... thing... right now." Ashley said, tightening her grip a bit more around his hand.

"I know Ash, but... I'm excited. Scared, but excited. Even with all this shit going on with the Reapers and Cerberus." Shepard said with a few light sniffles from the emotion he was quickly losing against.

Ashley's smile grew a fraction, "I'm ready... if... you are." she said, now with her grip the tightest it had been for quite some time.

Shepard nodded, "I am Ash... This little one, _our_ little one... it'll be all that much more motivation to send the Reapers packing." he said as he placed his hand back on her stomach.

Ashley returned the nod, "Then... I'm... ready too... Skipper." she drew in a long breath that still ached in her chest.

As Shepard smiled at his drugged up wife, quietly enjoying the blurry look across her face, the doors quietly opened upon Dr. Chakwas's approach. He looked over his shoulder at her, offering a soft, but still welcoming smile as she walked up to Ashley's bedside and checked the monitors.

"Well hello there, Ashley. How are you feeling dear?" Dr. Chakwas asked sweetly as she jotted a few things down on her accompanied datapad.

"I... hurt, but... not bad... considering." Ashley huffed a lazy smirk.

"I would say that's a fair assessment my dear," she smiled, "Also, your little one seems to being doing just fine. That treatment Mordin developed is working swimmingly." Dr. Chakwas said with a very pleased smile across her face.

Shepard's smile dropped as his brows furrowed, "What?"

"Oh... It must have slipped my mind. Mordin called me saying he had a treatment for Ashley. It was perfect timing actually." Dr. Chakwas said as she continued to check Ashley's stats.

"I didn't realize you'd gotten his help with this. I'll have to thank him." Shepard said, looking back to Ashley who was sort of in and out of the conversation.

"Oh, I didn't enlist his help. He called me with the treatment already taken care of. He said the Shadow Broker asked for his help with developing a treatment." Dr. Chakwas said.

Shepard arced a brow, "Did they now." he deadpanned.

"Is everything alright Shepard?" Dr. Chakwas asked with a quick glance his way.

"Yeah... Just fine." Shepard said with a slightly curled upper lip.

Dr. Chakwas just smiled as she finished recording something onto her datapad, "Well, good news is Ashley's vitals are getting better and her swelling is going down. I'm glad to see you're finally awake, Ashley." she smiled as she looked at the woman in the bed.

However, the doctor's kind words fell on deaf ears, as while they had been talking, Ashley had slipped back into sleep with a gentle and content smile softly painted across her lips. She continued to hold Shepard's hand with the gentlest of touches, resting her other over his on her stomach and looking peaceful, even if her face was still bruised and purple.

"Hmm... Well, she desperately needs the rest. I'm glad to see she woke up a little bit." Dr. Chakwas said softly and with her own, caring smile on her lips.

"Me too," he brushed back another lock of hair, "Is she outta the woods yet?" Shepard asked as he watched the doctor sit in an available chair on the other side of Ashley's bed.

Dr. Chakwas slowly exhaled, "Well, she's on her way. She still has a way to go, but I'm content so far with her progress. As she becomes a little more coherent, I'll be able to assess if she'll need any sort of physical therapy or not." she said as she set her datapad down at the foot of Ashley's bed.

"You think she might, Doc?" Shepard asked, softly brushing his palm down, over the cover of Ashley's new book.

"It's possible. She suffered a significant injury so she may need some fine motor skill refinement, but to be sure, we'll need to assess once she's feeling a bit better." Dr. Chakwas said as she drew in a long, unbroken breath.

Shepard rubbed the back of his neck as he let the quiet fall around them, just watching Ashley rest with the tender and soft smile still across her lips. Getting to see her eyes crack open, even if it was for only a minute or two was a thousands weights lifted from his shoulders, but it was only a fraction of what was there. It helped him to focus on other things with the knowledge that his wife was on the mend and still carrying their child, and he certainly needed all the focus he could get, but one question still remained. With Ashley pregnant, he'd either have to be drunk, high, or both to let her out onto any sort of battlefield. He'd rather be cold in bed alone at night, then risk having his entire being for living ripped away from him.

"How long you think until she'll be able to move around?" Shepard asked, leaning back in his chair with the book still in his lap.

"It's hard to say. She's responding very well to the treatment, but she's got a ways to go yet. We're watching the baby closely and there isn't any signs that Ashley is giving the little one up yet." Dr. Chakwas said in a pleased and soft tone.

"Ashley's a lot tougher then she looks." he said quietly.

Dr. Chakwas nodded, "I am afraid though, Shepard, that she won't be much help to you. She'll be spending most of her time here." she said with a far different tone.

"I had a feeling she would be. I just don't know where she's gonna go after she's released." he said as he filled his chest with air and immediately blew it out.

"Well, I can give you my recommendation." she offered as she shifted in the chair to get a bit more comfortable.

"By all means." Shepard said flatly.

"My recommendation would be to have her somewhere away from the front lines. She needs time to rest and a place where her stress level will be as minimal as possible." Dr. Chakwas said, leaning forward just enough to grasp Ashley's hand.

"That's easier said then done, Doc. If Ashley's not with me, helping, she'll lose her damn mind." Shepard said with the barest thoughts of a psychotic Ashley rampaging around with a gun, desperately wanting to shoot things.

Dr. Chakwas lightly smiled, "True enough. I'm more meaning to keep her as relaxed as we can. Too much stress can harm the baby and I'm sorry, but I refuse to let that happen after we've worked so hard to save the little one."

"Are you worried there's something wrong?" Shepard asked with a furrowing of his brows.

"The possibility is always there, Gabriel, but right now, she and the little one are fine." she said with her soft smile never fading.

Shepard nodded, "Good." his voice barely made a sound.

"Gabriel... I would consider looking for somewhere for Ashley to go once she's release from the hospital. Somewhere where she isn't alone." Dr. Chakwas said with soft eyes to soften the blow.

Shepard started shaking her head, "I need her, Doc. Whether she's fighting, or not, I need her. She could help somehow on the ship, I don't care what, but I need her."

"I know how much you love her, Gabriel, but the stress most certainly will not be good for her, or your baby." Dr. Chakwas insisted, but still maintained her kind tone.

"I hate to be a bit stiff with this, Doc, but where in this galaxy isn't stressful right now?" Shepard asked with a scoff.

Dr. Chakwas lightly sighed, "Gabriel, I would like to see her away from any action for her and the baby's health. You do want that don't you?" she decided it best to play on his weaknesses.

Shepard pursed his lips together, "Of course I want that. It's not even a question."

"Then I would strongly consider finding somewhere she can go that you trust." Dr. Chakwas said plainly.

Shepard hung his head in both his hands, "Except I have no idea where to even begin."

"Well, I don't mean to sound rude, but perhaps you should take some time and find something. Perhaps, if the Shadow Broker has such an interest, then they could possibly help." Dr. Chakwas said with a wink and a softly growing smile.

"Doc," he groaned, but sighed, "That's not a half bad idea actually. Any idea when Ash'll wake up again?" Shepard asked as he let his hands flop over his knees.

"I'm sorry, I don't. She will be pretty delirious for quite some time though. I'll take care of her." Dr. Chakwas said as she picked up her datapad.

"Ok... I've got some people to talk to apparently. Let me know if anything changes ok?" Shepard asked as he stood, still holding Ashley's hand.

"Of course I will, Gabriel." all she gave was a smile.

With a curt nod, Shepard leaned down and placed the gentlest of kisses to Ashley's forehead before he set the book down next to her and placed her hand over its cover.

As he walked out into the hospital waiting room, he barely acknowledged any that gave him a glance. His lips remained flat and his eyes stayed trained on the door as he wove through the crowd, ignoring the cries and weepings of those who had lost a loved one to the war. He refused to look at them, didn't want to see their despair written across their faces and when the door closed behind him, blocking out the tortuous sounds, his lungs finally expelled the breath they had held in relief.

Outside the hospital, Shepard quickly walked away, not wanting to risk hearing more of the sounds with the passing traffic. He stayed against the wall as he brought up his omni-tool and looked through his contact list, which only killed a few seconds as he called the Shadow Broker he had on speed dial.

_"Is everything alright Shepard?" _Liara asked the moment she accepted the call.

"As good as they can be. You've got some free time?" Shepard asked plainly and continuing with his flat expression.

_"I can easily make some. Was there something you needed?"_

"I need to talk to you about some things I might need your help with." he said, actually breaking his stone exterior to look down at his feet.

_"Of course. I'm enjoying the view at the cafe on the Presidium Commons." _

Shepard nodded, "Apollo's. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Without giving Liara time to respond, Shepard cut the link and began walking towards a cab station, very much not wanting to be around people for longer then he had to. He wanted to sit and collect himself while someone else did the driving, so that's precisely what he did as he sat in silence in the back of the cab.

The view of the Citadel passing beneath him let his brain find purchase with all that was going on. The war, Ashley, somehow uniting the galaxy against the insurmountable Reapers. All of it seemed like a nightmare that just wouldn't end, but for right now, he had one goal in mind and that was to secure his wife's safety. One goal at a time. He just had to focus on one goal at a time.

Not realizing that the cab had arrived, Shepard was snapped out of his intense thinking when the driver broke the silence with a clearing of his throat.

"Hey man... We're here." the driver said a bit quietly, but it was enough to bring his fair back into reality.

"Huh?... Oh, sorry. Dazed out for a second." Shepard said as he climbed out and paid the driver, never stopping the spinning of his wedding band on his finger.

"It's ok. Wouldn't be the first time. Good luck." the driver said with a thankful nod.

"With what?" Shepard's brows lightly furrowed.

"With whatever had you thinking so hard." the driver lightly smiled.

Returning the light smile, Shepard nodded and headed down the boardwalk towards the cafe, immediately seeing Liara sitting by herself at a table near nearest the water.

"Hey Liara. Thanks for making time." Shepard said as he arrived at the table and pulled out a chair to sit.

Liara set down her datapad, "Of course. Are you hungry?"

Shepard shrugged, "Naw... I don't eat much these days." he sat down, nibbling on the inside of his bottom lip.

"You should eat something. You need your strength." Liara said, sounding more like a mother then a friend.

"I'm just not hungry is all. I'll eat enough to shut my stomach up, but... Let's just say I'm not taking in as many calories as I should." Shepard said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Then you should eat." Liara said simply as she motioned for the waiter not far off, upon which he just nodded and headed towards the bar.

"Thanks," he sighed, "Look Liara... I wanted to talk to you about Ashley." he said, slouching in his seat and resting his arms on the tabletop.

Liara sat up, "Oh... I'm sorry I wasn't straight forward with you about that. Kaidan and Lycan urged me of the importance of... keeping you in the dark." she said, steeling herself for the lashing she was positive was coming.

Shepard's lips pursed together, "Figures... Did they tell you about this? About Ashley?" he asked flatly as he forced back the anger in his throat.

"Yes... They talked to me about it after we discovered that she was pregnant. We formulated a plan in case things began to turn for the worse. Once the doctors said that Ashley's treatment options were limited, I contacted Mordin." Liara explained, drawing in a long breath in hopes that Shepard wasn't about to explode.

Shepard exhaled, "I know why they keep me in the dark. They need me to steer up front... Keep the timeline as true as it can be until the last second." he swallowed his anger and hung his head.

"Precisely. They didn't do it to hurt you, Shepard." Liara said, beginning to relax.

"I know." was all Shepard was able to say.

Seeing his face drop, Liara lightly sighed and took a sip of her water, taking a few moments to admire the view of the pools before looking back to him.

"That's not what you wanted to talk about though, was it." Liara said knowingly and quietly.

"No... I actually wanted to talk to you about finding a safe place for Ashley to go once she's released from the hospital." Shepard said as he began to rub his neck some more.

"I would have thought you would want her with you on the _Normandy._" Liara said, actually rather surprised that Shepard was considering parting with his wife, especially during such terrifying times.

"Normally, yeah, I would, but Dr. Chakwas's right. She needs somewhere to relax as much as she can. She can't do much being pregnant and I sure as hell won't let her." Shepard said, slowly shaking his head as he didn't even bother to look up at the waiter who placed a sandwich in front of him.

"I understand," she picked up her datapad, "Well, there are several options we can take. She can go to Sanctuary. I've gotten reports that many fleeing from Earth are headed there, looking for refuge from the Reapers." Liara said as she thumbed through her datapad.

"No. Anderson says the Reapers are drawn to large populations of people. I'm not sending her to a place with a lot of people. Option Two." Shepard said without a second thought.

"Alright... Amaterasu has not been attacked yet and with a number of small colonies, she would be of the Reaper radar for quite some time." Liara said, never once breaking her stare from the datapad.

"No... It won't be much longer until it _is_ attacked. Amaterasu's a shipping port and I guarantee it, the Reapers're gonna tear it apart." Shepard said, again, shooting down the option.

Liara sighed, "Alright... Then how about sending her to be with Kaidan's mother and father and her family on Intai'sai?"

"So that's where you sent them." Shepard said with a mild scoff as he scooted the sandwich closer to him.

"Yes. I was able to... acquire a sizable domicile there that is rather secluded and surrounded by massive sand dunes." Liara said as she scrolled up the script on her datapad's screen.

"Sounds quiet." Shepard said as he sunk his teeth into his sandwich.

"It very much is, Shepard. It's so secluded in fact, that they could live out their days, never seeing a Reaper again. We all could." Liara said with the slightest flicker of a distant thought in her eyes.

Shepard's jaw slowed its chewing as the thought crossed his mind, "In all honesty, Liara, if I could, I would. What's the galaxy ever given me to deserve this dedication to save it?"

Liara's brows furrowed as she looked up at him, "I suppose that is a question only you can answer. I could sit here and prattle on about how the galaxy has given you a woman to love and a child to call your own, but those would merely be platitudes." she said, setting her datapad down on the table.

Shepard put his sandwich down, "Maybe that's what I need. Platitudes."

"Shepard, the truth is, is that you do not owe the galaxy anything because it certainly has not given you a reason to want to save it. You do this, because of your love for Ashley and your child inside her. You do this because of a selfish reason and I, for one, understand that." Liara said softly as she interlaced her fingers in her lap and crossed her legs.

"Maybe that's it. Maybe I do this because I wanna be selfish. I've spent far too long worrying about others and I didn't get anything to show for it. I got killed and the people I was defending threw me under the bus like it was a joke. All caring's gotten me is a body full of metal and tech and nightmares I can't forget, even when I'm awake." Shepard said, leaning back in his chair as he picked up his water and took a large gulp.

"I can not even fathom the hardships you are going through right now, Shepard, but know that I am your friend and always will be. We all fight by your side because we believe in you. We know you can do this and those who are your true friends, never doubted you." Liara said, hoping to give the man across from her some semblance of reassurance.

"I know," he closed his eyes, "I want, I so desperately want to believe that I'm doing the right thing, but I look around and see all our efforts're for nothing. People still do bad, they still put themselves above those who need help. What am I fighting for besides my own right to live?" Shepard's mouth stopped working the moment his brain froze on the thought.

"The right to live your life as an organic should. Your history has written that no one should play, or proclaim to be your god, but we all look to the skies and see a being claiming to be our salvation in our destruction. They wish to end our existence so they may plant the new seeds of their next conquest. We are not a simple crop to be harvested when the time is right. Organics deserve to make our own choices, whether wrong, or right, and be allowed to fix what mistakes we make." Liara said fluidly and without a hitched word in her throat.

"We've made a lot of mistakes, Liara." Shepard said with a long released sigh.

"But it was not a mistake that you fell in love with Ashley." Liara lightly smiled at her own words, one that Shepard was unable to resist returning.

"I'll never regret that. For all I care, Liara, the galaxy can fuck itself with a piece of reebar. All I want is for Ashley to be safe and have a chance at seeing our baby. If that means I have to save the galaxy in order to pull it off, then it better count its lucky stars because if it wasn't for her, and my friends, I'd let the Reapers win." Shepard said bluntly as he returned to eating his sandwich.

"Then you should take the steps to make sure she's safe my friend." Liara said.

Shepard nodded, "I think we'll send her to be with her family and Kaidan's on Intai'sai. I think it'll be good for her to be with them." he said as he popped the last bite of the half of sandwich into his mouth.

"I agree. Staying in contact with her will not be straining either since I had a QEC installed." Liara boasted with a clear and smug grin on her face.

Shepard arced a brow, "How'd you manage that?"

"Shepard... I'm the Shadow Broker. One word and I am able to acquire what would normally be unobtainable." Liara said with a sparkle of pride in her eyes.

"I'll make sure to remember that. Still getting used to you actually _being_ the Shadow Broker." Shepard said with a half assed smirk as he started in on the second half of his sandwich.

"I am as well, Shepard. I'll begin making preparations for Ashley's transport once she's well." Liara said as she picked up her datapad once more.

Shepard nodded, "Keep me in the loop ok? I know she's probably not gonna like it, so I'll talk to her. I'm just hoping I'll be able to break it to her easy." he washed down his bite with water.

"I'm sure she will be more receptive to you, then anyone else. I'm confident in saying that I'm sure things will be fine." Liara said as she resumed skimming through the data.

"We'll have to wait and see. Ashley's still out. She had a few minutes where she was awake, but it didn't last long." Shepard said without taking his eyes off his food.

"I'm sure." she sounded distant.

Hearing her tone, Shepard looked up to see her deep in thought at something she was reading on her datapad.

"Everything alright?" he asked, curiously, but mildly worried something was amiss.

Liara stayed quiet for a few more moments as she finished reading, "Yes actually. Just a report from Kaidan and Lycan. They've found the Pillars of Strength, the Banner of the First Regiment and are headed to recover the Book of Plenix, along with a number of other technological components that could help greatly against the Reapers." she reported, reading from her datapad.

"They sound busy." Shepard said quietly as he continued to eat.

Liara nodded, "They are. There is a lot of work to be done behind the scenes. Nearly as much as the work you have ahead of you." she said with a twitchy smile.

"Only they really know what they're doing. I'm pretty much flying by the seat of my pants here, but them... They know. They've got all the cards here and I'm just playing with what they give me." Shepard said as he took another sip of water to wash out his mouth for the next bite.

"We all are. I do not claim to know what they are planning, but I'm sure whatever it is, it will be something that will turn the tide of this war." Liara said, this time setting her pad down and pushing it aside.

"I hope so. I hope whatever they've got up their sleeves makes Harbinger's butt pucker." Shepard snickered at his own joke.

"I'm sorry?" Liara's brows lightly crinkled from the unfamiliar phrase.

Shepard smirked, "Nevermind," he took a bite and quickly swallowed, "I'm sure whatever it is, it'll be good."

Liara nodded, "I have no doubts, Shepard. They expertly laid the foundation for Ashley to receive the care she needed after the discovery of her pregnancy. I can only imagine what they have planned for future events." she said as she took a sip of her water.

"I know they have something mega planned, but the rest of us're just gonna have to wait and see what it is." Shepard said in a deadpan as he offered most of his attention towards his sandwich.

"I'm sure it won't be long," she sucked in a deep breath, "Anyways... What is our next move?" Liara asked, leaning back herself and switching her crossed legs.

"Well, it's off to Sur'Kesh. We've got turians and krogans to unit by somehow coming up with a cure for the Genophage. We've got some fertile females to hunt down without pissing off any salarians." Shepard said as if it was the punchline of a bad joke.

"You sound skeptical." Liara said with a slight tilt of her head.

Shepard exhaled, "I have this nagging feeling in the back of my head that we're gonna be faced with a lot of old grudges." he took a bite.

"Perhaps, but you have always been one to have a silver tongue. If there is anyone who can get them all to look passed them, it's you." Liara said a matter-of-factly.

"I hope so. It's gonna take all the will power I have not to beat every single one of them over the head with a large stick." Shepard scoffed with a full mouth before washing it down with water.

"Sometimes, it does feel like that is the only solution sometimes. I'm sure the krogan would respond well to the force." Liara said with a mild chuckle in her throat.

Shepard huffed his laugh, "They might like that too much. I don't need a bunch of horny krogan females chasing me down." another bite.

"You mean like how you and Grunt both received breeding requests from the female camp?" Liara said, this time with an audible snicker laced into her words.

"Oh shut up." Shepard drawled as he finished the last bits of his sandwich.

Liara shrugged, "I was simply stating fact, Commander..." she started, but was interrupted by an incoming message on her omni-tool.

Lightly furrowing his brows, Shepard watched Liara's expression as she navigated to, and read the message. With each word her eyes traced over, her expression turned darker and darker, but it only ignited his curiosity even more.

"What's wrong?" Shepard asked with a churn in his stomach.

"I can not tell for sure, but I've just gotten a report of something found on Eden Prime." Liara said with her brows staying pinched together.

"What?" Shepard tried not to gasp.

"It seems another artifact has been located on Eden Prime. Cerberus is on location already looking for it." Liara said, pursing her lips together.

"Any idea what it is? Another beacon?" Shepard asked plainly.

Liara shook her head, "I'm not sure, but whatever it is, it drew a sizable Cerberus reaction. Enough were dispatched to drive the population of Eden Prime into hiding." she summarized.

"Fuck," he growled through clenched teeth, "We've gotta stop them, Liara. We've gotta get to whatever that artifact is before Cerberus does." Shepard said, rubbing the back of his neck a bit hard.

"I agree, Shepard. It would seem that the citizens of Eden Prime have formed a resistance to fight the Cerberus occupation. Perhaps if we helped them secure an advantage over Cerberus, they would be willing to help fight against the Reapers." Liara offered with a glance up at Shepard.

"It's worth a shot, but to be honest, just getting a chance to smear Cerberus in a pile of varren shit would be a hell of a morale boost." Shepard said with a slowly growing smirk at the mere thought of blasting a few holes through Cerberus's ranks.

"And not just for you." Liara smirked along with him.

"Then lets get going."

* * *

The time spent traveling from place to place, planet to planet, looking for lost artifacts of old, was the worst. Every minute drawled on as if it was an hour, sucking the energy from everyone on board as they silently cruised through a soundless ocean towards the Book of Plenix.

With her back against a crate, Lycan sat on the floor with her legs sprawled out in front of her, simply stared at the pair of crates containing the two artifacts they had already recovered. She just sat and thought, wondering about nothing in particular as her hands absently played with her wedding ring out of wanting to do something in the relative silence, listening to the engines humming away.

All she wanted was to culminate her thoughts, arrange them into some kind of order while she had the time, but even then, it was rare that an actually coherent idea popped into her head. So as she sat, all her mind was able to do was hum long with the engines.

Lycan was so engrossed in her random, incoherent thoughts that she had entirely missed that she was suddenly under someone's gaze.

"There you are."

The sudden sound of something other then the hum of the engines caused Lycan to jump up to her feet as if something immediately required her attention, but once on her feet, she saw baby faced Hanson walking down the stairs from the long body of the ship.

"Jesus... You scared me, Brad." Lycan exhaled as she placed her hand over her chest.

Hanson smirked, "Sorry. I didn't mean to."

"I know. It's ok. What's up?" Lycan asked as she took a seat once more, this time on top of the crate she had been leaning against.

"Nothing really. Everyone's just kinda doing their own thing. Probably just trying to wrap their heads around... all this." Hanson said as he walked up to Lycan and sat down next to her.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. I doubt we're the only ones though." she almost mumbled as she resumed her ring-fidgeting.

"Probably. So why you hiding down here? I would've thought you'd be hanging out with the Commander." Hanson said quietly as he folded his hands in his lap.

"He's working on the customs paperwork for those," she pointed at the covered crates, "so it would be just as quiet up there as it is down here." Lycan said, slowly shaking her head.

"Ah." was all Hanson managed to get out before Lycan stood.

"I should go see how he's doing though. You can come along if you want." Lycan said, reaching her hands high over her head in a stretch.

"I'm good. I don't wanna be the third wheel." Hanson politely refused.

Lycan's throat rumbled with a low chuckle, "I'm not hoping for a quickie, Brad. I just wanna see if he needs anything." she smiled.

"Alright... I guess." Hanson shrugged as he stood and followed Lycan towards the stairs.

As the pair walked up the stairs, a muffled thud followed by a mild crash met their ears, causing them to glance at each other in question as they approached the briefing room.

"What was that?" Lycan asked with brows pulling together.

All Hanson did was shrug as they headed for the briefing room, but when the doors opened, Lycan's question was answered and all it did was make her heart ache and her stomach churn.

Having fallen to his hands and knees, Kaidan shook, staring at the floor with clenched teeth and eyes so tightly closed, that light was a forgotten dream. His olive skin had paled, now looking far more white then it should and it had taken on a glossy sheen of sweat. His breath was heaving in and out of his lungs as if it was labored, but where someone unfamiliar would assume a severe medical emergency, Lycan knew exactly what was happening. That didn't mean she didn't worry about him though.

"Kaidan!" Lycan yelped with worry as she rushed to his side.

However, the sudden burst of sound was not what her husband needed.

"Gah!" Kaidan growled from the pain in his head as he fell to his side, tightly clutching both sides of his head with his clammy hands.

"What's wrong with him?" Hanson whispered as he knelt down across from Lycan.

"It's a migraine. He gets them from his implant." Lycan whispered back, bending down to look at Kaidan's pained face.

"What do we do?" Hanson asked, clearly at a loss for words.

"D-Dark... I-I... need..." Kaidan strained to get out before another nuclear explosion of pain whited out his vision, "Ah!... Make it stop!" he screamed, unable to stop from curling into a ball, squeezing his head with the futile hope of curbing the pain.

"Shh baby... It'll be ok." Lycan soothed with the softest of caresses over Kaidan's hair.

"We should move him." Hanson said, still in a whisper.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. Be gentle though. Every movement makes it worse." she warned as she gently began to coax what strength Kaidan had left into pulling him to his feet.

With the help of both his wife and Hanson, Kaidan, still with eyes closed, clung to them as he somehow managed to get to his wobbly feet. They led him through the connecting doors into his and Lycan's quarters where the lights mercifully turned as low as possible, giving his eyes a momentary reprieve from the pain for just long enough see how close he was to the bed.

"Brad, I need a sedative from the med bay." Lycan said, accepting Hanson's portion of Kaidan's weight as he rushed out the door.

Without Hanson, Lycan had a far harder time getting Kaidan into their bed, but luckily, he had reserved just enough to finish the job.

Spending the last vestiges of his strength, Kaidan took one last step before falling onto the bed, not even having the energy to hold himself up as he flopped onto his side. He shivered from cold as he desperately tried to help Lycan remove his shoes and shirt. His pants were tossed aside with the same forgotten care before he was maneuvered under the covers and his head ever so softly placed on a pillow.

As Hanson returned with the sedatives, the hiss of the door aggravated Kaidan's migraine to the fullest extent. All he did was whimper, squeezing his eyes closed tighter as tears plunged from the corners to crawl down his cold skin.

"Here... Is this strong enough?" Hanson asked as he handed Lycan the syringe he had filled with what the auto doctor had given him.

Lycan didn't even take her eyes away from the pained look on Kaidan's face as she took the syringe, "Perfect."

Flicking off the needles cap, Lycan carefully sat down on the bed and picked up Kaidan's thick arm. She had no trouble finding a vein in the crook of his elbow, as it was normal for them to be slightly raised just below his skin, which made injecting the magic serum easy and fast and meant Kaidan would find relief in only a few short minutes.

"Is he gonna be ok?" Hanson asked quietly, not really sure what to do next and feeling a bit out of place in the Alenko's quarters.

Lycan nodded, "In time, he will be," she lightly sighed as she gently rested her hand on Kaidan's bare chest, "He hasn't had one in quite a while."

"How long?" Hanson asked, still standing rigid with uncertainty.

"Almost ten months. I guess its been a long time coming. His implant was bound to act up sooner, or later." Lycan said softly as she stood and started for the door.

Hanson hesitated a moment before he turned and followed her out, "Is this a bad one?"

"Yeah. He's had some nasty ones since we've been together, but this one I guess is making up for the long absence." Lycan said as she turned towards the cargo bay, but walked slowly.

"That sucks. I hope he'll be ok." Hanson said with a glance back at the closed and locked door of the captain's cabin.

"He will be. He just has to sleep it off." Lycan said as she looked down at the emptied and capped syringe in her hand.

"It's gotta be hard though... Watching someone you love in pain like that." Hanson said with a scratch to his thick upper arm.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. I hate seeing him like that. Every time he gets evaluated though, the doctors say his implant's still stable, so we can't really complain about the migraines." she said as her lips twitched into a soft smile.

"That's good. Does he... um... Does he have plans to upgrade?" Hanson asked, feeling a bit awkward by asking what he considered personal questions.

Lycan shook her head, "No. He's stable and he likes the power output the L2 allows. He doesn't feel... detuned with it." she said as she started down the stairs.

"What do you mean by detuned?" Hanson asked with the pop of a brow.

"He feels that he can use all of his power available should he need to. It gives him finite control." Lycan said as she turned towards the walled off med bay along the far bulkhead.

"Like to be able to handle little things and such?" Hanson asked, arriving at the med bay door so it would open for her.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. He can lift glass without breaking it. Crack an egg into a pan, and he's even comfortable with lifting me up without fear of something happening to me." she threw away the used syringe.

"Wow... It sounds like he can make things dance." Hanson said as he leaned back against the wall and folded his arms.

Lycan softly smiled, "He can. I've been meaning to ask you, Brad, but when you guys've gone ground side, have you seen anything... off?" she seemed to have trouble finding the right words.

"What you mean by off?" Hanson asked.

"Well, really anything that doesn't seem to fit... Like Cerberus, or Reaper, or something." Lycan said as she just rested her hands on the countertop.

"No. Nothing like that. They've been really quiet. We look around for a bit, find what we're looking for, then come back. Can't ask for much more." Hanson said with a pleased tone in his young voice.

"That's good." was all Lycan said, and even that was a mumble.

Hanson regarded Lycan for a moment, seeing her distant stare, her ultra straight shoulders, and how she seemed to purposefully be avoiding eye contact, "You worried we might run into anything hostile?"

"I really don't know, Brad. With everything that's been going on, it just seems like anything could happen." Lycan said, still avoiding looking the youngster in the eye.

"Every situation is like that. None of us know what's waiting for us." Hanson said as he crossed his ankles.

_Speak for yourself. _She rolled her eyes subtly, "Even so, hunches speak volumes."

"Sure, I'll give you that, but that's what I've trained so hard for. N7 training isn't a cake walk and most people don't make the cut, but those who do, we can handle a lot." Hanson said with the slightest twitching of a smile.

Now, Lycan looked at him, "Even Cerberus and the Reapers?"

"Hell yeah. Even them. Cerberus is only tough because they have money to throw around. You throw enough money at a fire, it's bound to keep burning." Hanson fully smirked.

"True. I worry about these things, Brad. As if it isn't hard enough with the Reapers tearing everything apart, Cerberus is just making things more difficult. We don't need it." Lycan said, drawing in a deep breath to keep herself from freaking out.

"We don't need the Reapers either. We have a fight ahead of us, that's for sure, but whatever we give the Reapers, you can count on us to give the exact same thing to Cerberus." Hanson said as he pressed a tightly closed fist into the his palm.

Lycan lightly smiled, "I have no doubts about that, Brad. There are nights I don't sleep though because I can't stop thinking about everything." her smile faded.

Hanson rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm sure you're not the only one."

"I'm not. Kaidan has his nights too when I'll wake up and see him just staring out the window with this... I don't know... distant and thoughtless look on his face." Lycan said with a half shrug as she turned and pressed her back into the counter's edge.

"See? We all have a lot on our mind with this, Ms. Lycan, and it's gonna take everything we have." Hanson said reassuringly.

"I hope our everything is enough." Lycan crossed her arms.

Hanson nodded, "Putting the everything of the people of the galaxy together equals a lot of everything, Ms. Lycan."

With just an agreeable nod, Hanson pushed off the wall and left Lycan to think, once again bathed in the hum and rumble of the engines. She reached and grabbed for whatever there was to think about, but when it came down to it, there was nothing. Her mind had no thoughts, but only worries.

Luckily for her however, the doors didn't stay closed as Callaghan walked in, pinching the bridge of her nose as if she had a headache.

"You alright Sarah?" Lycan asked lowly and with a slow sigh.

"Hmm? Oh... Yeah. Just a headache. I actually came to find you though. You've got a call." Callaghan said as she went for the cupboard with the aspirin.

Lycan stood up straight, "Really? From who?"

"Um... Sam Alenko? I figured you knew her since the last name's the same." she said as she filled a glass of water and downed a couple pills.

"I do. She's my mother-in-law. I'll take it in the briefing room."

With a soft smile and a thankful nod towards Callaghan, Lycan left and headed up the stairs by ever other one. Her mind twitched with more worried thoughts, perhaps of some bad news, or something worse, but once she entered the briefing room, and saw Sam's nicely aged face on the large holoscreen, a short sigh of relief left her lungs.

"Sam? Is everything alright?" Lycan asked before she even reached the desk.

_"As they can be right now honey. You won't be within range for very long, but I just want to check in with you guys." _Sam said with a brief, but sincere smile.

"So far is good to hear. Kaidan's in bed with a migraine." Lycan said as she gripped the back of her neck with both hands.

_"Oh no... It's been awhile since he's had one hasn't it?" _

Lycan nodded, "It has. He's asleep right now so he should be alright in a few hours."

_"Good."_

"Have you guys all settled in alright?" Lycan asked, folding her arms.

Sam nodded, _"Yes we have. Inta'sai is a very nice place and the condo is amazing. It's really quiet here." _

"How's Ashley's family doing?" she asked as she began to nibble on her bottom lip.

_"Alright I suppose. The youngest one, Sarah, her husband is Alliance fighting with the resistance. She's really worried about him." _Sam said with a soft glance over her shoulder at something, or someone off screen.

Lycan gulped, "I bet. How's Chester? I know before you guys left, he was acting a bit off." she rubbed her upper arm.

_"That's part of why I'm calling honey. Chester passed last night. He went to sleep next to Nate and just didn't wake up." _Sam's face dropped as her eyes glassed over.

Lycan closed her eyes, "Oh no... Kaidan's gonna be heartbroken."

_"I know sweetie. He died with a smile on his face though. He's had a good life with us." _Sam said with a quick swipe of her eyes.

"I know. I know Kaidan missed spending time with him." Lycan said, pinching her nose as her sinuses began to sting and fill with emotion.

_"I know. I think those two years Chester was with you guys on the Citadel were his final wish. He passed happy honey." _Sam said with a soft inhale through her nose that made the softest of sounds.

All Lycan could manage was a nod.

_"Have you heard from Gabriel, or Ashley yet? Are they ok?" _Sam asked, still trying to hold back her emotion.

Lycan rubbed the back of her neck, "Ashley's in the hospital. She got hurt pretty badly, but she's on the mend at least."

_"Oh god... What happened? If you can say."_

"Just that... she got hurt. We almost lost her, but we got her to the hospital in time. She's pregnant." Lycan admitted to see Sam's eyes shoot open.

_"Really? H-How far along is she?" _Sam asked with mouth agape with shock.

"Not far. Month, or two." Lycan said with a shrug.

Sam lightly cupped her hand over her mouth, _"Do Mary and the __girls know?" _

"I don't know. I don't think so, unless Shepard called them." Lycan said, again with a shrug.

_"He hasn't called here, so I'd assume they don't." _Sam said, slowly shaking her head.

"Probably. I'll keep you guys in the loop as I learn things. I know Shepard's busy enough where he'll forget if we asked him to." Lycan said with a glance back at the door that connected her and Kaidan's quarters to the briefing room.

_"It would be appreciated. We're all worried for you guys." _Sam lightly smiled, but Lycan could tell it was a bit forced.

"Thank you. Have you seen any Reaper forces there?" Lycan asked, wanting to get the full story so she could tell Kaidan once he woke up.

_"No. Nothing. We're pretty isolated here. In fact, whenever we have to get food, it takes us at least three hours. It's almost an hour drive into town and even that's small. Only about three thousand people live there." _Sam briefly explained.

"Good. The more isolated the better. The Reapers're drawn to large populations. Small places like that'll go unnoticed for awhile." Lycan said with a released sigh.

_"That helps, but we still worry." _again, Sam produced the mildly forced smile.

"Believe me. You aren't the only ones." Lycan said as she began to notice the picture becoming grainy.

_"I'm sure sweetie. It looks like you're starting to get out of range. Know that we love you both and please come back to me." _Sam said, the static migrating into her voice.

"We will Sam. Love you too." Lycan said, then cut the link.

As the static grew too much, the only thing Lycan saw was a nod from Sam before the call gave out. She turned off the holoscreen to silence the snow of static before it gave her a headache and stepped through the door that joined the briefing room to her quarters.

As the doors closed, she kept her eyes on Kaidan to insure the noise didn't disturb him. She softly smiled as all he did was shift a bit, tucked under the thick blankets and let his head loll to the side to have his face half covered by the puffy pillow. It was a mild comfort in knowing that he was missing all the pain that compressed his head into the depths of hell, but her own pain churned in her stomach knowing that she had to tell him about Chester.

Amidst all the pain, the suffering, the loss of loved ones, she was dreading tell her husband that his dog had died.


	83. Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Shifting Perspectives

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: I AM SO SORRY! Please forgive me guys. I've gotten wrapped up in school, possible vacation and Spartacus of all things, so this is a bit late. I'm sorry all and thank you for bearing with me.)_

Eden Prime. It seemed like such a distant memory, tucked away in the farthest reaches of Shepard's mind. So much of it was the same, with the same sky being blue instead of red, the same green grass without the char marks of flame, but there was just as much that was different. He could hardly recognize it.

However, the time to admire the shining gem Eden Prime had recovered to, Shepard and his team were busy the moment their feet touched the ground.

Shepard and his team had encountered Cerberus forces within minutes of Cortez dropping them off. They had barely gotten time to get their bearings before enemy fire had sounded, causing Shepard, Vega and Liara to all take cover before they were subject to being bullet catchers.

What Cerberus hadn't planned on though, was that Shepard was in no mood to play their games.

Before any of the Cerberus troops could securely get a foothold, Shepard and Liara opened up with a tidal wave of biotics, clearing out nearly a quarter of the forces that had hit the ground. In fact, they had cleared out so many Cerberus troops, that Vega was really only left to pick off the stragglers and they were the ones who mainly tried to circle around behind them.

Much to Vega's dismay, that's how it stayed until the whole of town had been cleared of all Cerberus occupation.

"You really didn't need to bring me along did you, Commander." Vega deadpanned as he rolled a dead Cerberus agent over onto his back with his foot.

Shepard fired one last shot into the control interface of a rather large Cerberus Atlas mech, insuring that it was completely rendered useless.

"Meh... I wouldn't say that, Vega. You picked off all the leftovers." he spat on the ground and swiped some sweat from his nose.

"But that's all I got. Leftovers." Vega groaned as he looked around to make sure there was nothing else looking to take shots at them.

"Well, consider it motivation to butt in more." Shepard laughed, finally holstering his pistol to his hips.

"Right... I'll have to keep that in mind." Vega said with a dull look across his face.

Shepard shot him a crooked grin, "I'm sure you will."

"Shepard, now that Cerberus has left the area, we have ample time to search for the artifact." Liara said with her nose, as usual, buried in her omni-tool.

"We'll need more eyes. Contact Cortez and have him go pick up EDI and Garrus to help us look around." Shepard said with his official tone of voice as he took a look around to determine where to start first.

"Understood." was all Liara said as she stepped off to do just that.

"So where we even gonna start, Loco? This place doesn't look small to me." Vega said as he started searching the demolished Atlas mech for anything that might point them in the right direction.

"It's not. There's a lot of cubby holes for this thing to be hiding in, and that's assuming it's small. If it's another beacon, it could be one of those out there." Shepard said, pointing out over the steep ridge to the tall prothean towers sticking up from the ground.

"You think it could be another beacon?" Vega asked.

Shepard shrugged, "Maybe, but we'll have to look around before we can come to any conclusions. Hell, the resistance could've very well taken it with them for all we know." he stepped over a dead body to head towards the closest building.

Figuring that he wasn't going to find anything important in the Atlas, Vega jumped off the wreckage to follow Shepard into the building to see that it had been ransacked, most likely by Cerberus in their attempts at finding whatever the artifact was. Drawers had been ripped from the cabinets and had had their contents spilt over the floor. Furniture had been tossed in the hopes that the artifact could be found. Forgotten plates of food had been left on the tables as those who hadn't stayed to fight fled for their lives, but those who had stayed, some lay on the floor, motionless.

Releasing a soft and saddened sigh, Shepard knelt down next to the body of a dead colonist, having picked up an old rifle to defend his home, only to have been shot murderously for his actions.

"Guy only wanted to protect his home and look what it got him." Shepard said lowly as he flighted his hand over the man's lifeless eyes to close them.

"Cerberus deserves the worst. Those pendejos are no better then the Reapers if you ask me." Vega said with a hiss to his words as he retrieved a sheet from the bed to at least cover the poor man.

"You don't know how right you are, Vega." Shepard said a bit lowly as he stood and started looking through the mess.

Deciding it best to start in the obvious places, Shepard went for a computer terminal on a desk nearest the kitchen, where he cracked the encryption without missing a beat. The terminal was filled with nothing of importance to what they were looking for, but it was filled with a treasure trove of family memories.

There were pictures of the man and his wife and three children, two boys and a little girl, standing in front of their new home; the one Shepard and Vega now stood. There were photos of the children playing ball with the asari child of another colonist, photos of the family at a friends birthday party, and even photos of them all working to make the new prefab, their home.

"This guy has a wife and three kids, James. Cerberus didn't even flinch." Shepard said as he deemed the terminal useless and shut it down.

"Why would they be killing civilians like this? What's so important about this artifact that they'd kill anyone to get it?" Vega asked with an angry sneer across his scarred face.

Shepard shrugged, "I don't know." he sighed and started looking through the desk drawers.

_"Shepard? I think I found a research lab."_ Liara's voice said in their ears.

"On our way, Liara." Shepard said robotically as he motioned with his head for Vega to follow.

The men headed out the door into the humid, sun baked air, seeing Liara waving her blue hand for them to come over in the archway of a nearby prefab. They walked quickly to cover the mild distance to the lab and followed Liara inside, immediately seeing a barrage of terminals, holoscreens and lab tables.

It too, had been tossed. Datapads were everywhere, covering every desk in no real order and had obviously been searched through for information. Some of the holoscreens had been broken, probably by datapads having been thrown in the search and the terminals, most likely the ones that yielded nothing, had been smashed on the floor amongst the rage of whomever had been tasked to go through them.

"Jesus... Cerberus went through this place like hungry dogs." Vega said as he knelt down and picked up a datapad with a cracked screen from the floor.

Shepard stepped up to one of the smashed terminals, "Whatever this artifact is, they wanted it bad." he said as he too, deemed the terminal useless and moved on to one that hadn't been obliterated with the butt of a gun.

"Shepard... This terminal is heavily encrypted. So much so that it seems out of place for a lab such as this." Liara interjected with the space between her eyes crinkling.

"Let me look." Shepard said as he slid into Liara's space in front of the terminal.

It didn't take long for Shepard to realize that Liara was right. The terminal was heavily encrypted, but he had a way with tech. He knew how to get around any security a colonist could put on a terminal and this particular terminal was no different.

What Shepard wasn't expecting however, was the moment the terminal was unlocked, the cracked holoscreen's static began to thin to display a shaky picture of what almost felt like a long forgotten and distant memory.

He saw an alien world, a world he had never seen before, whether in vids, or pictures. It was strange and dully colored, with thick plumes of smoke that stretched up to the brown clouds. The ground was littered with moving dark masses, firing green beams up at the walking and massive statures of Reaper Destroyers. The iconic sound howled in his ears, causing him to cringe at its severity as the Destroyers blasted faded red beams at the moving masses, turning them into ash.

As Shepard's brows furrowed, the picture changed, showing him what looked to be the individuals of the moving masses he had seen. They were tall, with broad, almost fish like heads and four dramatic eyes. Their hands were eerily similar to that of a quarians, with two fingers and a thumb, holding onto large particle beam rifles that he could swear he had seem before. Their armor appeared as if it was tribal by design, perhaps indicative of the alien's social structure, or perhaps it was a testament to their art. Frankly, he had no idea who they were, as he had never seen them before.

After barely a minute, the picture faded again, giving way to the static that had persisted through the entire thing.

"What were those aliens?" Shepard asked in a low voice as he realized his eyes were hurting, so he rubbed them.

"What aliens? All I saw was static." Vega said, glancing at Liara who mirrored his confused expression.

Shepard's brows furrowed as he looked over his shoulder, "What? No... You didn't see it? The vid?" he pointed his thumb, over his shoulder at the holoscreen, still displaying copious amounts of static.

"No. What did you see?" Liara asked.

Shepard shrugged, "I... I don't really know. I know for sure I saw the Reapers. They were attacking like how they attacked Earth, but I saw... I don't know," he shrugged again, "A new alien race. I've never seen them before."

Liara's brow pinched together as she worked her omni-tool in a hurry, bringing up a picture of the statues they had seen so long ago, on Ilos.

"Did they look like this?" she asked, showing Shepard the photo.

However, Shepard shook his head, "No. They had... four eyes. A broad head, two fingered hands like a quarian. They looked tall too. They had real broad shoulders."

"Hmm... Then they can't be prothean." Liara mumbled as she shut down her omni-tool.

That's all it took for Shepard's mind to click, lighting the bulb of epiphany as if it was the sun hung in the sky. He hadn't realized it, but he had seen them before, seen them up close and personal and they had even tried to killed him.

With his throat rocking with an irritated growl, Shepard ran a hand back over his hair that had gotten shaggy, "You've got to be shitting me."

"What's wrong, Commander?" Vega asked.

"Fuck fuck fuck... I have seen those aliens before." Shepard said as he placed his hands on his hips.

"I'm not sure I understand, Commander. I thought you said you hadn't seen them before." Liara said with another furrowing of her brow.

"I thought I hadn't, but I didn't make the connection till you said prothean. The protheans are the Collectors." Shepard said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Pardon me?"

"What?"

"When I was on the Collector ship, EDI and I managed to data mine some information about where the Collectors came from. We learned that the Collectors are the... I don't know... husked form of the protheans." Shepard explained, just as Garrus and EDI stepped into the lab.

"It would be more accurate in saying that the Collectors were the result of extensive genetic manipulation. The prothean genome served as the basis for the Collector genetic structure." EDI interjected, clasping her hands behind her back.

"Wait a second. Those Collector bugs used to be prothean?" Vega asked as his eyes became angry.

"Correct, Lieutenant Vega." EDI said evenly and simply.

"I thought the Reapers wiped them out fifty thousand years ago." Vega said, still trying to accept what he was hearing.

"We all did, but as it turns out, the Reapers just repurposed them." Shepard said, crossing his arms.

"It is believed the Reapers failed in their attempts to create another Reaper with the prothean genome. Instead of destroying what initially was their harvest, the Reapers repurposed the prothean population into worker drones." EDI explained, since she was the one with direct access to the intelligence they had gathered.

"I don't understand. Are the protheans dead, or not?" Vega asked, still confused.

"The protheans're long gone, Vega." Shepard said simply as he released a long sigh.

"Ok," Vega nodded, "Did that vid you apparently saw give you any hints to where this artifact is?" he asked, rubbing a hand over his mohawk a few times, ruffling it up considerably.

"I got nothing. We'll have to find it the old fashioned way. Garrus and EDI, go check the shipping yards. Liara, check the living quarter prefabs for anything that the resistance could use to help stave off Cerberus, and Vega, you're with me. We'll trying and find another research lab." Shepard pointed to each team as he dished out their assignments.

With only nods of understanding, the lab emptied as each went towards their assigned area, leaving Shepard and Vega to do their part in searching, and hoping, for another lab that would be of more use.

"I wonder what this artifact is that has Cerberus so up in arms. Think it could be Reaper?" Vega asked, following Shepard as he headed for the scientific prefabs, opposite the living quarters.

"God, I hope not. That would really make things harder." Shepard groaned as he rubbed his eyes from an ache that seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Would explain why Cerberus is trying so hard." Vega said a bit too nonchalantly.

Shepard shot Vega a sidelong glare, but it didn't last long since Vega had a point, "Yeah, it would." he almost mumbled as he stepped inside another lab that was just as tossed as the previous one.

"You think Cerberus could be working for the Reapers?" Vega asked, heading to the right of the lab while Shepard took the left.

Shepard shrugged, "I don't know why they would. They're human-centric. The Reapers are quite the opposite of that." he said, picking an overturned computer terminal as his first stop to begin looking.

"If that was the case, then why're they fighting so hard to stop you?" Vega asked, looking up from the stack of papers he had picked up from the floor to skim over.

"I'll let you know when I have an answer for ya, Vega." Shepard said without even looking up from the terminal.

Vega looked back to his handful of papers, "I don't know what's worse... That Cerberus is trying to stop you, or they're working for the Reapers." he flipped through the papers.

All Shepard managed to do with what was left with his concentration was hum for a second as his eyes continued to look over what his hacked terminal displayed. There were several status reports, a few crew manifests, but it was the last bit he found particularly useful.

"Here we go... The resistance could use this." Shepard said just loud enough so Vega could hear him.

"What you find, Commander?" Vega asked, setting down the papers and walking up to Shepard's side.

"Well, it looks like the Cerberus shipping records and schedules. The resistance could use the schedules to raid the Cerberus supply drops." Shepard said, tracing a finger down the display to point out what he was talking about.

"You think that's wise, Commander? From the looks of this place, they weren't much of a match for Cerberus in the first place." Vega said, beginning to sift through the messy desk for anything else that could be of use.

"I doubt they had any insight that Cerberus was coming. They could plan something with this." Shepard said with a gentle smirk as he downloaded the information to his omni-tool.

"Lets hope so, Commander." Vega mumbled.

Falling into silence, Shepard and Vega searched the offices in the prefab, finding nothing else, but a few spare thermal clips that Vega slipped into his belt. They searched computers, searched shelves, bookcases and every holoscreen that continued to function, but nothing else appeared to be useful.

They moved onto the next prefab, but this to was in such disarray, that it was difficult for them to determine where to start. However, something else got their attention.

_"Shepard, you need to see this." _came Garrus's voice in their ears.

"What's wrong?" Shepard quickly asked.

_"Not really wrong. We found something." _

"Where are you?" Shepard asked as he started for the door.

_"The dig site processing area. You'll see us." _Garrus said before the comms beeped off.

Stepping out his stride, Shepard darted through the colony with Vega close at his heels, taking a shortcut through a couple prefabs until they saw Garrus and EDI, standing over a black object. From that distance, he couldn't make out what it was, but as he got closer, the look on Garrus's face matched his, as they were the only two to recognize it.

They had seen such an object before.

"Is that a beacon?" Vega asked as he drew his rifle from his back out of precaution.

"No. It's a stasis pod." Garrus said, glancing at Shepard who just stared blindly at the long, uniformly shaped black pod.

"I have no information regarding this device. Where did you acquire the information?" EDI asked simply and plainly, much like she always did.

"Plain old circumstance, EDI. We saw 'em on Ilos when we were hunting Saren." Shepard answered as he placed his hands on his lips.

"This particular design bears no similarities to any schematic I possess." EDI said as she knelt down to get a closer look at the pod.

"It's prothean, EDI. This is a prothean stasis pod." Shepard said, only to have his attention drawn to Liara when she gasped.

"By the Goddess." Liara gasped loudly from what they all would consider the head of the pod since it showed a small holographic pop up display.

"What is it?" Shepard demanded with a twisty flop of his stomach.

"This pod... It still has power. The... The life form inside is still alive and it's... By the Goddess... It's a prothean, Shepard! It's a living prothean!" Liara nearly yelped, seemingly on the verge of jumping up and down with excitement.

"Are you shitting me right now, Liara?" Shepard asked in disbelief.

"No... I'm not. There is a living prothean in this pod, Shepard." Liara said with bright, wide azure eyes.

"Then we've gotta get 'em out... Now!" Shepard barked as he went for the interface.

However, Liara stopped him.

"No! You can't, Shepard. If we force the pod open, we could kill the being inside. We must find the proper sequencing." Liara said firmly as she held Shepard's wrists away from the interface.

Shepard pursed his lips together, "How the hell're we gonna do that?" he tried not to yelp, but his voice cracked an octave higher.

"It would appear that the colonists have been researching the pod. I found several notations that they believe something was alive inside, but they didn't know how to open it. Perhaps there are other vids you, and only you are able to view, much like that last one you saw in the lab!" Liara said with her excitement still clear in her voice.

"It's a possibility, but we'll need to look and find something fast. Fan out and find any lab you can. If you think, _think_ that you might've found something, radio me." Shepard ordered as he took his wrists from Liara's grasp.

Without a breath, his crewmen quickly dispersed and headed off in different directions to begin their search. Each team headed off to where they had been looking, furiously going through whatever they could find, but it was Liara who found something worth calling Shepard over.

_"Shepard, I may have found something." _Liara's voice said.

Without even answering, Shepard and Vega sprinted across the colony, darting through ransacked houses and jumping over forgotten crates until they reached Liara in a lab that was intermingled with the living quarters.

Shepard immediately filled Liara's spot in front of a holoscreen and worked the terminal quickly, activating a series of files that spurred the screen into a hailstorm of static before it began to clean up in the same way the last one had.

What Shepard saw was more distorted views of war, dully colored and hazy as if they were a dream. He watched as the aliens he had seen fired at a hoard of incoming Collectors and husks, husks that looked human, but weren't. They tore after the prothean resistance fighters as they retreated into a large bunker and shut the door.

He watched as two of the prothean resistance fighters began to talk, their voices were exotic, but familiar, and they spoke with an almost utilitarian and disciplined ideal. They spoke of the survivors they had loaded into the pods and had sealed inside, but one seemed hesitant to do the same. He argued with the other, wanted to continue fighting, but what Shepard concluded was his superior, ordered him into a pod.

Shepard hadn't realized that he had started to hold his breath as the fighter climbed into the pod and was sealed inside, but when the muffled and distant rumbles of artillery fire shook the pod, and its occupant, Shepard's stomach rolled, making him want to throw up.

"Shepard? Are you alright?" Liara asked, resting her hand on Shepard's shoulder when he hung his head and closed his eyes.

"T-They were buried here. They purposefully buried themselves here... To try and... sleep away the Reapers. They wanted to hibernate till it was safe." he said, drawing in long draws of air.

"My Goddess... Were you able to get anything?" Liara asked softly as she took her hand away from his shoulder.

Shepard swallowed and nodded, "Yeah... I got what we needed." he evened his breathing and stood up straight, still with several churns of his stoamch.

Vega nodded, "We should get that pod open then, Commander. It's been closed for fifty thousand years. No telling how long it'll stay online now." he stepped aside to let Shepard pass.

With just a nod, Shepard turned away from the static filled holoscreen and headed back through the colony with Liara and Vega close behind. He radioed the two others on his way back to the pod, sounding emotionless and distant as if he was thinking of nothing else then the matter at hand.

He wasn't.

Reaching the pod just after Garrus and EDI, Shepard went straight for the head of the pod where the interface flickered back to life. He manipulated what he needed to to command the pod and took a step back when the pod beeped and hissed.

The four with a pulse held their breath as the pod opened, revealing the life it contained inside. The alien was tall, taller then Shepard with the same broad head and four eyes he had seen in the vids. It's skin was a grayish blue, but faded white as it descended down into the being's armor, which was a vibrant red and lined with gold colored trim. It had two fingers and a thumb, just as Shepard had seen and two toed feet that were bare.

However, that was all they were able to study as the alien's four eyes opened, revealing vibrantly yellow eyes with an hourglass pupil and it's lips curled, revealing two sets of pinpoint canines that looked as if they were capable of piercing the hardest of metals.

The alien sat up, causing Shepard and the others to take a step back as the alien observed them, but that moment was short lived as the being's body erupted in green power and rushed outwards, throwing them all back onto their backs.

Gripping the ground next to his head, Shepard kicked his legs, causing his body to hop up as he rolled his body forward mid air to land on his feet and pulled his pistol.

"Who are you!" Shepard demanded, keeping the being trained in his crosshairs.

However, the alien said nothing as it stepped from the pod, falling to it's knees, but as it landed, it's two fingered hand touched Shepard's foot.

What happened next rolled Shepard's stomach and mind alike, as his mind was entirely washed over by a million thoughts from a millions years, from a million voices. His stomach roared with distaste, causing him to retch at the ground, but the sensations, the power that flooded his mind, nearly instantly vanished.

"Shepard! Are you alright? Are you injured?" Liara asked as she helped Shepard to his feet.

Shepard swallowed his newest retch and nodded, "I... I think so. I... I have no idea what just happened." he coughed.

"Who are you?" the alien spoke with the exotic and aqua like voice.

"You... How? How is it we can understand you?" Liara asked, still holding onto Shepard a bit as he recovered.

"I... I learned." the alien, sounding male, said simply and matter-a-factly.

"Who are you?" Shepard asked again, looking up into the alien's four yellow eyes.

"I asked first." he said as he looked around the group, stopping at each for a moment, but he seemed to regard EDI more then most.

Shepard's brows drew together, "I'm Commander Shepard with the Special Tactics and Recon devision... well, not like you'd know what that is." he said, lightly pursing his lips together.

"Perhaps you should try again then." the alien said flatly.

"Gabriel Shepard." was all Shepard said as he held out his hand for a shake, however, the tall alien refused.

"Why are you here? Do you fight da Reapers?" the alien asked without a twitch in his expression.

Just before the group erupted into a chorus of yes's, Shepard held up his hand to keep everyone quiet.

"We are. Can you help us?" Shepard asked with a deep and ominous tone in his voice.

"I must rest first." was all the alien said.

"What are you?" Vega asked bluntly.

"In your language... I am prothean."

* * *

It was weird when Callaghan, Hanson and Ellison used the airlock, as it was something they rarely did. It was off to the side and out of the way, so instead, they usually just used the cargo bay door, but with an ammonia based atmosphere outside, it was best they used the airlock to keep their nitrogen based one, inside.

Having just watched the three leave to search for the Book of Plenix, Lycan was left to care for Kaidan who was, at last check, still asleep, waiting out his migraine. She ultra softly sighed as she turned and headed up the stairs, planting her feet extra carefully on the deck plating as she got closer to her quarters.

Holding her breath as the doors open, she tip toed into the dark and silent room, depositing her datapad onto the small dining table. She heeled off her boots and removed her uniform shirt on her way to her side of the closet where she pulled a plain black tee and slipped it on, but once she had, a crackly and ultra raspy voice drew her attention.

"How long've I been out?" Kaidan asked groggily as he lazily pushed the blanket down off his bare chest.

"A pretty long while. Probably ten hours I'd say." Lycan said quietly, just in case there were still vestiges of his migraine lingering around.

Kaidan groaned and flopped an arm over his eyes, "That one wasn't fun." he exhaled as he rolled to his side and hugged the pillow tightly.

Lycan softly smiled as she padded over to his side of the bed and carefully sat down, "I doubt you actually consider any of them fun, babe." she said quietly, placing her hand on his chilled shoulder.

"You're right... I don't." Kaidan said, still with a gravelly voice as he rolled back onto his back and draped an arm across Lycan's lap.

Lycan smiled sympathetically as she softly brushed a hand over his sweat damp hair, pushing it off his forehead, "How you feeling?"

"It's just a plain headache now," he swallowed, "It should go away in a little bit." he said as he lightly patted Lycan's thigh.

"Do you want something for it?" Lycan asked as her hand continued to brush through his hair.

Kaidan shook his head, "Naw... This one I can live with." he offered his wife a soft, but tired smile.

Lycan smiled back, "Ok, sweetie."

"You know... It's times like this when I think upgrading wouldn't be a half bad idea." Kaidan lowly chuckled as he solidly looked into Lycan's eyes.

"I thought you didn't want to?" Lycan asked with a mild furrowing of her brows.

Kaidan shrugged, "I don't know... These migraines're rough and I think I've reached my limit of tolerance for them." he said as he coaxed Lycan to scoot closer to his side.

Lycan rested her hand on his chest, "Even though we know how long it'll take?" she asked, gently playing with the light covering of hair on his chest.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah," he grasped her hand and held it to his chest, "Not a day goes by that I don't think about what I'd do if my implant started to fail. It scares me to think that I could end up like so many other L2s out there... Suffering from nonstop pain, insanity... Never being able to recognize my loved ones because my brain's been turned into overcook ground beef." he said, never once looking away from Lycan's eyes.

"Sweetheart... Why do you worry? We get you evaluated every six months, just like the doctor wants and every time, she says your implant's just fine." Lycan said sweetly, taking notice of his heart strongly beating against her palm with smooth, steady and rhythmic beats.

"I worry because it's a possibility, babe. It will always _be _a possibility so long as I'm an L2. I don't want the risk of me leaving you alone to be there. If I upgrade, you'll never need to worry." Kaidan said with another soft, reassuring smile growing across his lips.

Lycan leaned down and softly placed her lips on his for a short kiss, "I think about it too, honey, but I choose not worry about it. It's one of those 'we'll cross that bridge when we come to it' kinda things." she sat up.

"I know it is, but that doesn't change the fact that _I_ worry about it," he finally sat up and rested his shoulder against Lycan's back, "I know what I am, honey. I know what I can do and... there're times it scares the hell outta me." he said as he ran his hands down his face.

Lycan turned around to face her husband, "I'm not scared of you, honey." she threw her leg over his lap to sit closer to him.

Kaidan smiled with a crooked grin, "I know, and believe me, it's a comfort." he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Kaidan," she held her breath, "Your mom called while you were asleep." she said with a look of fear in her eyes.

"Really? How they doing?" he asked with a soft smile, but it deflated when he saw how scared she looked, "What's wrong?" he placed his hand on her thigh.

"Honey... It's Chester." Lycan said, almost too quietly for him to hear.

"What happened?" Kaidan lipped to her.

Lycan softly sighed as she wrapped her arms around him, "He died, honey. He made it to Inta'sai, but he went to sleep and... he just... didn't wake up." she lightly kissed his shoulder.

Kaidan just stared at the bulkhead, "When?" his head lolled over to rest his temple against Lycan's head.

"Night before last. Your mom said he curled up with Nate and passed on." Lycan said, blinking her eyes to shed a singular tear that splashed onto Kaidan's skin.

Kaidan tore his eyes away from the bulkhead and looked down at his lap, "It uh... It must've been the stress, or... maybe the move." his nose sniffled.

Lycan lifted her head and gently placed her hand on his cheek, "I'm so sorry, Kaidan. I know you loved that pup."

"I more then loved him, hun. He helped me cope with what I'd done in BAaT," he sighed, "He healed me." Kaidan said, closing his eyes to shed a tear that trickled down his cheek in slow motion.

Lycan lightly kissed his shoulder, but that's all she could do was hold and comfort him. Words had completely failed her.

"I wasn't there for him like I should've been. He was always happy to see me come home, no matter how long I'd been away. It's like he healed me and I... I just turned my back on him." Kaidan said as a second tear joined the first.

"Kaidan... You did no such thing. You had a career to focus on and I know your family took great care of him. He had a good life." Lycan said, gently caressing the nape of her husband's neck.

Kaidan nodded as he hunkered into Lycan, "I know he did. I just wish he could've spent it with me." his voice cracked as his eyes let go a few more tears.

Lycan sniffled, "I know, baby... I know." the whites of her eyes turned red with emotion.

Taking the silence to come to terms with the news, Kaidan simply sat, leaning against Lycan's chest with a distant gaze in his caramel eyes. Every heartbeat ached from the loss, pulling at his sternum like his heart was trying to open a locked door.

Despite the amount of time he had spent away from the animal that helped him all those years ago, he couldn't, wouldn't forget all the good times they had had. He would always remember the hours of play on the beach, the times spent just lounging on the couch with a good book with the pup snuggled over his legs. The barest of smiles graced his lips, remembering all those nights he had battled for bed space with the dog, but most of the time, he would just scoop up the pup and plop him down between he and Lycan. That's were Chester loved to be.

However, through all the good memories, the moments frozen in time where they would forever stay, there was one thing that helped to ease the pain. A simple thought of knowledge that was so true, yet so few had the luxury of in a war for the simple right to live as an organic. Chester was one of the lucky ones, and Kaidan knew it.

Kaidan lightly sniffled, "At least... At least he died of old age with people he loved instead of being killed by the Reapers." he said softly as he sat up, bringing Lycan closer into his side.

Lycan softly swiped a tear from Kaidan's cheek, "I hope that's a comfort, honey. I really do." she kissed his shoulder again.

Kaidan nodded, "It is. We can all be so lucky," he looked over at her, "I wanna die of old age, Ly. I want that so badly. I want a family... I... I'm thirty-five and... it feels like I've waited too long for any of that." he said, holding Lycan tighter to him as that deep seated feeling of her vanishing if he let her go smuggled it's way free.

Lycan's eyes softened, "Kaidan," she exhaled, "You're one step closer to that dream. You married me and I will give you those children someday." she said in the softest voice she could muster that he could still hear.

"I would like that very much, Ly." Kaidan said, trailing his hand up her back to grip her shoulder.

"Someday, Kaidan... Someday." Lycan said, running her hand back through his hair to rearrange it so it wasn't so mussed.

Kaidan sucked in a long breath and held it for a moment before letting it out, "If we win this war... If by some miracle we stop the Reapers... Lets start trying." he placed his hand on the side of her neck.

At Kaidan's plea, Lycan's chest and stomach both flipped of their own volition with an ache that made her desperate to make his thoughts go away. She could see the sheer want in his tired eyes, how the corners had been accented by soft wrinkles with the thoughts that would knock on his resolve on a daily basis. It was clear he wanted a family, clear that he started to doubt the stability of his implant, that he constantly thought about how he felt he had let his life pass him by.

Well not anymore. She would make sure that he would remember every day, for every day he had left.

Gently coaxing Kaidan to look towards her, Lycan placed her lips to his tear dampened ones for the softest, gentlest kiss he had ever experienced. It was so tender, so precious that their lips barely moved, but it was just enough to allow him to sample her flavor.

Rolling over and pushing her down to the bed, Kaidan fluttered his lips down her neck to just as softly lick the hollow of her neck. His hand delicately gripped the back of her neck, as if he was holding something fragile as his tongue worked, leaving a wet trail up the front of her neck on his way back to her lips.

But after only a few short minutes, Kaidan broke the ultra tender touch of their lips as he rested his forehead against hers, threading his other arm beneath her to make sure she was pressed up against his body as close as it could go.

"I miss him, Ly. I wish I could've been there more for him." Kaidan said in a whisper as his breath danced over his wife's skin.

"I know you do, but we got two great years with him to remember." Lycan whispered back, continuing to caress the back of his neck.

Kaidan softly smiled, "We do, and I'm glad for it." he softly touched her lips again with his.

"Just keep those memories close, baby." Lycan said with more, tender and loving strokes to the back of his neck.

Kaidan nodded with his forehead against hers once more, "I will. After this war, when you and me finally settle down... We'll make it a home wherever we are." he whispered to her with a slowly released sigh.

"I'd like that. I'd like that very much." Lycan said with her voice so low, that the breath that danced over his skin was super heated and sultry.

With his lips spreading his smile a bit wider, Kaidan dropped his head to graze them over his wife's rosy lips, ignoring his hitching breath that seemed to originate from his abdomen. Each roll of his stomach caused his belly to hop with anticipation, his grip on her to tighten and his need to have her grow to the warmth of a star, but that desire, that need for a fix, would wait until it wasn't based on the desperation to feel like the galaxy wasn't closing in around him.

"Thank you, baby... For being here, with me, through the thick and thin." Kaidan said as he rolled off her to lay on his side, next to her.

Lycan shifted to lay on her side to face him, "You don't have to thank me for that, Kaidan." she said, brushing back a lock of his unruly, sweat coated bed hair.

"I do. No other woman would've taken on an L2 with as much love as you did. It's like... that didn't matter to you." Kaidan said as he grasped her hand to hold it to his chest.

"It doesn't, nor will it ever bother me. I love you unconditionally, Kaidan. I will love you when we're mad at each other. I will love you when we're apart. No matter how many miles're between us, Kaidan, I will love you." Lycan said, flattening her palm against his chest to feel his heart rate quicken.

Kaidan's breath huffed a smile, "I think I've heard those words before." he brushed his knuckles back over her cheeks.

"I swear to God, if you say your mother, I'm gonna smack you." Lycan chuckled as her foot began to gently pet the top of his.

"Would you hate me if I said yes?" he mildly cringed.

Lycan's face went dull, "Well... No, but I am debating if I wanna actually smack you, or not." her cheeks went taught, clearly telling him that she was fighting the urge to laugh.

"Sorry, honey. My mom said that when I got home from BAaT." Kaidan said, smiling to soften the blow and ease what could possibly be _his_ pain.

"After what happened?" Lycan's brows furrowed lightly.

Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah... I was angry after I killed Vyrnnus. I didn't wanna be a biotic anymore. I didn't wanna be considered just a weapon." he admitted with a soft pursing of his lips together.

"Really?" her eyes widened a bit from her husband's admission.

Kaidan nodded and lightly bit the scarred corner of his bottom lip, "Yeah... I uh... withdrew from life. I quit talking to people... barely ate. I was broken and a shadow of what I used to be." he began to nibble on the inside of his bottom lip.

"How'd you come out of it?" Lycan asked with an eager, yet somewhat excited look in her eyes.

"Chester," he huffed, "I'll never forget the day mom brought him home." Kaidan's eyes drew distant as he recalled the event from his distant memory.

"Tell me?" she almost sounded like a kid waiting for story time.

"I was sitting on the stairs of the back deck just watching the waves... Thinking, or trying to that is. My mom came home, but I didn't even bother to look back at her as she opened the sliding door." Kaidan said with a slump in his shoulders, as if he had gotten caught all over again.

For her part, Lycan kept her lips sealed as he ever so softly trailed her fingers up and down his arm.

"I didn't start to question anything at all until I heard footsteps coming towards me. They sounded wrong, so I looked to see him. He was so young and chocolate colored," he briefly smiled, "He... he just sat down next to me and looked at me with those... dark eyes, looking into my heart as if it wasn't broken." he continued, staring passed his wife into a nonexistent distance.

"Dogs have a way of doing that." Lycan said in the softest of voices.

Kaidan nodded, "And I think he knew it. He nudged me when I didn't pay any attention to him and he kept doing it until I put my hand on his head."

"Did he start wagging his tail?" she asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, he did... and I think he smiled." Kaidan said with a slowly released sigh and a smile.

"He probably did, baby." Lycan softly smiled.

"I didn't give him enough credit when my mom first brought him home. I didn't wanna be consoled, or even loved for that matter, but Chester... he saw it differently. Whenever I looked into his eyes, they just said 'Don't be angry. I'm here now'." Kaidan said as he finally refocused his eyes to look into Lycan's.

"Is that when your mom said what I said?" Lycan asked as she curled her fingertips through the soft line of hair that plunged down from his navel.

Kaidan nodded, "Yeah. She said Chester didn't care whether I was hurting, or not. He didn't care what I'd done. The only think that mattered to him, was that I could be his friend." he began to trail his fingers up and down her forearm.

"Wise words." she lightly sighed, "How long did it take for you to finally warm up to him?" Lycan asked, just finding the peace of mind that he seemed to be doing better.

"It took me longer then I'd care to admit," he couldn't look into her eyes any longer, "At first, I wouldn't bother with him except to feed him and let him out. I'd barely look at him, but he continued to insist that I acknowledge him. He persisted to bring balls to me, his leash so I'd take him for a walk. He'd climb onto the couch and lay down between my legs, just staring at me like he was waiting for me to do something." Kaidan described, looking back up at her kind eyes.

"Is that when you finally started to heal?" Lycan asked in just above a whisper.

Again, Kaidan nodded, "That's when I realized that he didn't care what I was, or care what about I'd done. That's when I realized I could be loved."

"And look at you now... Married, saving the world with your best friends by your side." she said as the softest of smiles graced her lips.

Kaidan's lips were unable to resist returning the smile, "Yeah... It all seems like a lifetime ago. I'm surprised I remembered it at all." he said, rolling onto his back to admire the ceiling.

"I bet Chester could remember it all." Lycan said, scooting closer to his side.

Kaidan huffed a laugh, "Yeah... I bet he could. Everyday to him was like the dawning of a new age, and it was always golden." he wrapped his arm around her and tugged her close.

"So long as you paid attention to him, and gave him treats, I'm sure he couldn't've been happier." Lycan said, gently trailing the back of her hand down Kaidan's short stubble.

"And that's the truth. I don't think that dog new how to hate someone." Kaidan said as he turned his head to place a soft kiss to his wife's forehead.

Sadly though, their moment to take a moment, breathe and digest, the comms overhead chimed above them, earning their attention with just a little bit of disdain.

_"Commander, Callaghan just radioed in. They found the Book of Plenix." _it was either Jake, or Jerry, but which, Kaidan, nor Lycan, had any idea.

Kaidan sat up, "Roger that. ETA?"

_"About twenty minutes. It's a bit of a hike back from the ruins they found it in." _

"Alright." Kaidan nodded as he scooted to the edge of the bed, still with Lycan sticking close to his side.

_"Um, Commander?" _the identical voice of Jake and Jerry asked.

"Yes?" Kaidan popped an eyebrow.

_"Can we just park it tonight? You know... drop anchor here?" _

Kaidan lightly exhaled, "You guys feeling a bit drained?"

_"Yes, Commander." _two voices answered back.

Kaidan let his head hang as Lycan began to massage his shoulders, "I don't know, hun. What do you think?" he asked quietly.

"They are looking a bit worn out, babe. It would give me some time to make a real good meal. You know, to perk their spirits a bit." Lycan said, ducking her head to place a warm kiss to the side of Kaidan's neck.

Kaidan's huffed a loving smile, "A nice big meal does sound nice."

_"It does to us too, Commander." _again, the twins spoke in unison.

Both Kaidan and Lycan chuckled.

"Alright... Alright, but just for tonight. We've still got a lot of work to do." Kaidan relented to the duel, boyish cheers of his pilots.

Satisfied, the comms clicked off, cutting the cheers and what Kaidan could only guess as high fives, short as both stood from their bed with a brief stretch.

"I'll go catch up with them and see if I missed anything else while I was out." Kaidan said as he wrapped Lycan up in his arms.

"You should probably take a shower first though. You smell like sweat." Lycan said with a long exhale to clear her nose of the strong musk.

Kaidan's chest rumbled with a low laugh, "Alright, then a shower first." he smiled down at her.

"Ok, sweetie," she kissed the front of his neck, "I'm really sorry about Chester." Lycan smiled softly.

"It's ok. I guess, in the back of my mind, I knew the day was coming, but you're right. At least he died of old age, instead of the Reapers." Kaidan said as he gently grasped both sides of her neck with a gentle touch.

"Find peace in that, baby." Lycan said in almost a whisper.

Kaidan nodded, "I will," he kissed her and let his lips linger of a few extra moments, "So... A nice big dinner tonight huh?" he smiled down into her eyes.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. It'll do us all some good." she pulled away to reach for her datapad laden with various types of cookbooks.

"I think so. For Chester." he winked at her.

Lycan smiled, "For Chester."


	84. Chapter 84

_(BioWare owns everything related to Mass Effect! AN: Well all, I'm sorry this one was so late. To make a long story short, I've been on the search for a new beta, but luckily, a dear friend has stepped up to the plate. Please welcome Viggorrah to the TFTIS boat! Also, updates are going to slow a bit more, not quite this bad, but I'm sure this will cause some heartache. I apologize. I need a bit of a break to square my head away with multiple projects, so please, enjoy this chapter and future ones to come.)_

Chapter 84: Escalations

Eden Prime certainly hadn't been what Shepard was anticipating. It had been odd, revisiting a place he had tried to save from being utterly destroyed, but being there showed him that time could rebuild, that time never forgot, and doubly so, when he and his crew had found a Prothean with a pulse.

Shepard's booted foot tapped against the deck plating of the _Normandy's_ bridge, creating a dulled thunk that rhythmically echoed through the space, and irritated her pilot to no end.

"Do you have to do that, Commander?" Joker whined as he looked up at Shepard, standing stiff with crossed arms next to him.

However, his pilot's look of discontent was entirely lost as Shepard simply stared blindly at a holoscreen that displayed a security feed of the starboard cargo area.

It had been drastically changed, as its floor was now covered in a soft layer of mist, and its windows that looked into the hanger bay had been covered with sheer green streams of fabric. Grunt's tank had long since been disposed of, having been replaced by a bank of holoscreens and terminals, and knelt in the center, sitting as motionless as a statue, their new Prothean guest just watched the squad of guards tasked to keep an eye on him.

"Commander?" Joker piped up again, snapping his fingers loudly to get Shepard's attention.

Finally, after the third, or fourth snap, Shepard had no idea, he finally decided to suddenly become aware of his surroundings.

"You can stop now, Joker." Shepard said, never stopping the chewing of his fingernail as he continued to stare at the holoscreen.

"There you are!" Joker threw his hands up, "It only took a dozen snaps to get your attention." he grumbled, slowly shaking his head.

"It took you precisely twenty point seven seconds to acquire the Commander's attention." EDI chimed in from her spot in the co-pilot's seat to Joker's right.

Joker's face simply went dull.

"Commander, why don't you go down and just talk to it... him?" Joker asked, popping a brow as he again, glanced up at Shepard.

"And talk to him about what, Joker?" Shepard shrugged, this time looking down at his seated friend.

Joker shrugged, "I don't know... The weather?"

Shepard rolled his eyes, "I'm not gonna talk to a Prothean, who's been asleep for the last fifty thousand years, about the weather." he looked back to the holoscreen.

"Well, you've gotta talk to him sooner, or later. You can't just leave him down there under guard the whole time." Joker scoffed as he turned his attention back to flying the ship.

"Thinkin' 'bout it." Shepard said with more chews to his already stubbed fingernails.

"Shepard! You can't do that! Poor guy's been cooped up in a pack of gum for fifty millennium!" Joker yelped.

"Oh relax... I was just thinking about what the hell I'm gonna talk to him about." Shepard said with a cringe from the sudden volume.

"Why don't you just do your usual?" Joker offered.

"What? Jump in and ask the dumbest questions I can think of? No thanks. Don't really wanna make myself look like a complete dick in front of a member of the race who blasted my brain with their Reaper message." Shepard said, slowly shaking his head as he sighed and continued watching.

In all honesty, Shepard had no clue what he would even ask the alien and anything that he could pluck out of his brain just seemed so... inadequate. He very much didn't want to sound like he was an inept moron with an aptitude for violence, but instead, wanted to show an alien race that, perhaps with him, they at least had a chance at beating the Reapers.

Letting loose a long, probably excessively so, sigh, Shepard dropped his arms to his side and turned around.

"Get us to Sur'Kesh, Joker." Shepard said flatly as he headed down the long CIC.

"I kinda have been!" was all Shepard heard from Joker's need of having to have the last word, before the elevator's doors closed.

With the tapping of his foot continuing as the car descended to the fourth level, Shepard crossed his arms once more and watched his foot peck at the carpet.

However, the elevator ride didn't even come close to giving him enough time to continue thinking about what to ask, as it arrived far too quickly for his liking, and chimed to announce its arrival at the cargo bays.

As he stepped out of the car, a guard greeted him with a simple salute as he passed by and stepped through the door and into the mist.

"Stand down." Shepard said flatly as he swallowed and prepared himself for whatever was about to happen.

"Commander, standard procedure is to post a guard when encountering new alien species." one of the crew said, just barely lowering his weapon as he looked over his shoulder at Shepard's entrance.

"He's not really a new alien species now is he, Corporal?" Shepard said as he stopped next to the guard, looking at the Prothean still knelt on the floor.

"Well uh... N-No... I guess not." the guard said with a half shrug.

"Then we don't need a guard detail. Stand down." Shepard said, crossing his arms yet again since he wasn't sure what to do with them.

Holding his breath for the moment, the Corporal looked on at Shepard for a few seconds longer before nodding and lowering his rifle the rest of the way, as well as the other guards.

"Everyone clear." Shepard said flatly and without the slightest of twitches in his expression.

"But, Commander..." the Corporal tried.

"That's an order, Corporal." Shepard interrupted, still without the slightest hint of any emotion.

The Corporal instantly shut his mouth, "Aye aye, Commander."

With that acknowledgement, the Corporal and his men turned and left without another word said between them, leaving Shepard, with Liara standing back a step, alone in the bay with the Prothean knelt on the floor.

"Do you have a name?" Shepard asked quietly, forcing himself to keep his breathing even.

However, the alien simply drew in a long and deep breath, but didn't say a word.

"I really don't wanna call you Prothy the Prothean." Shepard said as he tightly gripped his biceps.

That earned him a glare from the alien, "Dat is not my name."

"I figured that much out. I would like to know what your name is." Shepard said calmly as he released another long, quiet sigh.

All four yellow eyes looked up at him with the slightest of squints.

Shepard rubbed the back of his neck, "Look... I'd appreciate some slack here. None of us ever thought we'd be running into a living... Prothean." he said, kneeling down so he wasn't looming over the alien.

"So it would seem." the alien said without a twitch in his features.

Shepard held his breath as he racked his brain, but the more he consciously tried to come up with something to talk about, the more the questions eluded him. There was only one thing he could do, and hope that it worked.

"That sensory thing you did... What was that?" Shepard asked, crouching down in hopes of helping the alien feel more comfortable.

"A unique ability possessed by my people. We touch and can instantly understand da history of da being or object we touched." the alien said as if it was an everyday thing.

"That is how you learned to speak a common language?" Liara asked softly.

The alien nodded once, "Yes."

"Are you able to read this ship? This room?" Shepard asked as he rested a knee on the deck.

Again, the alien nodded, "Yes."

"Which?" Shepard asked.

"Both."

Shepard sighed, "Show me."

Releasing a sigh of his own, the alien leaned forward, closing his four eyes the moment his fingers touched the grated deck plating.

Without anything to do, Shepard and Liara simply watched in bewilderment as the alien went stiff for a number of moments, baring his upper row of tightly packed teeth. They heard his breath stutter and watched his yellow eyes flutter beneath their lids, but knowing if they needed to do something, they had no idea. All they could do was wait it out.

However, their waiting only lasted moments as the alien opened his eyes and lifted his hand from the deck.

"Dis room... A krogan... and an incubator... A tank," he tilted his head, "Dere is a human... Different... bred for perfection. She is altered... A biotic, upon which there are many... Including you." the alien looked at Shepard.

Shepard nodded, "I am one. What else?" he asked softly and with a just as soft gulp.

Again, the alien sighed, "Dere is one other thing, but I am unsure of it. Perhaps it is simply remnants of my own mind." he said, looking down at his hands for a brief moment.

"What is it?" Shepard asked calmly as he glanced up at Liara whom had crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall.

"Something... odd. I do not understand it. It is a feeling of... I am unsure how to describe it." the alien said as he drew in a long breath, only to sigh it out.

"Does it pertain to the _Normandy_? To this ship?" Liara asked, never moving from her spot against the wall.

"Yes, but also no. It is both. It is both an infallible wisdom as well as insurmountable doubt. A feeling of imminent failure... and overwhelming desire to succeed. I do not understand how it can be all dose dings, yet none of dem." the alien tried to describe, needing to search his mind for the right words.

Shepard lightly gulped, "What else did you see?" he asked with a barely there crack in his voice.

"Dat is what is also strange. I saw blurs, obscurities in da visions as if dey were... holes, spaces dat were emptied, but filled. I have only heard stories of such visions." the alien said, drawing in a long breath, simply out of not knowing what else to do.

"Stories?" Liara asked in a low voice.

"Yes... When I was but a child, da elders would tell tales of mystics, ones who could foresee, but they were merely stories to help distract us from da Reapers." the alien said as he looked at the deck.

"Your people had mystics?" Liara asked as she pushed off the wall and shifted her weight to her other leg.

"Dey were shaman to my people. Ones who provided wisdom and advice. I find it curious why dis ship would possess such... obscurity." the alien said as he regarded both people in front of him.

Shepard held his breath, "What else did you see?"

"Dat is all." he simply grumbled.

"How was your society structured? It appears that the Protheans are tribal in nature." Liara asked, uncrossing her arms to place her hands on her hips.

"Dere is a social order dat all abide by. Any deviation from dat is dealt with severity." the alien said in a sharp tone.

"Pretty harsh don't you think?" Shepard asked with a soft furrowing of his brows.

"Not at all. It was our way. I did not question it." he said flatly.

"Sounds a bit... totalitarian to me." Shepard said, softly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Perhaps." the alien huffed through his nostrils.

Glancing back up at Liara as he took in a breath, Shepard stood and looked back to the alien still kneeling on the floor.

"I uh... I saw what happened to you... Just before you were put into stasis." Shepard said, exhaling quietly.

That earned him a set of four yellow eyes.

"You can see our warnings?" the alien asked with the subtle hints of a growl in his undertone.

Shepard stiffened, but nodded, "Yes. A few years ago I was exposed to a Prothean beacon. I... received some kind of... vision."

The alien rose to his feet, "You saw our warnings, yet you do nothing against da Reapers? You stand idle as dey tear apart the galaxy?" his accented voice boomed.

"Easy now there big guy. There wasn't much we could do since we had to piece it all together. It was in bits and pieces." Shepard kept his eyes glued to the alien, watching for any sign that things could turn violent.

"Dat is because you are of a lesser mind. A Prothean would have understood dem without question." the alien snarled.

"Well we didn't very well have one of those now did we? I think we've done pretty fucking well considering I'm not working with a full fucking deck." Shepard snapped harshly as he went on the defensive.

"You should have heeded our warnings sooner!"

"Maybe you should have made sure we could fucking understand your warnings first! You gave me an ace and a king and told me to win with a royal flush!" Shepard's voice rose to the point where Liara mildly cringed from its volume.

"Humans are weak... You are weak. You have no hope of defeating da Reapers if you could not understand the warnings given." the alien snapped back in full force.

"Weak? What fucking definition are you using? We've stopped 'da Reapers' twice now! How many times have you done that?" Shepard clenched his fists tightly to keep from lashing out.

The alien remained silent.

"That's what I thought. How about you go bag one and then come and talk to me. I've died once already for this war while you slept through it so don't you dare come on my ship and try to tell me I'm weak." Shepard said through clenched teeth.

The alien's upper lip curled as he continued to stare at the angry human, "You understand nothing."

One button pushed, one too many times.

With a flaring wash of biotic power, Shepard swung his arm wide, throwing the alien against the bulkhead with a moderate amount of controlled force. However, before the alien could hit the floor, Shepard was upon him, hand around his throat and holding him up against the wall he had just been thrown into.

"I died for this... I came back to help fight for what I believe in and I don't need some last of his kind nameless fuck telling me that I don't understand. I promise you that I understand perfectly clear and more so then you'll ever know." Shepard said lowly with his hot, angry breath spilling across the alien's face.

The alien visibly gulped, but slowly raised his hand once more and placed it against Shepard's cheek.

What came next however, was not what the alien was hoping to achieve, as his mind's eye was flooded with memories and stills of a life, long lived and scarring. Pain, suffering, misery were all emotions that tightened his chest, seeing blood, fallen loved ones, the look in a young girl's crying eyes as the life drained from her body. He saw the blue eyes of a boy forced to accept what had been done to him, the choices made for him as he grew and survived when all around him perished. He saw every bad decision along with all the good, every regret, every lick of pain, every ounce of love possessed within a heart that on all accounts should not be beating.

That heart, that simple thing that beat behind a strong chest was what the alien didn't understand. That within its chambers beat the power and passion of a race thought primitive, that really turned out to be something extraordinary. The human had been right, he didn't understand, but perhaps now, he could.

Snapping his hand away from Shepard's cheek, the alien looked into the blue, but tear glassed eyes that looked back at him.

"You get it now? Look me in the eyes again and tell me I'm weak." Shepard said as a tear crawled down his cheek, letting go of the alien's neck.

"I... I cannot." the alien admitted.

Shepard knelt down to look the alien, again, in his yellow eyes, "I've sacrificed a lot. I'm done giving up what I want. Will you help us against them? Will you help us fight?" he asked softly and somehow without any traces of the anger.

The alien began to nod, "I will."

Shepard stood and started for the door, but he didn't make it very far when something else was uttered from the alien's mouth.

"Javik."

Shepard stopped and looked back, "What?"

"My name. I am Javik." he rubbed his throat lightly.

Whatever anger was left in Shepard, ebbed away, "Gabriel."

"I know." Javik said with a short nod.

Shepard huffed, "Of course you do."

He left the starboard cargo hold.

* * *

Nights on Irune were beautiful. They were serene, tranquil, and wonderfully alien and through the large window in Kaidan and Lycan's quarters, it was a sight for sore eyes that had recently seen only war and despair.

Simply laying in bed, cuddled into her fast asleep husband's arms, Lycan just laid there with her eyes transfixed on the sky outside. The only sound to greet her ears were that of Kaidan's heart beat beneath his t-shirt and the soft even breathing that broadened his chest with each intake. The stars twinkled in strange and new ways, but each was soft and seemed almost delicate.

Needing to adjust before her arm became even number, Lycan lightly pressed her hand against Kaidan's chest, simply to stabilize herself, while she lifted and moved her arm into a more comfortable position. She had thought it alright, as so many nights before, the light pressure had never stirred her lover from his sleep, but this night, with an alien sky as her witness, Kaidan took in a deep breath and opened his eyes.

"Is everything ok, babe?" Kaidan asked tiredly as he used his available hand to clear some sleep from his eyes.

"Hmm? Oh sweetie, I didn't mean to wake you." Lycan said softly as she gently rested her hand on his opposite cheek.

"It's ok. I'd rather wake up to see nothing's wrong than sleep through something I should've woken up for." Kaidan said with another long, deep intake of breath as he rolled to his side and curled around Lycan's form.

Lycan lowly laughed against his chest, "I suppose that's one way of looking at it." she nearly whispered and drew in a lungful of his scent.

Kaidan pressed his lips to her hair softly, "Mmhmm... Is it early still?" he asked, taking in a long and deep breath.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. Very." she exhaled.

"Good. I didn't realize how hard I was running the crew till we got to take a rest." Kaidan said as he threaded his fingers through her hair.

"We're all tired, baby." Lycan mumbled against his chest.

Kaidan closed his eyes again, "Yeah." he exhaled as a wave a sleep began to pull him back under.

Smiling against his chest with her hands gently placed over his heart, Lycan just listened to his breathing even and settle. She thought it such a calming sound, a safe harbor from the raging storm of the Reaper War. Each exhale that rustled her hair brought her closer to sleep where she could dream that none of it was happening, that everything they had lived through had all been just some horrible nightmare that they would all wake up from soon.

That was simply a wish.

That unmistakable flutter of incoming shuttles shook them from their sleep as the lights radiated in through their large window. There were five sets of thrusters, all coming into a hover as their gull wings opened and men poured out, but the dark of the night shrouded their identities from view.

"What the?" Kaidan gasped as he shot from his bed.

"What's going on?" Lycan asked as she too sat up and watched out the window.

Furrowing his brows, Kaidan watched for a moment longer as the shuttles finished depositing the mysterious men, but as one, freshly emptied shuttle, banked off to leave, the light from the thrusters flashed the logo on the side of another.

"Fuck! It's Cerberus! Baby, go get the twins up and get this bird in the air!" Kaidan ordered sharply as he grabbed a hidden pistol from his nightstand and started for the door barefoot and in a shirt and sleeping pants.

Leaping from the bed, Lycan pulled on some sweats as Kaidan rushed from their quarters and disappeared from sight, leaving her to head to the crew quarters closest to the bridge.

"Jake! Jerry! Wake up!" Lycan yelled into the doors comm, hoping it was enough to rouse the twins inside.

It was.

"What? What's wrong?" Jake answered the door in nothing more than sleeping pants.

"Cerberus is outside! We've gotta go!" Lycan said with a conscious attempt at keeping her breathing under control.

"What! Where's the Commander?" Jake asked as he and his brother leapt to the bridge.

"Getting the others I think." Lycan said as she followed them.

"Power up in five. Can the crew keep Cerberus at bay till then?" Jerry asked without bothering to give her a look as his hands blasted over his freshly illuminated consoles.

"They better." Lycan said before whipping around and running barefoot down the neck of the ship.

Reaching the stairs that lead down to the cargo bay, she saw her husband, Callaghan, Hanson and Ellison all ducked behind some storage crates they had arranged as cover, keeping their eyes and weapons trained on the cargo bay door that was indicating it was preparing to open.

"Why's the door opening?" Lycan called out, frozen at the top of the stairs.

At her voice, Kaidan spun around, "Go to the bridge!" he half ordered with a sharp point of his finger towards the bow of the ship.

_"Commander! They're hacking the door! We've tried locking them out, but they've got some kind of hacking VI!" _one of the twins' voices barked with an echo over their heads.

Pursing his lips together, Kaidan darted for the stairs and bounded up them in an instant to reach Lycan's side.

"Baby, go to the bridge. Please." he nearly begged as he partially shielded her from the cargo bay door.

"What good is me being on the bridge gonna do if they get in here?" Lycan asked as she gripped Kaidan's mostly bare arms.

Kaidan exhaled, "Just... Just stay back. Stay outta sight."

With no more time, the red warning lights spun overhead has the shimmering mass effect field glimmered into place, sounding a short lived buzzer before the cargo bay door thunked and began to lower.

"Ready!" Kaidan called out as he fully stepped in front of Lycan with his weapon trained at the door.

_"Two and a half till engines are at full power, __Commander!" _the twins reported.

"Try and shave off some time, Jake!" Kaidan order sharply with his eyes never wavering from the opening door.

_"This is Jerry."_

"Whatever! Make it happen!" Kaidan barked angrily.

_"No can do, Commander. This bird doesn__'t have the quick spool like the newer birds. You're gonna have to make do till these gas burners warm up!"_

"Don't give them the chance to get a bead on you! Fire the second you're clear!" Kaidan barked as the air just around his skin began to softly and subtly glow.

Peaking around Kaidan's stiff and outstretched arms, Lycan watched the cargo bay door touch the dark and alien ground, fully revealing the extent of what waited on the other side.

Rushing in from either side of the ramp, Cerberus troopers clad in dark armor shimmered through the field with weapons aimed.

"Fire!" Kaidan yelled as his weapon did just that.

Cringing from the noise that filled the cargo bay, Lycan crouched down and stayed behind Kaidan and his barrier that clawed out towards her to wrap her up in its shimmering embrace. Sparks flew in all directions as the swarm of projectiles from the Cerberus troopers found purchase on the bulkheads, each one causing her to mildly flinch.

Startled from the clang of a weapon on the deck plating, Lycan watching as Kaidan, now without his pistol, spiked a massive cloud of dark energy, swirling and forming concentrated balls of white and blue in each hand. He cranked his arms back, immediately throwing them forward, launching the energy orbs to crash into base filled explosions that contorted and warped a number of troopers into tangled knots.

"We've got incoming, Commander!" Hanson hollered out as the ground vibrated with the heavy and mechanical footfalls of something large thundered through the space.

Gritting his teeth together, Kaidan's fists clenched as tight as they could go, he watched as out of the dust, the silhouette of an atlas mech shimmered under moonlight.

"Atlas!" Kaidan yelled as he grabbed Lycan's arm and rushed her down the stairs to cover.

The ship rattled and echoed each Atlas step as it walked up the ramp, firing its massive Gatling gun in a wide spraying arch that forced everyone to stay down, or risk getting their heads blown apart.

"Now what?" Ellison barked over the screaming gun of the mech.

"Get us off the ground Bopsy Twins!" Kaidan screamed upwards, hoping the pilots heard his plea.

_"We can't, Commander! That mech's weighing us down! We're overloaded!"_

"Are you serious! I thought we could carry a Mako!" Kaidan complained as he covered Lycan with his own body.

_"Ha! That's funny... Who told you that?"_

"Hackett!"

_"W__ishful thinking!" _it was echoed, meaning both twins answered.

Kaidan bore teeth, "Get that mech off my ship!" he covered Lycan's head as a piece of crate broken off from gunfire.

"Keep him entertained Lieutenant!" Hanson unknowingly ordered as he started to crawl away from the crates.

"What? What're you doing?" Callaghan asked with a harshly furrowed brow.

"I'm gonna give him 'the special'." Hanson grinned as he opened and start digging around in a nearby storage crate.

"A what?" Ellison asked as he shot a Cerberus engineer through the helmet.

"That special! It's a little trick I picked up from a buddy!" Hanson said as he pulled a rocket launcher and several other weapons from the crate.

"Do I even wanna know?" Callaghan asked as she too removed a trooper from the field.

"It's a bump rocket!"

"Like we're supposed to know what that is!" Kaidan said, continuing to cover Lycan as more debris showered over them.

Hanson lowly groaned as he started to work, "I modify a rocket and put it on a delayed timer and boost its thruster output! It slams into something, pushes it a ways and them boom! Bits." he tossed aside parts he didn't need.

"You're gonna push a mech outta the cargo bay?" Ellison asked with a quick look at the young heavy weapons expert working furiously.

"That's the plan!" Hanson yelled over more roaring gunfire.

"Keep that mech busy! Give him time!" Kaidan ordered hard as his barrier reappeared to envelop himself and his wife.

The rattle of gunfire doubled tenfold as Callaghan, Ellison and Kaidan laid down a thick spray, not really caring that nearly every round was bouncing off the heavy and thick armor of the war mech.

Lycan however, was the only one to keep hunkered down, not really by her own accord since Kaidan's thick arm was draped over her shoulder and back and keeping her there. All she could see was the floor and, if she forced her head up far enough, perhaps the knees of someone coming.

Like a Cerberus Trooper with a shield.

Without thinking, Lycan grabbed the pistol from Kaidan's hand as he lowered it to use biotics and fired at the only part that would count. She fired at his foot. She missed her first couple of shots, the rounds bouncing off the troopers shield to go in whichever direction they wanted, but knowing she had to make it count, as there wasn't enough time for anything else, she took in a breath, and pulled the trigger again.

In the same instant, as Lycan fired her first couple rounds, Kaidan watched, almost in slow motion, as her next shot bounced off the deck to ricochet into the trooper's shin. The heavy shield dropped to the deck to be landed on by the trooper, exposing him fully to the man whose wife had just shot and leveled him.

Angrily baring his teeth, Kaidan took back his pistol in no more time than it takes to blink and fired without hesitation, burying round after round into the trooper's helmet with sprays of blood that coated the inside of the face shield.

In the same breath, Kaidan looked down into Lycan's eyes as they stared back, seeing they were surprisingly steady, not even flinching as enemy fire barked over their ducked heads.

It was in that breath, that moment that he realized that the innocent and scared little girl that had fallen into his lap had disappeared, had vanished from existence to be replaced by a woman that he had known had been there all along.

"Hit the deck!" Hanson's young voice barked as he took position between Ellison and Kaidan with his modified rocket and launcher.

As Kaidan covered Lycan again with his body, Hanson pulled the trigger, firing the rocket that blazed out in a plume of smoke and fire. The rocket slammed into the Atlas with a sound that could start Armageddon as the rocket ignited a second phase, causing the fire behind it to erupt into a jet whose heat could be felt even behind the crates.

As a high pitched screech pinched all their ears, Kaidan dared to look up as the Atlas slid backwards, being forced to by the explosive jet thruster now burying itself in its chest. The mech's pilot tried to counteract the power being forced on it, but couldn't, as the moment the mech lifted a heavy foot, the rocket won.

With the screech drowning out the last remaining enemy fire, the rocket pushed the Atlas down the ramp, enough so that the ship immediately shuttered and rattled off the ground, throwing the mech off just as the inevitable happened.

With an eye searing cloud of white, the rocket exploded, consuming the Atlas entirely as the visible shockwave shot outwards in a perfectly expanding circle. The ship shook and rattled more from the blast, throwing the balance of the last couple of Cerberus men who were quickly dealt with when two large and anger filled energy balls collided with their chests, throwing them off the ship.

"Close it!" Kaidan ordered as he stood, raising Lycan to her feet along with him.

The inner workings of the cargo bay door provided their base as the ramp raised and the others scoured the corpses in hopes the perhaps one was still alive to provide answers.

"You ok, babe?" Kaidan asked lowly as he gently placed his hands against the sides of Lycan's neck.

Lycan nodded, "Yeah. I'm fine." she softly smiled.

"Nice shot." Kaidan returned the smile as he tenderly kissed her lips and drew her into a hug.

"Thanks. I don't feel so bad since I didn't kill him." Lycan said, taking in a deep breath.

"You helped though... Are you gonna be ok?" Kaidan asked, kissing her hair.

"I will be," she looked around the ruined cargo bay, "We're gonna need to repair." she said, looking at Kaidan.

This time, it was Kaidan's turn to nod, "Yeah." he pursed his lips together as he looked around.

_"How bad's the damage, Commander?" _one of the twins interrupted from overhead as Kaidan drew Lycan back into a tight embrace.

"I'll tell you when it's fixed." Kaidan said, closing his eyes and breathing in relief that none of them were hurt.

"Why the hell did they attack us?" Ellison asked as he kicked a corpse over to a pile as Hanson lowered the cargo door once more to dispose of their extra, unwanted cargo.

"Were they after the artifacts?" Callaghan looked over at Kaidan.

"I don't know." Kaidan shook his head.

"You think Cerberus is still trying to get to Lycan?" Callaghan asked, running her hand back over her hair that, due to it being the middle of the night time wise, was down and in her face.

Kaidan shrugged, "It's possible, but they've kinda got bigger things to worry about then getting their hands on my wife." his throat growled.

"Maybe they're getting more desperate, now that the Reapers're here. Maybe they're really trying to find a way to time travel, or something." Callaghan said as she pushed a corpse out of the now open cargo bay door.

"Perhaps, but all we can do is speculate. They could just be looking for leverage against Shepard." Kaidan said, finally letting go of Lycan.

"Leverage against Shepard? What for... Holy shit!" Ellison yelped, having removed the helmet of a dead Cerberus trooper.

Thinking that Ellison had perhaps found a trooper on the edge of death, Kaidan and the others ran over in a hurry with guns in hand, not wanting to take any chances should the trooper try anything funny. However, when they arrived, they clearly saw the trooper was anything, but alive.

Having seen it before, from the game he had watched Lycan play, Kaidan set eyes on the partially husked form of a man with bluish grayed skin and bright, white blue eyes that were not his.

"What the fuck?" Callaghan gasped, aiming the barrel of her sniper at the figure, just in case it twitched.

"W-What's wrong with him?" Hanson exhaled as he gulped with a tightening grip around the spent rocket launcher.

"That's why Cerberus is against us... They aren't Cerberus anymore." Kaidan said as he wrapped an arm around Lycan to hold her into his side.

"They're working for the Reapers?" Callaghan asked with a gulp.

Kaidan nodded, "I'd say yeah, judging by the looks of things." he almost whispered.

"What do the Reapers want with us?" Hanson asked with his face betraying his true feelings.

"What they want with every organic." Kaidan said simply as he tightened his hold around Lycan.

Getting a layer of goosebumps on his exposed arms, Ellison tossed the helmet through the mass effect field before rolling the corpse after it, discarding the last of the intruders off the ship.

"This is gonna make things harder, Commander." Callaghan said, rubbing the back of her neck.

All Kaidan did was nod.

_"Commander... We've got __more inbound on radar." _one of the twin pilots interrupted quietly from overhead.

"Get us out of here and on course to the Citadel." Kaidan said flatly with a blank and long distant gaze in his eyes as his fingers threaded through Lycan's.

_"Aye aye, Co__mmander."_

Releasing a long breath of relief, Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck, letting Lycan's hand slip from his grasp as she stepped away to help straighten up the mess the attack had caused. Pieces of cargo containers littered the floor, luckily none of which had been the ones containing the artifacts they had collected. Deep scratches, scuffs and gouges peppered the walls all around them, permanently scarring the metal unless the various plates were to be replaced. Kaidan wasn't holding his breath.

"You gonna be ok?" Lycan softly asked, gently grasping his arm to take it from the back of his neck.

Kaidan looked down at her, "Yeah. Just thinking I guess." he said lowly as he sat down on top of a crate.

"About why Cerberus made a move?" Lycan asked in just above a whisper.

Another nod, "Yeah. Were they after the artifacts? You? Us in general to demoralize Shepard?" Kaidan's voice trailed off.

"It could be any one of those things, babe." Lycan said as she sat next to him and rest her head on his shoulder.

"I know, or all of them." Kaidan dared to say out loud.

Lycan sighed, "I hope not."

"No way of really knowing for sure though. This is one thing we'll have to play by ear I think." Kaidan said as he wrapped his arm around Lycan's back.

Lycan nodded, "Wouldn't be the first time." she softly smiled.

Kaidan huffed and returned the crooked smile, "Yeah. I know..."

"Commander? I might've found something." Callaghan's voice interrupted from across the cargo bay, near the closed cargo bay door.

Kaidan stood from the crate with Lycan close at his side as both wove around a couple crates to reach Callaghan who seemed to be holding thing in the palm of her hand.

"What is it?" Kaidan asked, eyeballing the object in her hand.

"It looks like an OSD, sir." Callaghan said as she flipped it over, showing them the small golden diamond printed against the black.

"Must've fallen from one of the troopers when they were killed." Kaidan said as he took the OSD from Callaghan's palm.

"Probably. I'd say it was one of your kills considering the OSD's warped a bit." Callaghan said with a short point at the curved edges that weren't supposed to be there.

"Possibly. Let's see if we can get anything off it." Kaidan clutched the OSD in his hand as he headed for the briefing room.

The others followed behind him with Callaghan walking beside Lycan as if she were a big sister making sure her little sister was alright. They reached the briefing room as Kaidan plugged the OSD into its proper slot and waited with folded arms as the large holoscreen flickered to life to show its contents.

"Anything useful?" Lycan asked softly as she stepped up to his side and looked up at him.

However, Kaidan didn't acknowledge her as he navigated through the OSD's files, looking for any report, orders, any details as to how and why Cerberus had known where they were.

He found something.

_To: Cell 7B-4_

_ From: Cerberus HQ_

_ We have received word as to where this SSV-914 Grimm is located. Our informant has sent a report detailing the Grimm's movements and plans. Files are attached. Please review and carry out your orders._

"Cerberus has an informant with Alliance intel?" Hanson asked, resting the empty rocket launcher against his shoulder.

"I'd say I was surprised, but I'm not." Kaidan said, almost deadpanned.

"Only higher ups have that kind of information." Callaghan said, softly rubbing Lycan's upper arm in comfort.

"I know..." he exhaled, "And with us, that means one of two people." Kaidan said as his fingers started to rap against his bicep.

"Who?" Ellison asked with Lia'Vael close by his side and gripping his arm.

Kaidan shook his head, "Can you guys clear out? Give us a minute?"

All his crew did was nod their acknowledgement as they turned and left, leaving only Kaidan and his wife to look through the limited files the OSD had available.

"It's Udina. He's trying to take us out of the picture." Kaidan said quietly as he ran a hand back over his hair.

"What for? Does he actually consider us a threat?" Lycan asked, resting her hands on her hips.

Kaidan shrugged, "He might. We know he's working for Cerberus in return for more power, but I didn't think he'd actively be looking towards us." he said as he uncrossed his arms and placed his hands on his hips.

"We're the wild cards. One word from TIM and Udina'll follow so I doubt Udina's calling the shots on this one." Lycan said as she took in a long and deep breath.

"You thinking the Illusive Man's trying to get his hands on you again?" Kaidan asked, looking down at her.

"Wouldn't be surprised if he was." Lycan ran her hand down his arm.

"Doesn't explain why they were pretty much shoot to kill though." Kaidan said lowly.

"I guess not... So what do we do about Udina? We just let him keep trying to kill us?" Lycan asked, releasing the breath she had taken in.

"No... No one takes a pot shot at my wife and lives." Kaidan's voice turned to a growl.

Lycan smirked up at him, "Is that so?"

Kaidan met her gaze, "Last guy who tried, I killed with liquid plasma." he arced a brow.

"Good point." Lycan's grin grew into a smirk.

"I'm thinking it's time we play one of our hands." Kaidan said, tapping his chin with a finger as he turned and headed for his desk behind him.

"Which hand?" Lycan asked as her stomach made a small flip from worry and anticipation.

Kaidan sat and looked up at her as she approached the front of his desk, "The coup."


	85. TFTIS - Author's Letter to Readers

Author's Note

This is a note to all my readers and reviewers whom have been with me for so long. I have nothing but respect and love for you all and you deserve to know what's going on.

As of late, updates to TFTIS have slowed to a snail's pace, and that is because I have been focusing on my own work. I am currently working on a project that I would love to see as a comic, a graphic novel or even, dare I say, a video game, and it has become my main focus.

However, TFTIS is not lost, just taking a back seat. I will work on it periodically, but updates are going to be long and sporadic and you all deserve better than to be left in the dark.

Thank you all for being so patient and supportive in this time and look for my future work. I'll have my pen-name attached to my real one.

Thank you again and all my love,

Y. Lycanwolff. M


End file.
